The boy brought a first-aid kit to her as she sat silently on the wooden chair. Her gaze seemed unfocused, but her fingers tapped against the cold wood. He brought a chair in front of her, sitting; in his hand, he held a wet handkerchief. Wiping her face and hands carefully, he did it all without voicing any of his thoughts.

A sense of wariness stood between them -- thick as butter.

He soon leaned towards her, partially standing with his hand on her chair. His eyes furrowed and his lips turned into a small frown. Aemilia, or Emi, flinched when his handkerchief touched her cheek. “Ah, sorry.” He murmured to her quietly. “I just need to clean up your wound…” His handkerchief patted her wound as gently as he could.

“Anne is getting our parents. I know that you’re probably tired, but I’m sure you want to get things done as soon as possible.” A pained expression -- he hid it so quickly that she barely noticed. “...Aemilia.” She looked up at him questioningly. He put away the handkerchief and locked eyes with her. “What happened?”

He bit his bottom lip when she answered in silence. His voice trembled as he straightened his back. “I… I know how much you had a hard time. I know it the best. But…” He shut his eyes tightly before looking at her. She could see the unshed tears and frustration within those cinnamon-brown eyes of his. He took a deep breath. “But you shouldn’t commit suicide just because your parents are no longer here.”

Ah… So that means… Aemilia’s parents are dead. Then does that mean she tried to kill herself and that’s how I ended up in her body?

She coughed to clear her throat. She gazed at the floor as if thinking to herself. “I… I have no plans of dying.” Aemilia glanced up at him. “I somehow ended up taking a nap at the beach and woke up wet. So there’s nothing to worry about.”

Although… I have no idea why I was at the beach, truly…

Honestly, why am I even in this body? Why am I even here in this world? Why?

His shoulders slackened. “Really?” He whispered to her.

...It wouldn’t be good to make a child worry about me.

Her hand wrapped around his. “Really.” She didn’t smile, but her gaze towards him softened. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

His eyes widened and shook. His lips pulled into a small smile. “Aemilia, I--”

The door swung open. A middle-aged woman and man came in with a gentle smile.

The woman checked up on her condition before speaking. “Aemilia, I’m glad to see that you’re here.” She grabbed a roll of bandages and began to wrap it around her head. “I’m not sure why you’re injured, but you don’t need to tell us anything if you don’t want to. I also lost my parents, so I understand that you need time to grieve.” She clipped the bandage. “But remember that we’re here for you.”

The boy grabbed the bandage from the woman. “Mom, I can do the rest.”

She smiled at his words. “Ethan, it seems like you’re all grown up now. I didn’t think I would hear those words from you.” A small laugh escaped from her throat.

So his name is Ethan…

Aemilia watched the family banter with each other quietly.

“M-mom…” Ethan scratched the back of his head.

The man chuckled to himself. “Well, he is thirteen years old now.”

Ethan groaned and ignored the two.

“Hey now, don’t be so cold to your dad!” The man pretended to sniff as if he was crying.

“Don’t embarrass yourself in front of Aemilia, dad.” Ethan huffed and clipped the last bandage.

“Right, right!” He grinned, walking over to Aemilia. He patted her back carefully. “Aemilia, you don’t need to worry about your mom’s store anymore! Ya know, the one in Proelium…? We just recently sold it, just the way you wanted!”

“Proe...lium…?” Aemilia murmured to herself.

Another city or place I don’t know about…

“Yeah! The one in Novus Mundus. I mean it’s a good thing we had some connections there or else it would’ve taken you a lot of time to get there and to sell it in the first place.” Ethan’s father motioned to his wife for them to leave the room. “Well, you can stay for the night since it’s late and we’re worried about your health. If you need us, we’ll be in the usual room.”

Ethan’s mother caressed Aemilia’s cheek affectionately. “Yes, we’ll be right there, so don’t worry about anything tonight and go take a nice, hot shower before sleeping.”

“Thank you.” She tried to smile at them, but her exhaustion made it into an awkward one.

“Oh, and Ethan, please look after her too, with your sister.” His mother then closed the door behind them.

“C’mon, I’ll show you to your room.” Ethan opens the door that his parents went through before. As they entered the hallway, Aemilia scanned the area as she followed him slowly. And the moment she looked behind her shoulder curiously -- to see how far she was from the previous room she was in, she crashed into someone. Usually, such an incident could be casually ignored and not pose as an issue, but the exhaustion soaked in her bones dragged her down, allowing gravity to push her backward. She gritted her teeth and reached out to the floor to protect herself with her arms. But instead of sliding across the floor, she found herself standing back up again.

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The person she bumped into gripped her hand, while their other hand caught her back firmly. “Be careful.” A smooth, low voice murmured to her. A sense of relief that she didn’t injure herself settled inside of her.

Turning her head to thank the person, the first thing she noticed was his glasses flickering in the light. The intensity of his gaze from his sharp, dark blue eyes and his stern expression immediately put her into a position of analyzing who this person was. Despite this initial reaction, she found herself realizing that his gaze and expression didn’t bother her as much as she thought they would. Instead, her heart calmed down as if telling her that he was safe.

A good sign? Or is this a bad sign… Either way, it’s disturbing how I feel this way towards a mere stranger.

Her eyes soon narrowed as she forced herself to stay vigilant.

“It seems like you can stand now.” He released her from his hold after being certain that she could stand by herself. He then took a step back to respect her space.

“Ah, yes. Thank you.” She spoke firmly to him.

He nodded and took another step towards the wall. “Go ahead.” He motioned to her to go past him.

But maybe… Just maybe, there’s a slight chance that this person… is actually a considerate person… or maybe, kind, would be a better word to use.

With mixed feelings, she steadied herself. “Thank you.” She whispered to him. The man fidgeted with a silver ring that hung on a thin silver chain necklace around his neck. He nodded to her again as an acknowledgment of her thanks.

“C’mon, Aemilia.” Ethan grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him gently. “Let’s go.”

“Okay.” She glanced at the male stranger a second longer as he began walking away from them. She soon faced Ethan again. “Who is he?”

Ethan’s face scrunched up before answering. Irritation colored his voice. “He’s my temporary hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship teacher.” His expression smoothed out. “But his main job is to be a hunter.”

A hunter...

“What’s his name?” She calmly asked without raising her voice.

“Bastian. That’s all I know.” Ethan finally reached a room and opened the door. “This--”

“Then… what do hunters do?” The moment she asked that, his gaze turned strange.

Don’t tell me that’s common knowledge. I should have known. Shit.

She should have known better, but she couldn’t stand not knowing.

One day, my curiosity is going to get me killed. I just know it.

Ethan smiled at her gently. He nudged her to enter the room. “Aemilia, I think you should sleep first. When you wake up, we can talk more and you can ask me more of those questions then.” Before she could say anything, he closed the door.

The moment the door shut, he frowned to himself, scrunching up his face. “Why did she ask me that?” He scratched his head again, sighing. He began walking across the hallway. “It’s such a basic question.”

He suddenly stopped walking, removing his hand from his head. “Now that I think about it…” He remembered the injury on her head when his mother wrapped the bandage around her head.

“Don’t tell me…” He had wondered briefly to himself before as to why she acted like she never saw him before.

“...I can’t believe this is happening. I have to tell my parents!” He dashed to the reception room.

Meanwhile, Aemilia roughly dried her hair with the towel as she came out of the bathroom in new clothes. She threw the towel on top of the chair before laying down on the bed. Silence -- it filled the room as if a huge pool of stagnant water settled in there. After staring at the ceiling blankly, a yawn soon escaped from her.

She grabbed the bandage again and wrapped it around her wounds carefully after putting ointment on them. Thankfully, she didn’t have many injuries in hard-to-reach locations on her body, so it was easier to handle them on her own after showering.

I must have been hit by something… but…

“There was nothing there… Nothing at the beach that I could have been hit with.” She murmured to herself.

And I don’t think I got on a boat either.

She winced, scrunching up her face, as she tried her best to pull up the previous Aemilia’s memories from her current body.

It’s too vague. Why can’t it be clearer?

Ugh, I hate that I can only remember some daily knowledge about this world, but nothing else. So useless.

She sighed deeply. She stared down at the wooden floor, her hands clasping together.

At least, I can recover her memories slowly. Or at least, there’s a chance that I might be able to…

If I see certain people or encounter anything familiar, will her memories come to me?

“I’m being too optimistic about this, aren’t I…” Another sigh escaped from her. She soon laid back down on the bed again, glancing outside of the window. Droplets of the rain trickled down the glass. “Rain…”

Rain reminded her of her previous life. Sudden changes of weather, bright lights, loud sounds, too much exercise, immense stress -- such minor things tortured her relentlessly. But because of those minor things, her head, akin to a balloon, usually reached explosive pain levels as if a rope strangled her head tightly. Only when it rained for a long time did her pain tend to fade away. And yet, since she came to this world, she found herself being in no such pain.

“...Does that mean that I’m forever free from that now?” She stayed silent for a few minutes before a bitter laugh bubbled from her throat. Her arms covered her face, hiding her expression from the world. “Even though that’s such a good result to have, why don’t I feel happy about it at all?”

Even if I’m free from that pain, so what? Is that even a good thing? To no longer be able to see everyone in my previous life, is it worth it?

Can I even go back home? Does anyone even miss me?

Her heart churned and squeezed harshly at her thoughts.

Stop it, Emi. What’s been done has been done. Let’s not think about the past anymore. At least, not right now.

“So do it later, Emi… Because the transitional period, this time, will probably be more difficult than ever before… So don’t let your guard down.” After berating herself, she stood up and walked over to the door, turning off the lights. “That’s right. Even if I try to grieve right now, I won’t be able to get a hold of myself until after a few months -- or maybe even longer -- pass by. And by then, it would be too late.”

She nodded to herself. “Let’s focus on finding ways to go back home if I can… Or at least, find out the reason why I came to this world in this body in the first place.” She climbed onto her bed and laid on her back. “And if I can’t go back, then that’s when I’ll grieve. But right now, it’s not the right time to do so.”

Pulling the blankets over her, she continued to look out the window.

That’s right… I need to get used to being Aemilia first. I need to survive in this world and not act foolishly. Strong emotions like grief -- that’ll only hinder me from living properly here.

I need to survive.

Survive…

That’s how I’ll live.

Her eyelids became heavy, while her breathing deepened, slowly drifting her off to dreamland. And soon, she was fast asleep.