New Day, New Problems

Arnacia lifted the rope and hung it on the metal hook. The morning sun provided enough warmth to wade towards stubborn land without complaints. Additionally, the high leather boots prevented cold water from flowing in.

"I was hoping to catch some." Naomi picked up the coffee-colored straw backpack, which was half filled with grass in multiple shades of green and brown.

"Is there a local name for this river?" Arnacia asked on their way to the doctor's house in the Vanvan forest.

"Simply Evermore river even though grandpa told me no one can swim across the real Evermore River."

"I think some of them must be herbs." Arnacia raised an eyebrow towards the straw backpack-like basket. "Just thinking that it must be real, the All-Blue of herbs." She deeply looked at Naomi and to kill the uncomfortable silence, she added, "do you think the doctor will give me any herbs for my arms?"

"You don't have to push yourself. That old man is a phony. He is just like those con magicians, dressing up all mysterious and stuff."

"It might work out. I think it is real."

The two girls reached the doctor's stone house. Gray and white smoke was rising through the chimney. Arnacia pulled the steps and climbed up to the front door after Naomi. In the first room, Archie was sleeping on the bed in the left corner. They walked into the door beside the bed.

Raffaella was sitting on a chair. Her eyes were digging the words on the book in front of her. She rested her elbow on the table to turn a page. Little did she know that Naomi and Arnacia had tiptoed into the room.

Arnacia signaled Naomi to sit down on the caramel rug. A pair of empty table and chair were available, but the girls decided to not disturb Raffaella. That aside, the room was surrounded by bookshelves on three sides. Most of the books looked dirty brown and worn out, with pages sticking out.

Arnacia folded her legs to sit in a meditation posture. She nodded at Naomi before closing her eyes. The 'Breath Harmony' had many, or she wasn't ready to master it. But either way, before meeting the old man, she wanted to grasp and familiarize herself with it as much as possible.

Naomi stared at Arnacia for a while. Her childhood friend's face hasn't changed at all. She looked away at the bookshelf and wondered if it would be fine, laying her back against it. But before she could, the doctor arrived in the room with two plates in his hand.

"Thank you," Naomi said without looking at the doctor.

The disturbance broke Raffaella's concentration, but she only looked up after her father went away. Arnacia was sitting with her eyes closed, whereas Naomi looked bored. So she passed a paper to the green-haired girl.

The doctor was against passing his knowledge to strangers. He came to check in after an hour at how Raffaella was doing. His burrows frowned on seeing the paper in Naomi's hand, but he silently walked away on realizing how engrossed the three girls were.

***

By afternoon, the news about the attack at Queen Afeefa's estate had spread all over Lanceworth Castle. Only a handful of people could speculate about the true identity of the assailant, but no one knew any details.

The sun was mighty high when a woman in a purple robe walked beside the garden. Her head was covered in a hoodie and the entire dress was decorated in embroidered triangles. She was accompanied by a female Silver Knight, who carried a long sword.

It was Silver Knight Rose. She looked down at her feet all along the way. Half her face was swollen and her eyes turned dead gloomy as she narrated the incident from last night.

They walked through the wooden walkway and reached the door of Queen Afeefa's room. A little maid was scrubbing the floor with a bucket by her side. From here, a mass of stone could be seen near the lake and the shattered fence in the opposite direction.

The maid had tears in her eyes as she rubbed the floor, which had remaining stenches of red. The color just wouldn't fade up and her hands were too fragile to keep continuing. Rose walked ahead and hugged the little maid.

"Don't push yourself. I will clean it." Rose took the scrub away from Selene's hand.

"I apologize in her place." Oak was standing by the door. Her heart seemed to be dying from a thousand cuts as she blamed herself for not being able to do anything last line. The blood on the floor and Selene's actions were a constant reminder of her mistake. She bowed respectfully and showed the old woman in purple inside.

Light from the door fell on the two beds inside the room. The old woman looked at the floor littered with stains of red leading up to the beds. There was nothing to see except the two women lying on the beds. One had black hair while the other had red.

"Don't blame yourself, Afeefa," the old woman stood beside the bigger bed and held Queen Afeefa's hand. "Your choice wasn't wrong. Don't let it shroud your heart."

***

Vanyawn village.

Arnacia was walking on the main road alongside Naomi. She was dressed up as Archie, or to say - disguised as a guy. It took her time to pick up satisfactory bits and pieces of the Breath Harmony technique. Going into the second day of the crash course, she wanted to have a smoother journey with no complaints from the old man's side.

She had a smile on her face as she practiced walking in harmony with her breaths. There hadn't been many people she saw walking down this path and thus the incoming muscular man immediately drew her attention. Naomi also frowned.

'IT'S HIM!' Arnacia suddenly paused. She remembered the slap. More clearly, she remembered the day a Silver Knight named Theon Alucard arrested Isabelle and her. It was the first life and death crisis she faced. The memory instantly made her turn away to walk in the opposite direction.