Chapter 47

𝕾𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓 𝖙𝖔: 𝕭𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖍𝖔𝖑𝖊 𝕾𝖐𝖞 𝖇𝖞 𝕿𝖆𝖞𝖑𝖔𝖗 𝕾𝖜𝖎𝖋𝖙

***

When the time of parting came, dark gray skies loomed over the entire empire, creating a torturous sound of drums beating together at once. Flashes of lightning seared through different areas, as the quiet rustling of leaves doubled its intensity.

However, the face of the people whom I cared about, that was about to leave our household, couldn't be compared to any calamities that might occur, not when they were more precious than jewels in the night skies.

"Do you trust us Vestia?" I heard Henry chuckle at the end of his sentence but when the warmth suddenly turned to be ice cold, my hat that got swayed by the strong wind flew endlessly in the mighty grayish skies.

I could see Claudius run over the place, but I just chuckled and yet, my attention shifted from around the place towards Henry when his warmth suddenly came back to my cheeks.

"Then also promise us that no matter what we may do in the future, you won't stop believing in us"

"I promise," I took his pinky finger and intertwined it with mine while Claudius managed to hand me my wet hat, I also grabbed his pinky finger, then beamed.

"I promise so both of you should just do what you planned as long as it wouldn't result in any harm for the good"

"We promise, our dearest precious friend..." the last smile, the last warmth, and the last appearance I had to see was within this weather that was sympathizing with my emotions.

But then, why does the weather always become like this? In my first life, the softest damped of water came through my skin penetrating its emptiness of warmth collided with my fusion of fading energy and now, when I started to lose friends in this way, that soft cotton cold balls turned to melt and harshly descend to our figures with sounds of anger from the sky.

Every parting should be sweet, and warm with sunny weather but this wasn't what I had expected, not when everything I had in my life, was full of agony.

I don't want to repeat what had happened but I felt stuck in this loop where I could do little in my power.

Was it because I lacked any power to begin with? But if I have power where would I be able to use it?

"....Milady?" My thoughts came to a halt after gazing at my hands for a long time. I turned to look at the window in front of me and saw that the towel I had in my hair was still there.

"Yes, Anna?" I asked and she immediately led me to sit and fixed my damped hair.

"You've been spacing out for quite some time now, ever since young master Henry and Sir Claudius left earlier..." I knew that Anna reminded me of the people I cared about not to paint me hurt but to remind me how my two friends would want me to live my life without them for years.

I knew that they also wouldn't want me to be like this. As the air came through my body, I closed my eyes and imagined the sweet nostalgia of my past together with the two as if we were in the middle of the meadow with our hands intertwined with each other.

But when I came to open my eyes, reality hit and the sweet wild sounds from the skies, the continuous pouring of water and grayish skies embedded my vision.

I heard Anna walk through my side and when I looked at the mirror, my figure remained the same, but the face that I once had, resembled the past of my agonizing vision.

As if my lips couldn't be lifted anymore, no matter what I tried.

"Milady..." Anna said and I looked at her adjusting my head down. She bent nearly to sit on the floor while her hands covered mine with warmth and endless caress.

Her eyes spoke of care and tenderness, shone from the darkness of the world, and her lips would always curl up, becoming a determining factor of my tomorrow's light but then, I knew that this too shall disappear, not within my heart but from within my sight.

The lingering passion, and loyalty Anna has to me never faded and it would always grow with time, but I knew that once my plans had started, the tiny light of warmth that I had established within those past years, would eventually come to change.

I don't know how much change will occur in these upcoming years, but I knew for once that even if they change, new beginnings will always arise, when the season of winter ends, I knew the spring of new beginnings would start.

And I believe in my friends, as well as my family without them, I wouldn't be here where I was, and I wouldn't be able to learn my lessons the hard way.

"You know that for whatever we come across within the sea, we will always find ourselves at the end of our sail," I knew those words, and I would always treasure them because just like Anna in my past life, she would always say these things to remind me of the happiness that I once had.

Because I don't like to be the one who always receives warmth, I tried to envelop my hands around Anna and led her to stand.

"Anna, you know about our promise right?" I asked and she chuckled

"Of course, Milady"

"Then, do everything you can, to be alive, because I won't accept your mission if you wouldn't make it, Anna. Not when I forbid you to die..."

Perhaps, that was the last day we talked together because right now, the hands that I once had warmth in them, from Henry, Claudius, and Anna, seemed to linger for a few seconds before disappearing little by little.

I tried to put my hands around my body but no matter what I did, the warmth kept on fading away, and little by little, it would be replaced by the cold icy passing breezes from the rainy days.

"So Vestia, you have already decided what's best to do now, and this time, I guess for now, you'll have to choose some of the maids to be your personal ones temporarily----" I didn't let Father finish his words.

As soon as he ordered me to come to his room for some conversation, I knew the time would come for me to decide matters on my own.

It's only yesterday but if let like I was stuck in this loop for an eternity.

"I would still think of that Father, besides, may I ask about your investigations on the small village of Austuria?" I asked but I never thought to see how his eyes widened for a moment before shaking his head and sighing.

"I guess you would never forget that matter," he said. He reached one of his drawers and claimed some papers within.

"Before giving these to you, I would want to ask you for a favor, Vestia...." He paused then he looked at the papers he was holding.

"No matter how much you found out about these documents, you should keep your mouth shut until the right time..."

***

My hands held the brown envelope, my eyes kept on staring at them and I didn't know how many seconds, minutes, or hours had passed since then.

If Anna were here, she would immediately remind me of my actions but now that I think about it, the room that was once warm and lively became a dust-chilling coldness.

The darkness never went away, and each time I closed my eyes, I kept being reminded of the past, my first life where I suffered from within an empty-looking cage, everywhere was cold, there was no light or hope and the metals I kept clinging for one day were all rusted to the core.

I only wanted to live with happy life in the past, but because of misunderstandings, or some knowledge that I wasn't able to learn, everything turned into something I dread.

"Milady...."

"Anna?" I tried to ask, but only the silhouette of a smiling Anna was beside me, she was shining like never before, and her eyes and lips would always curl up, remain until the sight faded away through the endless abyss of reminiscence.

Shaking my head, laughter came through my throat but why did some water come pouring down to my bedsheets, why did my hands that held the envelope earlier cling so much to the soft fabric that it wouldn't let go, and why does my room sound like it's crying?

I don't know but the throbbing of my heart, the ache within my mind wouldn't let me concentrate on opening the envelope and so I continued to sink into that deeper abyss of darkness.

Until then, I would let myself be structured again, after opening my eyes.

"Vestia"

"Vestia, come on, don't just stay in there"

"You know that we're always here for you even if we're far away"

"Don't say that you forgot about our promise, right?"

"Besides, you promise to help my household, right?"

"Also, I promise you Milady I will come back alive so until then, please be healthy and pursue the dreams you wanted to become..."

I wanted to stay in that darkness but every second of it consisted of the people's voices that I cared about. Then just like that, my eyes opened and I gasp

"There's no time to waste about, I needed to go towards those doors, and I will read this document later..."

Perhaps, without them, I wouldn't be able to move forward.

But with the sudden thoughts, I never expected what I would know next.

***

"My lord, it seemed that the neighboring empire of the South, the Hildigger, is currently planning for a war that might take years later"

"Tell me, are there any traitors amongst us?"

"I couldn't conclude on that yet, but it seemed that there were some suspicious actions from a viscount in the west side of our empire..."