Rakhil used to hear a voice every day, but soon the voice changed into multiple voices. Instead of just a lady in her twenties, there were voices of a child in her teens, a kid who was five or seven, and a lady in her thirties. Each time Rakhil heard a new voice, he was scared. As a child who was just learning about the world, he had very little fear and was more curious in every incident.
One day, Rakhil was playing with a ball in his garden, and the maids were standing a bit far away so as not to disturb him. Soon, he heard a voice that sounded like a seven-year-old girl. "I also used to play when I was very small, but once I learned about etiquette and manners, I stopped playing." Rakhil looked around but found no one. The little girl spoke again, "Don't try to find me. I am in your mind. You can't find me." Soon, another voice that sounded like a teen spoke, "Don't confuse him. You should respect his space." Hearing two unfamiliar voices, Rakhil got scared and started to run to the maid to hide behind her.
The maid got worried seeing the young master all terrified, and she asked him, "Young master, are you alright? What happened?" As the boy was going to speak, he heard a voice that was familiar to him - the voice of a twenty-year-old lady. The voice spoke, "Rakhil, don't be scared. The people who are talking to you are no one but me at different ages. I will never harm you." Hearing the familiar voice assuring him, Rakhil did not tell the maid why he got scared. The maid took him inside, changed his clothes, and served him cookies and warm milk to calm down. After his snacks, Rakhil calmed down and fell asleep.
This repeated for the next few days, and the maid was worried. However, Rakhil never told her the reason why he runs to her between playtime. The maid decided to inform the Archduchess about the young master's condition. Learning about it, Eveline was worried, and she called Rakhil to talk to him. Rakhil, who was now not scared of the different voices that spoke to him every day about the most random things, did not want his mother to know the secret. Seeing that her son did not want to tell her, Eveline decided to observe him from afar instead of forcing him to speak.
One day, the voice of the seven-year-old girl spoke again, "Do you know, Rakhil, I once had a very close friend. I loved my that friend. We both used to visit each other's homes and hold tea parties." "Oh, what are tea parties?" Three-year-old Rakhil asked curiously as he had never attended one before. "Oh, you don't know tea parties? They are so much fun. We drink tea like adults and also eat cookies and cake. We also receive gifts from the host and can make new friends." The girl chuckled. Rakhil's eyes brightened up with excitement. Seeing him all excited, the teen girl's voice spoke, "Don't worry, little one. Everyone gets a chance to attend these tea parties, especially if you are a noble. As you are the only heir to Archduke, you will get many chances for such parties and club activities." "Oh, I too can eat cookies and receive gifts!" The little boy squealed in excitement.
The seven-year-old spoke again, but this time, her voice sounded coarse and sad. "I lost that friend. She betrayed me and my trust." Everything fell into silence. Though Rakhil was too young to understand what betrayal is, he understood that it was not something funny or happy. A comforting voice spoke, breaking the silence. The sound was of the thirty-year-old lady. "Don't be sad. That was a lesson you were taught. People need to experience sad things to learn new lessons sometimes." Rakhil, who did not understand anything, asked curiously, "Betrayal? What is that? Who betrayed you?" "A friend whom I thought would always be by my side lied to my parents at the most crucial time, putting all the blame on me. That day, every guest at the tea party blamed me, believing her lies. I felt lost and hopeless," the seven-year-old voice spoke sadly.
The next minute, the teen girl spoke, "It was indeed a heartbreaking incident, but that day didn't teach us a lesson not to blindly trust people but to trust and believe in yourself. Sometimes life gives us lemons, and we are expected to make sweet lime out of it, but we can also try making lemon pickles or add them into dishes to make them more flavorful. Each person is taught a lesson, and how to use the teachings from that lesson is up to us. So, instead of being sad, we should be merry that we learned to believe in ourselves and be self-sufficient instead of depending on others."
For little Rakhil, these conversations were like moral lessons learning from a storybook of experiences. These voices never disturbed or hindered him from having a normal life.