Ilona was still a bit dazed as she continued, "You."
"Hmm?" Estoria stared at Ilona's lifeless eyes, becoming more solemn, but she couldn't figure out why. "Were you also the one calling out to me by the name 'Estoria'?"
"Yes, that was an error on my side. I should have let you know your identity from the start, but I only realized the mistake after watching you struggle without an identity. I'm sorry," Ilona apologized, bowing slightly.
Estoria immediately sought to lift her. "What are you doing? I never asked for an apology!" She said in a panic.
"You..." She continued again, "You really have to take care of yourself. Do it for my sake if not yours and call out for help when you need assistance. Don't sit there in silence, okay?" Ilona said, taking a few steps back.
Estoria was stunned in place.
"What?!" She thought, feeling all sorts of emotions rush inside her. "What do you mean by that? Don't make this sound like a goodbye!" Estoria shouted anxiously.
"I'll return before you realize I'm gone. All I ask of you during my absence is to take care of yourself," Ilona said with gentle reassurance.
Even before Ilona finished speaking, she started to fade, blurring away into the white background, and Estoria reached out for her, shouting helplessly, "Wait just one more minute! Wait!"
Estoria watched the two figures attentively as they chatted and moved in the sunlight.
"How can these people be not real? Even if Estoria wanted to believe they were indeed characters written by a person, she couldn't when they each behaved and acted like any other human being with emotions. She simply couldn't.
Estoria stared down at Eston and Tyrion, who seemed to be practicing spells. It was like they were trying to draw the Disney Channel logo with their hands.
A voice came from behind her in that instant. "What are you doing here alone?" Asher came from who knew where onto the balcony where Estoria was standing lost in her thoughts.
"Nothing of importance, to be honest," Estoria replied, turning towards Asher.
"What was I expecting? You never answer properly." Asher came forward and took Estoria's wrist, putting a white cord-like bracelet over it.
The bracelet sparked under the sunlight like a polished diamond. Estoria couldn't move her gaze from it. "What is this for?"
Asher replied hesitantly, "It's your birthday gift."
"You're really giving this to me?" She almost couldn't believe it.
"Throw it away if you don't like it, for all I care," Asher said, nonchalant.
"No, it's not that. I just couldn't believe it for a moment there... It looks far too valuable for me," Estoria's voice grew lower at those last words.
Asher rolled his eyes. "Keep the flattery. You probably received hundreds of gifts far more valuable than this."
Estoria stared, dumbstruck. "But this is the first gift I ever received from another person."
Asher was even more dumbstruck. He was lost for a good while before he broke into a smile.
Was this the first time Asher smiled? He smiled so earnestly that Estoria unconsciously smiled too.
"Are you happy to be the first one to give me a gift?" She chuckled.
"I should be! Although I'm still not sure if that's the first gift you ever received, but I definitely beat Aluxio to it!" Asher grinned ear to ear. "I was so sure that he had given you a gift already."
Just then, Estoria suddenly remembered the roses Aluxio had given her yesterday. Wasn't that a gift too? Did she lie just now then? But if she had to choose one, Asher's gift was definitely better by a huge leap!
Estoria ruffled Asher's white hair a few times as he instinctively closed his eyes, not new to his eyes getting poked by his hair strands during Estoria's ruffling.
"Are you doing alright here?" She asked suddenly.
"Of course, why wouldn't I? I like it here. I get anything I want, and Grandfather also taught me so many things I didn't know!" Asher exclaimed excitedly.
Estoria sighed in relief. "I'm glad. I was worried that you didn't like it here, that's why you went back to that place."
"No, that's really not the reason," Asher denied passionately. "I didn't mean to make you worry about me, but I did just that. It wasn't intentional or anything. I just didn't think you would actually be this worried about me to come search for me not even a day in," he explained.
"But how did you find me? I've been meaning to ask for a long time now." Asher added.
Estoria also didn't have an answer for that. Only after waking up did she realize that she hadn't asked Ilona about many things at that time. Her mind was also as blank as the white canvas, and after leaving, all sorts of questions popped up in her head. But now she had no one to answer.
Asher watched Estoria become depressed again and quickly retreated his question.
"Forget it if you don't want to answer. I didn't expect one anyways. When are you leaving today?" Asher changed the topic.
"I think it's about time to leave soon," Estoria said, turning around.
Estoria glanced over to Tyrion and Eston's direction and jumped down without so much as another word.
Asher was completely bewildered as he watched Estoria's silhouette disappear in front of him.
Estoria landed on her feet this time, her back still straight like she had just taken a staircase step down, nothing much.
Tyrion, on the other hand, was watching disbelievingly. He moved to rebuke points.
"Can you behave any less lady-like? How unsightly," Tyrion said, caught between his worries; his eyebrows were stuck together, frowning.
Estoria hadn't expected such a comment from Tyrion, so she was a little shocked, but she was even more shocked by what happened next.
Eston had been listening on, and he spared not a single moment before grabbing Tyrion's collar furiously. "Who are you to comment on her behavior? She can do whatever she wants!" Eston shouted.
Estoria was sure Eston hadn't seen her jump down because he had his back towards her. If he had, then he would definitely not react this harshly. But since he hadn't, one could only imagine what was going on in his hot head.
Tyrion's face came close to Eston's as he stared unblinkingly, maybe also in shock at the sudden attack.
"She just reminded me of my sister, so I may have overstepped my boundaries. Forgive me, Estoria," Tyrion said in his defense.
Your sister? Alstroemeria? The graceful and gracious little princess who seemed to walk only on flowers. How did me jumping down remind you of her? Estoria thought.
Eston let go of Tyrion's collar furiously, yanking it. "Don't you dare speak like that to her again!"
Estoria was strangely gleaming happily at Eston's words and actions. It really didn't feel bad being protected by someone.
"Are you homesick? Do you miss your sister?" Eston asked after calming down.
Tyrion shook his head in response, suddenly at Eston's plea.
Asher jumped down beside Estoria; watching the drama unfold from a distance wasn't as fun as from the front rows, but the moment he came down, the tea was already long cold.
"Asher, you shouldn't jump down from such a height. What if you hurt yourself?" Eston only after having said this realized that Estoria was also in that same spot.
Eston hadn't heard steps back or sensed Estoria behind him all this time. So where could she have come from in a sudden moment?
Eston's eyes moved over to Estoria, who looked like an innocent lamb set free.
Eston felt guilt run through his head as he realized Tyrion's strange remark made sense now. Nevertheless, he didn't apologize, as he was still over the line.
"Why is everyone silent now? Fight some more, please," Asher urged.
"You missed your chance, Asher. Also, it was nothing worth fighting over. We have to leave soon. Let's go," Estoria said, taking the lead to walk over to Isaac's once barricaded and precious office.
They entered the room one by one, but each one stopped close to the doors. Estoria saw Aluxio had also arrived before them and was standing in the far corner waiting for them, leaning against the wall. When he saw Estoria enter, his stone face brightened, and he smiled in his way.
The reason no one was moving to the other side of the room was mostly because of Isaac and Ria on the other side.
The large table opposite to them had all sorts of artifacts and scrolls on them. Behind the table, Isaac was seated on the chair with a serious expression, writing something on one of the scrolls. And that was not all; Ria was sitting in Isaac's lap, her hands tightly bounding Isaac's neck and her head pressed with his head.
Ria had a bored expression on her face. She hadn't noticed the others at all, surprisingly, and the moment she moved her head to stare at Isaac, a smile broke out through the bored-to-death eyes.
Estoria tried to say something, but she didn't know what she should call out to them. Wouldn't that be even more awkward? She was still rankling her brain to come up with something when the pair moved on their own.
The black sparkly pen held by Isaac was sent flying by Ria in a flash. Isaac seemed to be grieving his pen with his eyes closed and lips pursed for a moment before opening them again.
"What is it, Ria?" Isaac asked with a sudden calm.
"I've been sitting here for a while now, and you haven't looked once in my direction. Is your work that much more important than me?" Ria was sulking deeper in his arms and neck.
Isaac removed his hands from the tabletop, holding Ria in his embrace by the shoulder and waist. He placed a kiss on her head, which was enough for Ria to show him her face that was buried in his neck.
Isaac cupped Ria's face in his hands, placing kisses all over her face. He seemed to be a man of action rather than a man of words.
Ria was thoroughly satisfied and enjoying the shower of kisses when something came over Isaac. He pinned Ria's back on the table, holding both of her wrists with one hand and the other hand on her waist as he finally kissed her on the lips deeper and deeper.
The other parties were stunned by the scene playing out before them.
"..." Estoria reacted.
"...." Aluxio's reaction.
"..." Tyrion's silence.
"....." Eston, embarrassed.
"What are you doing? Don't y'all have to leave on time?" Asher spoke from behind Estoria, unbeknownst to his surroundings. His only attention was on Estoria's face, which was planted with ripe tomatoes.
Having heard Asher's voice, Isaac and Ria opened their eyes at once, but they kissed away for a bit more before breaking the connection.
Asher had moved to see the front view that everyone else was getting, leaving him in the back row, and he saw what the dramatic reactions were about. He was unimpressed, to say the least. It wasn't anything huge, like they had made a magnificent discovery; it was just a veteran married couple kissing away. What was so strange about it?
Isaac lifted Ria up by the waist, helping her on her feet, and placed one more kiss on her forehead before addressing the others in the room.
"Is it about time for us to go?" Isaac spoke calmly.
Isaac spoke without even sparing a single glance at the other participants in the room, his gaze fixed on Ria, and Ria answered his question with a nod.
Estoria felt like she was truly third wheeling for the first time in her two lifetimes. But then she realized she wasn't just the third wheel, not the fourth, fifth, or sixth; she was the seventh wheel in the room!
"Let's leave while the time is here so we don't run into any unnecessary troubles," Ria moved without a shred of embarrassment, which was truly admirable.
Isaac followed closely behind her, like a dog happily following his beloved owner.
"Father..." Eston called out with much difficulty, pointing at his own lips.
Only then did Isaac's reaction change a bit. His eyes went wide for a second as he realized that his lips were stained with Ria's lipstick. He took out a handkerchief to wipe his lips elegantly.
Ria stopped before the doors of the room.
"Here?" Isaac confirmed.
"Yes, take a few steps back, everyone," Ria said, one hand placed on one of the doors. Her golden eyes beamed with a blindly golden-white spark.
Estoria was wondering if Ria could see right now with all that light in her eyes when the door started to glow as well.
Once both of the doors were engulfed by the light, they quickly became as dark as the pupils of a dead person.