The Herb village.
Aaron was familiar with the na but he had never been there or at least has no mories of such a place.
The first ti he had about it since his transmigration was from his mom, Alicia. The next ti he encountered the Herb village was from the books in the Crimson Star Library. So, one could say that he had been to the Herb village imaginatively but not physically. And now, Souzane offered him an opportunity to do the latter.
"Hmm," Aaron breathed, thinking about it.
"That should be the second largest village in Crimson lon town after this village. Pfft, I didn’t achieve much here. Perhaps because it is my ho but I wonder how the other villages are and what kind of people I would et there."
Aaron was curious and it was this profound curiosity that fuelled his answer.
"Fine, I will go with you," he answered reluctantly.
Hearing her master’s answer, Elsa stopped and walked back outside to argue his decision.
"Huh? You don’t even know her, master," she argued strongly.
"What if this is one of her traps? I an, she wanted to kill you just now. What if she’s lying?"
Aaron chuckled. "She’s not. I can tell."
Elsa’s eyes narrowed, finding it hard to believe in her master’s words.
"How can you tell? No way. Unless you can read minds."
Aaron chuckled again and placed his hands on her arms, rubbing them gently.
"Trust ," he said to her. "She’s not lying."
"But—"
As she was about to speak further, Aaron’s index finger pressed softly against her lips. Elsa froze in place and swallowed, a flush creeping across her cheeks, all thanks to her master’s touch. She found herself bending backwards as he pressed forward toward her.
And like a raging storm coming to a sudden halt, Elsa cald down and said nothing again, just enjoying the closure she received.
"Don’t worry, Elsa," he said to her rather slowly, "I’ll be fine."
She sighed, knowing she was powerless against this man before her.
Aaron and Souzane went on to discuss the details of the mission and concluded to leave in the next two days. Souzane believed that it was enough ti for her to gather whatever it was that they would need in their journey.
****
Soti in the evening of the sa day, in the ho of the Winters.
Aaron exhaled, feeling very tired from the day’s stress. He dropped on their couch and relaxed himself, breathing noisily and almost drifting off to sleep after a while.
"I can see you had a busy day, dear," Alicia said, her voice pulling him back into wakefulness.
"Oh." Aaron turned to face her. "Good evening, mum."
"Good evening, dear," Alicia greeted him with a warm smile on her face.
Aaron nodded, an affirmation of her question earlier.
"It was quite hectic. My whole body aches. I need a massage," Aaron said with a sigh.
Alicia laughed, putting a hand over her mouth.
"I can see that. You look very stressed though. Okay, let’s do it like this. After you shower and have eaten, I’ll give you a massage."
That was an interesting offer and Aaron certainly jumped on it. He rose and made his way to his room excitedly.
"Oh, mum?"
"Yes, dear."
"How much do you know about the Herb village?" he asked.
"Hmm. The Herb village?" Alicia repeated after him.
She raised her head, trying to recall the much as she could about the said place.
"Not much, dear. I’ve only been there twice with your father. Other than those tis, I’m not quite sure. Why?"
"I got a business deal that might take there in the next two days. So, I just wanted to find out about the place," Aaron answered.
Alicia retracted with his response. She was not quite pleased with the fact that he would be leaving again and she couldn’t be blad for that. She felt a nostalgic way that made her want to refute her son’s choice but Aaron was no longer her little boy. He was a man now, capable of making his own choices.
"Is that so?"
Aaron nodded. "Mm-hmm."
He left her in their sitting room and continued his climb upstairs.
Alicia sighed, watching him climb. She couldn’t help but feel sad.
The fact that Aaron was planning to leave the Bambara village was not good news to her ears. If anything, it was a terrible nostalgic mont, one that she didn’t want to rember but the mories kept rushing back.
"Isn’t this similar to how you drifted away from us, Isaac?" she asked openly, not directly addressing anyone around.
Alicia’s eyes watered with tears and she sat down on the couch, her face in her cupped hands. She sniffled for a mont and cleaned her eyes before heading back to the kitchen.
After about an hour had passed, Aaron and Alicia were having dinner, and because he would soon be leaving her for his business trip, Alica made his favourite al.
They chatted and laughed as they ate with Alicia feigning happiness the entire ti. She wasn’t happy that he was leaving her. She didn’t want to feel lonely again. Everything about Aaron travelling to the Herb village brought nothing but sad mories of his father, Isaac Winters, into her head.
"Must you go?" she asked, placing a cup beside her plate. "I thought you said you have an apprentice now. Can’t the person go in your stead?"
Aaron chuckled and shook his head, imdiately disapproving of her question.
"No, she can’t," Aaron answered as he wiped his mouth with a piece of cloth.
"It’s the first ti I’ll be eting these people. So I’d like to et them myself."
Alicia stared blankly as Aaron went on and on about why he was the best person to go for the trip. Alicia heard him and understood what he was saying and why it needed to be so but her brain failed to register it.
It was as though Aaron’s words entered one ear and left through the other.
She understood he needed to be there but she didn’t want him to go.
"No problem then. If you really want to leave , then fine. See you soon, my dear."
With that Alicia got up and abandoned their dinner, making her way straight to her room. Aaron followed her walk with his eyes until she disappeared in her climb upstairs.
He turned towards her plate and half the al was still left on it.
Aaron didn’t understand what the issue was but the manner with which she spoke to him just now was different from the Alicia he was familiar with.
There was a hint of anger and rage in Alicia’s voice, and that was sothing he had never noticed before.
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