"I lost him…"
Aesther plopped on the ground.
She looked back at the receding parade in a daze. They merrily danced and sang, and there was not even a single sign of that man in the demon mask. Her uneasy emotions echoed for a while longer.
"Are you alright?"
Aesther looked up to find a boy wearing loose black robes, carrying a candied apple in one hand. Her words disappeared before she could even respond.
He seemed no older than six, with slightly long black hair softly tousling down his neck. There was a curious light in his eyes, and he smiled as warmly as one could.
He looked strangely familiar.
"Thanks…" Aesther smiled a little as she accepted his hand
The golden bells jingled, and for a moment, she watched him with a dazed expression before averting her gaze around the festival.
It was the same wherever she looked, these people who should be nothing but a mindless pawn in the illusion…
They all felt too real.
