Janna woke up to another cold morning once more. Like the last few weeks, she had cried herself to sleep. The disappearance of Arthur was a devastating impact for her. Even now, she still refused to acknowledge that Arthur was dead, she was insistent that something happened to him. She had a feeling that he needed her help, but she didn’t know where to start. However, she had a clue, her intuition told her that the girl who kept calling herself Artemis knows something. That was why she diligently waited by the girl’s side, hoping that the girl would return to her normal self.

Janna decided she would keep waiting no matter how long it took for the girl to recover. That was why every morning, before the light of the sun revealed itself, Janna would already be sitting beside the emotionless girl. It had become a habit that as soon as Granny Ferdinand cooked the medicinal soup, the girl would wake up and sit upright. From there, Janna would feed her until the bowl was empty and the girl would soon lay back down, staring off into nothingness.

Strangely enough, when Janna came in this particular morning, the girl was already sitting up and Granny Ferdinand was slowly removing the bandages. “Ah! Janna! Come help Granny remove the gauze!” Thinking this was normal, Janna promptly went over and gingerly began removing the gauze from the girl’s delicate skin. Over the course of Granny Ferdinand’s treatment, they had to replace the girl’s bandages many times, so this wasn’t anything new. No matter how many times Janna saw the girl’s skin, she couldn’t help but feel envious. Janna’s skin wasn’t smooth and soft like the girl’s skin, she was a village girl and had to grow up in a harsh environment, so her skin was rougher and drier.

“Wow, she has such smooth skin. There’s not even a scar from her injuries…” Janna muttered to herself. Granny Ferdinand couldn’t help but shake her head and smile, Janna was at that age. Granny Ferdinand had smiled, but because of something else related to Janna’s comment.

“Do you also want to have smooth skin like mine?” A melodious voice chirped.

“Mm, yes…” Janna mumbled, still unaware of the person asking. It was only after what had happened registered in her mind that she quickly reacted and looked up at the deep golden irises that were gazing down at her. Behind those wisdom filled eyes, Janna could detect a hint of pain and longing; it was truly a mesmerizing sight. “Ah! I-I am… My apologies Miss!” She fumbled her lines and quickly switched over to a more formal tone.

“No, I don’t mind.” Artemis shook her head and reached out and grasped her hands, “I truly must thank you for looking after me.” Artemis felt a sincere emotion coming from Janna’s actions that once more reinforced the reasons why she fell in love with Janna in the first place. If she could, Artemis would’ve embraced the shy girl in front of her already, but she was still half-naked so it would be inappropriate to do such a thing.

“I-it wasn’t much at all Miss!” Janna felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the sincere expression on the lady’s face. Then her face began to redden after she questioned why she her heart skipped a beat.

“Now, now. Both of you, let’s first get you cleaned up, Miss. Then we can begin our discussions.” Granny Ferdinand also felt the strange atmosphere and quickly changed the topic with reason.

Not long after, Artemis was dressed in a clean two-piece blouse and dress. Although the colors were faded, the blue and white of the clothing only accentuated her natural charm. It was an old dress the Granny Ferdinand bought in the town when she was younger, but now she had no more use for it so she gave it to Artemis. Granny Ferdinand and Janna were also women and they naturally understood just how elegant Artemis looked in those clothes.

“My goodness!” Granny Ferdinand clapped in admiration.

“…” Janna wasn’t much different, she quietly admired the dress enviously.

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“It doesn’t look strange does it?” Artemis uncomfortably tried to pull down the hem of her skirt. This was her first time wearing a dress after all. She was also a bit taller than Granny Ferdinand so the skirt of the dress was pulled up a bit, revealing her knee.

“It looks perfect, my Dear! If only I had your looks when I was younger. The boys would have been all over me!” Granny Ferdinand mischievously winked and passed over some herbal tea.

“Y-yes! If only… I can look like… that for…” Janna seemed to say and trailed off as she nervously rubbed her hands.

“I-I’m not like that Granny!” Artemis embarrassingly coughed, only to realize she wasn’t Arthur at the moment.

“Fufufu. It’s nice that you’ve decided to open up, Miss.”

“Mhmm, don’t call me Miss, Granny. You both can just call me Arty.” Having grown up while being looked after by Granny Ferdinand all those years, it was strange to have said person refer to him in such a formal tone.

“A-alright, A-Arty.” Janna flustered for a bit, because Arty was Arthur’s pet name.

“I think now would be a good time to explain to us what happened and who you are?” Granny Ferdinand calmly redirected the conversation to the right track.

“I know I should, but... I also really have to thank Granny for everything you did to heal me. If not for you, I may not have survived.” Artemis slightly bowed, a gesture of good will.

“You’re welcome, Child. Arty, I must ask you though. How did such a situation befall you?” When the hunters brought Artemis into her home, the girl was so weak that she had feared that the girl wouldn’t survive the night. Surprisingly, her medicinal concoction was actually very effective on her and allowed her to pull through.

“Hm, I’m not sure either…” When she was washing up, Artemis thought hard to make up an excuse. After all, she was actually Arthur, but he couldn’t reveal any information like that, because his fate as the person Arthur no longer exists. Now he had to build a whole new relationship with everyone he was close to once more. He was now Artemis, a girl who lost her memories. It was a weak excuse, but she couldn’t find any logical explanation of how she appeared at the Black Gorge all battered and wounded.

Upon hearing that Artemis was missing most of her memories, Janna felt pity for such a beautiful girl and offered to help in any way she can. Granny Ferdinand, an old salt, still doubted Artemis’ explanation, but ultimately didn’t pry. It wasn’t good to pry into the business of nobles. Granny assumed Artemis was a noble, because of how fragile and beautiful she was; there was no way a villager would have skin as smooth as water.

“Hmm, if that’s how it is, then there’s no use asking. Rest up, Child. You have just recovered, it’s best if you don’t overexert yourself.” Granny Ferdinand expressed some more concerns before excusing herself from the room.

Granny Ferdinand was an old midwife who also worked as the village herbalist, so it was normal for her to have a larger house that most other villagers. She needed extra rooms for storage of herbs and medicine and also extra beds in emergencies. Finally given a chance to speak alone with Artemis, Janna couldn’t hold back her curiosity any longer.

“Just how do you know me?” She urgently asked. “Do you know Arthur? Where is he? I know that you know him! Please tell me, is he okay?”

Artemis speechlessly stared as the girl’s expressions went from calm and relaxed to a broken down mess. She felt pangs of guilt for leaving Janna in such a situation, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She was in a dilemma. “Should I tell her that I’m still alive? Or…” Artemis didn’t want to think of the other option. She truly did not want to tell her that Arthur was dead. Artemis weighed the two decisions together: if she told Janna that Arthur was alive, how would she react? There was no doubt that Janna wanted to hear the words, “Arthur is alive.” However it would be too cruel to say those words to her. “She would wait forever for me…” Artemis concluded.

On the other hand, Artemis could tell Janna that Arthur was dead. If she truly loved Janna, then she would let her sweetheart move on with her life. Since, who knew how long it would take for Arthur to develop his own Divinity and separate himself from Artemis. It would be selfish of her to keep stringing along Janna just because she knew Janna refused to believe that Arthur was dead. Artemis knew Janna wanted to hear that Arthur was still alive out of someone else’s mouth. Artemis silently watched as the hiccupping girl that Arthur loved for almost half his his broke down in tears. “In the end, I’m just a selfish person…” Artemis weakly smiled to herself.

“Arthur is still here.” Artemis said. She was very vague in her answers, “You and him will not be able to meet for who knows how long, it could be today or it could be never. But, Arthur is still here.”

“…” Janna softly looked up from her palms revealing the light of hope in her eyes. “Thank you.” A barely audible whisper escaped her lips. “Thank you…”