A Dream Foretold.

 

“Hold on… what did you say?!” I screamed in surprise, waking the little girl up who looked at me with a scared, shivering look; her eyes were filled with fear as if she had remembered something fearful, tragic… it felt piercing.

 

Almost in an instant, Alice smacked my head before taking the little girl from me as she sighed, “Can’t you be a little bit quieter…?” before patting the little girl’s back as she whispered into her ear, telling her everything is fine.

 

“There is no other safe route to this, in reality; the two routes I mentioned earlier were either to abandon the child or take her with us but then the issue with taking her with us would be the suspicion garnered… to be exact, the suspicion the other nobles would give to us.”

 

“It would taint both the royal family and the Amaya family if we were to let her in with no credentials other than her first name; those corrupt nobles, after all, will do anything in their hands to bring both of our families down at the same time…” she explained as I nodded before asking, “Isn’t there anything else we can do about it?”

 

“I did give you a solution earlier, and that is to adopt her but there is also another condition required before we can factor in the adoption and that is the little girl’s desire to be taken in, not to mention there are also several other issues to adoption…”

 

“Why do we have to adopt her, anyway? Aren’t there organizations like orphanages that will take in children like her, do we really need to take her in ourselves?” I asked before she shook her head, “I don’t trust any of those organizations, or institutes that promise to take care of abandoned children.”

 

“Even as the Princess of the Empire, I am more than ashamed to admit that the Empire has the worst orphanages in the entire world; reports of abuse, corruption, and all kinds of evil deeds executed inside the orphanages are widespread.”

 

“I detest these organizations, or institutes equal to how much I detest corrupt nobles; orphanages mark themselves as a safe institute or organization that will shelter abandoned children yet what happens inside is a different story, same goes for nobles who is supposed to be the leader and protectors of the citizens, the role models…” she said before sighing as she looked at me with a wry smile.

 

“There are a lot of good orphanages and kind nobles, that is a fact but that doesn’t change the fact that these good nobilities and orphanages would become corrupted in the long run; take, for example, the royal family which I belong from… even I can tell the people on the family are turning dark with each passing day.”

 

“If even the royal family which looks over the state of the Empire turns corrupt, how could the normal nobilities not?” she continued as I nodded. “That makes a lot of sense, but how would we go about this anyway?”

 

“Both of our families are of high-ranking, yours is the royal family and mine is the Archduke; bringing a child, let alone adopting would spark cracks in the world of nobility, rumors of an illegitimate child would appear and people who wish to utilize the little girl as a means to rise would come out,” I said before she replied with a wryer smile.

 

“That’s why I said there are also other issues with adopting her; I do have a solution for all of them, but I don’t know whether you are willing to accept any of them… even if you don’t, I would still go through anyways…”

 

Her eyes stared into mine, determined; her voice despite sounding a little hesitant still stood strong, I felt interested over what solution she has to offer… is this solution something that could even shock the me who has traveled back to time… will this solution forcefully change the path of destruction we are still heading to… I want to know.

 

“Tell me,” I said before she took a deep breath and replied. “The first and major issue with adopting a child of unknown origins is the system that runs through the entire nobility world, and that is any illegitimate child will have no right to live or enjoy the benefits of a noble.”

 

“It becomes an issue for us as our original purpose of this adoption idea is to shelter the little girl, feed her and raise her well until someone that is of her real family takes her back; the fact that we can’t shelter her by letting her live in any of our residences, and also the fact that we can’t use any of our noble benefits to raise her is a major issue,” she explained as I nodded. “And so, what’s your solution for it?”

 

“The solution I thought of is something you might be reluctant to do…” she replied before I smiled. “And that is to do what…? I don’t know why you are even persistent with this, but no matter what, I want to be together with you since you promised me, after all…”

 

“Are you really sure about hearing my solution?” she said, patting the little girl’s back as the little girl slept peacefully on her shoulder; her head tilted to Alice’s neck, her face was relaxed in comparison to when I carried her.

 

“When have I not asked something that I am not serious about listening to?” I responded, smiling as she sighed.

 

It was of my interest as well to have something that can bind the two of us, after all, I understand my feelings now… I am no longer the clueless girl back then; three months had passed since my travel back in time and I still don’t feel secure enough that our path right now doesn’t lead to her death.

 

I want something that can force our destinies to tilt, to change the path we are heading… I thought about it countless times in the three months; training like the way we are will still not change our path… instead, it will speed up the process.

 

“Well… the solution I have in mind is to abandon any right we have to inherit our family names, wealth and any other benefits and live as a commoner somewhere in the Empire or outside the Empire…” she replied before I answered instinctively, “I’ll do it…”

 

“But I know you won’t do…huh?!” she said with her eyes wide open as I sighed, “I said I’ll do it” before she looked at me and waved her hand several times as if not believing me… it was true that before I wanted my reputation as a noble.

 

But that isn’t the case now… I want to stay with her now; nobility doesn’t mean anything if she is gone… the world of nobility is dumb anyway, it’s like a false paradise where you must wear a mask almost every day.

 

“Are you really sure about this?!” she asked before I nodded. “If you are doing it, anyway, then why should I not follow… I already lost my reputation as the archduke’s daughter, let alone re-entering school… I can’t even participate in noble parties anymore.”

 

“If the world of nobility is no longer for me, then why am I staying there… besides, I also have my own reasons to follow with you…” I said before she tilted her head and closed her eyes for a second before asking once more but this time in a serious tone. “Are you really serious? you do know we can’t reverse time to take back our actions.”

 

‘You are not right there, you know…’ I wanted to say but I decided to shake my head and replied. “I understand, (as long as I am with you, as long as the two of us won’t be separated once more then that is enough for me)” before a loud gush of wind blasted between us as she nodded.

 

“Well… I understand but we have to ask this girl first before we can go through any of this…” she said before poking the little girl, Aria’s cheeks before I nodded. “Should we wake her up and ask before it gets too late?”

 

“Yeah… that would probably be the best way, if she doesn’t accept then we can’t even take her inside the city…” Alice replied before she gently sat on the grass, patting the other side as I sat beside her before she poked the cheeks of the little girl who was sleeping on her shoulders, whispering: “Wake up…”

 

After a few moments of poking, the little girl soon opened her eyes, rubbing them twice before looking around and tilting her head, staring at the two of us as if asking, “What’s up?”, it was an adorable stare that really pierces through your heart with its cuteness.

 

“Aria was it… do you really not remember anything about your parents, etc.?” Alice asked before the little girl shook her head, “Aria does not know anything… Aria can’t remember… Aria doesn’t want to remember.”

 

“Why do you not want to remember?” Alice asked before the little girl shook her head once more. “Aria doesn’t know… Aria only knows that she doesn’t want to remember.”

 

“Then, what will you do… do you want to live outside, or do you have any other plans?” Alice inquired before the little girl looked at us with shock on her face before hugging Alice tightly as if afraid, “Aria doesn’t want to live outside! Aria hates the cold!”

 

Her body shivered as if it remembered something awful, it was as if she had gone through some even worse circumstances, and considering it is winter… it is understandable why she would hate the cold if she had lived outside… it pains me inside just imagining her out in the cold.

 

“Then what do you want to do?” Alice questioned the little girl as she patted her back several times before the little girl responded in a shivering voice. “Aria doesn’t know…!”

 

“Do you want to eat nice food; do you want to wear nice clothes; do you want to learn?” Alice asked the little girl before she looked at Alice and tilted her head. “Aria wants to eat… Aria wants to do everything…”

 

As if catching a fish with no bait, Alice grinned at me before patting the little girl’s hair as she whispered, “The two of us can give you all of those but there is an issue…” before the little girl responded in an instant.

 

Asking in an adorable yet serious voice, “What should Aria do?” before Alice patted her head even more as she looked at the little girl and smiled. “What Aria should do is to decide whether to live with us or live somewhere else.”

 

Her eyes lingered around, looking at both Alice and I before replying in an earnest voice filled with honesty and cuteness. “I don’t understand but Aria will do her best as long as Aria can eat!”

 

“Is that so… then you can live with us starting today… is that fine with you?” Alice asked before the little girl nodded. “As long as Aria can eat!” before I sighed in exhaustion… it truly felt like we were committing a crime for some reason.

 

“Mhm! You can eat as much as you want,” Alice said patting the little girl’s head before the little girl shook several times before dozing off on Alice’s shoulder as she winked at me… are we committing a crime or are we doing charity work… I don’t know anymore.