The darkness slowly fades away, and warm golden light rush into my eyes as it flutters open.
A soft yawn escapes my mouth.
And I feel it– my body is stiff, too stiff.
With cracking sounds, I stretch my body and sit down on my bed.
Imdiately the I remove the bedsheet and blanket on my body, my eyes trail to the sight of my body.
"Huh? Why are there bandages on my body?"
They’re tied in my ribs, chest and stomach.
"Hmm." A trail of my fingers run through my hair, and then I feel the bandage on my forehead too. "Who tied all these on ?"
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Well, it’s not like the questions would answer themselves. I have to stand up and find out what happened after... how did I co out of there again?
My body temperature feels warr than usual, even my head feels hotter than it normally is.
My fists clench tightly, and I unclench it.
It’s different.
My gaze flickers up, taking in the sight of the sparsely furnished room where I find myself. It’s.. it’s not the room I grew up in. It’s better.
A wry smile curls up my lips.
I survived... when they all thought I wouldn’t. When they all thought I’d die.. I survived.
An almost alien feeling erupts in , causing my heart to beat faster.
"Haha, I recognize it. It’s a feeling that I’d forgotten for so long; the feeling of accomplishing sothing initially thought to be impossible. The feeling of victory."
My smile fades slowly as I rember sothing and my brows furrow.
But, who exactly are the ’THEY’ that the Phoenix ntioned?
I shake my head slightly, snapping myself out of those thoughts.
"No. Now isn’t the ti."
The bedsheet ruffles as I slowly make my way out of the bed.
Then– at that mont, the creaks open slowly, disrupting the tender silence of the room.
The scent of the room changes from dry wood to minty air.
A smile washes my face. I recognize that scent.
A loud crash rings in the room as a ceramic bowl filled with water falls from the hand of the person who walked into the room.
Water drops from above, on top the broken ceramic bowl. I trail the source of the dropping water, and my eyes ets Jennette.
They’re tears rolling from her eyes and dropping from her cheek. Not water.
"I told you I won’t die."
My gaze is locked on hers.
Her face.. it’s a bit rumpled. She keeps sniffling and wiping the choking tears.
"Y–you’re.. you’re awake."
The emotions I feel she was holding back erupts and she bursts out, crying like a baby.
"I.. I thought you were dead, Charlie.. we– we.. all did.. I thought I’d lost.. I thought I’d never see you again." Her voice is shaky and ssy, coming out in between sniffles, I’m barely understanding what she’s saying.
Imdiately, she runs to where I stand and hugs .
My body reacts reflexively with a flinch, a startled expression on my face.
Then my facial expression loosens into a warm smile and I embrace her in my arms.
Her warmth... It’s motherly. Sothing I was never privileged to feel in my past life.
She’s on her knees as she hugs , her face buried into my chest. I tighten my arms around her and pat her back tenderly.
Her regality really deflates around ..
I keep smiling uncontrollably.
So this is what it feels to have a mother. She reminds of Marcelle..
"There there... I’m alive."
***
"So, i’ve been unconscious for three days? And.. he changed my residence to the Family’s main residence?"
My hands caress my chin tenderly as I ask Jennette. It’s a habit that followed from my past live. Although i don’t have a goatee. Yet..
She nods solemnly.
"Yes. The Patriarch ordered it."
"That Ice Cold demon did? Why?"
My surprise evident in the tone of my voice as I ask.
We’re both sitting on my bed, side by side.
"I don’t know. He said sothing about you being a genius... Oh! And he ordered to tell you to et him as soon as you’re awake."
She has a broad smile on her face, her voice back to the firm and dignified tone I recognize.
A soft sigh rushes out my lips.
"Okay.. I’ll go et him," I tell her with an assuring nod.
My eyes are focused on her. My eyes have never left her since she walked into this room.
There’s sothing... Sothing that wasn’t there before, I can’t quite fathom it.
"What are these two low green rings of light that are circling you? I’ve never seen them before."
She frowns, her facial expression showing her confusion as her brown eyes seem to ask ’what the hell are you talking about’ as she stares at .
"W–What do you an Charlie–No.. I an Young Master Charles?"
The smile on my face fade away as I hear what she says.
Young Master...
It’s weird hearing her call that. After all, she’s been calling Charlie ever since I was reborn.
"Oh, never mind that. My eyes were just a bit groggy, must be because I just woke up."
My fingers squirm through my eyelids, scratching my eyes to act like it’s normal.
I see.. from her reply, and her facial expression.. I can assu that I’m the only one who has this.. sight.
Around the room, I see strings of dim lights everywhere. Floating in the air, on the bed, on every single thing.
Toward the wall close to my bed, outside the window, there’s a garden of flowers. Gardeners cautiously tend them.
And on those gardeners, little strings of light cluster around them. The color of the light is like that of moonlight.
Two teenage looking boys walk past the gardeners. They’re wearing blue uniforms, like students. There’s a red ring circling around each of them, like Jennette’s, but theirs is red instead of green. And it’s different from the gardeners; strings of clustered moonlight.
Interesting. So so have a ring, or like Jennette– two rings around them like Saturn. But it’s either green or red. Then there’re those gardeners that don’t have rings but.. clusters of light around them?
Jennette keeps staring at with concern in her eyes. Maybe it’s because I keep looking around the room and gazing outside the window.
She cuts the brief but thick silence.
"He also told that I could stay in the main residence too. But in a room reserved for maids.. He said that he did that because.." she blinks once, and twice, and she smiles."Because I raised you– a genius."
What’s all this nonsense about being a genius?
What I feel from the new change in treatnt from the Patriarch isn’t happiness or joyful glee. It’s only annoyance.
Now he wants to treat like a Human being? After pushing into that boiling hell? And even after treating like a ghost these past four years?
My jaw tightens.
"That’s good. I want to go shower now so I can go et him."
My voice is calm, but I think Jennette sohow still hears the annoyance dripping from it.
She glances at for a second. At my face, my body and then locks eyes with for a few seconds before sighing.
"...Okay."
She stands up from my bed. With a rag and a broom, she cleans up the broken bowl of water and heads out of my room.
With Jennette now gone...
"Now... what is this thing?"
My gaze is on myself.
It’s darkness.
A single Plain cluster of darkness revolving around .
It’s eery, rippling the space around it as it revolves around my body.
This can’t be good. Although I’ve not seen many people, but on the few people I’ve seen today, they have rings or clusters of either warm moon-like light around them or green or even red.
But I have a... What even is this darkness?
My back straightens, my sudden discovery weighing it’s pressure on .
"This can’t be normal..."
Left, right, left, right. I shake my head vigorously.
I don’t have ti to keep thinking about sothing that I know nothing about, who knows if it’s an ominous thing or not? Just because it’s dark doesn’t an it’s bad, I an this world might be different... I think... I hope...
"Aggg, yess" a groan flies out of my mouth as I stretch my body, and I head to go take my bath.
***
There are no bandages wrapped around now because I’ve removed them all. I can see my full figure in front of the mirror.
I’m having an intense staring contest with my reflection.
And then I look at my body.
"Isn’t this body just 4 years old? How can it have muscles like this? It’s offsetting."
My reflection in the mirror shows a short, mildly muscular child.
Having defined muscles as a four-year-old child wasn’t on my list of things to do if I die.
To decrease the headache I feel incoming, I massage my forehead with a sigh.
And then I put on a white shirt and leather pants and walk out of my room, heading to go et the Patriarch.
***
I knock on the door.
"It’s Charles."
My voice echoes and dissolves in the silence of this hallway.
"Co in."
He replies with his voice– as cold as an ice block.
The door creaks as I open it and step in.
Imdiately I enter his office, my eyes widen at the sight before – eight red rings revolve around him. They’re shining brightly like the sun.
And my gaze descend to the ceramic tiles of the floor as I curtsy.
"I greet the Patria–"
"You... You’re really an entertaining child."
His usual icy deanor shatters as a wide grin tug at his lips, going ear to ear, like that of a child who just found a perfectly good toy to play with.
Inside my throat, I push a hard gulp of saliva down, tensing my body and preparing for whatever he’s about to throw at .
"What... What do you an, sir?"
His eyes widen.
He’s surprised.
His kids probably never had the guts to ask him anything. At least when they were my age.
"You didn’t die. And looking at your body, you even went through a body reconstruction.
This is the first ti it’s ever happened to a Flaworth in hundreds of years."
His grin is unsettling , causing shivers down my spine.
"You’re a Genius Charles. No, more than a genius– You’re a prodigy. Staying in that water for two weeks and surviving ans you didn’t pass out, you held your breath in that water for two weeks!"
His eyes briefly flash with a glee of madness. He’s excited, dangerously so.
And I feel like I can hear his heart thumping loudly from where he’s sitting.
"I’m wondering if you should begin training now. Why wait until next year? But.. hmm.."
His excited deanor drops in an instant as sinks back into his chair.
"You haven’t had your affinity detecting test yet. Okay.. after that test, you’ll begin your official training to beco... a fla mage..."
I’m next to the door. I haven’t even walked in or sat down, I’m just looking at him who’s sitting on his chair– over the table of books, docunts and a plate of half eaten vanilla cake.
His black-gloved hands caress his jaw as he muses.
Sothing about this feels off...
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