I was thoroughly disgusted with his feelings of disgust towards me.

He simply told me : “When we were children, I thought appearances didn’t matter…but now, I can see clearer.”

What can you see clearly, hm? That I’m a monster?

That’s what I had told him, and he had responded most sourly.

“I see you for something that’s forbidden.”

He hit the nail right on the head.

It’s true – I was forbidden in all aspects. It was forbidden for Jasper to be my friend.

It was forbidden for me to go past the palace walls.

It was forbidden for me to show myself to others.

And why? Because they were ashamed. My family was ashamed.

I had stormed out of the palace grounds, completely crushed by Jasper’s onslaught, only to come across a rather interesting argument between my father and my aunt.

Being curious, I stood behind a corner and listened.

I sometimes wish I hadn’t – but then I would have never known my origins.

My memory keeps reminding me every day of what I had heard.