Chronicle 9

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That summer I became the Lord and Lady of Ravens Manor. At 14 I was running a small empire and managed a large fortune under the Ravens name. I was so busy that I had forgotten how much I hated everything about learning to be a Lady of a house. I didn't have time for self-loathing. I didn't have the energy for resisting my tutors at every turn. At the time, I felt I owed my parents. The weight of the family name placed upon me. My mother didn't trust anyone but family to run finances, so I learned. I learned quickly. Like it was penance for all my years of resistance.

I always look back at my first gala with mixed feelings. My mother was not in attendance, so I was the sole hostess. I had prepared speeches, organized the guest speakers, ensured the event went without a single issue. The Malfoys were impressed, as were the attendees, if not a bit confused as to why the Lady Ravens herself was not present at one of her own flagship events of the year. I did it all. And I became numb to the exhaustion, the mental and physical effort these events placed upon me.

By the end of the summer, the paintings were whispering as I remained awake until the small hours of the morning finishing up finances, legal paperwork, countless letters, petitions, and responses to invitations all under Catalina's name. I had grown quite adept at forging her signature.

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