Arthur then moved away from the group a little. There, Isla turned around and looked at him. “What happened exactly?” She asked seriously.
“… As I said, I’m just-”
“I know you very well, Arthur. You might’ve helped the girl but the fact you brought her here means you noticed something.” Isla shook her head. At this point, she knew Arthur enough to understand how he thinks and how he acts.
Arthur, on the other hand, was quite shocked by Isla. He didn’t expect her to immediately pinpoint why he had that girl with him without thinking twice. Even he had to contemplate it before doing it.
‘… She really understands me so easily.’ He thought to himself. For some reason, the fact that Isla was that aware of Arthur’s nature made him a little delighted. Not many people truly understood him and his extremely weird behavior.
“Well, I don’t know if my hunch is right or not. But, that girl is not normal. Something about her is very… Odd.” Looking over his shoulder at the timid girl, he spoke his thoughts.
“Odd? What do you mean?”
“Do you not feel it?”
“No.”
“… I can’t really describe it in words. But, she’s just not normal. What made me even more sure of it was her backstory. She told me that her family had gotten rid of her because she’s useless and those men captured her for some reason.” Arthur replied.
Isla frowned visibly when she heard that. “Useless?” She asked.
“Yes, I was confused just like you. Something is definitely off with the entire thing and that poor girl has been the victim of it from what I can see.” He replied.
“Throwing her away because she’s useless, huh? That kind of behavior… Is far too familiar to me.” Isla scratched her chin. This was not the first time she had heard of such a situation. In fact, she had heard of it several times. “Only arrogant, power-hungry parents would do such a thing.”
“Arrogant, power-hungry parents?” Arthur raised an eyebrow before he was suddenly hit with it. “Wait, do you mean that her background is not from a common family?”
“… Could be. I will have to see for myself first.” Isla replied. So far, she hadn’t said anything to the girl or even heard her speak.
“Hm, well, she said she wants to leave the city and go somewhere where they can’t find her. I already told her that it’s dangerous but she doesn’t seem to want to listen.”
“…”
“I don’t know what to do with her,” Arthur said as he ran his hand through his hair.
Isla remained silent as she stared at the girl for a few seconds. Then, she started walking. “I will deal with it.”
“How?”
“…”
Hearing no response, Arthur followed her curiously. He didn’t know how she would help the girl, but he was open to suggestions. When the two came back, Sora flinched as she took a step back. Isla approached her slowly and crouched down.
“Arthur had told me what happened with you and I must say, I am truly sorry you have gone through such a harsh situation. I cannot imagine how hard it must’ve been.” She said in a surprisingly sad and sympathetic tone. Even though her voice was still as cold and as calm as ever, everyone could feel the actual feelings within and so did Sora.
“…” The girl pursed her lips. She didn’t know what to say at that moment. She had been indeed through hell and back several times and nobody was there to help her. She was on the verge of losing hope many times, and the pain didn’t help at all.
The world didn’t spare her, even when she tried to escape and do everything she could to be free. It only dragged her back to hell without any hesitation. She hated every single moment of existence in this world. But, she didn’t want to die. She refused to do that and for some reason, even when everything was grim, her beating heart still fought for a moment of salvation.
A miracle that might come and save her when she was at her lowest point. But, it took too long… Far too long.
Sora felt her eyes tearing up at that moment but she didn’t let herself get too engrossed in her own feelings. She wasn’t going to let them see that. She had to be strong.
“I’m fine. He said that you’re going to help me leave the city.” She said.
“… Well, not quite. I have another suggestion for you.” Isla said. “How about you come with us?”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“Isla?”
The entire group was surprised by the weird suggestion, and they voiced it out loud without realizing it. But, Isla lifted her hand as a signal for them to wait.
“We have a good spot to hide you from whoever is looking for you. Until you decide what you want to do. I believe leaving the city in such a state isn’t going to help you much, is it?”
What Isla said was reasonable and Sora was aware of it very well. Initially, leaving the city was her only option because she trusted that she could somehow find a place where she could hide until they forgot about her and then try to reach another city south or even north or wherever her feet brought her.
But, that didn’t mean that she was all too for that idea. It was just the only available option she had.
“… Where are you going to hide me?” She asked.
“Well, you will have to see yourself,” Isla said. “What do you think? Do you want to come with us? I understand if you don’t want to since we’re strangers. But, your life isn’t worthless to throw it away that easily. Consider it carefully.” Staring into the girl’s eyes, she conveyed all her thoughts through that look.
The girl found herself completely captivated by Isla’s beautiful eyes. Those eyes were akin to hypnotizing pendants that worked to change anyone’s mind. It was simply magic. What hit Sora’s heart even more were those words.
‘My life… isn’t worthless?’ The girl repeated those words in her head with a dazed look. Nobody had ever told her that before in her life, not even as a joke. All she heard was that she was a failure, a disgusting defective piece of garbage, and a completely worthless daughter with no future or present.
She could only accept those words as there was nothing else to see. She believed that she was indeed worthless. But, at the very least, she never wanted to throw her life away. She didn’t know why, but that was the last line she could never cross.
Now, someone she didn’t know was telling her that she wasn’t a waste. She was far more precious than that.
*Drip*
Before she could even realize it, tears fell to the ground, melting the ice beneath her feet. She didn’t notice those tears until they started falling and when she did, she panicked and quickly tried to wipe them. But, they kept trickling down endlessly.
“No… I… I can’t…” She fumbled the words she wanted to say as everyone watched her with solemn looks. They could see the pain in her eyes as clear as day. The little girl was broken…
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3
