In a room, a girl was playing with her doll given to her by her father. With a happy face, she was playing with the doll alone.
The girl was waiting for her mother to come and accompany her to play. But after waiting for a long time, her mother did not arrive and it made her feel confused. Where is my mom?
Not long after, a woman with neatly curled brown hair entered her room. The girl turned around, and smiled at the woman.
"Maria!" she said happily and walked over to the woman. "Where are you and why didn't mother come to my room?"
She looked around the woman he called Maria, but she still didn't find her mother. Maria just stared at her and then suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"Maria?"
"We have to get out of here! There's no time to explain, please come with me!" said Maria suddenly who immediately pulled the girl out of her room.
She was confused as to why she was suddenly pulled out of the room. But Maria did not answer her question about where her mother was.
"Wait a minute! Where is my mom? Maria, answer my question! Maria!"
Still, Maria said nothing but continued to pull on her hand.
"Maria!"
Instantly Seira woke up from her sleep, when she again dreamt the same thing as before. She sighed heavily, as she seemed to be back in that time again.
She could not forget how that day was her last day around her mother.
More precisely, knowing that she was still alive.
"Huft... I better scrub my face with water and then get ready to make breakfast," she muttered.
She then walked out of her room while carrying her clothes to the bathroom near the kitchen. The bathroom that was reserved for the servants.
Just as she was about to open the kitchen door, she saw through the crack in the door that someone was sitting in the dark.
At that time, the sun hadn't even risen yet and the chickens hadn't made a sound. That's why it was still quite dark in the kitchen, so who was in there?
'Could it be Albert? But he doesn't look for food at this time of day. He wouldn't just stand around either. Or maybe Leonard?' she thought.
But after thinking for a while, Seira remembered that the person who always woke up that early seemed to be Harvey.
The black-haired man with amber-colored eyes, sitting in the dark kitchen alone.
Srak...
'Wait... He's reading a book?' Seira thought again after hearing the sound of sheets of paper being turned over.
She could hardly believe that Harvey could read in such a dark room. Although he had been working for the knights for almost six months, this was the first time he had learned of the man's habit of reading in the dark.
"Just come in, you're like a stalker who just stands there and peers at me," he said suddenly.
Seira gasped softly, did he know her whereabouts?
Kriet...
She opened the kitchen door and walked in. Seira turned on the light and clearly saw Harvey sitting at the dining table.
"Why are you reading a book in the dark, Lord Harvey? You don't usually get up this early," Seira asked him.
"I just didn't want to be distracted by too bright a light. You yourself seemed to wake up earlier than usual and still had time to take a peek," Harvey replied without lifting his gaze from his book.
"I just had a bad dream." Seira answered that frankly.
She thought there was no point in lying about that one because she was sure that Harvey wouldn't question her about her dream either.
Not like the others.
"I see, you must have gone through a lot of bad things. That's where nightmares usually come from," Harvey replied.
That answer was enough to make Seira wonder, because Harvey would not usually respond like that. Usually he would only respond with a 'hmn' sound or an indifferent response.
'Why is he different today? It's really Harvey, isn't it?'
"How do you know that, Lord Harvey?" she asked.
"Everyone knows about it. A person's fear comes from bad things that have happened to them and it creates bad images in your sleep. The longer you remember them, the stronger your nightmares become," he explained.
This made her pause for a moment. What Harvey said was true. Until now Seira still couldn't forget some of the things that had happened in her life, including the last day she was 'alive' a few years ago.
All that pain made her remember all the bad things that eventually appeared in her dreams.
But that pain was also what made her where she was today.
Harvey glanced at Seira who was standing still while hugging her maid outfit. The woman seemed to be thinking about what he had said earlier.
"Make me some tea," he said suddenly which instantly woke Seira up from her reverie.
"Huh? Oh well. I'll make it right away."
Seira heated the water on the stove then she left it for a moment to change her clothes and clean her face and teeth.
While she was in the bathroom, she could hear footsteps entering the kitchen. She knew someone was sitting and chatting with Harvey.
And from the man's voice, Seira knew it was Leonard's.
"You woke up again, huh? This is the third time this week. What's wrong with you, hmn?" Leonard asked his comrade-in-arms.
"Nothing, just a coincidence." Harvey didn't seem to want to talk about this, but Leonard knew the obvious reason for what was happening to Harvey lately.
"You still dream about that day, don't you? Your nightmare when you watched him get the death penalty," Leonard asks Harvey, who momentarily stops his hand from flipping through the pages of his book.
This confirmed that what Leonard had said was true. Harvey woke up because of the nightmare he had recently.
Seira, who had been listening, slowly understood the reason why Harvey was seen in the kitchen that early.
She also knew what punishment day Leonard had mentioned earlier.
"Could it be because that day is coming? The exact 10th anniversary of Lord Dominic's death."
The look in Harvey's eyes instantly changed, from the usual staring look, it now seemed to show pain.
Not only him, even Seira could see it in herself as she stared into the mirror while listening to their conversation from inside the bathroom.
It was as if on the same day, they lost the person who was most precious to them at the same time.