Chương 26: Book 1; Chapter 25; A new beginning

In the past few months, Anniet's life has taken a steady but never boring pace. After waking up in her new room at Rainee's house for the first time, she could hardly believe it wasn't a dream. She tiptoed silently outside as a little thief full of fear and hopes that it was real, that it was not some sort of misunderstanding. Despite it being an early morning, she found Rainee already up, enjoying a cup of a hot drink and reading a book. So it was real!

She stood for a while hiding behind the corner until Rainee, without even looking at her, stood up, made another drink, and pushed the cup across the table towards her. It was obvious that she knew very well that Anniet was here so there was no reason to hide any more. All that she had achieved by this hiding was that Rainee had to make her breakfast, that's all. For the whole next month, she was afraid to leave this house unless she was going out together with Rainee.

She was worried that if she left, she would not be able to come back. For some, it may look strange, but never in her life had Anniet received this kind of treatment from anyone. Usually, people would shun her and only tolerate her company when unavoidable. She had friends, or what she thought friends were at that time, but they never invited her, only allowed her to tag together, and she had to be very careful what she was saying and how she was behaving while with them, not to be turned away.

She was never invited into anybody's home without a reason and never stayed any longer than she had to. She thought that this was what friendship was and tried to be the same with Rainee, but it never worked. Now, when in Rainee's company, all seemed nice and easy, but when on her own, fear would creep over her that she might lose it in the blink of an eye. Days were passing, and that overwhelming fear started to disappear slowly. Nothing she could say or do ever upset Rainee or anyone else around.

Rainee would be either interested in what she said or would point out why it was not true. Everyone else around also was friendly. Not to the same extent as Anthony or Rainee, but still nothing like what she was experiencing at home. And somehow she started to think that maybe to take her life at home as normality wasn't a very good idea, maybe her life wasn't that normal after all. More and more trust in others and herself was slowly growing, and one day she asked Rainee if it was OK for her to go out on her own.

Rainee just laughed at this question and ruffled her hair, saying that " Little Anniet finally grew up". With that, all tension somehow disappeared as if it had never even been there, and her own behaviour up until then made her laugh. On that day all changed. Suddenly, she had become as free as a human could be. Any fear of Rainee chasing her away vanished instantly, leaving just deep gratitude for the incredible patience that she received from her new friend in the past days.

The reason that brought this breaking point was wearing a black suit and had very beautiful, black lively eyes. Every day while looking at that little cottage from the back garden, Anniet would remember the incredible personality of its owner. And she never forgot the promise she made to him to come and help him sometimes. While with Rainee, she met him a few times when they visited the dining hall and also at the campfire. But it wasn't the same as on the few times when she met him on her own.

Rainee, like everyone else, saw him completely differently and would not pay any attention to him and forget about him as soon as he was out of sight. It was so strange to see her friend having the same impediment in this matter as everyone else. Anthony, on the other hand, didn't forget anything and seemed very happy that Anniet found a new friend. And his opinion about Rainee was very high. But no matter how hard Anniet tried to keep all three of them together, it just seemed impossible.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. With Anthony around, there would always be something popping out that would make Rainee leave, and she would go with her. On a day when this all-locking fear left Anniet, just as suddenly as it appeared, all changed dramatically, and she became a completely new person, or so she thought that way.

Instead of being dependent on Rainee, she was just deeply appreciating her company and the time they spent together, whether relaxing, chatting, or training. She started to attend Rainee's classes not as her shadow but as any other student. Every day, she would go to the dining hall to help Anthony, who didn't seem offended by her ignoring him for so long. Only while spending some time with him, she fully realised how much work and effort he put into everybody's well-being.

And to think that after enjoying all these meals, nobody would ever thank him and would not even remember his existence… Once she asked him if he felt lonely because of that. She will never forget his words he said to that question:"Lonely? I would happily exchange memories of the whole world for a memory of one person. But I didn't even have to put any effort for it to happen. No. I definitely don't feel lonely. If I ever felt lonely, that was in the past, not in the present."

The words themselves left an unforgettable impression, but the way he was looking at her while saying it was something that made her never forget that moment. After that, she clearly realised that the way she feels for him is entirely different from anything she had experienced before. It brought both joy and sadness. A lot of fantasies at sleepless nights and a strange inner fight. After that time, he never spoke with her in a similar manner again.

He was ever so friendly and attentive, but never in a way Anniet secretly hoped for. A few times, she gathered courage and came to him to tell him how she really felt, but upon seeing him, this courage dissipated into nothingness, and she never dared to say anything. She questioned him a few times about his personal life, and he tried his best to satisfy her curiosity as much as he could under these strange circumstances he was under.

Anniet found out that he was an only child in his family and was brought up only by his mother, as his dad disappeared into the mists when he was little. He wasn't very popular among others until he learned some skills, and then people started to value him for what he could do, not for who he was, so he had only a couple of good friends; he couldn't tell her about the friend he followed to come to this place. He never got married.

But he did have many intimate relationships long in the past before understanding that it did not bring any happiness, neither for him nor for others. So he left it behind and moved on. In addition to what he said, Anniet understood that one – he was older than he looked. She knew that there were some people who looked very young despite living more than one decade. It was supposed to be normal, however, where she lived, most people were ageing at the same rate with just a little difference.

She tried to imagine Anthony looking older than he was, but no matter how she tried, it didn't match him, so she gave up on it. The second thing she understood was that he had been disappointed by romantic relations and didn't want them any more. That finding put a heavy stone in her heart. She cried for a few nights, and then decided to leave these thoughts behind and enjoy his company and friendship as it was. Maybe not always to the most remarkable success, but as much as she could.

After that, her life got into a nice and steady routine. Sharing her time between Rainee and Anthony, and a little bit of studying. Well, she thought it was a little when others would say that she studied a lot, but in reality, she just loved to attend Rainee's classes, no matter what she would teach. She would grab any opportunity to take sword lessons from her, which were usually in private but didn't go unnoticed by others.

However, no matter how many people would ask Rainee to teach it to them too, she would reject these requests. And she loved to spend time in the library, but only because Rainee or Anthony would recommend her to read something so fascinating that she could hardly leave it aside until it was finished. Sometimes she would stay in her own home, most of the time she would stay in Rainee's home. Very often, she would dream of staying in Anthony's home and was offered this on multiple occasions.

But she never accepted this offer. The reason she wanted to stay there was different from what she was offered. But she would visit his cottage very often, and soon she felt that she had three homes instead of one. The School itself was getting busier and busier with each day passing, and the little town slowly started to grow into a city. It was actually growing and expanding.

First, it seemed that there wouldn't be enough space for all these people, But the town started to grow and transform – new houses appeared from nowhere, new streets opened up. It didn't grow outwards as usual towns would expand. No, the boundaries didn't change, or at least not the way one would expect. The city unfolded from within, from the centre as if some unseen and unused space would reappear.

Anniet met many interesting people who were coming from all around the world, from places she had never even heard about and who looked so different in appearance. Once, she asked Anthony why he was not attending any classes, and he said he was not really interested. She disagreed, saying that Rainee's classes were always very interesting, and since that day, he would come to each class held by Rainee. As the number of attending students increased drastically, Rainee transferred her classes outside.

Not because they wouldn't fit into classrooms, no, classrooms too have expanded according to the number of people. Rainee just said it was more relaxing than indoors. And she was right. Anthony would lie down at the very outskirts of the field chosen for class, with his eyes closed. Sometimes, it wasn't easy to figure out if he was sleeping or listening. Same as today. Sometimes Anniet would stay with him sometimes not, depending on whether she wanted to be left alone or if she wanted to interact with others.

When next to Anthony, no one would ever talk or bother her in any way. No matter if he was sleeping or not. Rainee was already teaching history, physics, and geography. Today, she announced that a new ethics class would be added. Anniet was sitting next to Anthony when she named the topic of the new class.

"I'd better go a bit closer," Anniet said silently to Anthony. She didn't want to wake him up in case he was snoozing.

"You are neither rude nor crude," Anthony replied, making it evident that he didn't sleep after all. Anniet looked at him with a fond smile. Sometimes, he was so naive.

"You are so sweet," she said, standing up.

"That's true," Anthony said, looking at her through his half opened eyes,"anyone who said differently was lying and is not worthy of your thoughts." Anniet didn't say anything to it, just smiled in gratitude before walking away closer to the centre. It was so nice to hear him saying it. No matter that he didn't know her that much to see the truth. Still, it was nice when someone said that she is not rude. Throughout her life, she had heard only the opposite.