Year 5007 after the system, day 1 of the flowering season.

 

For seven long years, the sun rose in familiar ways without minding who it hit. Today was yet another one of those times where its rays aimed at the window of the division I now partook of. Close to the frame, there was a black curtain that used to cover the glass. I spread it fully open one day, as my gorgeous and gentle emeralds enjoyed staring at the stars during the night in order to fall asleep. It also helped me many times to wake up basking in the sunlight on such delightful mornings. Below the bed, rested a wooden floor, oak type. My father had mentioned it to me two years ago. Everything else was clearly dyed white, the walls and the ceiling.

The continuous sound of birds chirped at the window, whereas one of them attempted to peck at it a couple of times. The noise ended up waking me up.

“Hmm... is it morning?”

I rubbed my eyelids and then looked around, opening them slowly. First, they moved towards my right, finding a small window on the white wall glued to my bed. For better or worse, it showed me the road that led people towards the north, enabling me to notice who approached the house entrance, along with a magnificent view of the green plains outside. In front of my bed, I could see the typical small-size wardrobe where my mother stored all the clothes of my size. Some were secret gifts from Vicent, once used by his granddaughter, and other ones my parents would buy as I grew up, replacing my old ones as necessary.

“The sun sure is blazing strongly today...”

I placed myself on my knees and narrowed the black curtains, darkening my entire room as this was the sole source of light. Without time to waste, I jumped out of bed, doing a considerable bump on the light wood floor, causing a creaking sound to propagate.

“Hey Iris, are you awake?”

Like a cat, my head moved towards the door, noticing the familiar tone of my mother.

I started wondering what was going on as my parents usually wouldn’t call for me this early in the morning.

As my soft and light steps reached the exit, my mom’s beautiful voice arrived in my ears once more as my feet hit something silky.

“If you are, come here and have breakfast with us before your dad goes to work.”

I lowered myself, bending the knees and curving my back, picking a bunny black doll, and reverting to a normal position right after.

‘I almost hurt you, my little one.’

With utmost care as it was a significant birthday gift. I positioned it on top of my bed, pulling the white linens on top of it all the way to its neck, leaving the head and its long ears out. At that, I patted the top of it, enticed by the soft fabric and the pleasant touch it gave my skin. To that, my expression beamed, happily satisfied with how comfortable it looked in my place.

‘I shouldn’t make them wait...’

I stretched my arms upwards while yawning, then dressed in a white set of clothes. Once I finished, my hands quickly folded the pajamas as best as I possibly could. It took some time to do so, leaving them on top of the bed carefully afterward to not cause wrinkles. Otherwise, my mother would complain once she noticed them.

“Alright, that should do it.”

As soon as I turned to the door and walked there, my left hand turned the handle, pulling the door to me so my body could go through.

Suddenly, as the gap opened considerably, in unison, two voices echoed loudly in front of me, causing me to get startled.

“Happy 7th birthday, Iris!”

Tears hastily ran down my cheeks.

‘Ah... I had totally forgotten about it.’

I placed my sleeves on my face, drying my eyes, and tainting them. And then I muttered loudly and with great gratitude.

“Thank you, dad! Thank you, mom!”

My heart, unable to handle the burst of joy within me, caused my smile to widen to the max while I attempted to hold back my tears. To that, as if corresponding to my feelings, my parents hugged me tightly. In return, I did my best to reach my arms out towards them, but tiny as they were, they didn’t reach the entire waistline of either of them.

‘These past 7 years have been the best years I’ve ever lived.’

Interrupting me from merry thoughts, my mother lowered herself almost to my height, staring deeply into my emeralds.

“We have a surprise for you, baby girl.”

To those words I made a curious expression, opening my mouth a bit while raising my eyebrows, and spreading my pupils wider.

“A surprise? I wonder what it could be...”

I giggled softly, making my parents chuckle.

“Wait a minute, don’t move.”

“Sure!”

My eyes took a glimpse of what looked like a black cloth. It soon reached out for me as I felt my father pull me closer to him. Then he halted, encircling me, stopping at what felt like my back, turning my hair in a ponytail.

I could tell from the pulling and the way his fingers attempted to get hold of every ounce. Without having doubt about whatever they were doing, I responded merrily, waiting patiently for what they must’ve planned.

“If you need help to tie it up, let me know, dad.”

At my words, I heard him chortle, almost as if it affected his pride or resolution of solving the issue at hand.

“Don’t worry, it can’t be harder than magic.”

I faintly smiled at that, responding with a muffled sound, nodding slightly enough to make him understand.

‘My parents have been truly kind to me, and I’ve recovered a lot from that. I just hope it stays like this forever.’

As diverse thoughts of an optimistic future went through my mind, my ears took notice of my mother’s voice. 

“Can you see anything?” 

My head quickly swayed to the sides as my vision was now null, devoid of light, making me feel surrounded by darkness itself.

“I can’t see anything!”

I stretched my arms, trying to find something to grab onto, taking a step forward carefully.

“Yes, my dear daughter, we’ve used a little blindfold.”

I heard them laugh merrily at this occasion.

If there was anything that differed from my past birthdays, was that they never blindfolded me before.

‘I wonder what they’re hiding from me.’

Suddenly I felt my hand being grabbed. From the softness and size, it had to be my mother.

“Come, we have a surprise for you.”

Her words soon corresponded to a soft pull that made me take another step forward.

“Let’s go,” my dad’s voice came from behind, feeling my hair falling naturally to the back all the way to the waistline. Rare were the times she cut it since my mother loved it long the most, a detail I grew fond of thanks to her.

I felt my feet taking me outside the house through my mother’s guidance. A path I did plenty of times on my own to head outside, to the vast greenery of the visible fields from within my room. Soon after, I heard the door close on my back, and my mother’s grip disperse, leaving my hand entirely in the air alone. Thus, I allowed it to fall softly close to my left leg.

“Are you ready, baby girl?”

I heard what sounded like a whisper mixed with a blow of air and a bit of warmth that touched and tickled my right ear. To that, I nodded in agreement, allowing my father to remove the forced blackness. For a little while, the sunlight annoyed me, as it directly hit my eyes. By instinct, they closed on their own. Consequently, I placed my hand in front of my forehead, causing a brief shadow to support them. 

“Happy birthday, Iris!”

I could hear a lot of voices shouting in unison. These people had been careful not to stay in my room’s window sight.

To my left side, I heard my mother’s low tone.

“They’re from the nearest village where we work. They came along to celebrate your special birthday.”

This was, without a doubt, the first time this had happened since I was born.

‘What’s so special about today?’

I wondered as my eyes took a glimpse at everyone’s faces that focused their gazes on me, causing me to grow shy and red. Some were adults, and a few children strolled around. From all of them, I noticed a familiar elder face, the doctor who once took care of me and my mother some years ago.

‘He looks even older now...’

I chuckled a bit, causing some of the tension to cool down, and gaining some courage to add some words as my parents’ education taught me.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming!”

I shouted with all the power in my lungs, surprising a few of them. Soon and unexpectedly, I heard clapping sounds and took a glimpse at most of their smiles.

To my right side, a tall man who appeared to be of the same age as my dad patted his back merrily.

“Would you look at that? Such a lovely young girl! It sure doesn’t look like your daughter, Luke!” 

From such a comment, I noticed my dad placing his left hand on the back of his head, scratching it softly while laughing awkwardly. Despite being his daughter; I wasn’t physically similar to him. A lady bumped into the man, who added to the conversation with loud words and even noisier snorts.

“That’s true, but she resembles her mother. They’re both beauties!”

At their comments, we blushed, causing those around to laugh and nod in agreement, making me pout slightly, and forcing my mouth to open.

“We might not be alike, but he’s the best father in the world!”

Without a chance to regain my breath, I felt my heart skip a beat as dad grabbed and lifted my body, causing me to fly, as he spun his body in a waltz. Around me, the people seemed to dance along with the green nature. Thankfully, it wasn’t super fast, so I didn’t feel sick. Instead, I could tell joy basked in his expression, possibly from my words. I also took a glimpse of the surrounding people, who seemed to have similar complexions.

‘Seems like he appreciated me protecting him.’

I giggled cutely, causing my father to return me to the grass. My feet soon landed safely on it, and I rubbed my little brown shoe on it to make sure it was stable. Despite the great sunlight, the day before was raining, and it wasn’t uncommon for it to be slippery from the wetness that resided on top and below. A lesson I learned from my mother, who didn’t enjoy seeing me land in the mud, as it meant that the clothes would become harder to wash.

The woman who complimented us before approached with a big smile on her face. She extended her arms toward me, presenting a blue box. I stared at it innocently, filled with curiosity about what could be inside.

“Here, dear. A little something from the three of us. Hope you’ll enjoy it.”

She smiled while lowering herself along with the gift box in her hands.

“The three of you?”

She pointed at the man from before who was close by to my father. Then I followed the tip of her finger that moved a bit to the left, leading to a girl a tad further away, who appeared to be talking with a boy of her stature. I returned my gaze to the gift and extended my own arms, turning the palms towards it.

To that, she let it fall softly on my hands. “It’s a heavy box!”

I replied enthusiastically, finding myself surprised by its weight. I began alternating my gaze from the gift to her, causing a momentary smile to appear on her expression whenever my eyes met hers.

“Thank you! Can I open it?”

She abruptly nodded in accordance, in a way showing more eagerness than me.

“You’re very welcome and, of course, my dear. Go for it.”

After I opened the box, I took a glimpse of what appeared to be a rectangular-shaped item inside, carefully taking it out. My nose quickly picked a nostalgic scent, almost bringing tears, but I persisted and enjoyed the smell of paper and glue momentarily.

My emeralds noticed a little awkwardness in the woman’s expression as she saw me sniffing it for a bit. But I quickly disregarded it and stared at the book in my possession, reading its title out loud: “The Tales of Artana.”

I looked back at the woman, who was now confused. She seemed oddly surprised at me for whatever reason. But ignoring this, I proceeded with my own doubts that I hoped she’d be willing to clarify. After all, I was just a child filled with curiosity, one with great needs in this matter that needed immediate answers.

“Hey, what’s Artana?”

Without batting an eye, she ignored my question.

“Girl you... you can read!?”

Confusion took hold of my mind, but what else could I do other than ask her?

“Yes, I can. Is there a problem with that?”

I replied as naturally as possible, forgetting that my parents hadn’t taught me how and also because I wasn’t much of a liar, nor good at it. They would read a bit during the night to help me fall asleep.

“Most peasants don’t learn to read till a lot of years later. If they do at all.”

The woman shifted the gaze from my person to the side, allowing my eyes to follow it, meeting my parents, who were speechless with dumbfounded expressions.

“Seems like you have been teaching her rightfully!”

As I returned my gaze back to the book, a girl appeared in my field of sight, at its top corner, still a few steps further away.

“Is that your daughter?”

Innocently, mainly out of inquisitiveness from the earlier pointed direction, I questioned her, as I had yet to make a friend of my age in this world. And by all means, my heart didn’t want a second share of the loneliness that my first life was.

“Yes, she is! William, please bring Elise closer for a moment.”

My eyes followed the man, who looked to be heavily weighted size, taking a few large and slow steps as he called out for the girl. 

A little while later, they arrived together.

“Here she is Olivia.”

A black-haired girl with dark brown eyes who looked just like her parents, except she was far thinner and young.

“I’m here. What’s wrong?” She tilted her head cutely while looking at her mother.

“Say hi to Iris, dear. She’s 7 years old today, three less than you.”

Our gazes met, and then so did our hands. Olivia forced a handshake between us by picking our hands and placing them on top of each other as the woman held on to a big smile.

Despite the awkwardness between us, she waved at me.

“Hello, Iris! I’m... Elise! Nice to... meet you!”

The cute-looking girl answered shyly, blushing from her cheeks as everyone stared at her.

“Hi, Elise! Nice to meet you too!”

I giggled at the discomfort we both felt and then as if forgetting about everything around, my stare befell on the book and its brown cover. I heard her take a long breath, mustering the aptitude for a natural speech.

“I picked it up when I was shopping with my parents in the village. While I’m not the most skilled at reading, there’s a certain tale in it that’s my favorite.”

She pointed at the gift in my hands.

“Do you like it?” 

I chuckled happily, nodding in agreement.

“Yes! I love books! Thank you so much for it!”

Elise blushed further while averting her gaze away from mine, filled with happiness deep inside.

“You probably still can’t read books too well without the help of your parents, but I hope you like it when you do.”

I noticed the kindness in her reply.

“Yes, you’re right. Thank you!”

My words came out a bit stiff as writing and reading were things they forced me to master in my past life, in order to raise my importance as the duke’s daughter.

‘I shouldn’t tell anyone about my memories. It would only cause people to grow sad about hearing them.’ 

I didn’t want to bother anyone after all. My head lowered, causing bits of hair to move between us as I replied in a lower tone than usual.

“I’ll be sure to learn fast, so we can discuss it the next time we meet...”

At those words, Elise nodded with a small smile, compromising with me.

“If one day you drop by the village, you can find me playing in the garden that surrounds the fountain. It’s close to the south entrance. You’ll certainly not miss it, as a lot of kids play there.”

Feeling like she didn’t abandon me despite my change of mood, I returned my gaze to her.

“Sure! Sometimes I go there to get groceries!”

I looked at my parents with a cheeky smirk; they still held some surprised expressions from earlier.

“Whenever the next time they take me, we could have fun!”

Elise glanced over at them and then at me, extending her hand once more.

“That’s a promise then.”

We nodded at each other with refreshing smiles, oathing these words to one another.