CHAPTERTWELVE
1032 Words
VIOLETA
I stared at the mirror, frozen. My hand slowly touched my cheek again, just to be sure it wasn’t a dream or some trick of the light. But no—it was real. The scar that had ruined my face for months... was gone.
Gone.
I couldn’t breathe. My lips parted slightly, but no words came out. My reflection looked like someone I hadn't seen in a long time—me. The real me. The one before the fire. The one before the pain, the fear, the hiding. The one I thought was lost forever.
A small sob slipped from my throat, and then another. Before I knew it, I was crying. Not the quiet, pretty kind of crying, but the messy, shaky one that made your chest hurt. I covered my mouth with both hands, the tears pouring down my cheeks, mixing with the dampness of the towel I still held.
I didn’t even know why I was crying so hard. Was it happiness? Relief? Shock? Maybe all of it. Maybe it was the weight I had been carrying for so long finally falling off my shoulders.
I sank to the floor, hugging my knees as I cried. I didn’t care that I was sitting on cold tiles or that my sleeves were wet. All I cared about was that my face—my face—was whole again.
After what felt like forever, I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath. I needed to tell someone. Princess Thania. Jasmine. Joshua. I wanted them to see it too, to believe it with me.
I got up slowly, my legs still shaky. My eyes were swollen, but I didn't even care. I splashed cold water on my face, not because I needed to wash anything off, but because I needed to feel something real, to confirm I wasn’t imagining things.
When I looked in the mirror again, my heart jumped all over again.
It was still gone.
I laughed softly, the sound strange in the quiet room. It felt so unreal. Like I had been given a second chance.
I stepped out of the herb room and made my way down the hallway. My heart was beating fast again, but this time it wasn’t from fear. It was excitement. Pure, raw excitement.
I spotted Princess Thania from a distance, walking back from wherever the guard had taken her. She looked a little tired but smiled when she saw me.
"Hey! Did you find anything? Or did you fall asleep like I told you to?" She teased, walking toward me.
I didn’t say anything. I just kept walking until I stood right in front of her.
She tilted her head. "Violeta?"
I took a deep breath, then pulled my hair back slowly, tucking it behind my ear so the side of my face showed clearly.
Her eyes widened. Her mouth fell open slightly.
"No way," she whispered.
I gave her a small smile. "It worked."
She blinked like she couldn't believe it. "Oh my Moon Goddess... It actually worked?!"
I nodded, the tears threatening to return.
She squealed so loudly that a maid walking past jumped and nearly dropped the tray she was carrying.
"Joshua! Jasmine!" Thania yelled, turning around and dragging me with her. "You guys need to see this!"
I giggled like a child, letting her pull me toward the garden where her cousins usually sat. My heart was pounding again, but this time in a good way. I couldn’t wait to show them.
Jasmine was the first to notice us. "Why are you dragging her like that? What happened?"
"Look!" Thania said, pushing my hair back again.
Joshua leaned forward, eyes narrowing slightly. "Wait a minute... is it just me or..."
"It’s gone!" Jasmine gasped.
"No way!"
"How?!"
I smiled, feeling shy all of a sudden. "I found some herbs in one of the books. It mentioned scar healing. I tried it. I didn’t think it would work, but... it did."
They all surrounded me like I was some magical object, staring at my face with wide eyes.
"You look amazing," Jasmine said softly.
"You always did," Joshua added. "But now... you look like you."
That sentence hit me so hard, I almost cried again.
They hugged me, all three of them, and I stayed there in the middle of the group, soaking in the warmth.
For the first time in a long while, I felt seen. Not as the girl with the scar. Not as the outsider. Not as the broken one.
Just me.
Later that night, I sat by the window in my room, staring out at the stars. My fingers traced my cheek again, like I was still trying to convince myself it wasn’t a dream.
So much had changed in such a short time. I had powers I never asked for, people I never thought I'd be close to, and now... a face I thought I'd never see again.
But I wasn’t foolish. I knew that fixing my face didn’t fix everything. There was still healing to do—inside. But this... this was a start. A very good start.
A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Come in," I called softly.
Princess Thania peeked in. "I brought you tea. Thought you could use something warm."
I smiled. "You read my mind."
She sat beside me and handed me the cup. We both sipped in silence for a moment.
"How are you feeling?" she asked finally.
"I don’t know. Happy. Nervous. Still a little shocked."
"That’s fair. It’s a big change."
I nodded. "Part of me feels like I don’t deserve it."
"Don’t say that," she said quickly. "You deserve all the good things. You really do."
I didn’t reply. I just took another sip of my tea.
"You’re brave, you know," she added. "Most people would have given up."
I looked at her. "I almost did."
"But you didn’t. And that makes all the difference."
I smiled. Not just because of what she said, but because deep down, I was finally starting to believe it too.
Maybe I was brave.
Maybe I was healing in more ways than one.
- Writer
