The Tragedy of Rosaria

 It felt like only days had passed since I first woke up here, in this very room. From the moment I opened my eyes and saw stone walls unevenly stacked, the tapestries and paintings on the wall, a bed that felt more luxurious than anything I had ever slept in before in my life, and that magic light glowing in the corner, humming like something alive. I still remembered the way my fingers phased through it, like it wasn’t really there. A trick of this world, I had thought at the time. A reminder I wasn’t in my old world anymore.

Now, standing before the tall mirror, I couldn’t help the staggering ache that gnawed at my chest. My reflection stared back at me, too familiar and too foreign all at once. Light pink hair spilled over my shoulders, forest-green eyes shimmering like glass, pale skin almost ghostly in the morning light. A character whom I had seen art of on Amor’s social media, alone with everyone else in this world.

Rosaria Drewitt. Also known as Rosaria Romancio. The bastard daughter of the king and Darren’s half-sister. A secret that all kept, until the saintess made herself present. Only doomed to lose her throne to her brother, or reign ruler of a broken and doomed kingdom. Would it ever be revealed? Or would I live my life with the truth locked away, smothering me as the first Rosaria? The one who was left in the background, left in ignorant bliss living her life happily with the Drewitt family in ‘Historia’s Ever After’?

I pressed my hands to the cool wood of the wardrobe, my breath unsteady. For a second, I thought I saw a flicker of myself. Rose Evergreen. The girl who died in a car accident. The girl who was supposed to be gone. The girl who was never meant to exist in this story at all.

But the mirror didn’t care who I used to be. It only reflected Rosaria.

The loneliness hit harder than I expected. I thought coming back to the Drewitt estate would be a relief, a place to breathe after everything at Nightfall Academy, and the horrors of the creatures of darkness. Instead, the silence of these stone walls pressed down on me like a weight. I was in an unknown world that differed from the stories I had come to know. I saved Sylvia and Amanda from that crash…. but in doing so I lost them. They were out there, alive, but I wasn’t with them. I was no longer sitting beside them in class, whispering secrets into my ear, laughing at the dumbest things. No longer having movie nights at my place, or reading Amor’s book as we drank Boba tea… I felt utterly alone in a world where I felt myself second guess my actions, doing my damnest to pretend to be Rosaria. Sure, she was similar to how I acted, but Estel’s concern about me being able to use Saintess magic wasn’t ever supposed to happen. Not according to the books.

Tears slipped before I could stop them. Slowly, then gradually a stream of them fell. I buried my face in my hands, and I felt myself trembling as the sound tore through me.

I hated this. I hate feeling so weak. But the truth was, I was afraid. Afraid of how easily I could lose everything again. Afraid that no matter how hard I fought, Historia would still drag Estel back into her light and leave me in the shadows. Afraid that the truth of who Rosaria really was would surface, and I would lose the little I had managed to build.

The girl in the mirror looked back at me with pity, and I hated her too. Because she wasn’t me. And yet she was all I had. She was all I was. And who knew if I would be able to go back home, because as much as I loved Amor’s stories, this world was terrifying to me. Isolation of the soul feels like a curse.

A sharp knock on the door startled me out of my spiral. I hurried to wipe my eyes, though my cheeks still burned red. When I opened it, Harry and Allen were standing there, both of them frowning as they saw my red face. Though whatever they had to tell me was more urgent than my tear-stung eyes..

“Rosaria,” Harry said, his tone more careful than usual. “Father and Mother want to see you in the drawing room. They said it is… important.”

Allen crossed his arms, his expression sharper. “They sent us to get you, mentioned to us that it was important for everyone to hear…”

My stomach sank. Something important, with no servants? That never meant anything good. But a sudden thought crossed my mind. Was Baron Drewitt about to tell everyone about Rosaria’s true lineage? But why? There wasn’t any urgent need or triggers this time around to even mention it.

I followed them through the estate halls, my footsteps echoing off stone walls lined with old family portraits. Some from when I was young, others when Allen and Harry were younger. The Drewitt family always had a keen eye for artistry..

When we reached the drawing room, Baron Drewitt was already there, seated near the fire with Baroness Drewitt beside him. Both their faces were stiff. As the Baron motioned with his hands, the servants quietly bowed and left, closing the doors behind them until it was only us.

Baron Drewitt’s gaze fixed on me. “Rosaria dear, please sit.”

I obeyed, perching on the edge of the armchair across from him, my fingers twisting together in my lap. It was finally time. Or so I hoped. I was desperate to finally have something that aligned more so with the books I knew, even if it was sooner than it should have been.

He leaned forward slightly, his hands steepled as he nervously shook. “It seems we can no longer wait. Word has spread through the academy that the spell Luz was used in the forest. The kind no ordinary mage could summon. And, pardon me from snooping into your academic life dear, but… from what I have gathered, only you and Estel were there when it appeared.”

My pulse spiked. Oh…. no… was that what’s going to trigger the conversation? I shook my head quickly. “It wasn’t me. I don’t know what happened father. Perhaps Estel-”

“Do not lie to me, Rosaria.” His voice was firm, not unkind, but final. His voice extra firm on my name. “I know you are hiding it, dear. You have always been a poor liar. No matter how you dress it up, I can see it written on your face.”

My throat tightened. I lowered my eyes, but said nothing. This was already an outlier in terms of what I knew, what would come of knowing I could use saintess magic?

The Baron let out a slow breath and sat back in his chair. “Then it is time you know the truth, Rosaria. The story you have been told of your birth is not the real one. You are not only Rosaria Drewitt, my daughter in name. You are Rosaria Romancio, first child of the king.”

The room seemed to tilt around me. My mouth went dry, but I stayed silent as he continued.

“What?” Harry said, slapping his hands on the couch backing I rested on.

“But… Mother was pregnant with Rosaria! What do you mean she’s not our sister?”

“Boys..” The Baroness said gently, signaling them to remain calm.

“Your mother was the Saintess. The one who blessed these lands with peace. For the first time in history, the Saintess married the king. It was not out of greed or politics, as the people whispered after her passing during childbirth, but out of love. They cherished each other.” His eyes softened for a moment. “But when she passed, and the king remarried, the child she left behind was suddenly in danger. You were in danger.”

The Baroness lowered her gaze, her hands clutching her skirts. “Rumors spread that the child was kidnapped and killed. That it was punishment from the goddess herself, for daring to bind the Saintess to the throne. People believed it was divine wrath.”

“But that is not the truth,” the Baron pressed on, his eyes sharp on mine. “The truth is that your mother’s most loyal maid overheard the new queen’s plan to kill the child. The king acted swiftly. He entrusted you to me, his old friend from our academic years. I raised you as my own to protect you. To protect his bloodline.”

I forced my eyes to widen, to let my lips part in surprise. I knew this, but Rosaria did not. “Me…? The king’s daughter…?”

He nodded solemnly. “Yes. While the world believes otherwise, you are alive. Safe. But now, with what happened in the forest, it may no longer be possible to keep you hidden.”

Inside, my heart was strangely steady. Because I knew this story already. Because for once, something in this twisted, spiraling world lined up with the novel I had read. ‘His Amour’ had written it the same way. Rosaria Romancio, the king’s hidden daughter. Announced as so only after her hard achievements that made Darren flawed in every way possible. Only, because she believed Estel was worth it, just as I do right now.

I swallowed and forced my voice to tremble. “Why… why are you telling me this now?”

The Baron’s gaze did not waver. “Because the king always knew this day might come. He feared the queen, feared what she would do to you, but he believed you would survive. That the truth would surface one day. And now, with you displaying the power of the Saintess, the same powers your mother had…. The time for hiding may be drawing to an end.”

His words pressed heavy on my chest, but my thoughts churned in secret. Relief, faint and bitter. At least this part of the novel had not shifted. At least I knew the truth of Rosaria’s birth was consistent. But what did it mean for me, a girl from another world? Not Rosaria Romancio, but Rose Evergreen?

I sat still, nodding faintly, trying to look shaken and small. Inside, though, I was already calculating. If the world stayed true to Amor’s story, then sooner or later, everyone would know who I really was. Darren would end up in agony. Estel would die. And Historia? The one who would cry her heart for the sake of her image, leaving the character Rosaria, and anyone that inhabited her, utterly ruined. There was no happy end. That was only for ‘Historia's ever After’. Fairytale endings aren’t possible in a world filled with chaotic creatures of darkness, with two dragons at war with one another, and certainly not for one where an outlier from another world came to invade it.

There will only be a tragedy. And like every good tragedy, everyone ends up dead, or miserable.

Just as Amor had made it so.