-I hate this…-

I said as I tugged on the church attendant dress I was forced to wear.

The fabric was rough and itchy.

-Please bear with it, it's only for today.-

Jade reminded me.

We were standing at one of the 4 great doors of the church. In front of us, hundreds of people were standing, waiting for the bells to ring, announcing the beginning of the festival.

Jade and I had been recruited amongst many of the other orphans, to help with seating guests at the church.

Jade had been assigned as a greeter for our table. She would be in charge of welcoming the guests and finding them on the list. I and three other girls at the same table had been assigned as ushers. We had to guide the guests to their seats.

After practicing all day yesterday, and having created the seating plan myself, I was pretty confident that I could do my job, but there were so many people….

The bells finally rang and the people started making their way toward us.

-Get ready.-

Jade told me.

I nodded and stood straight as I had been taught yesterday.

Almost immediately a line of people formed in front of Jade. She happily welcomed them, reading off the list and letting the ushers help them find their seat.

The first group I ushered in was a family of four. The father sported deep blue hair while the mother had a head of gold. Their eyes were both a shade of dark orange colour. It was especially interesting to observe their children who had hair which shined a different hue depending on the light. Both blue and gold, who knew those colours could be so similar?

Ela had explained long ago that the eyes and hair of children could be either the same as one of the parents, a mix, or the same as some ancestor, but I found it more interesting when it was a mix.

The family was seated toward the center of the church, so I figured they must be some kind of lower nobility.

The second group I escorted were two sets of couples. One elderly and one recently married. The young couple were stuck to each other, barely paying attention to Jade or I while they were being ushered in. The old couple on the other hand were overly talkative, even having Jade convey how happy they were for such a ‘pretty young rose’ to show them to their place.

I was happy for the compliment, although I wasn’t sure I was overly happy about being called a rose. They were the second, after Scorn, to have called me that way, but I didn’t like it. It was the colour of my family, not my own. I didn’t want to be pink. I wanted to be gold like Goldie and Darkie.

I guided the couple to their seats and walked back to the entrance. The progress was going well. I ushered in ten more groups. The church was starting to look rather packed.

As another girl sat the last person in the line, we all released a sigh of relief. It wouldn’t be long before we could all go back and play.

Just as I was about to ask Jade where we should watch the welcoming event from, a man approached the table. He walked hunched forward, his wine coloured hair covering his face.For a moment, I thought he was an old man from the way he walked, until he reached the table. He was tall. Taller than Hare… Or any adult I had met, and he definitely wasn’t an old man. Maybe Goldie or Hare’s age at most.

As he raised his head to speak his name to Jade, I finally saw his face. He was a handsome man. The contours of his jaw were angular and strong, and his face was clean shaven, but there was something about him. Something sad. His cheek looked sunken and above them I could see… His golden eyes…

They moved in my direction, they had deep dark circles underneath them. We locked eyes for a moment. He simply stared at me. A sad glimmer in his eyes.

Jade turned to me and gave me his seat number; 5-3. A noble, maybe a baron or a count?

I nodded at her. And bowed to the man before inviting him to follow me. I walked a few paces before looking back, just to realise he had not moved an inch. He simply stared at me, sad and unmoving. I looked at Jade, but she was just as confused as I was.

There wasn’t much time, the ceremony was about to start…

I walked back to the man and grabbed his hand. He looked at me slightly confused, that is until I started pulling him along. He let himself be pulled without resisting.

[11...10...9...8...7...6….5!]

As we reached his seat, I turned around to show him, but to my dismay I noticed something on his face.

It’s… tears? He’s crying?? A grown up is crying?

I looked around for help. But people were already focusing on the event starting at the front.

I tried to stay calm.

I couldn’t just leave the man crying in the middle of the church like that!

I recalled the kinsmann’s instructions and took a deep breath. I pulled the man along, this time heading for the aisle. There, we went down the side of the main hall of the corridor until we reached the area behind the main altar.

I pulled the man along and found the Fey kinsmann from the other day.

She was still giving directions to volunteers, but when she saw me approaching she quickly dismissed them.

She gave one good look at me and the man and seemed to immediately understand what was going on. She was about to say something and grab the man’s arm, but someone called out to her. Looking a bit guilty, she pointed at one of the prayer rooms and showed me her index to tell me she would be there momentarily.

I looked at the man. He still looked pitiful, but his crying had calmed down slightly.

I walked to the prayer room and took a seat on one of the pews, but he, again, simply stared at me with an empty look.

I tapped the seat with my palm to show him to sit down beside me. After hesitating a moment he sat down. He looked at the front for a moment. I followed his gaze. There, I noticed a carved statue of the goddess of la Seeir.

It wasn't a rare sight, especially in a Septenary church, but he looked transfixed with it for a moment before slouching forward and putting his face in his hands.

Uh…

I felt uncomfortable. Unsure what to do, I patted his back the way Goldie had done long ago when I cried.

He looked up at the statue once again and started talking. He spoke toward the statue. Maybe he was praying? He turned toward me for a moment and stopped speaking. He looked down and resumed his talking for a bit.

Maybe he's talking to Seeir? Talking about the things that make him upset the same way I tell Scorn at night.

He continued for a while, speaking to the floor.

Eventually, he stopped and looked at me, as if to ask me for my opinion.

I couldn’t tell what he said, but I guess it can't hurt to try saying something?

[I...I don't really understand a lot of things… I don’t understand what you’re saying to me right now. I don't understand why I stopped hearing things. I don't understand why no one can understand me or why the Meiriem Archkinsmann was angry with me. I don't understand why my dad hit me, or why he made my siblings hit me too. I don't know why my mom tried to strangle me.]

I stopped talking and looked toward him. I couldn't tell if he understood me, but he was listening attentively so I continued.

[I don't understand why bad things happen... But I do know good things happen too. Goldie came to take care of me. She made me Darkie. She helped me escape from the estate and sent me to the orphanage. There, I met Hare and Jade… And the fat purple boy who is so fun to tease! I Went to the market and learned to speak a secret language! A lot of good things happened to me...]

I looked at him and smiled.

[I don't know what happened or what made you sad, but I'm sure something good will happen to you too.]

He looked at me, dumbfounded. He dug into his pocket and offered me a handkerchief.

Just then, I realised that at one point or another I had started tearing up as well.

I accepted the handkerchief and dried my face.

After some time, the Fey Kinsmann came to the room.

She smiled at me and gave a small thankful bow and let me know I could leave.

I got up and bowed to the man.

I suddenly remembered the handkerchief still in my hands. I tried to give it back, but the man gave a weak attempt at a smile before lifting his hand and shaking his head.

He’s… Giving me his handkerchief?

Suddenly my sister’s stories about galant princes giving princesses their handkerchief surfaced in my mind.

I felt the tip of my ears burning at the thought.

I instinctively gave an awkward curtsy before quickly escaping the room.

I nervously paced through the back area, keeping my head down so no one could see the red of my cheeks.

Why did I curtsy? Why did I curtsy? Orphans don’t curtsy, only ladies curtsy!

I must keep it a secret from Jade or she will scold me… I tucked the handkerchief in my pocket and headed back to the church entrance, where the others were still waiting for the end of the ceremony.

Jade noticed me and waved me in.

-What happened?-

-Long story. I’ll tell you later.-

I answered, trying to hide my flustered expression.

Shortly after the ceremony came to a close.

Although the festival officially began today, Jade had explained to me, the actual public attraction wouldn’t start until tomorrow, so we slowly made our way back to the orphanage.

The next day, I woke up early and with Jade we prepared to go to the festival.

Just as we were on our way out, we came across a man walking up the path to the orphanage..

It took me a moment to recognise him, with his straight posture, clean face and composed expression, but he was unmistakable. Fiery hair and golden eyes, it was the man for yesterday. He still looked exhausted, but nowhere near to yesterday’s condition.

When he noticed me he gave a smile and said some words to us.

Jade bowed and so did I, but I still raised an eyebrow.

We continued on our way to the festival, but I couldn’t stop wondering; Why was the man from yesterday at the orphanage…?