Chapter 22 - Her Hair Was Black

Yvonne was hunched over when she saw the little girl inside do the same exact thing as she did in the dream.

'She really offered water to a boy who just drowned!' Her shoulders trembled as she laughed while covering her mouth.

Shaking her head in ridicule, she looked back at the scene unfolding with the two main characters of the story.

The boy coughed and shook his head when he was offered a glass of water by the little girl before him.

'Is she the one who saved me?' Frit wondered as he stared at her hair.

The girl in front of him had long curled dark brown hair which almost looked black. But they weren't black.

"Were you the one who saved me?" He asked out loud.

She brightly smiled at him and opened her mouth to speak.

'She has such a sweet smile on her face when compared to that foul-mouthed brat. How can they be the same person!?' Frit shook his head and completely denied that possibility.

Before she could answer his question, he asked her another one.

"Where's the girl who pulled me out?" He inquired as he tried to sit up straight.

"The one with the black hair." He elaborated when he saw her doubtful look.

She froze when she heard his words and looked at him with her eyes widened.

'Black hair? There's no one here who has that hair color.' The girl shook her head.

"My parents were the ones who saved you. Not some black-haired girl." The little child sulked at him.

'But… I certainly remember seeing her face, her hair was black and her eyes shined brightly. Also, she had that nasty look on her face the entire time she was holding my hand!' Frit gnashed his teeth.

He was not looking for her to thank her but he wanted to teach her a lesson for calling him a pig.

He fell into contemplation when he heard from the girl that the gardener had found him on the ground and had carried him here.

Apparently, they had not seen the little girl anywhere around him.

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So many things had taken place inside, but Yvonne was oblivious to those things that were going on with the children because she had another problem to take care of.

Outside the cottage, Yvonne could hear footsteps coming her way. So she hurriedly hopped off the can and hid behind it.

She saw the woman who had carried her away in her dream running towards the man who had just appeared with a bowl of hot soup.

"The young miss has disappeared!" She screamed and this alarmed the gardener.

He frowned at his wife because he had almost dropped the hot soup on himself.

"The Lord and Lady are furious, we need to start searching for her right now! The kitchen staff was the last to see her and they think that she could have either gone to the atrium or the garden." The woman gasped for breath while she explained the situation to her husband.

"What…! If something happens to the young missy while she's in the garden then the Lord will not spare us!" He trembled when he thought of Lord Rutherford's anger.

He ran inside the room and handed over the bowl of soup to his daughter.

"Hilly, take good care of our guest. We need to find Young Miss!" He instructed her and ran away.

"Something happened to Von?" Hilda was in a panic when she heard that her friend was in some sort of trouble.

Yvonne had heard the friendly name she had called her, accompanied by her concerned voice but she did not have time to think about any of that, because she had to rush back to the mansion before someone found her here.

'They must be upset because I've been gone for too long!' Yvonne grabbed her shoes in her hands and ran like the wind while hoisting up her dress to not restrict her movement.

Her brain was filled with shortcuts to reaching the mansion without anyone's suspicions.

'This must be the other Yvonne's memories.' She assumed and finally stopped at a fence.

She had just paused to catch her breath but remained there when she looked around and found that she was at the stable.

'Is this where I fell when I first teleported to this world?' She marveled at the pure white and pure black horses that stood majestically in their sheds.

"YVONNE ST. CLAIRE!"

She jumped when she heard a thunderous roar come from behind her.

She cowered as she slowly turned around and saw the two people who looked like they would breathe fire out of their nostrils.

'Oh damn! Will I get lectured now?' She put her head down and sneakily glimpsed at the feet that strode in her direction.

'I didn't even get to see the 'love at first sight' scene and I'm getting yelled at. Just great!' She sneered at her lousy luck.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were when you sent us out on a wild goose chase around the mansion!?" She lifted her head when she noticed the shadow cast over her.

Rutherford was looking at her with an intense glare. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched.

Yvonne turned over to see Raylene and found her eyes to also be accusing and scary.

'But I just wanted to watch the show that was happening from afar! Was that such a bad thing to do?' She felt aggrieved when she noticed their accusatory glares.

"I wanted to see the horses!" She looked at them with her big watery eyes.

"I won't see them when we leave tomorrow." She started sniffing her nose.

"I'm sorry~… !" She wailed with a loud voice and this startled the St. Claire couple.

Rutherford was flustered at what to do, so Raylene quickly scooped her up and embraced her.

"Hush, baby! We were just worried. We shouldn't have yelled at you." She patted Yvonne's back and tried to calm her down.

Yvonne just buried her face into Raylene's soft chest and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Vonna, Papa is sorry. I must have startled you with my anger but Papa was just scared that he had lost you." He gently rubbed her head.

She timidly raised her head from her mother's chest and looked at him.

Rutherford felt an ache in his heart when he saw the tears that had stained her cheeks and Raylene's dress.

"You were scared... to lose… me?" She honestly questioned him.

"Yes, Vonna. Papa was scared. He always is." He nodded and wiped her tears away.

She looked at Raylene and saw her nod as well.

Seeing their gentle and loving smiles, Yvonne beamed at them.

"Thank you, Mama, Papa." She decided to give them a little treat for being so nice to her.

Hearing their beloved daughter calling them 'Mama and Papa' again, the couple were overjoyed and they hugged her tight.

Yvonne giggled when she got squeezed in their embrace.

'And that is how you subdue two fire breathing dragons.' She smirked when her head was buried in their necks.

Though she had been acting the entire time, she was genuinely surprised and happy when she heard Rutherford saying that they were afraid of losing her.

'I don't think that they are all that bad, after all.' She sighed loudly and closed her eyes.