The royalty girl was walking in the direction of my home, bringing along my spear in her hand. Spears were usually inseparable from each other but that worn-down stick was no doubt mine. The sharp tip made from a rock was bound again with a sloppily tied rope.
She ignored the people who tried to call her and strode leisurely through them. My house was a bit blocked by huge trees near the beach and the surroundings were not packed with any person.
Her vision wandered on the houses beside us which had bigger wooden walls and were protected by fences. She peeked at the insides of the houses one by one until she reached mine.
When she finally spotted my frail body condition, she ran a bit closer to my stair. "Are you okay?" she spoke.
"Of course not," I answered matter-of-factly. She then climbed the stair and entered my house without permission.
"He-Hey, what are you doing?" her acts confused me from the start.
"Giving you this back," she said while handing me the spear.
The spear tip suddenly loosened and fell to the side along with the rope. The binding was absolutely amateurish.
"Sorry, I will fix it," she was startled before gathering all the components again.
"Thank you but you don't have to, you know. I'm thinking of replacing it anyway. You should go back to the beach right now," I told her. I was more worried about the things the guards would do if she found her in here.
"You don't want to keep the spear?" she asked with an uneased tone.
"No," I answered shortly.
"This is the spear you used to fight the strongest man here! This was the first time I watched the ceremony and I can say that was really amazing!" she persuaded with a strange excitement.
"It's no use now. The stick is already terrible," I took the stick and broke it with my hip. I was in a laying position and even I could break it easily with a small amount of power.
"See?" I showed her the fractured stick which made her gasp from surprise.
"What have you done?!" she shouted in fright as she snatched the stick from me. She inspected both of the parts in distress and looked at me with a not-so-serious glare. "Do you have no feeling for your own thing?!" her squeal was becoming louder.
The more I spent time with this girl, the more frustrated I became.
"I told you it was too worn out. I need a better one to do my job... and I don't want to think about any junk! Seriously, what do you care about anyway?" I knew I owed her a lot, but she was irritating me at the moment.
She was taken aback by my words and scanned the sticks again. After a long period of dissatisfaction, she exhaled a big one and her frown was starting to dissipate.
"That's that then," she put the cracked sticks down dejectedly on her side and shifted her sitting position into a kneeling one.
"Maybe I can do something about your wound. Do you perhaps need any treatment?" She asked as her finger poked my wound, inducing nothing but more pain on my body.
"Ouch! Ouch! Stop it!" my hand accidentally warded her finger too hard and made her flinch.
"Stop it, you're not helping! Just leave them as they are," I realized I was being rude to the daughter of a king, but the pain was overtaking my senses.
"Please just say your purpose here...and get it over with," I could only hope she finish her thing that time.
After I said that, she closed her eyes and cleared her throat.
"Actually, I wanted to say something," she continued with a calmer voice and gazed deeply at me.
"I'm truly sorry for what my father did to you," she spoke and bowed a little while showing a troubled expression.
I was disoriented by her speech. Why would someone as important as a princess apologize to an offender?
"What do you mean? We are clearly in the wrong for not following the customs," I spoke truthfully. However, the guilt on her face was becoming stronger.
"But that was too much! You must not have been much older than me. He forced you to fight someone twice bigger than you for a punishment. If anything, our fathers were the ones to blame for all of this!" she almost shouted in her speech.
"That's enough! What do you know about my parent?!" my voice was much harsher than intended. Her eyes jolted when I responded to her with aggression.
She wanted to retort at me but her words didn't come out for an unknown reason.
Instead, the word that came out was, "sorry". She turned her vision from me remorsefully.
It was me who felt guilty in a way at that time.
"I apologize for shouting at you too," I spoke instantly when the situation went too inconvenient all of a sudden.
"Is that all you wanted to say? I'm already getting over that incident so you don't have to worry. You better return now, the guards must have been searching for you," I continued with a milder tone.
"You're right," she replied before standing on her feet and prepared to leave. Before her foot reached outside, she turned to me with a solemn look.
"By the way, are you planning to go at it again next year?" she inquired.
"Yes, I am," I replied shortly.
A slight smile crept upon her lips, the same gorgeous smile I saw before.
"Then I will surely be there to see you again. Show me something great again next time," she said delightedly.
"Oh, and I will be taking this if you don't mind," she returned inside and picked up the rock that used to be the tip of my spear.
"Yeah, I guess," I didn't know what was so fascinating about the sharp rock. She was so hard to understand.
"Then, thank you and goodbye," she showed me a larger smile this time before leaving me alone in the room. She ran rashly, not a trace of elegance expected from a princess. Soon the guards found her, and she must have experienced an unrelenting scolding.
Somehow I had an urge to laugh after she agitated from being caught, and I let out a chuckle when she was dragged by them.
What a fascinating person indeed.
That was the first occurrence when I met Aria. Just by that meeting, she left a deep impression on me.
My mind returned to the current me who was looking at my own baby hand. The rows of fingers were emphasized by the candlelight as I focused on them. No scars whatsoever could be seen under the moonlight.
Even if my carved promise didn't transfer to my new body, I would always remember it. I swore on that.
My mission would begin by the moment I could talk and walk. I faintly remembered the direction when our souls were separated, but that was good enough for a starting clue.
I attempted to recollect every detail that happened that time. Swirling clouds, an incoming storm, a village, an ocean, raining souls...
Raining souls...
My mind suddenly clicked. Our souls were sent into a new vessel of a baby. Would that mean any people who died were getting their soul transported here?
If the answer was yes, then I could search for Aria and grandpa Yhor at the same time. But then, everyone I met so far was talking in the words I could not understand. It was strange.
I sensed something wrong here but I had not known what it was yet.
My head was hurting from overthinking and my eyes were demanding a rest. For now, my only ability was waiting for my body to ripe. Therefore, I let myself drown in the comfort of the pillow to replenish my energy.
A lot of time passed as my eyelids submerged me in serenity. Some noises bugged me a little but I quickly shrugged it off and returned to my sleeping state.
The more I tried to ignore the noises, the louder they became. I was beginning to wake up bit by bit when the sounds were barely entering my ears.
*Tock Tock Tock Tock*
A repeated beating sound was ringing from the distance. It was a sound of wood being knocked hurriedly again and again. There were also some yells that could be heard at the same time. I carefully heard all the sounds that captured my interest at that time.
But then, a shout shocked my body awake.
"GAARHHUUKK!" a hoarse voice pierced through the night's air.
Suddenly, the wooden floor below me grumbled. Footsteps were echoing from the walls as the sound traveled on the stairs.
Instantly, my sliding door was opened, revealing the panicked pair. My supposed father held a bursting candle while his wife rushed to inspect me from above the cradle.
When my vision began to brighten, I noticed a string that was attached to their backs. The owner was none other than the mysterious girl. Their faces were displaying a look of uneasiness.
"GHAARUUKKHAARIII!" the voice roared again, making all of us winced together.
What was this commotion?