You could say Alice and Fairy were Ella's closest friends.
They were almost always seen together at school. Of course, they were classmates too. Ella shared a desk with Alice, while Fairy sat right behind them. I don't know why, but ever since the very first day of school, the three of them just clicked. Like they'd known each other forever.
They always sat at the very back row, in the corner near the window. During lessons, they loved whispering to each other, giggling softly, laughing just loud enough to distract the students around them. And that wasn't all. One time, they even got caught sneaking snacks into class. A whole bag of potato chips. The three of them secretly ate while the teacher was explaining something on the board.
In my opinion, Alice and Fairy weren't good influences, Inspector.
They were bad examples for Ella.
Alice, that loud girl with the black headband, cheated a lot. On assignments. On exams. She often "forgot" to do her homework, always using the excuse that she'd left her notebook at home. She wore heavy makeup every single day. Her nails were always painted in bright, colorful polish, completely ignoring school rules. And the most annoying thing? Alice really believed she was prettier than everyone else. Totally narcissistic.
Did you know, Inspector?
Alice once gave herself a nickname.
"Call me Queen," she said. "Queen Alice."
Most people thought she was joking. They laughed, calling her Queen Alice in an exaggerated, playful tone. But Alice didn't seem to think it was a joke at all. I saw her expression back then. Chin lifted, eyes looking down on everyone else, and that smile… a smile drunk on popularity.
Seeing Ella so close to Alice made me uneasy.
Then there was Fairy.
Fairy might not have been as narcissistic as Alice, but that small, short girl wasn't any better. She was a bad influence too. Always sleeping in class. Always late to school. Lazy. Constantly complaining whenever she was told to do anything even slightly tiring, like running laps around the field or delivering something to the teachers' office.
"Why does it have to be me?" That was Fairy's favorite line.
I remember once, Drizella and I were on cleaning duty with her.
It was Wednesday. Classes had ended, and the dismissal bell rang. I divided the tasks with Drizella. Since she was strong, she handled the chairs, lifting them onto the desks. My job was sweeping.
Fairy got the easiest task. Just wiping the windows and cleaning the blackboard. That's it. But she refused.
"Why me?" she complained.
"Because it's your turn today," Drizella answered, clearly annoyed.
"That's an easy job, right? You two do it. I'm going home."
"No way," Drizella blocked the doorway.
"Clean the windows first."
Fairy let out an exaggerated sigh, looked at me and Drizella one by one, then lifted her index finger like she was holding a magic wand.
"Magic duster and magic cloth, clean that window," she said dramatically. Then she added, "Abracadabra!"
Honestly, Fairy's ridiculous behavior wasn't surprising. She did stuff like that all the time. Pretending to be a witch from some wonderland, waving an imaginary wand everywhere. She'd even told people about her "adventures" in elf forests, meetings with dwarf kings, and a magic staff made from the wood of the Tree of Eden.
"Her imagination is wild,"
"She's cute, like a little kid,"
"She must read a lot of fairy tales."
That's what our classmates used to say.
At first, I thought Fairy was kind of cute too. Small body, soft voice, the way she talked… it really felt like talking to a five-year-old. Like having a little sister. But her selfish attitude quickly made her annoying in my eyes.
"Look. I already cleaned the window with my magic," Fairy said, pointing at a window that was obviously still covered in dust. "I'm going home now. Move."
"Not that easy, Fae."
Drizella and Fairy got into a small argument after that. Drizella refused to move aside. In the end, Fairy gave in, reluctantly. Her brows stayed furrowed the whole time, and she wouldn't stop muttering complaints while wiping the window.
That's the kind of people Alice and Fairy were, Inspector.
I know I had no right to forbid Ella from being friends with them. But as her stepsister… I thought she should have been more careful choosing her friends. She shouldn't have gotten that close to those two girls.
If only Ella hadn't been friends with them, Maybe…
Maybe…
Sorry, Inspector. I got carried away. I just remembered… something.
"Does that 'something' have to do with Ella?" you asked.
"What did Ella do?"
I… I don't know where to begin.
"Take it slow," you said.
I'll try, Inspector. Just a moment. Can I have another tissue?
Thank you.
Oh, right. Now that I think about it, it was almost the same back then.
He gave me a small pack of facial tissues too.
It was daytime. The sun was blazing right above us. I remember being in the library. After distancing myself from Alice and Fairy, who had tried to mess with me, I sat alone among the books, quietly crying between the science fiction shelves and the encyclopedia section.
I thought I was alone.
Aside from the librarian sitting faithfully behind the counter, there shouldn't have been anyone else there.
I should've been able to cry freely, unnoticed.
But no, Inspector.
That day in the library…
I met my Prince.