Zyczenia

Chapter 4: A New Beginning

"Aris...ti...a..."

He accidentally called her name. The silver-haired girl heard it, and turned around. Finding the source of the voice that called out her name.

At that moment, his clear blue eyes met her golden yellow orbs. They stared at each other for a long time. Aristia looking at him with a confused look, while Carsein stared at her with eyes full of longing and emotions.

"I'm sorry, sir. But did you perhaps call me by my name just now?" She spoke out, asking him.

Only then that Carsein came to his senses. Realizing that he has tears on his face, he wiped them in a hurry.

'Ah! Why did I suddenly call out her name? And crying??? She must think that I'm a complete weirdo now.'

The red-haired young man looked at the girl in front of him, smiling awkwardly.

"I'm very sorry, Lady. It was rude of me to call you by your name. I hope you will accept my apology." He said as he bowed to her apologizing. "I am Carsein de Rass."

"Pleased to meet you, sir. I am Aristia la Monique." Aristia bowed, returned his greeting. "How did you know my name?"

Carsein tensed up. He started sweating.

'Oh, shit. What do I answer? I can't answer that I knew her from the future...'

Then, an idea came to his mind.

"Y-You have silver hair right? The only n-noble family that has silver hair would be those from house Monique, so I t-thought that you must be Lady Aristia."

Aristia looked at him, surprised. Then she chuckled.

"Even so... calling my first name without my consent would be quite daring, wouldn't it?"

"I sincerely apologize for that." Carsein bowed once again.

"I accept your apology." The silver-haired girl smiled, looking at the young man. Then she diverted her gaze back to the swords.

Carsein's clear-blue eyes stared at her for a long time. Still not believing that he returned to the past. The whole shop went silent, until a voice breaks it.

"Oh, young master, you're here?" The merchant called out to the red-haired young man. "Did you come to pick up your order? It was supposed to be delivered tomorrow."

"H-Huh? Oh, yeah. I came to pick it up."

"Okay, then please wait for a moment."

The merchant went to the storage, leaving the two youngsters. Carsein spoke up, opening a conversation.

"Do you also like swords, Lady Monique?" He asked.

"Oh, yes. I like them."

"That's kind of rare, I thought girls wouldn't even come near them."

"Well, I'm a special case, then." Aristia chuckled.

Carsein smiled at her, then looked around, looking for something. He stopped once he found a small children's sword. He took it and handed it to the silver-haired girl.

"If you're looking for a sword, use this one. The previous sword you've used must be too heavy for you."

"Ah, thank you."

"By the looks of it, you have been training for 1-2 years right? If you have any problems or if you're stuck, feel free to contact me."

"Really? Thank you very much, s—!"

"YOUNG MASTER!!!" a voice interrupted their conversation. It was house Rass' butler. "I knew you'd be here! Do you know how worried madam is? Let's go back!"

"Wait, Ferdi! My sword!" Carsein shouted, then he looked at Aristia's golden orbs. "Anyways, make sure to contact me, okay!"

The butler took his sword and then they took off from the shop.

***

The next day.

Carsein lied down on his bed, staring at the stone that he held on his hand. His clear-blue eyes reading the words written on the stone, Zyczenia.

'This won't do. I need to research about this. Since this is Vita's stone, there should be some records about it on the temple right?'

Carsein got up from bed, and got himself dressed. Then he went to the living room where his mother currently is in.

"Mother, I'm going to go out for a while." He informed her.

Duchess Ernia turned her head, looking at the red-haired boy. She asked, "Where to?"

"To the temple."

"The temple? What will you do there?"

"There is something that I need to research about."

"Research?"

Surprised, Duchess Ernia's clear-blue eyes stared at her son's orbs. Then she sighed.

"Even if I'm going to ask what you're going to research about, you won't answer, right?"

"...Mother."

"Fine, come home early."

"Thank you, mother. I'll be heading out now."

The red-haired young man went out of the Rass Manor, and got on a carriage. Heading out to the temple.

***

"Please identify yourself and your reason for coming here."

As soon as Carsein arrived, a priest stopped him at the front door.

"I am Carsein de Rass. I came to read some books about the history of Vita's prized possessions."

"Please follow me, I'll take you to the temple's library."

***

"Ha... still can't find it."

It has been 2 hours since Carsein arrived at the temple's library. Even now, he's still looking for clues regarding Zyczenia, the wishing stone.

The clear-blue eyes scanned through a row of books. Trying to find any book that would give a clue about the mysterious stone that grants wishes.

Just then, a small old book caught his eye.

'Huh? What is this? Looks like a notebook.'

He took the book out of the shelf and opened it. It was a diary.

Carsein scanned through the pages of the diary. When he reached a certain page, his hands stopped flipping the pages.

' "I found a small stone with something written on it. Was it Zyczenia? I guess it is." It says.'

He flipped the pages over, there are still no other clues about the stone. His hands stopped flipping the page.

' "Spring, year 436

Dear Diary,
My wife's health grew worse day by day. Even the doctor said that there's nothing that he could do about it. I was in despair, so I went to the temple to pray for my wife's recovery. I desperately prayed and made a wish. Just then, light came out of my pocket. The stone shined brightly for some time. Then, the light dimmed down.

I was puzzled. I went to the market to buy some fruits and medicine for my sick wife. But when I went home, my wife became healthy all of a sudden. It was as if my prayer was granted by god. That night, I heard god's voice." '