After Hinata's birth, two days quickly passed and the soft cries of a child filled the house in the middle of the night.
"Waahh!!...Waahhh!...Wahhh!."
The newborn's cries rang in the house, Lina lay on her bed, her face pale and energy completely drained, blue hair sticking to her face because of sweat.
Yet, despite the tiring labour, she shifted her attention toward her baby—a girl—blue hair, black eyes, chubby and soft cheeks.
"Congratulations, Lina!."
Rael congratulated, her face filled with happinness. She took the baby in her arms and poked its cheeks.
"Thank...You."
Lina murmured, a faint smile on her lips.
"Can i hold her?."
She requested, Rael gently handed her the baby, and Lina held her carefully in her arms.
"What will be her name?."
Hina asked, holding the Hinata sleeping in her arms. She chuckled seeing the baby grasp Lina's finger.
"Her name....will be..."
Lina paused, and glanced at Free who slept on her desk, he had fallen asleep waiting for the baby to be born.
"Elina."
She muttered, smiling and slowly tears she didn't realize she had been holding began to fall.
"W-why am I crying?."
She questioned herself.
"I understand how it feels."
Hina comforted her, sitting beside the bed.
"Having your first child is the best moment of life."
Rael chuckled at Hina and Lina being protective of each other.
Free uttered something in his sleep.
While Philip stood in the doorway, looking at Elina in Lina's arm.
Seeing them at peace, he couldn't help but flash a smile of joy.
"Now i have to work harder."
He said to himself, looking outside the window, The birds slept peacefully on the Root Tree.
The next day....
Free sat beside the bed, cheeks puffed up eyes on Lina who sat on her bed holding Elina, feeding her breastmilk.
"You were asleep, also, i said if it was a boy you can name him, Young master"
Lina said, gently supporting Elina's head.
"I may have been asleep, but you could atleast wake me up."
He exclaimed, back facing her.
"Yeah, but you were deep in sleep so we thought disturbing you will not be good"
Lina added, slowly laying Elina on the bed.
"Lady Hina herself, said that we shouldn't disturb your sleep."
She patted his head, Free stayed stubborn for a few seconds before slumping his shoulder.
"ugh. Fine."
He whispered, and stormed out of the room.
Downstairs, he sat at the dining table, waiting for breakfast. A temporary maid, Philip hired while Hina and Lina were healing, cooked breakfast.
"Aww. Free is upset."
She teased, her wrinkled and bent back and a face that had decades of experience, looked at Free, who sat alone in the dining table with an upset expression.
"Are you still upset they didn't wake you up."
She stated, chuckling softly.
"Yes! I was excited last night, that my new sister or brother was gonna be born, but i fell asleep and they didn't wake me up when she was born."
He planted his face on the table, the maid placed the food in front of him, Free grabbed the spoon and slowly ate his breakfast.
The old woman let out a low giggle and picked up the tray of food she had prepared and marched upstairs to give Hina and Lina the food in their rooms.
The woman went inside Hina's room and gave her a bowl of soup, then to Lina's room and gave her the same soup she handed to Hina and left.
In the dining table, Free finished eating and went back to his room and retrieved the spell book.
"Mom, i'm going outside!."
He informed, stepping inside her room.
"It's the first time you are going outside."
Hina fixed her gaze on him with bewildered eyes, then scooped up a spoonful of the soup and sipped.
"Be back before lunch."
She ordered, taking another sip.
"Okay!"
Free noted and left her room, as he ran downstairs, he saw himself on the mirror and paused.
The mirror hung in the living room, Free spotted his hair slightly tilted upward. He quickly fixed the strand of hair and flashed a bright smile.
"I look cute."
He flashed a smile on his face, pointing both fingers at the mirror.
'I...have been smiling a lot lately.'
He thought, and exited ths house and strolled down the path, his thoughts swirling.
'I'm forgetting my past...'
He tried to recall the face of his mother from his past life, only for a blurry image of her face to appear.
'Maybe...i should keep a diary of my previous life, in case i forget everything about it...'
He thought, even thoughthe had been raised with affection and care, Free couldn't help but try to preserve the memories of the past he was trying to escape.
A few moments later—
He roamed around the village square and asked for direction from people to where the lake-Sākī was, and after asking for direction and roaming, he finally reached the lake and took a seat on the fallen tree bark.
"Let's try advanced water magic."
He extended his hand and chanted the spell.
Water started to curl into a circle, then gradually, it started to wobble and transformed into a dragon-like shape.
"It's working."
His eyes widened in astonishment, and moved his hand to the left, the dragon-shaped water turned left, he did it to the right, the water dragon followed his hand to the right.
"I-it's amazing."
He whispered, then deactivated the spell, and the water dragon melted back into its liquid form.
"That was great..."
He mumbled, and turned to his spell book and scanned the other spells, when—
Sob...
A faint sound, as though someone was crying reached his ears.
He abruptly turned his head, but no one seemed to be around.
"Maybe i am overhearing things..."
He turned back to his spell book with his guard up, but then the sobs came again, louder this time.
"Okay, that's it."
He stood up, turning to where the sobs were coming from.
And slowly strode alongside the stream, following the sound which seemed to grow louder and louder down the stream, until he eventually reached the point where the forest slowly grew thicker and thicker.
"Okay, this is dangerous"
His heart raced, but he reachedrun away.
He finally stopped in front of a giant tree. The sobbing echoed once more, this time from the other side. Circling the massive trunk, Free found a girl about his age. Her ash-colored hair gleamed beneath the forest's shadow, contrasting with her emerald-green clothes. Her complexion was fair, yet lightly kissed by the sun.
'A girl...'
He studied her carefully. She hugged her knees tightly, her ashen hair sticking to her damp cheeks. His gaze drifted to her ears. They were long and pointed, like an elf's, yet they drooped toward the ground as if weighed down by sadness.
He slowly approached her, and the girl flinched at the sound of footsteps, she hid her face deeper in her arms, trembling and scared, Free stopped right in front of her.
"Who are you?."
"And why are you this deep in the forest?"
He asked.
The girl looked up, her brown eyes examined the unfamiliar boy carefully, and after a few moments, she spoke .
"M-my necklace w-was thrown into the lake..."
She stammered, her hiccups making it difficult to speak.
"And where is that necklace?"
He looked around the area, looking for anything that looked like a necklace.
"It's stuck in the branches of a fallen tree in the currents of the river."
She pointed at a shining thing stuck under a fallen tree, Free stared and put his hand on the water to check, and as expected, the river's current was strong .
"Okay that... Is troublesome."
He crossed his arms, looking at the strong force of the stream.
The girl's sobs grew louder hearing that.
"Please help me! That necklace was given to me by my grandma..."
Her eyes welled up, hands gripping his clothes as she begged.
"Let's see."
Free observed, then opened his book and his eyes moved, scanning for any spells that can help.
"Is that a spell book?."
The girl peered the book in his hands, her sobs echoing in the currents.
"Let's see..."
Free flipped one page after another searching for any spell, after a few moments of searching, his hand stopped on the page of the advanced-tier section.
"There it is."
He tapped his finger at a spell in the middle of many advanced-tier spells.
'Water manipulation. Can i even cast it?.'
He doubted, flipping some more page, but it was the only spell that was related to water manipulation.
"Okay, i can do this, calm down and focus."
He encouraged himself, pointing his palm toward the lake with fingers spread wide open.
The girl fixed her gaze on him with hopeful eyes. Free took a deep breath and chanted the spell, the water vibrated as Free hummed the spell under his breath.
Gradually, the water began to split into two sections, leading to the necklace which was still stuck in the branches of the tree.
"Go take it."
He gestured, feeling the burden of the advanced-tier spell, without good mana flow and manipulation, the pressure was absolutely devastating.
The girl shot up to her feet and rushed to retrieve the necklace from the river.
"Thank you!."
She thanked him, bowing politely as she slipped the necklace back around her neck.
"You're welcome."
He replied, and deactivated the spell letting the currents flow again.
"What's your name, anyway"
He finally asked, after solving her problem.
"My name..."
"...is Sylvia. "
She finished, her hitched voice subsided, replaced by a joyful voice.
"And your name?."
Sylvia asked.
"My name is Free. Nice to meet you"
Free answered, closing his book with a faint thud.
"So you're the guardian's son."
Sylvia murmured in astonishment, now chuckling softly.
"My mother said that, the son of Guardian Philip is a weird kid, he always stays in his house or garden."
She told him, laughing softly.
"I-i'm not that awkward. Also, is my father really that popular?."
Free inquired, a bit offended and embarassed.
"Yes, Philip is the strongest guardian in the village, you know."
She tilted her head and gazed at Free with a bit of confusion.
"Y-yes, i didn't know that. my father always comes home laughing and shouting that he slays goblins, but i didn't thought he would be that strong"
His voice was barely a whisper, scratching the back of his neck while recalling what happened between them a few months ago.
'It makes sense now.'
"Well, it's not your fault."
She reassured, and both headed back to the village after hearing low growls coming from the woods.
They quietly walked beside each other, while Free felt awkward due to it being his first time walking with someone beside out of his family, which was not from his family.
"Hey, you said a kid threw your necklace in the water"
He asked, trying to break the tension and shifted his gaze to Sylvia.
"Y-yes, his name is Grok, h-he always makes fun of me for being a half elf and calls me an old hag for having white hair."
Her hands trembled. Even mentioning his name made her filled with fright, noticing her distress Free gently patted Sylvia's shoulder.
"Okay, if that's the case. Let's go and talk to him."
He suggested, his eyes lit up with a bit of unexplainable excitement.
'What is this excitement?...'
He thought to himself while a faint grin formed on his face.
"B-but he is older than you and— and bigger!!."
Sylvia shook her head in protest, looking at Free with fear and disbelief.
"I'll be fine,"
He said, his expression unchanged as he continued walking.
"B-but what if he bullies you too?"
Sylvia exclaimed, her hands still trembling.
He glanced back at her, his blue eyes were calm and unwavering.
"We'll see...."
To be continued.....