Background:

If the world were less cruel and corrupt, Miaslava Molotova might have been a decent mother. Motherhood was forced upon her and as anyone knows, when one is given no choice, it often leads to resentment and bitterness.

When she was younger she imagined she would grow up, fall in love, get married, and have children, but that happy dream was nothing like what it turned out to be.

She wanted an education but her father arranged for her to marry a highly beneficial informant called ‘Denhilov’ within the Rusklavan Underground. She was forced to wed or end up unsupported.

Mia was beautiful, the only child of a powerful family, and she led a privileged life until she realized those privileges were born on top of piles of corpses and it could be taken away in a snap if she didn’t fall in line.

Her husband was kind at first, but her resentment of the situation soured their relationship and he was less so when she found out his secrets, often beating her until she pretended to be unconscious so he would just leave her be.

The only times he did not was when she was pregnant–and to choose between pregnancy and physical violence is hardly a choice.

It didn’t help that her firstborn, a son named Alerik, is the spitting image of his father. She hated looking at him, especially as he grew more into his features. She was more agreeable to her daughter, Elenoire, but still wished she’d never had any children at all. Why would anyone want to bring others into this cruel world?

Her husband clearly loved his children more than her, the way he doted on Alerik made her blood boil as he never afforded her any affection anymore, only violence. She was jealous, she was petty, and she was the reason the Kashmire’s SCIA blasted into her house and took her husband out in front of Alerik when he was only 8 years old. She wanted to be free of monsters, and she didn't care what had to be done to get what she wanted.

After that, she fled Ruskslovia and from the influence of her father because if there was one thing she feared, it was her daughter would be forced to live the same horrors as Mia. Or worse, Alerik would be snatched up and groomed to be the next monster in her father’s empire of crime. Her plan was to use the fortune her grandmother had hidden and hoarded but that all went astray when the key to it disappeared with the SCIA agents.

Taking care of children without the support of a partner is hard but using manipulative tactics such as emotional blackmail, guilt-tripping, and gaslighting, she could at least make her son do her bidding, and since she believed it was his fault the key was gone she determined he would be the one to help her get it back.

Mia sustained head injuries and mental abuse during those years with Denhilov. Her judgment started to tailspin, as well as her temper, and her reality.

It was a challenge for Erik to keep her tempered, and protect Noire. She refused to seek help, solely focused on the key to wealth–an obsession. This chase after it took them across many different countries while avoiding her father and looking for information until she could emigrate to Kashmire.