(MC POV)
"Papa, read me a bedtime story," Aurora asked excitedly as she hugged me.
"Of course...my heart" I replied and headed towards her room with her over my shoulder.
I let her lead me to her room. It took us a few minutes to get there.
Apart from the soft sound of our footsteps, the room was quiet and warm and everything had its own rhythm. I looked around and saw that the room was the same as always.
On the table next to the bed stood small figurines that I had chosen for her, representing ancient stories of distant lands, of princes and fairies. There was also a book on the table, one of those she loved, the book clearly conveying a sense of age. Although she was still young, her desire to learn as well as her intelligence were enormous.
The walls of the room were covered with wallpaper in shades of purple, with painted flowers and butterflies that seemed to float in the air. The extinguished lava lamp lay unlit.
Aurora walked over to the bed and lay down on it. I walked over to her and slowly took the blanket from her hands. I spread the blanket and slowly tucked it in, making sure that no part of it was exposed.
I pulled a large armchair out of the corner of the room and sat down next to it. With one hand I grabbed a book from the table and began to leaf through the stories. I placed my other hand on Aurora's head and began to stroke her head.
"Dad," she said quietly as she brushed her disheveled hair out of her face, "will you read me a new story?"
"Of course, Aurora," I replied, stopping the thick book on a carefully marked illustration. And as I leafed through the illustration to the first page of the story, she looked down, thinking about what I was going to read to her, she tried to peek to see what it was about, but I completely blocked her psychic senses.
I looked at the first page of the fairy tale, and then at her. Aurora waited, breathing lightly. And then I began.
"Once upon a time there was a little girl," I began, speaking in a low voice "who had long, golden hair."
Aurora's white hair turned golden at my words.
"Like me?" her gentle voice interrupted me.
I smiled. "Yes, like you. Golden hair that shone like the sun."
Both pink and white hair. Aurora changed her hair color at will, sometimes several times during the day.
Aurora smiled, and then her gaze became serious, almost questioning. She was trying to figure out what it was all about.
"Rapunzel was the most beautiful girl you've ever seen, whose hair was so long that it was braided in a golden braid. That's why they called her Rapunzel, because her hair shone like gold."
"And Rapunzel was imprisoned by the wicked witch in a high tower, surrounded by walls and invisible boundaries," I continued. "Although she was beautiful, her beauty had no freedom. Although she was innocent, she had no choice in her fate."
"Why did that woman imprison her? Aurora asked, interrupting me, but her voice was low and full of concern.
"Because the wicked witch, evil and jealous of Rapunzel' beauty, wanted to keep her in her possession," I replied, following her every expression. "She wanted to use her, to confine her, to possess her. But Rapunzel, she longed to leave the tower in which she had grown up."
"And what did Rapunzel do? How did she escape?" she asked with increasing curiosity.
"One day, the prince came across a tower. Enchanted by her voice, he seeks her out and discovers the tower, but cannot enter it. The prince often returns to the tower, listens to Rapunzel' beautiful singing, and one day he sees the witch visiting her as usual and learns how to approach her. When the witch leaves, the prince asks Rapunzel to let her hair down. Thinking that the witch is calling her again, she lets her hair down and the prince climbs up. While the witch visits her during the day, the prince will bring his wife a strand of silk every night until she has enough to climb down the tower and ride away with him.
Aurora watched quietly, then whispered, "Brave of them?"
"Yes," I replied. "They were brave because they believed they could escape."
And I continued reading.
"How come my hair is harder when you climb up than the young prince?" Rapunzel innocently asked the witch.
"The witch was terribly angry. She had hidden Rapunzel, kept her to herself, and now she realized that she had been deceived. She took scissors, cut off her golden hair, and with her spells transported the girl to the desert at the end of the world. Then she returned to the tower and waited. When night fell, the prince said
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let your golden hair down the window.
The witch firmly grasps one end of the cut braid, and lowers the other down the tower. The prince climbed up and to his horror saw the ugly face of the witch in the window."
I saw Aurora clutching her eyes, covering them so she couldn't see. I smiled a little because despite the claims that she was big and not scaried, she was still a child.
I continued reading.
"She mocked and laughed at him."There is no more Rapunzel, and there will be no more of you!"
"And she pounced on the poor young man. He fell on sharp thorns at the foot of the tower. Blind, desperate and unhappy, he mounted his horse. He wandered around the world looking for Rapunzel. A little later in the wilderness, Rapunzel gives birth to her children, twins a boy and a girl."
"Years passed. Despite his blindness, the prince never forgot his beloved's song. And then, one day, the young man arrived in the desert at the end of the world and heard Rapunzel' song. He called her by name. Crying, the girl hugged and caressed the face of her prince. Two of her tears fell into the prince's eyes and immediately restored his sight. The prince took his beloved and their children to his kingdom where they lived happily ever after.
"And they were happy with the king?" Aurora asked.
I paused for a moment, looking into her eyes. I hid my lips in a soft smile. She had no idea how much fun this question was for me to answer.
"They are." I answered and added "They never gave up on each other even though they were sorely lost.
"Will she win?" Aurora asked, looking at me with a seriousness that, although childish, was strong.
"Win what, my princess?" I asked, smiling as I moved her hair.
"Well, the wicked witch, of course. Will the witch be punished?" she asked again, now with a serious expression on her face.
"Rapunzel has already won, Aurora," I said quietly, before looking her in the eye. "Because the witch was left alone in her old age and never had anyone."
I knew this would not satisfy Aurora because her view of things was much more ruthless despite her young age.
"Will I be a princess too?" she asked in a low, shy voice.
"You're already a princess," I answered with a smile, "Although we don't have such a position because I'm immortal, you're already a princess."
I caressed her head, and she quietly lowered her eyelids.
I'll have to talk to Malcador after this about the direction we want the Imperium to go. As if she knew what I was thinking, Aurora opened her eyes and exclaimed, "Another story."
I knew it would come to this. I sank deeper into the armchair and leafed through the book a bit, stopping at a different story, "Of course my little kitten."
'This is going to be a very long night,' I thought to myself.