Just like that, two weeks passed.
Aristia had asked Wilson for updates on who took Leilani and her brother, but the only thing he told her was that they were still investigating.
[Why are they unable to find two commoner children? Are they incompetent or is the kidnapper too competent?]
Needless to say, she was disappointed.
But the truth remained that she couldn’t push the matter more than it already was.
Life could only go on while her father’s people kept searching.
She had a feeling that if they still didn’t find the children even after a month, Wilson would stop the search.
[Sohow, I don’t think what I said about children going missing during the festival affecting the king worked.]
She sighed and massaged her brows. It was just as Wilson said. If they couldn’t find Leilani and Leif, nothing could be done about it.
Suddenly, Aristia rembered the forest.
"Linny, I’m taking a short walk in the forest behind the mansion."
"Oh, then I’ll co with you." Adeline said cheerily.
"No," Aristia shook her head. "It’s just a short walk. I’ll be back soon. And I’ll take Millie with ."
Adeline looked like she wanted to disagree, but in the end she could only nod, only reluctantly saying, "Don’t wander off too far, especially not the restricted area."
Aristia nodded her head. "Okay."
She changed into simple clothes and wandered into the forest with Millie following beside her in fox form, rembering the route they had taken the last ti.
She strolled leisurely, watching the small animals running past.
Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the border.
Just like before, she felt the hairs on her neck rise before she looked away.
But the next mont, she looked back.
"Hmm... that forest feels so mysterious." She shook her head. "No. Adeline said that I shouldn’t go there."
"But... I guess I’ll not go far. I’ll just take a peak and co back. It won’t be long. No one will even notice I went there."
She looked down at Millie. "We’ll just check it out for a few minutes and leave."
Millie nodded and the both of them entered.
There was nothing special about this forest. If anything, the thicker trees made it darker than her father’s. It also felt colder.
She unknowingly walked farther than she ant to from the border.
But she wasn’t worried.
She walked so more into the forest before sighting a small river a bit of a distance in front of her. Sunlight shone on the water, showing Aristia how clear the water was, though she could tell it was quite deep from the part of the river the light didn’t shine through.
She stood in front of the stream looking in front of the water.
The water was indeed sparkling. It looked so beautiful it was almost magical.
She leaned over the water and touched it with her hands. It was cool, felt refreshing and springy.
She straightened up and turned her head towards Millie.
"Maybe we should return." She raised her foot to turn around.
Before her t her foot stepped on a slippery rock and she fell into the water. Her eyes opened wide, seeing herself subrged in the water.
Before she could even get a grip on her bearings, she was falling further into the water.
But even then, she didn’t panic because luckily, she could swim.
She tried to swim back uo. powever, her eyes soon widened.
Why did the dress feel to heavy?
Her heavy gown made it hard to swim up. As she struggled, see her body fell even more downwards.
Her heart beat wildly in her chest. [Is this how I’m going to die? Drowning in the water? I should have listened to Linny and let her co with . Millie won’t be able to help out. But she can tell Papa.]
Aristia thought this, hope filling her heart. But that feeling of hope soon died down when she realized sothing.
[Even if Millie tells papa, by the ti they co past the border to help , I’ll be dead. But... why isn’t Millie doing anything?]
It was confusing. Millie was standing calmly staring into the water at herself while her body sunk deeper and deeper.
Millie was her daemon and should care about her life and death, especially since it was tied to her own life and existence too. But Aristia knew that Millie cared about her, which was why she felt so confused watching her standing there and doing nothing.
Just as she felt the air leaving her lungs and the feeling of helplessness that ca with suffocation began to envelope her as she sank deeper with her hand forward, Millie jumped into the water.
[Millie, what are you doing?] Aristia thought. Even the thought felt blurry and unclear to her because of her oxygen deprived brain.
Millie swam downwards, catching up with her.
The next mont, Aristia’s eyes widened. The next thing she knew, Millie was no longer a fox. She was now...
A Fish.
Aristia was now upside down in the water.
The water current worked, dragging her deeper. Her eyes began to close.
[I’m really going to die. Death by drowning. So pathetic.]
Before she could even figure out what was going on, her hand ca out of the water and oxygen filled her lungs.
"Haa... Haa..."
Aristia took in deep, greedy breaths of air, trying to stay afloat. She swiped her hair back with her hands and looked beside her to see Millie beside her, still very much a fish.
She swam ashore and Millie did too, turning back into a fox as soon as she reached the dry land.
Aristia collapsed on the dry land, coughing and heaving with her back hunched.
She raised her head, thankful that she was back in the forest, even though it was absurd. Hadn’t she been pushed down. How did she co back up?
But as soon as her head fully raised up, her eyes widened in shock.
"Where the hell am I?"
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