Adopted Little Sister

The letter was dated two years ago. Around the same time, I first met Abe's ghost.

"Dear Mr. Atlas. General Killian met with us when he returned to the capital. He told us what happened to our daughter Lily… Our poor Lily… If we knew what she was planning to do, we would have never let her left. Now she will never get to meet Noel.

But no matter how much regret we have, we must move on. Noel will have to learn of Lily through us.

Anyways, Killian told us some troubling news. He believes that he will be executed soon so he wanted to talk to us first. We were told that you would come and find us because of Lily's final wish. He told us things will be changing and that we must stay alive until you get here.

Unfortunately, if you are reading this then that means we died. You can say that this is our final will.

We know our baby girl. If Lily trusts someone then that person's character is truly great. That means…"

There were dried tears on the paper. It looks like they had a hard time writing this. After a moment of making out the rest of the letter, I continued reading it.

"That means we can trust Noel to you. We know this might be sudden but it is just a precaution. You see, since Tiffany is a half elf, she is discriminated against. Under King Leo, we knew that our family is safe but under Prince Saul… we aren't sure. But if something were to happen. Please, take Noel with you. No matter where you go, please protect her and raise her."

The rest of the letter was unreadable. It was covered in dried blood and dried tears.

I look at the lady. Trying my hardest to keep my Death's Aura from leaking out.

"Why is the letter like this?"

"This letter was found on the parent's body. According to little Noel, her parents began carrying this letter after Prince Saul took over and citizen began disappearing."

I see, so they were preparing in case something suddenly happened to them. The blood must belong to them.

"Can I talk to Noel?"

The lady nods and I walk up and stand beside Noel.

"Do you know who I am?"

Noel doesn't look at me or say anything. She just nods. This poor child.

"Does that mean your parents talked about me?"

This time, she answers me.

"Yesh. Mommy and daddy use to talk about how my older brother and sister went to make money for us. They said that my sister died while working and that my brother had to work even harder even though he was sad."

So, they said I was her brother huh. While I was in my own thought, I felt a tug at my hand. I look down to see little Noel pulling on my hand.

"Brother Atlas… what took you so long? You could have saved mommy and daddy if you were here! They said you were super strong!"

She starts hitting me while crying. I picked her up and held her. I let her cry while she continued hitting me.

I walk back over to the lady that was with Noel. The lady has a motherly smile on her face. She just nods at me and beckons for me to follow her. We follow her inside the orphanage.

I try to get Noel off of me but she was holding on tightly. Not only that, but she was asleep. The lady sees our little interaction and just giggles.

"Looks like she fell asleep. She must feel safe around you."

"Is that so? I've spent most of my life around older people so this is new for me."

The lady leads me to the kitchen and sits down. I sit down across from her, with Noel still sleeping.

"Do you know why I am here?"

The lady nods.

"I've read the letter before. Noel was clutching that in her hands when I found her and her parents. She was saying how her parents always brought this with them outside so she knew it was important."

"Just so you know, I plan to fulfil Noel's parents' final wish. I will take care of her from now on."

"I understand. I'm sure Noel will be happy as well. Ever since she got here, she has talked about how great her older brother was and how he would come back for her. I wasn't sure about what kind of person you would be. If you were a bad person then I would have never let Noel leave with you. However, it's obvious that you're a good man."

"Hm. Thank you for saying that. Miss?"

"Oh, where are my manners. You can call me Rosie."

"Thank you then Rosie. Since Noel is still asleep, could you tell me more about her? Her likes and dislikes and such."

Rosie and I spent the next few hours talking while we waited for Noel to wake up.

----------------------------------

"Listen Noel. Your brother Atlas said that he will come home soon okay. Since Lily died, he wants to be closer to home. Just wait a little longer and he will be home."

That was all Noel heard growing up. Stories about how he was so strong. How he could move mountains if she asked him. How he would make the sky rain if she wanted. This made her more and more excited to meet him. When her parents were killed though, she had nothing but resentment.

"Where are you brother? Mommy and daddy died because you weren't here to save them."

Noel was crying next to her parents' lifeless bodies. Holding tightly onto the letter her mom gave to her.

It was late a night and no one paid attention to the crying child. Word quickly spread that a couple refused to leave with the prison guards and were killed on the spot. Afraid that they will be next, they ignored the helpless child.

All Noel could do was hide her face and cry. She didn't want people to think that she was childish for crying. But deep down, she wanted someone to help her. To save her. That's exactly what she got.

"Little miss. Are you okay? Do you need help?"

Noel looks up to see Rosie. Noel was scared to say anything and just looked up at her.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you. I run an orphanage not too far from here."

Noel was young but she understood. Children with no mom or dad had to live in that place. Noel stands up and walks to Rosie. She hands her the letter in her hand.

"What is this?"

Rosie opens the letter and tries to read what she can. After reading it, she gives a regretful sigh.

"You must be Noel, right? Why don't you come and live with me until your brother Atlas comes home? I'm sure he wouldn't want to see you sad when he returns."

Rosie then picks up Noel.

"Let's get you inside first. I will come back here and bring your parents. We can bury them behind the orphanage so that you can visit them whenever you want."

Noel had her head buried into Rosie's body. She silently cries and nods at her. Rosie then takes Rosie to the orphanage.

-----------------------------------

Atlas POV

"Brother!"

Rosie and I stop cooking and we head to where Noel was sleeping. She was fast asleep by the fire place in the living room. When we both walked in Noel was crying and ran towards me.

"I thought I was dreaming! WAHHH! I was so sad thinking you weren't actually here!"

"There there, don't cry little Noel. I promise that I won't leave you again."

I hold onto her hand and look at Rosie and then back at Noel.

"Let's eat now, okay? All the other kids are out right now so you can eat as much as you want."

We all return to the kitchen and sit down for lunch. After having a hearty lunch, we sit down in the living room again. I have to talk with Noel since I've already talked with Rosie.

"Noel, I need to tell you something. I need to know if you're okay with it."

Noel gives me her undivided attention.

"When the year ends and the new year begins, I need to return to the Nova Kingdom. I have some business to take care of over there. I know that mom and dad told you to live with me but if you don't want to then you can stay here with Rosie and all your friends."

Noel hesitantly looks at Rosie. She just smiles back. Noel looks to me again.

"I want to go with you brother. I don't want to be separated from you…"

"Alright, don't worry. When I leave, I will come back for you okay? Why don't you stay here until then? Spend some time with your friends and Rosie before you leave."

"But what about you? Why can't you stay here?"

"I'm staying somewhere else right now. I'm sure that if I don't go back then I will get in trouble."

"I see…"

"Don't worry. You will never be alone now. I promise that I will always be here."

Noel hugs me. I can imagine what she's been through since I've been through something similar in my past life. I never had anyone in my past but this time, I will be here for her, even if we are basically strangers.

The three of us spend the rest of the afternoon playing and once the other kids return, I head back to the palace.

Once I reach my room, I clean myself up and prepare to call it a night. But as I was drying myself off, I hear a knock at my door.

"Atlas, it's me."

Oh, the Queen is coming to visit me.

I quickly put on some clothes and let her in. I pull up one of the chairs and have her sit while I sit on the bed.

"How was it? Did you meet the girl?"

I proceed to tell her about Noel and Rosie. I also tell her about how she thinks that I'm her biological brother so I'm basically adopting her now.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Are you ready? I know how hard it can be to raise a child Atlas."

I think back to my time when I was in an orphanage in my past life. It was definitely hard but I think I can handle it.

"Yeah, I think it'll be okay."

"You seem confident so I won't question it."

We continued talking for a bit. This is something we've done every night since I've been here. She would come to my room at night and rant about the things that happened throughout the day. Before we call it a night, Ivory asks me one more thing.

"Atlas, do you plan to leave? If you want, I can give you a position in this kingdom. I would love to have someone talented like you among my ranks."

I shake my head instantly.

"I'm sorry Ivory. I still need to find Abe's family. I was told by General Noah when I first came here that they were last seen around the Nova Kingdom."

"That's where you're going next?"

She pauses for a moment.

"If you are there then could you look for my daughter? According to Saul, that's where he sent her… I want to make sure she's safe. Could you send a message to me if you do find her?"

I think about it for a moment.

"I know I'm asking for too much but I can't make any moves to find her until the kingdom stabilizes and I think that won't be possible for a while."

"I will look for her, don't worry. It's just that I was thinking that I don't know what she looks like or her name even. Everyone just called her princess."

"Really? I guess we all did do that a lot. She was the only girl so we spoiled her a lot, calling her princess all the time since that's what she wanted."

"Anyways, her name is Eva. She looks a lot like me but has a fierce attitude like Leo. So, if you find her, please have patience with her."

"I understand. I promise you that I will also find her and let you know the moment I do."

The Queen gets up to leave.

"Thank you so much Atlas. I hope I can repay you for everything that you've done."

Ivory leaves and I finally lay in bed.

My business here is finally done. All I need to do now is wait for the new year to roll around. In the meantime, I will make preparations for my return to the Nova Kingdom.

--------------------------------------

Next Chapter, we will be saying farewell to the Beast Kingdom and the second half will have Atlas and Noel exploring the Nova Kingdom.