"We're here, right? Wow, it's really nice." Dad commented after arriving, not realizing how I felt at all.
"Milly? Are you okay?" Mom, on the other hand, noticed right away what my silence meant. I turned my concerned look to them, and they realized what it is I am so concerned about.
Both Mom and Dad kneeled right in front of me. Their eyes stared straight to mine, and Dad nodded firmly to me.
"We'll be right here to pick you up after school." Dad said to me firmly, and Mom nodded in agreement.
"We're not abandoning you anymore. Trust us." Mom said to reassure me as well, and I realized I was being a little baby about all this.
"I know… I'm sorry, it's just--"
"We know, honey. It's okay. You can worry. That's completely fine." Dad moved forward and hugged me, and I nearly cried on his shoulder.
Mom simply stood up again while keeping her gaze around, and she realized the eyes that were staring at us. She stayed silent about it, and let Dad finish with his task.
"We'll see you again just after school. I'll bring some snacks for you!" Dad continued so that I could be assured, and I just nodded to him with a smile.
"Okay. I'll see you later, Dad. Mom." I turned to Mom, and she folded her hands while studying the surroundings a bit more. Dad waved his hand at me as I took my first steps into the gate, and I began leaving them.
It's painful. Separating myself from them is very difficult. However, I kept telling myself that it was okay, and that I will see them again after school. They're not going to disappear again or turn into stone. They will be around from now on, as they have promised.
As such… I have nothing to worry about.
"Hey!!" From behind, a hand has successfully landed and wrapped itself around my neck. I quickly became annoyed as I turned my gaze to the girl who had suddenly attacked me from behind, and her wide grin was just plastered on her face.
"Who were those two!? Were they your parents!?" The girl asked me so carelessly after we entered the gate, not realizing that both my parents could probably hear her with their super ears.
"So…?"
"So, it was true! Tell me, where did they go this whole time!? I thought you were an orphan!" The girl continued an extra mile with the questioning, and I only awkwardly laughed at her.
"W-Well…"
I can't just tell anyone that my parents are the leaders of a country that has been turned into stone. But, it's also quite tough for me to explain where they came from, since a lot of people have long known that I don't have any parents.
Lucky for me, we had a short discussion about it at the dining table last night. Mom and Dad alongside Grandma have forged a… beautiful lie, which can easily fit into the narrative of their return.
"They're doctors from faraway lands. They just came back because their duties are over."
"Oh!! That's wonderful!! Then, that means we'll be seeing them more, right?"
Huh?
"What are these questions, Nile…?" I asked the girl who still had her hands wrapped around my neck as we walked in the school's hallway, and she only laughed wildly.
"Well, let me be completely blunt with you! Your dad is mighty hot--"
"Yeah, I'm not listening." I shoved her hand away from my neck and walked faster, and Nile only started chasing madly.
"Hey! Come on, you have to at least introduce me to them!"
"Not buying it. Goodbye, see you never."
"Millyyy!!!!"
As annoying as her behavior is, she is one of the reasons why school was still bearable for me. She is really forthright, and she always does and speaks what is on her mind. And the best part of it all, she seemed to be interested in me much more than everybody else.
She's been my best friend since her arrival here three years ago during our third year. Since then, I've been finding school a lot easier to handle than before.
Speaking of handling school, today was… quite the boring one. It's just a series of classes like the usual, the teacher coming in and telling us to do some work. It's the plain old usual.
I was simply sitting at my desk, silently waiting while keeping an eye on the clock every once in a while. My legs simply cannot stop moving from the impatience, and I often stare out the window that is right next to my desk.
Ah… I can't wait for school to end.
I really just want to see them again. It feels so suffocating not being able to see them. It feels so wrong…
"Oi. Turn in your homework."
One of my classmates approached me and said with a rather annoyed tone, and I wasn't exactly in my mind. I just took out the homework from my bag that I've completed days ago and handed it to him straight away, which made him rather confused about something.
The boy left in silence, and I can hear some murmurs coming around me. I was wondering what I did wrong, but then Nile came up to me from behind.
"Hey, Mill. Since when are you on a good term with Jeremy?" Nile asked from confusion, and I turned to her with an odd look.
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"I mean, you two didn't argue just now."
"What?" I tried understanding what Nile was asking, and I noticed the guy who came up to me just now is at the teacher's table.
It was indeed Jeremy. The son of the noble who I genuinely hated ever since three years ago. We were put in the same class this year, which made me really-really annoyed, but so far, nothing too terrible has happened.
And the guy who walked up to me just now was indeed Jeremy. I didn't even notice.
"Oh. I didn't even realize."
"Are you okay, Milly? You're so out of it, today." Nile asked with genuine concern, but I just shook my head at her.
"I'm fine. Just feeling slightly off, that's all."
"If you want, we can head to the infirmary--"
"No need to go that far. I'm okay, really." Once again, I tried reassuring Nile, and she finally understood.
She nodded firmly as she walked back to her seat that is only right behind me, and I turned my gaze back to the window. I once again stared at the skies above, back to simply empty minded.
Ah… I just want school to end…
Three hours later, school finally ended. The teacher thanked us for attending her class and left the classroom, and we were finally allowed to leave the school.
I wasted no time and hurried outside. I already had my desk clean before class even ended, and I was very ready to just run out. Nile was completely left in the dust behind me, and I was the very first person to come out of the front gate.
Where are they?… Oh.
Not too far from the school gate, a tree stood tall between two buildings that are across the street. It was quite far away, but I was able to find him right away without even searching for long.
His back is leaning onto the tall sturdy tree behind him as he stands under it. His right hand is holding a small book, and his left hand is carefully flipping between the papers. He had a pair of round eye glasses on his face, which made his casual look so perfect. He seemed to be wearing a very normal outfit for young men like him, and it really does seem like he was only in his twenties.
He really was in his twenties. He is just like a celebrity disguised as a commoner.
His eyes lifted upwards all of a sudden, and he noticed me looking at him from the front gate. His right hand closed the book, and his left hand was lifted to wave at me. And right there and then, he showed the world his most handsome smile.
Mom… why are you married to this guy? Why can't I be married to him?
After seeing him, I started approaching him. I noticed that there were quite a lot of eyes staring at him outside the gate, coming from the parents who were also there to pick up their children from school.
I noticed that they are all rather interested in Dad instead of me, and I can only tell why.
Again, that guy is really just like a prince dressed as a commoner. He really does not fit dressing plainly like that.
"There's so many eyes staring at you, you know…?" I commented right after we got slightly closer, and Dad only laughed. He puts his book away into a magical storage that I had no idea he has, and his right hand lifts a finger up.
I noticed that he was asking for me to look up, and I immediately turned my gaze above the tree. Right there and then, I opened my eyes widely.
At least five people are on the tree branch. They are all simply hanging there as if waiting for something, watching us from above. I noticed some of them were waving their hands at me, and I really wanted to wave my hand at them.
"Little do you know, there's plenty more who are watching you, Milly." Dad said to me as he moved his body away from the tree, and I was a little surprised. I turned my gaze to the top of the buildings around us, and only now have I realized how many there are.
Above the buildings are tens of men in black clothes. They are all hidden, but it seems like they are purposely revealing their heads to me as I look around. Even above the school building, there's at least twenty of them.
"S-So many…"
"Don't worry too much about them. Now, surely you haven't forgotten about my promise, right?" Dad joked as he lifted his left hand to me as if asking for my hand.
I laughed as I grabbed ahold of his hand, and we both started walking back home.
"Let's grab some snacks!"