Prologue

“And you know what? My maid bought me a dress today. I wanted to wear it but she said that I can only wear it during birthdays or weddings. Now, I hate her”, the little girl ranted as she sat in front of the boy. Her hair was in twin tails and she was dressed very nicely.

“Is that so? Maybe it’s just so beautiful that you cannot wear it just anytime”, the boy answered, trying to sound positive.

“Hmm, it was really sparkly and it looked like the clouds. I cannot wait to show it to you when I finally wore it”, the little girl said and the boy just smiled at the radiance this girl was emitting.

“Baby, where are you?”

Both of them looked up. The little girl immediately stood up. 

“I promise to show you my dress when I finally wore it. Then, my maid won’t be angry”, she said with a big smile before running to where her maid was.

After two weeks, the little girl visited the boy once again and this time, wearing her sparkly dress just as she promised.

“Look, mister. I look like a princess from the movie”, she said while giggling and swaying her dress in different angles. The boy laughed and praised her. 

“You don’t look like a little princess.”

The little girl stopped what she was doing and faced him, with those huge begging sparkly eyes. 

“That is mean. My father and the other maids praised me since I look like one”, she said and pouted, ready to cry.

The boy moved closer to her and tried to wipe her teary eyes but she slapped his hand.

“I look like a princess. You’re the one who looks like the ugly frog”, the little girl continued to rant.

“Listen here, little miss. You don’t look like a princess since you are already one. Do you get it? You are a princess, not a fake princess”, he clarified and pulled out a ring from his pocket.

“Here, I’m giving it to you. Since it won’t fit in your fingers, I will put them together with your butterfly necklace”, the boy offered and the little girl immediately liked the look of the ring. It was blue and it matched her dress.

“You’re giving it to me?”, she asked.

“Yes, now come here so I can place it in your necklace”, he said and the little girl followed. She sat, her back on him, and he removed the lock of the necklace and inserted the silver chain in the ring. He locked it and asked the girl to look at him.

 

“Does it look good?”, she asked as she held the ring in her tiny hands.

“They look perfect, little miss. It added to your beauty”, he said.

The girl kissed him on his cheeks, mumbling a thank you, and ran to where her father was.

The little girl’s family attended a well-known and influential mafia boss’ birthday party. She was the one holding the box as a gift as they moved forward to where the mafia boss’ table is located.

“Alaric, happy birthday”, her father greeted. “Baby, you can now give uncle your gift.” 

The little girl struggled so Alaric got up from his chair to receive the gift.

“Happy birthday, uncle”, the little greeted when she gave him the box. 

The little girl’s father greeted once again before they went to their table. 

“Uncle, can we play with Ana?”, a girl with a bunch of kids behind her, asked.

“Please, papa”, the little girl begged and her father just smiled and nodded.

While running away from her friends since they are playing tag, she bumped into someone. She looked up and saw someone who resembled her friend. He looked down and his eyes widened. He tugged at Alaric and pointed at the girl.

The little girl didn't know that she ran towards the mafia boss' table.

Alaric faced her and didn’t miss how the ring on her necklace glistened.

“Princess, I only noticed it now but you have an amazing ring. Where did you get it?”, Alaric asked, matched with an enthusiastic tone not to scare the child off. 

“My friend gave it to me. He said that I am also a princess. I liked it since it matches my dress”, the little girl said innocently.

“Where is this friend of yours?”, he asked next, but now his voice is not as enthusiastic like before.

“Oh, he said that I should keep it a secret”, the little girl said as she looked down on her necklace and held it.

“What does he look like?”, Alaric asked, not caring why his location was a secret.

“He looked like an ugly frog, uncle. He is all dirty and had huge metal bracelets on his feet. He cannot play with me since I cannot open the door”, she merely answered and Alaric immediately stood up. At the same time, the little girl’s father came and hid his daughter behind him.

“What do you think you’re doing?”, he asked.

“I was just thanking your daughter for her gift. It was absolutely a good gift”, he said and returned to his seat.

The little girl and her father went to their table and the party started. 

Days passed and the little girl was excited to visit her grandmother but got sick on the day they were supposed to leave. She rested the whole day and night came. She was resting peacefully when she heard her door open with a bang. A maid came running towards her and scooped her up from bed. 

“Little miss, everything’s going to be okay”, she said calmly before gunshot after gunshot was heard. The little girl screamed but the maid just hugged her. She kicked the door to the balcony and didn’t hesitate jumping from there to the ground. The maid grunted but just rolled over so she can stand, still carrying the little girl. 

“LOOK FOR HIM! DO NOT HESITATE TO TEAR THE HOUSE DOWN!”, a familiar voice reached the little girl’s ears.

“Uncle…”, she mumbled as they ran through the open garden. 

The maid ducked when she spotted men coming their way. They could still hear shouts and gunshots from inside the house and the front gate.

“Nyanya (nanny), how about papa?”, she questioned while trying to keep her tears from falling.

“Papa is going to be fine. He’s going to be fine, little miss”, the maid assured and kissed her forehead.  She peeked again and looked at the dark forest they’re about to enter just to escape this madness. She stood up and ran to the forest’s entrance. 

The little girl, still facing their mansion, saw her father. Her father was held by men and made him kneel in front of a familiar figure. She saw how her father struggled and shouted at the men before coughing out blood. 

“AMOS! DO IT!”

Her eyes widened when her father laid on the ground after the figure in front of him shot him in the head.

“Amos?...”