"I did give you the permission to stay in the patient's room and look after her while I am outside. But why didn't you tell me first that she's awake?" said his mother, and Peter, to his defense, shrugged his shoulders.
"I didn't know she'd wake up. Then, she started to run from me as if she's scared of me and fell from the bed. I swear I didn't make her fall off the bed!" Peter tried to explain what happened.
However, his mother wasn't listening as she looked at the girl, who they had to support to sit on the bed again, and inspect the back of her head. As expected, a bump was already swelling on it.
Peter's mother chased her son out of the room and told him to fetch some water from the well. After Peter left, she turned to the girl who didn't speak all this while and said, "I apologize for my son startling you. He is just relieved that you're finally awake, just as I am relieved to know that you are no longer unconscious."
For a whole week, since Peter's mother was the only woman in their house, she helped nurse the girl. From changing the gauze-stained with her blood and wiping off the mud and dirt from her body. However, since the lady was unconscious and unable to eat, there was no other way to help get her proper nutrition. Hence, the girl in front of her looked slightly emaciated.
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt somewhere?"
Talia stared at the middle-aged lady with blonde hair and slowly shook her head. The lady didn't seem to have lied when she said that she was relieved to know that she's finally awake. However, she still couldn't trust her. After all, maybe her relief stems from knowing that they could finally return her to her father, right?
Talia knew how negatively she was thinking, but she had been betrayed a lot that no one could gain her trust anymore. But then, she also couldn't keep her silence and let this lady speak as if she was talking to the wind.
"Where am I?" Talia whispered while letting her eyes slowly roam around the room.
The lady smiled at her when she heard Talia finally speaking. She was worried that the girl was traumatized and could no longer speak. Thankfully, it was not the case. "We're in the Kingdom of Zelus." After answering her question, Peter's mother asked her, "We found you at the border near the Kingdom of Jade. Is that where you came from?"
Talia stared at the lady for a second before shaking her head. "Uhm… I… I don't know. I don't remember anything." She had lied to her.
Hearing her answer, Peter's mother's eyes flashed in understanding. From what she heard from her husband, this girl was lying next to a Feeral. Unexpectedly, she was still alive when they found her. Such a traumatic experience, death should have been the only ending. Having lost her memories might be the gods' blessing for her. However, there was no explanation why she was still alive while the creature was dead. Someone could have saved her… Or someone could have placed that creature next to the girl as a warning to the Mortals, as her husband had previously guessed.
Right now, her husband had been away to meet His Majesty to report what he had seen in the Forest. It would have been alright if the girl was saved by someone else, but if the case was just what her husband was suspecting, there could be another Great War happening soon.
Peter's mother didn't want to think of the worst possible case. She looked down at the girl across from her and sighed, "Do you at least remember your name?"
The girl on the bed paused for a second before nodding, "I…I think I remember. It's… Talia."
Talia lied to the middle-aged lady once again. Her real name was Katalia Lanthe. She was one of the princesses of the Kingdom of Jade, however, no one must have heard about her existence before. So, Talia didn't change her name too much since nobody will know that she was the princess who ran away from the castle and her father, and who was rejected by her intended groom.
"Remembering your name is already great." Peter's mother nodded. It's too bad that the girl forgot her memories. It would have been a great help if she remembered how she got herself in the Forest or how she encountered a Feeral. Most importantly, had someone helped her?
But as much as Peter's mother wanted the questions in her head to be answered, she couldn't force a person who had just woken up and lost her memories to remember her memories. That would have been too cruel and inconsiderate.
The door to the room was pushed open by the little boy named Peter. The boy was carrying a small wooden bucket half filled with water and a cloth hanging on top of the wooden handle. He panted as he crossed the room and placed the bucket on the wooden floor with a thud.
Wiping away the sweats that covered his forehead, Peter smiled at his mother and stared at her fervently.
After receiving her son's smile, Peter's mother released a sigh and pulled out a candy from the apron that was tied around her hip. "I know, I know. Here's my son's reward for a job well done."
Peter beamed when he received the candy from his mother. "Thank you, Mother!"
Peter's mother patted her son's head. There were only a few last remaining candies hidden on the small pouch tied to her waist. She had to ask her husband to give her some silver to buy candies for their son again.
Staring at the two, Talia didn't know why her chest felt heavy. Was she envious of their relationship as mother and son?
By appearance, the two looked extremely alike. The middle-aged lady had blonde, curly hair that was tied into a coiled bun at the back of her head – secured by a pin with embellished pearls. Her blue eyes were also the same as the little boy named Peter; blue as the sky in the morning and made her seem kind-hearted at first glance. However, compared to her son, she had far more delicate features.
As for Peter, the little boy had a slightly crooked nose on the bridge of his nose. His eyes were more droopy than his mother's, and freckles dotted his face.
Talia remembered Queen Rosa, her father's wife, cursing at her once while saying that she looked exactly like her mother. She didn't know if it was true, but if it was… Talia was glad and pleased by that since she didn't want to look like the man who had caged her behind the walls of her room.