Almila
"My lady, forgive my bluntness, but you don't resemble a southerner at all. Your appearance is much more reminiscent of northerners."
The short-haired young girl said this while combing my hair. I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
Her words didn't anger me. The tension coiled inside my chest left no room for any other emotion to settle there. Besides, I had heard the same thing many times before. Even members of my own pack used to compare me to northerners.
Ever since my father died, I had often overheard younger pack members, those who had never even seen him, whispering about it.
Unlike the other southerners, my father hadn't had sun-darkened tanned skin or brown hair. With his blond hair and pale complexion, he stood apart from them even in appearance. When he became leader, there were many who questioned his origins, suspicious of his lineage.
Even I, when I was little, had once asked him whether someone in his family had been Northern.
