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"Is there any problem, sweetheart? You look troubled."
Suletta looks at her mother through the notebook screen. Despite the distance that separates them, when they talk, she always seems to be by her side. That reassures Suletta most days.
Not today.
"N-n-no! I m-m-mean yes! I m-m-mean no! M-m-m-maybe?"
Prospera Mercury waits patiently for her daughter to finish speaking, no judgment on her face.
Suletta's cheeks are now the color of Miorine's tomatoes. She holds her breath for a second, tries to gather all the courage she can muster, and finally sighs.
"Mom, how did you... how did you know you had fallen in love with Dad?"
The question almost catches Prospera off guard, but she smiles at her daughter.
"Well, Suletta, this is not an easy question. You don't have a dial that tells you 'when you reach this point, you are in love.' Also, most of the time, love is not something that happens overnight. In the case of your father and I, we worked together. That meant we shared a lot of hours in each other's company. At first, we became good friends. After a while, we both knew we were in love with each other. There was no special moment when we realized it. It was more the sum of several moments, small gestures, details, conversations, the way we looked at each other, how much we thought about each other when we were not by each other's side..." Prospera's smile broads. "Usually, people around you realize way before you do that you are in love."
Suletta nods.
"I've... been... spending time together with someone. I think... I hope we are friends. At least I consider her my friend." Suletta tries to sound as calm as she can, but there's a note of helplessness in her voice. "Most of the time, it's very hard to know what she's thinking... or feeling. B-b-but I don't wanna pressure her or hurt her feelings..."
"Is she taking advantage of you?"
"NO!!! It's nothing like that!" Suletta waves her arms vigorously to stress her words, then pauses for a second. She doesn't want to tell her mother about the whole dueling mess. Not yet. But she doesn't want her to think Miorine is using her or anything of the sort.
"Does she enjoys your company?"
"Yes, yes! Well... I think so." She tries to catch her breath and convey everything she has felt since her arrival at Asticassia. "Her mood can be very hard to read. It's as if she's constantly wearing a mask so no one can see how she's really like. But I have seen her true self. She has so much sadness inside her, Mom. And hatred. I've never seen anyone hate so much. Hate towards her father, for being a tyrant who dominates her life and imposes cruel rules on her. Towards the world around her, who stole her mother from her. And also fear. Of not being able to escape a destiny in which what she thinks, wants or feels doesn't matter. Worst of all, no one cares or has lifted a finger to help her."
"Poor girl!"
"But when I'm with her, there are some moments when everything vanishes as if it was just a bad dream that disappears upon awakening." Suletta's face lights up. "Sometimes... she even smiles. And I've even heard her laugh once." Suletta lowers her voice, her cheeks flushed, and looks away from the phone. "It... it made my heart race."
"And you, do you enjoy her company?"
"More than anything else in the world." As she says this, she feels guilty. "I didn't mean it like that! I also love to be together with Aerial! But..."
Prospera smiles.
"Aerial is your sister and you love her. Nothing will change that. But this girl..."
"Miorine." Every time Suletta hears herself pronouncing Miorine's name, she gets goosebumps.
"But Miorine is someone very special, right?"
"Yes, Mom. She is."
"How do you feel when she's not around?"
"Sometimes I am nervous and I find it hard to concentrate. Even Aerial has noticed it. Other times I start counting the time until I can see her again. But most of the time I imagine she's there, next to me, smiling."
"And when you are with her?"
"I feel... whole. As if she's part of me, the part that makes me want to be a better person. She completes me and makes me happy. Even if I'm just watching her work quietly in her greenhouse. She's brilliant, talented and, above all, so brave. I couldn't have withstood what she has had to go through."
"My sweet Suletta, you are totally, madly in love with your friend Miorine."