꧁•⊹٭𝙰 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝙾𝚏 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜٭⊹•꧂ [Camilo Madrigal]

[VII]

For the last tour, Camilo wanted to show her something special before they separate ways for lunch. He wanted to thank the girl for volunteering to take half of his work just so he can catch some break. He did try to sneak some workload behind her back, but she caught him red-handed. It feels new that he was the one insisting rather than refusing to help. Usually, he and Amelia always do the tasks together...

"Out of all problems you opened up to me every night, you never said anything about you being philanthropic. The kids told me how you work yourself to death like your cousin Luisa before I came around. If I'm gonna let you stick around, calling me your 'princess', my order is for you to not self-destruct. THIS is just an everyday favor since I owe you one for saving my life, so... expect your princésa to treat you as her 'príncipe'..." she mentioned, disbelief and nervous by the whole outcome and consequences of his gift.

That was one hell of declaration coming from her and it got him a little flushed and embarrassed that she was willing to get her hands dirty. Of course, she lets him do some of his routines, but she dully noted him about not shapeshifting as he finish it. To his work list that requires a lot of shape shifting, she handles them herself.

The only job she refused to do is babysitting. She used to love kids, but now she hates them after learning the guardian's deaths, so Camilo took care of it as he watches her lift a few barrels one by one into the wagon, worrying that she might slip.

Now that the morning has ended, he soon lead her to one of his best places. While going there, he questions her concern from his powers and all she said was enough to secure his smile back to his lips, "I just don't want someone like you, who is the backbone of the family, lose their mind on forgetting who they used to be. I, for one, dealt with something similar. And now, I lost the person that I considered the most important part in my life..."

"Does that mean I'm also 'important', mi príncesa?~" he teased with a smirk before she pushed his face away from hers.

"Just so you know, I'm a hard princess to impress, so don't bother..." Luciana reminded. The shapeshifter only shook his head before he escorts her to a store, filled with nothing, but mannequins on the corners and scattered old empty papers and brushes from the floor. A vase filled with hyacinths and lavender blended well with elegance as it rest there steadily in a stand table. The sunlight was reflecting its energy from the open window as a yellow butterfly flew in.

There's even a stand mirror, but it was covered by a white sheet blanket. Everything else was plain, vague and dusty and a mess, but she didn't mind it one bit and just look around as she puts her basket somewhere close to the door. "What up with this place?" She asked.

"All of this...—used to feel magical when I was Antonio's age... I remember it so well. It was during my gift ceremony too..." Camilo mentioned out loud as Luciana's eyes follows his figure grabbing a silver paint brush next to the vase as he looks at it.

"... before I got my gift..." he reveals as he slowly opens a sudden box of old, yet still fresh wet paint before dipping the clean silver brush. "It was supposed to be the best day of my life, but... Little Me got scared..." he admitted. So he's story-telling... He was staring intensely at the empty canvas before he covered it with yellow smudges.

"I can't remember why I started a breakdown that night and keep covering all the mirrors that didn't show my reflection. And when I had enough, I ran off while the celebration is still on going..." The sunflower vase stood still, along with her as Luciana glance at the way he holds the silver brush. He glide it across the canvas before the boy points the covered mirror from the corner.

"...I went to this place where the magic happens since I remembered that there's this one particular mirror that would show me what I really look like... Then I saw you, but in my age, next to me in that mirror that I can see myself from..."