Ella came out of the room wearing white attire.

"Are you ready?" asked Julia.

Ella nodded her head in silence.

Several men entered the house and lifted the coffin, they exited the house and settled the casket into the wooden cart drawn by the horse. It was adorned by white flowers on all sides.

The leader of the village gave his go signal and the funeral procession was moving at a steady pace...heading to the public cemetery.

Thick clouds were hovering above the sky shielding the people from the rays of the sun.

Ella was holding her handkerchief in place as tears rolled by in her face nonstop. She never expected this day would come. Her aunt is healthy! Why does she have to die a sudden death!? If she only knew in advance that this would happen, she would have done everything in her power to stop her aunt from going.

Julia rubbed her friend's back consoling her, sharing her burden, it's the least she can do for her grieving friend.

The funeral procession progressed smoothly.

It's a beautiful day to die.

A few minutes later, they finally reached their destination. A priest was already waiting at the entrance of the cemetery.

The men gathered around the cart and carried the casket, they were heading to the area of the cemetery where the freshly dug grave was located.

The men put the coffin down on the ground gently and the priest began the funeral mass service. It was a solemn mass that was finished quickly.

After the mass, the coffin was lowered into the open grave. The people began throwing flowers into the casket.

Ella cried harder when the men began putting soil into the coffin, her tears flowed abundantly down her face.

She feels like she can't breathe! Her friend rubbed her back vigorously and gave her drinking water. She drinks the water, making her breath properly.

The last soil has been put down.

The people began to disperse and went to rest under the shade of the trees that were growing around the cemetery.

The women began distributing food and water to the attendees.

Ella approached the neighbors and the priest and thank them one by one for their exceptional participation in making her aunt's funeral a great success without her contributing to anything.

The people told her that they were just performing their habitual tradition since everyone in the village treated each other as family.

Ella went back to the freshly dug grave and continue looking at it. Her handkerchief was already soaked with her tears. Julia handed her another one.

She looked at her. "Julia, go...join them, you must be hungry already. I'll just stay here, I want to accompany my aunt," she said.

"Okay, I will bring food here, we will eat together," Julia offered.

She shook her head. "No, you must go. Take your time. I don't have any appetite to eat. I will eat in the house later," she said.

"Okay," Julia replied. She walked away and joined the people relaxing under the shade of the tree.

Meanwhile...

Ella was standing still in front of the grave. "Aunt, why did you leave me? You should have taken me along with you," she lamented, sobbing slowly. "What I'm gonna do now?" her devastated voice rings painfully in her ears.

Fifteen minutes later.

Done eating, the majority of the villagers bid goodbye to Ella.

Only a few people remained. Until the only ones left in the cemetery are the people closest to the deceased.

Ella looked at Julia. "Can we stay a little bit longer... for one hour? Please..." she said pitifully begging for understanding. She doesn't know if she can come back to the cemetery anytime soon. She has no idea what's waiting ahead for her on her journey to the castle.

Julia smiled. "No problem, friend. Take your time. We will keep you company," she replied.

Ten people waited patiently in the corner for Ella to say her final goodbye to her aunt.

Ella looked at the grave. "Aunt, I'm leaving after one hour. As much as I wanted to stay here all night to keep you company, your friends won't let me. I just wanted to say goodbye and thank you for loving me and my sisters. Thank you so much for raising us like we are your children. I love you so much, Aunt. I'm going to miss you terribly. Don't worry, I will go to the castle to inform my sisters that you already passed away so that they can visit your grave as soon as possible. I'm sure, if they will know about your sudden death, they will come running to the village to pay their last respect to you. Please continue to guide us in heaven. I pray for your soul may rest in peace. I love you, Aunt..." she said and released a deep sigh.

It was just yesterday that Aunt Margie was still alive. But she's already buried 6 feet in the ground. Such a tragic ending for her beloved aunt.

It was all so sudden... It feels like she was just dreaming. She was hoping that when she goes to sleep tonight when she wakes up in the morning, her aunt is still alive and just sleeping in her bedroom.

She released a deep sigh of sadness.

One hour later.

Ella is ready to go home. She pitied those people who are waiting for her to finish saying goodbye to her aunt.

She looked at Julia and said, "Let's go!"

The people rose to their feet and left the cemetery, going back to the village which is just a half kilometer away.

A few minutes later, Julia and Ella arrived at the house. Their companion already went back to their respective houses.

"Ella, I'll go home first to change my clothes. I will return here to accompany you for tonight," Julia said.

"No need...I can manage alone," Ella refused.

"Hey, don't say that! You need someone to talk to. I will suggest to my parents to adopt you so that you will live in our house. You don't have to live here alone anymore!" Julia was thrilled with the idea.

Ella smiled a bit. She can't tell Julia her plan that she will leave the village tomorrow before the morning comes.

Julia's eyes sparkled. "What do you think? Do you want to live with my family? We can be sisters for real!" she said jubilantly.

Ella smiled and nodded her head. "It's up to you, friend," that's the only words she can say 'coz she doesn't want to disappoint her.

Julia clapped her hands in glee. "Consider it done! I'm sure my parents will agree! I'm going now..." she said excitedly and left the house.

Ella was shaking her head. She went to her aunt's room and look for the pouch containing the gold coins, she found it hidden beneath her aunt's old clothes. She counted the coins inside, there were still thirty coins left, it's more than enough for her journey.

Good!

She went back to her room and put her clothes and some important stuff in the bag that she made last month using the pandan leaves. She put the golden pouch on the bottom. She will wake up early tomorrow before Julia wakes up. Her friend always wakes up late, she will have enough time to leave without getting caught by Julia or be seen by anyone else.

She will wear her old jacket with a hoodie covering her entire head so that the villagers won't notice her easily if they happened to meet her on the road.

Then she will hire a wagon that is willing to take her to the castle on the hill.

She needs to go to the castle on the hill as early as possible!

She took a pen and paper from the cabinet and wrote a letter to Julia, telling her that she will go to the castle to inform her sisters that their aunt already passed away. She asked her friend to watch the house for her while she was away. She thanks Julia for her kindness and her genuine friendship. She will return soon.

She put five gold coins inside the letter. Now she only has 25 gold coins left.

Three hours later, Julia returns with a piece of good news. "Hooray! My parents agreed to adopt you, Ella. We will sleep in my room! They told me that you can relocate to our house anytime you want. You are welcome to live with us. We will be sisters' for life! Isn't that amazing!" her eyes were glowing with happiness.

Ella finds Julia's smile contagious, she can't help but smile as well. "I already prepared the bed, you can sleep now if you want," she said.

"Huh? Sleep...this early? You haven't eaten anything else yet. Let's go to the kitchen, my mother cooked delicious dishes for us," Julia said.

"Okay," Ella murmured.

They went to the kitchen and eat their meals.

After washing the dishes, the girls went out of the house and relaxed in the wooden bench, gazing at the star-filled night sky.

Suddenly, they saw a star gleaming brightly up in the sky, it was the brightest of them all.

"Look! That is Aunt Margie's star! Shining brightly in the heavens above," Julia said, smiling.

Fresh tears shimmered in Ella's eyes. She missed her Aunt terribly. She began crying, her body was wracked with painful sobs.

Julia bit her lip, she didn't mean to make her friend cry. She rubbed her back gently, trying to comfort her.

Ella cried for one hour straight.

Julia just let her be, she never leaves her side. She prefers that her friend will finish crying early than whimper later when they're already lying in bed. Julia wants her friend to sleep early tonight, so that she will wake up in the morning, looking fresh and feeling better because she already suffered enough. She pitied her friend so much!

When the clock strikes at 9:00 in the evening, the girls went inside the house to retire for the night.

Ella turned off the light and lies down on the bed beside Julia.

Half an hour later, Julia was already sleeping soundly.

Ella stared at the window for a few minutes, she already feels sleepy, yawning, she closed the window ready to sleep.

Fifteen minutes later, she was snoring gently.

Meanwhile...

Outside the house.

Zemeth addressed Ramza. "Everything is ready?" he asked.

Ramza nodded his head. "Yes. But what if she changed her mind tomorrow, and she no longer wants to continue her journey to the castle on the hill?"

Zemeth is not worried. "Then let's kidnap her and deposit her outside the castle. Nothing can stop us! The sign has been given already. We should proceed with the mission tomorrow!" he said in a determined voice.