Year 1853
Xander immediately pushed her out of the kitchen. He grabbed Thea's small hand and ran as far as possible before returning everything to its original place.
They returned to the pond.
Thea regretted eating well. Now, all of her guts seemed to be coming out after being dragged away by Xander. Her expression was getting worse.
Xander, oblivious to that, picked up his fishing rod and turned around.
"You have to come back soon. Miss Yerez will inspect anyone who is not present at the dinner table." With that, Xander said goodbye.
After Xander was out of sight, Thea ran towards the bushes. Everything she had swallowed earlier came out, she couldn't endure it anymore.
'Puke...Puke...'
Her body trembled after vomiting all of her guts. She washed her mouth and hands with the water from the pond and fell down on her knees.
She stared at her reflection on the surface of the water. She had never felt this miserable. She sat there in silence for a very long time.
Thea returned to the room without having supper. Her stomach ached but she didn't care. Thea hid her body under the blanket when Jane went inside. Only the sound of Jane's movements could be heard. Thea dared to peek at her from the edge of the blanket.
Jane climbed onto the bed without saying hello and asked if she had eaten or not.
A little disappointed, Thea covered the blanket again when she saw Jane sleeping on her back. She struggled to endure the hunger until fast asleep.
The next morning she was awakened by shouts from the caretaker of the orphanage.
Thea was still trying to get used to it. Another child stumbled her body while she heading to the bathroom. They all hurried over to their morning routine. Thea observed them all running ahead of her.
The queue in front of the bathroom really took her aback. Thea never saw anyone have to queue just to pee and wash their face. Each of the children scrambled to try to enter the bathroom first.
Five toilets and showers fully stocked. The washbasin in front was jam-packed with older teens.
Thea stood in the bathroom line and joined the queue. Those who were both in line looked at Thea and her burn. Thea could only make a fist. It felt like she had been standing for a long time under their eyes, even though she had not been there for ten minutes. Finally, it was her turn to urinate and wash her face.
When she finished, Thea went to the kitchen and hauled the trash to the stove.
Miss Yerez assigned her that way every morning and evening. All the children here must have their respective duties.
Girls and boys who are still children were usually given the task of sweeping and mopping. The adolescents, usually asked to cut grass, clean windows, clean cutlery and burn trash. The older one were told to sew or patch children's clothes, patch the roof or repair the damaged. No one would be able to eat without completing their duties.
Thea dragged the garbage pile to the back. Her mind went back to yesterday's events and sure enough, that bunch of children was already there.
"Ben, Ben! See! Who is coming, " The fat boy tugged at the jeans knee-length arm boy.
The knee-length jeans boy called "Ben" turned his head. His grin was immediately visible.
"Burn girl! We meet again!" he walked over with the long iron in hand. His hands pushed Thea's body to the front of the furnace.
"You do our job, hold this!" He stuffed the long iron into Thea's hands and threw the trash under her feet.
Thea tried to back away, but her body was still being held from behind. Thea closed her eyes, panicked. She hated seeing fire.
"Let me go!" Thea turned around.
"You can talk too! I thought you were mute. "
Thea heard his chuckle instead. Ben kept her body facing the stove.
"Apparently, I do really need to report you to Miss Yerez."
Everyone turned their heads. Thea saw the boy who she met yesterday.
"Are we going to reunite here often?"
"Shut your mouth, Xander!" Ben released his grip on Thea's shoulder. "It's not fun at all. Let's go," he said. His friends followed. They sneered at him.
"You can scream when they…" Xander was stunned. His eyes caught the tiny bead sliding down Thea's cheeks. Thea throws the iron and leaves from there.
Xander looked at the girl running away. This was the second time Xander saw her crying. He picked up one by one the trash that was scattered near the furnace, and then threw them all into it. He watched as the garbage was being engulfed in flames.
After completing the runaway girl's task, Xander went back inside and saw Thea standing not far from the entrance.
"You're not coming in?" he asked as he approached.
Thea dried her face. She glanced at Xander who pointed at the kitchen door.
"I know it's beautiful out here, but it's getting cold. I don't think you want to get sick, do you?"
Thea thought about his words. Her face looked up to the sky. The white clouds lined up in the wind. The air around her was still cool, but if she stood outside for too long, her body, which was still injured, would not stand it. Xander smiled as he watched her move.
He pushed the door open and let Thea entered first.
Year 1863The servant opened the door for Thea.She saw her uncle and Kay already sitting in the dining room first."Good morning, Uncle," she greeted him and took her place across from Kay. The Uncle, Blake, just nodded slightly. He did not even glance at her.Thea immediately took the spoon. She was used to Blake's attitude."Don't forget to go home early today. Do you understand, Kyle?"Thea stared at Kay. Blake never called his son 'Kay'. That's just what Thea way to called him."Yes, father. I think Thea also wants to come," he said.Thea glared. For almost two days, Kay didn't come home and met her, which made Thea think Kay would never bring that up again.Before Thea opened her mouth, Blake suddenly opened his mouth and agreed."Well, I don't think that's a bad idea. You too, Thea. Go out tonight with Kyle.""But, uncle ..."Blake looked at her. Thea didn't like being stared at by hi
Year 1853Thea chose to spend the rest of the afternoon sitting by the pond. Throughout collecting the second piece of trash, she avoided the other kids as much as possible, let alone the bunch of knee-length jeans boy and his genk.Thea had no intention of getting along well if they themselves didn't want to befriend with her.She sighed.Thea had nothing else to do, other than what Miss Yerez had told her. Her hands had been moving to throw small pebbles into the pond after her task completed. Without aware of the surrounding where she was not alone.Xander smiled. He found the girl on the same spot like yesterday. Fortunately he didn't go fishing so the pebbles she threw wouldn't make a trouble for him. Xander approched her.Thea stared at the far away scenery. Her parents used to take her on picnics in the summer. Typical hardworking father. During the workday, he would really concentrate and ignore Thea and her mother. Even so,
Year 1863She almost screamed.Thea gripped the perfume bottle tightly behind her. Her body stiffened.Did Kay knew what she's been doing? She never said about her dirty work at all.Never.Was she caught?Thea felt her knees weaken. Blake always said she shouldn't be caught by anyone and Thea agreed. Even though the world was collapsed, she didn't want to look any different in front of them. The one who should not know what her did is Kay, and it turned out that this man ..."Why is your face so pale?" Kay approached her."Ka, you said ... I ... am a murderer?" Thea's tongue suddenly froze when she stared at Kay, who nodding firmly."Of course. You kill me in every game we play. Horse racing. Archery. Shoot. Play chess. Fencing… Oh! I forgot. A few days ago I was—"Thea's body almost slumped to the floor if Kay didn't catch her. She, who suddenly short of breath for a moment, rushed to take
Year 1853Thea's neck was sting and sore when the dirty water touched her wound.Adel's eyes widened. After pushed and splashed her with water, she immediately threw the bucket in her hand. She seemed to have just realized what she had done."My hand slip accidentally! I didn't do it on purpose," she said, panicked. "You know too, don't you, Rose?" she was trying to justify herself when she saw a truly terrifying sight. Then Adel ran away from the place."Adeeellll !!! Where are you going?" Rose cursed. She turned to Thea "A- are you okay?""AAAAAAkkhhh! Help me! Aaaaaa, it hurts! Help me! " Thea was crying. She opened and clenched her fists, not daring to touch her neck. "Call someone. Anyone! Help me! "Rose still stood dazed. She ran looking for someone, when she saw Miss Yerez not far from where she was standing, she shouted."Miss Yereeezzz !!!""Why are you running, Rose? A woman can't–!""You must i
Year 1863 The commotion around her suddenly disappeared when Kay left her. Oh come on! Thea didn't want to be left alone with this strange looking man. "So you are Kyle's cousin?" Thea furrowed her brows. Didn't Kay tell you that earlier? "Yes," Thea still replied politely. After all, she was here on behalf of Thea Wilkess, the distant relative of the Earl. At least, Thea had to behave without embarrassing Blake or Kyle. Rupert led her aside. Thea followed him reluctantly. Her body straightened. Thea's neck even stiffened. The summer afternoon wind could not ease her restlessness. Several people began to look curiously as soon as they arrived at a table full of pastries. With her keen hearing, Thea could hear the people whispered about her. "For you, my lady," Rupert raised a glass of white wine and handed it to Thea. "Thank you." Thea immediately took a sip of her drin
Year 1853Thea's thin body jerked.In the quiet night, something happened.Suddenly, something or someone pulled the blanket violently. She couldn't see well as she turned off the light before going to sleep. Her body was dragged off the bed. Thea tried to rebel. But she couldn't fight many people. She was dragged and paraded out of the room."What is this? Let me go!" Thea struggled."SHUT UP!" They didn't expect Thea to fight.She managed to escape from their grip.Thea turned her head in a panic and crawled to save herself. She had no idea what happened. Her instincts told her to run, so she did. But there were five or six people blocking the way and grabbed her back. They kept dragging her like a trash to the backyard."Let me go! What do you want? "They threw Thea on the ground. She tried to stand up. The bigger boy pushed her shoulders down."You witch! Killer!""Shut up!""Don't pret
Year 1863 "Are you all right, Miss?" A man looked at her worriedly. Thea shook her head. "No. I am fine. Thank you." Thea welcomed the man's helping hand politely. "Do you want me to take you somewhere? Somehow you look lost." Thea was silent. Her brain still trying to digest what she heard earlier. Is it possible the talk earlier...all about her? "You are very beautiful, Miss." Thea was stunned. "Erm, I'm sorry if I'm being rude. You seem unwell, but I really want to say it, " the man bowed slightly, feeling guilty. Thea smiled awkwardly. "Thank you." Aware of the discomfort of the woman in front of him, he let go of her grip, bowed and bid farewell. Thea tried to shake her thought. She walked without paying attention to her front when a man appeared around the corner, making herself startled. "Oh! I'm sorry, young lady..." Thea suddenly got her
Year 1853Thea's breathing echoed in the silent room.The two of them fell silent when Xander, who returned from taking the first aid kit, stared at the bloodstained stone that Thea had thrown."I didn't do it! I swear!" she said with wide eyes. She really didn't do that. Who would have thought that her foot touched something liked evidence of Jane's attack.Xander looked at the stone on the floor. He sighed and then told Thea to come closer."Sit here. I will treat your wound first."Thea obediently sat beside Xander, who immediately did his job."Is the wound really worse? I mean, Jane?" she asked, hesitantly.Xander muttered. He was sure Thea didn't do the evil deed even though he didn't know how to explain it. It happened so fast. Someone sneaked into the orphanage and Jane happens to run into the culprit. Thea, who was in her room couldn't possibly know what had happened.The other kids only took their ange