“Of course. Dimi did it. He held the feather and made a long wish and Myastra appeared.”
“Dimi? Who is that?”
“My cousin. Dimi knows everything.”
“Hmm…”
The boy pondered over something and looked at the yellow feather again. Rihannan’s face grew a little sullen.
“Don’t you like it?”
“No, I like it, but I was thinking that it should be you to write that wish.”
“But you saved the bird.”
“Yes, but we did it together. If it weren’t for you, the thought of saving the bird would not come to mind in the first place. Take it. Think of it as my gift to you.”
At his reasoning, Rihannan’s face brightened. In truth, she too wanted the mythical feather.
“Wait, you said Myastra, didn’t you? Is Dimara your cousin from Crichton?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a Crichton, too?”
“No, I’m an Arundelite. I was born and raised here.”
“Who are you?”
Rihannan’s lips opened, about to answer the question repeated three times, when a womanly voice from afar rang out.
“Rihannan?”
It was her mother. Next to her was the Queen. They had walked all the way from here, looking for Rihannan after their time spent together.
“Mother!”
Her mother looked at Rihannan fondly, then soon found the boy with Rihannan and bowed her head hurriedly.
“Your Highness, you were with my daughter… perhaps Rihannan has caused you trouble.”
It was then that Rihannan realized the boy’s true identity. The boy she spoke ill off and climbed the tree for her was Igor Cesca, Arundell’s boy king.
“….It’s been a long time, Countess Alessin.”
The boy king bowed politely to the Countess, his voice distinctly colder than it had been a while ago.
“Igor, Rihannan, I had plans for you two to meet someday, but this is great too. What were you two doing?”
The Queen approached Igor with joy and tenderness. Igor hurriedly handed the feather to Rihannan and she accepted it in a fumbled mess.
“It’s nothing, I was just talking to this child.”
“And Igor, what’s wrong with your clothes?”
Igor’s clothes were torn and crumpled with dirt from the fall earlier ago.
Rihannan’s face turned ashen. Afraid of the punishment she’d incur from the damage she made, Rihannan quickly hid behind her mother and grabbed the hem of her skirt and shivered.
“I was just free and bored. I unknowingly rolled on the floor by myself. It’s no big deal. No need to bother about it, Mother.”
Igor did not involve Rihannan and placed all the blame on him. He said his farewell to everyone before leaving garden.
Rihannan stared blankly at the boy’s back from the horizon. There was a haze in her heart and her cheeks glowed rosy red. The handsome face of the boy, who smiled freely and so casually, filled her mind. And to keep their own little trite secret, Rihannan treasured the feather in her hand.
She thought she’d like to visit the palace again in the near future and speak to him again.
But that was the first and last goodwill he held towards Rihannan.
Rihannan realized later on that he was at odds with his mother, someone who belong to Crichton.
Flashback end.
“Of course, I’ll tell the Queen, but I won’t be present in Arundell when I decide to inform the Queen.
Rihannan, who returned to the present, spoke quietly to Mary.
“When do you plan to go to Crichton?”
Mary asked, somewhat surprise.
“In two days time.”
“I… I see.”
Mary thought she’d leave as soon as possible, but she did not think it would be this fast.
“Wiat, Miss, that’s so fast!”
“I’ll be taking care of everything urgent that needs to be taken care off and leave the rest to Jeffrey. He will do fine taking care of things without me… you don’t have to worry about packing either. We’ll only take what we need. The rest we can grab in Crichton.”
“Miss, why are you rushing to leave so quickly? Are you worried the Count will return and ruin everything?”
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“No, it has nothing to do with my father. No matter how many times father intrudes, he’ll only be met with resistance and the freedom for the servant to kick him out.”
“Then why are you…”
***
T/N: IDWTBL is set to be released daily Monday through Friday, but I will first be working on stacking up for advanced chapters and in the case that I fall ill and end up having trouble translating.