Later that same evening—Naenna, Earlene, and Anicia returned from city seeing. The three of them were around the same age although Earlene was a bit older than Anicia and Naenna.
The carriage returned to the mansion at the twilight of dusk. The sun was setting amidst the white clouds creating a blanket of saffron, scarlet, and violet hues enveloping the entire sky. The scarlet-red sun was just above the mountain peaks creating an image of it slowly hiding away behind them as it dipped down slowly.
The girls one by one got out of the carriage while laughing and giggling merrily. They truly seemed to have had a lot of fun exploring the city since all of them wore pleasant smiles on their faces.
Ethan who was leaning over on the wall at the main entrance and had been waiting for them to arrive looked at the cheerful scene with a puzzled look as he thought, 'How do women become best friends in such little time? These three seem to be in perfect harmony.'
The three of them walked hand in hand with smiles and arrived at the entrance of the mansion and saw Ethan who was leaning on the compound wall just near the gate lost in thought.
"Eth! What are you doing here?" Naenna jumped in excitement as she saw Ethan. She quickly ran to hug him leaving behind Anicia who looked at Ethan curiously and Earlene who rolled her eyes.
"Hey sis, don't do that!" Ethan promptly dodged Naenna who ran up to him stretching her arms hoping to give Ethan a tight hug.
"But why? Look how cute you are! Don't you agree?" Naenna said as she glanced at the two girls while snuggling up to Ethan wrapping her arms around his neck and rubbing her cheeks to his.
"Well... He doesn't look that bad I guess." Earlene said shying away from speaking up as she had been in a habit of always underestimating Ethan in front of others.
While Anicia shook her head first left and right and then up and down in confusion. She didn't know what she felt about Ethan. He was someone she agreed to marry because there wasn't any other option.
"Well? Is that a yes or no, Anicia?" Naenna asked teasingly while grinning ear to ear.
'Oh shit! She knows, doesn't she?' Ethan thought as he remembered why he was there lying in wait in the first place.
He freed himself from Naenna's grasp as he pushed her face away gently and said pointing at Anicia, "Alright sis, stop that. I need to talk to her for a bit. Both of you go ahead and leave us."
"Alright then, hehe... Let's go, big sis." Naenna said with a giggle and dragged Earlene along with her. But while being dragged off tho: Earlene shot Ethan a suspicious glance as if to ask him 'What are you doing?'.
Ethan made his usual emotionless face and nodded softly which translated, 'None of your business.'
This was a common occurrence between them. Earlene was a curious girl whose whole perspective on life had changed ever since she met Ethan and so she was now starting to think that whatever Ethan did had a reason—which wasn't really much of an exaggeration.
"Follow me please," Ethan said politely and began walking. Anicia followed him as she observed Ethan pensively.
The fact was that she hadn't properly seen Ethan all this while as firstly he was in the cocoon and when he woke up she fell unconscious.
Now that she saw him—Anicia felt a strange sense of security or you could say belonging as she gazed at Ethan's visage, 'But I don't even know him... Then why do I instinctively feel like this? As if... As if we are two pearls in the same string.' Anicia thought.
The atmosphere was fantastic, birds were flying in flocks as they were returning to their nests, and nightfall was just around the corner as the moon and stars could already be seen in the sky.
'This place isn't bad... but I do miss home. I wonder what Ma and Pa are doing?' The thought flashed through her mind as she suddenly felt anxious—Ethan's steps were confident as he walked, and his face was serene; Anicia increased her place and walked a bit closer to him.
A few moments passed and the two of them reached Ethan's one of the favorite places—the backyard.
Ethan walked straight to his usual spot which was the cherry blossom tree and sat down on the ground. It had begun to darken and the moonlight shined even brighter illuminating Ethan's face in a calming glimmer.
"Here... Sit here." Ethan pointed beside him a few distances away below the tree and looked up at the twinkling stars as he lost himself in the luxury of a beautiful quiet night. He was giving Anicia some time to adjust to not startle her.
Anicia looked at the seven-year-old boy who was leaning onto the tree watching the twinkling stars. She felt that he looked simply... Profound.
She sat down beside him where he had gestured and oddly felt safe as she too gazed at the night sky.
Sometimes silence has a strange power to calm or agitate someone depending on the situation and Ethan knew it well. It was a pleasant silence that everyone wishes for at some point in their life.
Anicia got calmer as her anxiousness ran away. She looked at the full moon and the memories of her home resurfaced again threatening her tears to spill out. In the world of Akarxia, children grew faster physically but Anicia was still just a twelve-year-old girl who was far away from her home alone for the first time.
"Do you miss your home?" Ethan broke the silence as he asked in a gentle tone not while looking at her.
"Yes..." Anicia muttered and hide her face into her knees and covering it with her hands. She was older than Ethan and did not want to cry in front of him.
"I also do sometimes..." Ethan said slipping his true thoughts out for once—indeed a rare occurrence that was. "Huh?" Anicia let out startled in confusion.
"Nevermind, I was just lost in thought. Don't you think the moon is very lonely? She's up in the sky all alone dispelling the darkness. But you know what? Perhaps the ones you are missing are also gazing at her right now the same way you are. The world is also a big home in a way don't you think?" Ethan said with a smile and looked sideways at Anicia. It so happened to be that Anicia also looked toward him.
"Yes... I-i have never thought of it that way. Thank you. By the way... 'she'?" Anicia averted her gaze flustered by the sudden eye contact and asked.
"It's a story, the moon is a princess called Lunaria who once saw a prince who would look at her from below every day. So she would leave the sky once a month and descend upon the land to meet him as she was curious. Soon after she fell in love with him and made it a routine to leave the sky once or twice a month to go see him. But one night the sky was covered with darkness and so she could no longer return. She felt lonely as her home was millions of miles far up in the sky." Ethan said and stopped.
"Then what happened!?" Anicia was deeply engrossed in the story and jolted when Ethan suddenly stopped. She leaned closer to him completely losing every ounce of anxiousness and awkwardness and asked with her big eyes filled with curiosity, "Why did you stop? What did Princess Lunaria do then?"
Ethan looked at her and chuckled as he said with a smile on his face, "Maybe I will tell you next time... What's the fun if I tell the whole story all at once? Anyways, I asked to talk to you for another very important reason."
Ethan said and averted his gaze once again and Anicia did the same but in embarrassment. She couldn't believe that she got so excited over a story. It was just that she hadn't heard such a story before at all.
"Then... What is it?" Anicia asked very much trying to divert her attention.
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