33

AMELIA

"Why does love have to come so hard to me,"

I sat there, my mind filled with worry and uncertainty, a memory from my past floated to the surface. I could see myself as a little girl, sitting on a stool while my mother gently combed my hair. She had a warm smile on her face as she looked at me lovingly.

"You are so beautiful, Amelia," she said softly, her voice filled with affection.

I gazed up at her with wide eyes, filled with wonder and curiosity. "Will I become a queen one day, Mama?"

My mother's embrace tightened around me, and she whispered, "Yes, my darling. You are destined for greatness. One day, you will be a queen, ruling over a whole kingdom."

I remember feeling a mixture of excitement and doubt. A queen? Me? It seemed like such a grand and distant dream. But my mother's words filled me with a sense of possibility, as if anything was within my reach.

As the memory played in my mind, I could almost hear my mother's voice again, reassuring me of my potential. It was a