TEACHING ALARIC

"This is so frustrating." Aristia muttered in annoyance when she didn't find anything after searching for a suitable book for Alaric.

She was still in the library with Alaric, looking for a suitable book to help him learn to read.

"What paradise for a book lover?"

[I thought it would be easy but I didn't expect it to be as hard as finding a needle in a haystack.] She thought, but then it occurred to her that she was in the medieval era and they probably didn't have children story books. She should have considered the situation and timeline she was in. This got the cogs in her brain turning as she thought of ways to teach Alaric and earn money at the same time.

No. She wasn't thinking of asking for payment for teaching Alaric.

[How disgusting and shameful would it be if I asked for money to teach a three year old, much less my own supposed brother?] She had a better idea that she planned to put into action sooner or later.

While searching for a book for Alaric on the part of the shelves her hands could reach, which wasn't much since the shelves were insanely high and she didn't trust the ladder even though it was sturdy just like all the other wooden furniture in the mansion, she found a book about the history of the Kingdom and decided to take it since it would come in handy in building up her knowledge of this world and also in her history classes.

Carrying the book back to the sofa area, she saw Alaric still sitting in the position she had left him.

Sighing, she said, "Sorry Al. I didn't find the book I was looking for. But soon, you'll be with one." She said vaguely. "We can start without the book but we'll need paper and writing materials." She called for Adeline to get them writing materials.

After a few minutes, Adeline returned with the materials as instructed and handed them over to Aristia.

Laying the materials down on the table, Aristia picked up the pencils and handing one to Alaric, asked if he knew how to write any words. Shaking his head, Alaric denied it and Aristia nodded her head in contemplation.

"Here." She said handing over one of the papers to Alaric. "This is yours and, this...," she said pointing to the other set of paper, "is mine."

She started by teaching him the alphabet, then to spell and write his name and then she went on to teach him how to spell other simple words. Alaric caught on easily and in no time, he could spell, pronounce and recognize some short words.

They continued that way until Aristia decided it was time to take a break.

She sighed in relief as she stood up slowly and stretched her tired limbs.

Alaric who was caught up in his excitement of knowing how to read some words didn't know how tired he was until he heard his sister say they should take a break. He too stood up and stretched just like Aristia did and then yawned loudly and cutely.

"We'll continue with this tomorrow, after my lessons, alright? Now, let's go have those snacks." Aristia suggested when she noticed how tired he was. She forgot he was just a little kid. They had been there for quite a long time.

They stood up to leave while Cassandra and Adeline stayed behind to pack up the writing materials.

As Aristia and Alaric exited the library, a passing maid bowed in greeting to them and Aristia asked her to prepare the snacks since their maids were currently busy. Nodding, the maid went off to carry out the task.

Opening the door to her room, Aristia waited for Alaric to step into the room before she went in after him and shut the door after her.

Pointing to the bed, she said to Alaric, "You can sit on the bed," while going to sit on the chair by the window in front of a table with some books on top. Placing the book from the library on top of the table, she turned to Alaric only to see him struggling to climb the bed.

She couldn't help the chuckle that left her mouth. This seemed to annoy Alaric and he pouted.

Aristia walked over to him and decided to help him out, but she quickly realized the truth– she was too small to carry Alaric. Sighing softly, she used all her strength to help him up onto the bed and slumped to the floor when she successfully achieved her goal.

Hearing a knock on the door, she allowed whoever was on the other side permission to enter, stood up and walked toward her chair to complete the history assignment given by Viscountess Vasily.

The door opened and the maid she instructed to get them snacks appeared with a tray in her hand, while bowing her head. "Young Miss, here are the snacks you requested for." The maid also brought two glasses of water which she carried in the tray.

"Thank you. Give the snacks to Al and place the glasses of water on the bedside table." She told the maid who wasted no time in obeying. Bowing again, she left the room.

***

Aristia massaged her fingers after she had completed the assignment. She turned to check on Alaric and smiled as he had fallen asleep sprawled out on her bed, the almost empty bowl of snacks sitting beside him.

Staring outside, she saw that the sun was already setting, painting the sky orange.

"I'm pretty sure Al didn't drink any water after he ate the snacks. I don't want him to have dry coughs at night." She muttered. She stood up, walked to the bed and picked up the glass of water from the tray on the bedside table. The full glasses confirmed her words.

She shook Alaric lightly and he stirred. "Al," She called out. "Drink some water."

"Huh?" Alaric replied groggily as Aristia held him up. He opened his mouth as Aristia fed him some water. After he had drunk enough, Aristia let him lie back on the bed. She made a wall with pillows on the other edge of the bed so that Alaric would not fall off, in case he was the type to roll in their sleep.

She picked up the bowl of snacks and ate up its contents, then, she drank her glass of water and placed the bowl and the glass back into the tray so that the maids would pick it up whenever they came back.

[I wonder why Adeline and Cassandra are not back yet. I just remembered that after today, I'll probably return to my world. This might just be a case of lucid dreaming and I probably pinched myself in real life which is why I felt the pain in my dream. Probably. This could be the last time I'll see Alaric.] She thought as she climbed into the bed.

"I'll miss you Al," She whispered and yawned tiredly, giving Alaric one last kiss on his forehead. She was after all, in the body of a child and was already feeling exhausted. Lying beside Alaric, she soon drifted off to sleep.

.

.

.

Some few minutes after Aristia had fallen asleep, the door opened and in came Adeline and Cassandra. Their faces morphed into an expression of surprise on sighting the Young Master lying with the Young Miss.

After they were done with packing up the writing materials in the library which took quite some time due to the mess caused by Alaric and Aristia, Cassandra went to check on the Young Master since he was supposed to be asleep during the time. But, on reaching his room, there was no sight of him anywhere. She was about to panic but heaved a sigh of relief when Adeline who was with her, reminded her that the Young Master was probably still with the Young Miss.

They walked to her room and that was how they witnessed the cute scene before them. They walked further into the room and Adeline picked up the tray containing the snacks and the glasses of water. She was about to open the door when the door opened from the outside.

Bowing quickly when she recognized the people standing in front of her, she greeted while stepping out of the way, "Greetings, Your Royal Highnesses."

When Cassandra heard that, she turned around and bowed, "Greetings, Your Royal Highnesses."

Nodding, Wilson and Catherine nodded and dismissed the maids.

Wilson and Catherine turned to face their sleeping children. They had gone to check on their children as they usually did but were stunned when they didn't find Alaric in his room, so they decided to check if he was in Aristia's.

Surprisingly, both children were asleep on the bed. Catherine smiled watching her children snore lightly and gave them both kisses on the cheek. Wilson was about to carry Alaric to take him to his room, but Catherine held his arm to get his attention and shook her head.

"Let them be, dear. We should leave, lest we disturb their rest and they wake up." She told him.

Wilson nodded and they exited the room.