"Stand there, Ether! Hmph," commanded a 12-year-old girl with a tone of impatience, her face scrunched up in visible annoyance as she glared at a white-haired boy of the same age whose eyes appeared lifeless and devoid of emotion.
With a determined huff, she clambered onto a somewhat wobbly stool, stretching on her tiptoes as much as she could to reach for a jar placed high on the shelf.
'Tsk, I cannot believe my mother and aunt left us just because of a stranger! Hmph!!' the girl thought, her face reflecting both annoyance and a hint of longing as she felt her mother was being unfair, leaving her alone with her father, who only dotes on her older brother.
The sting of their absence made her resent the stranger even more, deepening her sense of abandonment and frustration.
"Hmm... where is it?" she muttered to herself, her hand searching blindly above the shelf, feeling the edges of various jars and containers.
