Chapter 56 - Winter Star (8)

When Harrison told her to lift her head and look at the view, she did what he told her to do and what greeted her sight was a majestic and enchanting scene of the frozen lake where a huge wistalia tree stood in the middle glowing very brightly. The place was surrounded by glowing wistalia trees and aside from that, the crescent moon looks very bright and fascinating. She can't take her eyes off the breathtaking scenery, it was too beautiful that she could stare at it forever. This was the second time that she saw the frozen lake but it wasn't as beautiful as this. The place looked very bright and the ambiance seems like it was from a fairy tale.

Harrison also stared at the view, his eyes sparkling as he saw the trees glowing in a beautiful way. "It looks beautiful…" He muttered and he wondered why he said such a thing. Alexandra heard what he said and she heard a voice in her head once again: "Beautiful…" It was a familiar voice and a blurred face suddenly popped inside her head, it was smiling but its face wasn't clear enough inside her head but she was sure that it was smiling. Who was that..? She asked herself and her head ached but she endured the pain.

"I can't believe this is the place where we first met," Alexandra suddenly said out of blue still enduring the pain inside her head. Harrison hummed before he responded, "You were very small back then," Harrison said as if they first met 10 years ago but it was true she looked very small. Alexandra couldn't argue with that fact since she was still 5 years old when they first met and her height is small but since she is 7 now, she grew.

"Hey, Harrison," Alexandra called out to him, still looking at the majestic view of the frozen lake. "What?" He responded nonchalantly as he stared at the wistalia tree in the middle of the lake. Too bad the trees still haven't produced any fruits, he thought to himself as he stared at the tree. "Have we met before?" Alexandra asked, even she was shocked and confused at what she had asked. Harrison looks familiar but she can't remember meeting him before, she was sure that they first met. Everything about him was familiar especially his eyes, she felt nostalgia as she stared at his eyes. For the past 2 years that they have been together, she was hearing this kind of familiar voice and a blurry face would suddenly appear in her mind while they would talk but eventually, it didn't happen anymore not until now.

Harrison looked at her, his eyebrows creased, "What do you mean by that?" He asked Harrison was confused at why she asked that. Alexandra heaved a sigh, "Nevermind that question, anyway, did you bring me here to just stare at this magnificent and fascinating scenery?" Alexandra quickly changed the topic knowing that it would just be awkward if she doesn't. She hoped that Harrison would just forget what she asked earlier and just continue their conversation as nothing happened. "The winter star will first appear at midnight and will disappear on the next night," Harrison said. Hm? What does he mean by that? She asked herself and after a few seconds of decoding or trying to understand what he is trying to say, realization dawned upon her. "Are we going to see it? Are we? Are we?" Alexandra asked in an excited tone of voice, her eyes gleamed, and her face beaming with joy as she looked at him.

The aura which surrounded her looked bright and her smile was sweet yet it showed how excited she was, Harrison hummed, "You can see it here clearly since this is an open area," Harrison simply said and Alexandra wanted to jump because of happiness. Aside from the enchanting scene of the frozen lake and the brightly glowing wistalia trees, she also gets to see the winter star for the second time too. It seems like Lady Luck is smiling at her today. She thanked herself for not sleeping earlier or for her sleepiness to disappear earlier or else, she wouldn't be able to see such beautiful views or sceneries. "Thank you," She muttered and decided to sit on the ground which was covered in snow but it wasn't cold. Harrison must have used his magic to let their selves to not be cold. "For what?" He asked staring down at her while she hugged her knees close to her chest as she stared ahead.

"For taking me here," Alexandra said in a gentle tone of voice which sounds soothing and relaxing to the ears. A subtle smile plastered on her face as she placed her chin between the gaps of her knees.

Harrison responded with a hum and decided to sit too. "15 minutes left before the winter star appears, would you like to sleep first?" Harrison asked as he stared at the night sky that has a crescent moon and filled with white, sparkling, and glowing dots which are stars. Alexandra shook her head as a response, "I'll just wait, there are only a few minutes left," Alexandra said and continued to stare at somewhere. The silence which surrounded them after they spoke didn't felt dull nor empty, it was comfortable and relaxing.

"In a world far away,

where flowers are blooming beautifully,

where peace lies in everyone's heart,

where love exists,"

Alexandra suddenly sang. She just felt the urge, it was from a book she read but she doesn't know the melody, so she just created one. It caught Harrison's attention and he looked at Alexandra with his eyebrows furrowed. However, Alexandra continued singing, her voice sounds like a mother singing a lullaby, it sounds so gentle and pretty.

"Come, my darling,

in this place, you call home,

where you are free,

where darkness and light are equal,"

She was glad that she still remembered the lyrics. It was engraved in her mind and she couldn't stop singing it inside her head with the melody she created. As she sang, it seems like the melody danced and the song felt alive. Harrison listened to her sing as he stared at the scenery, her voice is the only thing he heard. Her gentle voice resonated around the place yet he paid no mind as he continued to listen.

"This is the home,

which was lost,

yet found,

buried in everyone's minds,

engraved in their hearts,"

And she stopped, she couldn't remember what was next. Right, she only remembered ¼ of the song. Harrison wondered why she suddenly stopped singing but it seems like she read his mind as she answered while laughing awkwardly, "I forgot what was next," Harrison just hummed. Her voice kept on ringing inside his ears and was on repeat inside his mind. Silence surrounded the two once again and nobody broke the silence not until Alexandra spoke, "How many minutes left?" Said by her.

Harrison thought for a moment before he responded, "5 minutes left or probably more, I don't have a pocket watch with me," His voice sounded that he was bored or he was tired of waiting but when Alexandra heard his response. She gasped, "A few more minutes left," She said excitedly and giggled. Harrison hummed before he spoke, "Is the pocket watch still with you?" He asked and Alexandra looked at him with a smile plastered on her face.

"Yeah, and it's on top of the bedside table. I would take it with me when I go out," Alexandra said. She was being careful when handling the pocket watch since it looked very expensive and Harrison entrusted it to her. Harrison nodded a couple of times as he muttered, "That's good," He was unexpectedly silent today. Not literally silent but he wasn't teasing her or telling jokes, his teasing side was quiet but Alexandra didn't mind it, it's good actually but she wasn't used to it. Maybe he doesn't want to ruin the mood or something, she thought to herself.

"It's time," Harrison suddenly said out of blue and he looked at the sky. Alexandra immediately understood what he meant by that and she looked at the sky with an excited expression, her face beaming with joy as the cloud slowly uncovered a star which looked bright than any other stars in the sky. It looked beautiful as it glowed, its color was a light blue one. Beautiful, it's very beautiful, she thought to herself. If only she had a camera or something to capture this view as well as the frozen lake.

The first time that she saw the winter star was when she was 5 or 4 years old, where Diana woke up and walked inside the palace, she entered the young miss' room to check just like she usually does and saw Alexandra awake too, so she decided to take her out to see the winter star. Alexandra wanted to stare at it for longer and stay outside but her mind tells her not to as she yawned. Diana might be roaming around inside the palace, she needs to go back now. It seems like Harrison knew what her situation is, "Let's go back to your room, you could probably see or view it while you are at your balcony although it's much better here. I didn't leave a replica of you at your room because it will use too much of my mana besides, I'm running low of it because of the spell earlier and I used multiple spells, multiple times today. I'm afraid I might need to turn into a baby just to conserve," Harrison said and Alexandra nodded as a response.

He used two powerful spells at Elise earlier, the other spell was a dark one yet he didn't tell Alexandra about it. She might not believe him since there was no known person that can use dark magic nowadays. It might shock her or something, she might tell someone about it and he will be hunted for it. He can't help but heave a sigh as he thought about it. (Note: I'm not going to talk about it more) Aside from that, he teleported multiple times at different places, the amount of mana that is needed depends on how far the place is and since the distance from the palace to his dormitory is rather great or long, it used so much of his mana. There are also some other spells he used to like the illusion barrier which he set up and the spell he used to burn the gift. He needs to lessen or avoid using powerful spells for like a week or two to recover his mana.

He held her hand and suddenly, the feeling of being turned upside down conquered her and she stopped the urge to puke. After what it seems like minutes but actually just seconds, they finally returned and Alexandra immediately walked towards her bed, she threw her body and covered herself with the use of the comforter. Harrison sat at the seat beside her and crossed his leg. "Sleep." He said and Alexandra forced a smile. "Good night," She said and her eyelids slowly closed as she drifted to sleep. "Good night," Harrison whispered but Alexandra wasn't able to hear it because she was already asleep. He heaved a sigh and he played with the ends of her hair.

"Have we met before?" Her voice from earlier rang inside his head. Her question bothered him and he wondered why she asked. Don't tell me, he saw me on that day? He asked inside his head and he heaved a sigh knowing that he can't answer it. The truth is, Harrison saw Alexandra 5 months before their actual first encounter or talk happened. It was the time where she escaped the palace to see the scenery of the lake where the wistalias are blooming brightly that night since it's a full moon.

--

"Wow, it looks so beautiful!" A sudden voice startled him while he was resting on top of a tree branch. He opened his eyes, his eyebrows creased in annoyance. Why is there someone here? I thought I was the only person in this place, Harrison thought to his self and he looked at the person who had a kid's voice.

An amazing expression plastered on her small face which was slowly turned into a smile which looked bright like the sun, gentle like the sea breeze, and warm like the morning's sun. It looked beautiful and he was attracted to her smile and he stared at it. When she heard his voice once again, he snapped out and realized that she was actually a kid. Should I scare her? He thought to himself, trying to erase the memory of her smile but failed to do so.

He was about to get down when he heard a voice. "Young miss, there you are! Why did you escape the palace at this time of the night?!" He saw the startled look of kid and he decided to watch will happen next. The girl however giggled and scratched the back of her neck as if her expression was like an 'Oops-I-Got-Caught' one. Not a single regret nor guilt is seen on her face. "Mari saw you run when she came out of her room to go to the kitchen to drink, don't you know that it's dangerous?!" A girl wearing a long nightgown emerged out of the bush, her expression tells that she was angry but her voice was gentle yet laced with worry.

The young girl just smiled widely, her face still the same as earlier before she got caught. She looked so bright and happy even though she was being scolded. Soon, the girl was being taken away and the place was quiet once again.