บท 9: I Remember Now!
In the study, Junia stood near the window and looked blankly at the red roses in the garden, a shadow moved behind her but she paid it no mind.
"You should've at least smiled at the child." A male voice sounded and Junia recovered her thoughts and looked back, it was her Shadow Guardian Seraphis sitting on a sofa comfortably. "It would have been more awkward had I smiled." Junia replied indifferently.
"Right, with that stern face of yours, instead of a smile you might show her a grimace and that scene might scar her for life." Seraphis snorted and scrunched his handsome face. Junia shook her head and rolled her eyes at Seraphis. "You still can't sense the child's Shadow Guardian?" Junia asked Seraphis straightforwardly.
Seraphis face turned serious. "No, it is really odd, a Shadow Guardian usually awakens or born with the birth of its master but its been seven years but still nothing."
Junia stared outside again and murmured. "She is not our Elvira..." Seraphis made a face and asked. "Elvira that child, has changed ever since she woke up after almost drowning, I heard she lost her memories. Could it be..." Seraphis did not finish his words and just tapped a finger on the armrest with a frown.
Junia closed her eyes and recalled the Elvira she saw earlier, she can't explain it but she feels she is different from the Elvira she knows, but what bothered her a lot is her hair. Elvira is originally black-haired but as she grows, white hair also began to spread and now half of her head is covered with white silvery hair.
What is more disturbing is her eyes, when she woke up after the drowning incident her eyes were no longer black but silver gray. She has to wait for Arcadius to know more, she had already warned the servants to keep quiet about Elvira's physical changes. They were already asked to treat those changes as normal. It is best to take precautions so as not to endanger Elvira's body.
Junia kept recalling Elvira's face earlier and she suddenly poked her own cheek. Seraphis looked at her weirdly and asked teasingly. "Why are you poking your cheek? Did you gain weight? Want to have chubby cheeks like your daughter?" Junia opened her eyes and looked at Seraphis and her ears reddened a bit and she avoided Seraphis gaze.
Junia walked to her desk a little uncomfortably and spoke a bit harshly. "Mind your manners old man! She is not my daughter. I repeat, she is not our Elvira."
Seraphis stopped laughing. "Hmph! Elvira is Junia's daughter, she lost her memories but that body is undoubtedly Elvira's, unless we have proof to claim otherwise, she is your daughter, and stop calling me old man! I'm born the same day as you, unlike other inherited Shadow Guardians."
Junia sat and started working on the paperwork on her desk, she ignored Seraphis. Without any more things to say Seraphis stood up. "I'm going to look for Elvira, I bet she is much more interesting than your grumpy face." He disappeared as soon as he said this.
Junia's hands stopped their movement and she looked up at the family portrait that was done when Elvira was born. Junia sighed thinking that she really can't stay, she can't bear to look at Elvira right now, she needs to go to the Capital soon. 'Just where is our Elvira? Arcadius you idiot! Come back quickly! Junia needs you!'
............
Elvira studied the picture book Sonya gave her before she left to oversee other matters. It turns out Sonya is not just her nanny but she is also the head housekeeper of the Parall household.
Sonya taught her the Andeolan Alphabet earlier. The Kingdom of Andeolus has a very complicated letter and number system. Looking at the picture book Sonya gave her she tried to familiarize herself on the pronunciation of each letter.
In hindsight, each letter looks complicated because the symbols used are different on what she is used to but the pronunciation is a bit like the English alphabet. She just has to memorize how each letter looks.
She took some paper and pen, the pen here looked the same as the fountain pen in the modern world but she finds this pen convenient as it is imbued with magic that made the ink never run out.
She started copying each symbols of the Andeolan Alphabet. She looked at her work very seriously and pouted from time to time when she thinks that her writing is ugly.
'Drawing has been easy for me after years of practice, this symbols should be a walk in the park but why does it look so...' "Ugly!" Elvira murmured aloud as she frowned. A laugh sounded and she was startled and looked around but there is no one.
Another chuckle is heard and said to her: "Are you talking about yourself little one?"
Elvira pouted even more, annoyed at the voice's words. 'You are the ugly one! Hmph!'
"Are you angry?" Seraphis suddenly appeared in front of Elvira, startling her.
Elvira's jaw dropped, she is not surprised at his sudden materialization, rather she is shocked at his physical appearance. She suddenly had a ridiculous thought. 'Is he here to shoot a shampoo commercial?'
Elvira stared at a devilishly handsome man with long black hair spilling to his shoulders. She reached out her hand to touch the man's silky black hair.
Seraphis grinned and his red eyes shining proudly. He likes it when people praise his good looks and he likes to show off his black shiny hair, out of all Shadow Guardian he knew, he is the only one sporting long hair.
Elvira held Seraphis hair in amazement, even in the modern world her black hair was never as shiny and soft as this. "Pretty...."
Seraphis smiled widely at her words, feeling gratified at the attention when suddenly Elvira yanked hard at the handful of hair on her palm.
Seraphis groaned in pain for having his hair almost pulled out.
He pulled back his hair from Elvira's grasp and Elvira stared at her now empty hands. "Oh! So it's real!"
Seraphis red eyes widened when he heard Elvira's words. "What do you mean real? Of course it's real! My hair is my pride you know! How could you pull it like that! What if I become bald you brat!"
Elvira blinked and shrugged her shoulder. "You could be a handsome bald then."
Seraphis' mouth opened at her words. He does not know whether to be angry or to laugh at her words... 'That's a compliment... right?!'
Seraphis shook his head and pointed at the papers while maintaining some distance from Elvira in case she decided to yank another handful of hair. "You are writing the Andeolan alphabet." It was a statement, not a question.
Elvira stared at Seraphis, ignoring his probing look. "Who are you?" Seraphis grinned, "I am your father!"
Elvira shook her head, "No you're not!"
"How do you know? Do you have your memories back?" Seraphis asks back.
Elvira tilted her head a bit and thought for a moment. "I don't know what he looks like but you don't look like a father."
Seraphis smiled widely. "Of course, I look young to be a dad."
"You look like a strange old uncle." Elvira turned her attention back to her work.
Seraphis is dumbfounded, "You just said I'm handsome and now I'm a strange old uncle? Aren't you contradicting yourself? Hmph, you are so impolite!"
Elvira did not lift her gaze and just said. "I'm sorry Mr. Strange but handsome old uncle."
Seraphis gritted his teeth. "You are just like my master, why would she think you are not related when you both have such rude mouth. I am not old!"
Elvira suddenly looked up. "What do you mean?" Seraphis realized his blunder, he quickly changed the topic. "My name is Seraphis, a friend of your mother. Did I scare you when I suddenly appeared?"
Elvira rolled her eyes and recalled the bizarre events she saw the past few days she was recuperating in her room. 'I saw the roses on the vase change colors three times in a day, the maid who cleans my room has dog ears and a tail, and my meals were delivered to my room floating in the air. There were other more incidences, that a person suddenly appearing out of thin air is no longer a surprise.'
Seeing that Elvira did not reply, Seraphis shook his black cloak and sat crossed legged in front of her. "You must be sad that your mother will be going to the capital soon. Don't worry, you won't be alone for long, Duke Eardwulf will be bringing his son to visit you."
Elvira's ears twitched, 'There it is again a familiar name, just like when I first heard my name, deja vu? Duke Eardwulf...I'm sure I heard that name before, but I just can't remember. Am I mistaken? It is impossible for me to hear it before...'
Seraphis continued talking. "Come to think of it, this is the first time you will meet that brat Livius, his father, and your father are great friends.
They want you and Livius to be closer as well, but I don't mind kicking him out of the manor if he offends you or even before that.. your choice heh." He grinned as he flipped open some books that are scattered around.
Elvira suddenly froze and thought of something. "Livius Gereon Eardwulf... Elvira Carmine Parall..." 'I remember now! They are characters in The Moon Feather! The Visual Novel Game JRon Corp. is developing. Oh, my pasta! I am in a game world?!'
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