Chapter 4

"Aiden, come on, come on."

"Calm down, princess."

Indeed, today is a special day because it's a kind of carnival that takes place throughout the country—the Harvest Carnival. According to the legends of Cintra, the land was once arid and abandoned, but a dryad queen used her powers to bring it back to life. This event was named the Rebirth of the Dead Land, which later transformed into the Harvest Festival.

"Aiden, look."

As I looked from where the princess was pointing, I saw fireworks, or rather, magic creating the effect of fireworks. After 10 minutes, the display stopped, and shouts of joy erupted throughout the capital.

"That was amazing!"

"Indeed, just amazing."

"Aiden, are you alright? Are you crying?"

Without me noticing, tears were flowing from my eyes, but they weren't tears of sadness; they were tears of joy.

"Don't worry, princess. I'm fine. I'm just thinking about my parents."

"Say, can you tell me more about your parents?"

"My mother was an amazing person, always there for me and sacrificing everything for me—something I wanted to repay but never could."

"My father was a craftsman and always made me wooden statues for fun."

"They must have been great."

"Indeed. Well, princess, enough about me. Didn't you get me out of the castle just for the fireworks?"

"No, come on, there are some food stalls I want you to see."

Then, with Ciri, we started to explore the stalls, filled with food—beef, pork, rabbit, etc.

"Princess, try some vegetables."

"No, meat is better," said Ciri with a piece of meat in her mouth.

"I wonder who is the noble one between us."

Completely ignoring what I said, Ciri held my hand and led me to a stall that interested her.

"Aiden, look."

"Mmh, you want to try and catch the fish."

"YES."

"Hehe, alright."

I approached the lady manning the stall.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Can we play?"

"Ah yes, yes, here, take a rod and try to catch the fish."

"Thank you."

Then I looked at Ciri trying to catch a fish, but unfortunately, she didn't succeed, and her misfortune added to the laughter of me and the people watching.

"Stop laughing, please help me."

Then words came from behind.

"Come on, young man."

"Do it for your sister."

"Ahaha, you'll see, he won't make it."

"Fine, I'll try."

I rolled up my sleeves and waited, but as soon as I saw an opening, I caught the fish.

"Wow, mum, look, he made it."

"This kid is good."

"Aiden, you did it," said Ciri, jumping up and down with joy.

"Anything for the princess."

After the shopkeeper created a water bubble to put the fish in, with the surprised voices of the children seeing the magic, we continued our visit until I felt Ciri tugging on my sleeve to point out something. That something was children playing on ponies.

"Can I try?"

"Sure, but I'm staying right next to you."

"Yes," and Ciri started to go towards the ponies but realized she needed help to get on. Seeing this, I lifted her and put her on the pony.

"Thank you." Then, while staying next to her, we had fun with the pony, and Ciri enjoyed having fun with people her age. Even though most of the time she didn't stop bragging about me, much to the chagrin of the mothers, which made me embarrassed.

Then, we went on until we got to the main square, where all the people were dancing, and the music was at its peak. Even without being asked, we were taken straight to where the people were dancing. Without knowing it, our bodies—Ciri's and mine—started dancing.

I was happy for the first time; I felt alive. Seeing all the smiles, the adults dancing, the friends and families joining in, it was something incredible that I couldn't escape my biggest smile. I looked at who I could enjoy it with.

"Ciri."

"Yes?"

"Thank you, thank you very much," I said as I hugged her, and Ciri hugged me back.

Then for hours, until late at night, we had done nothing but dance, eat, and strangely enough, girls my age tried to get close to me, much to Ciri's displeasure; she was jealous.

We were on the way back from the castle with Ciri on my back, sleeping.

"Thank you, Ciri. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have experienced something so amazing and alive."

"Honestly, I would like it to stay like this until the end, just enjoying the happiness. But I know that life will catch up with us. But hey, enjoy these moments."

Then, under two silhouettes heading towards the castle, the moonlit them up, as if to say that this night will always be in their memory.

(I hope I've managed to make you dream a little bit, but Aiden's behavior and the fact that he's always been in the hospital means that he has little social life.)