Astrid Blu: Orion's Curse

Found You

"Um... Who was he?" Astrid asks as the three of them were slowly walking through the corridor.

"That was my dumpling of a cousin, my aunt's son. Harold. Everyone calls him Harry." He says with a small smile.

"You will eventually get used to his weirdness." Katherine says, as she walks with her nose stuck in her book.

Harry sure was weird. But, will Astrid get enough time to know him? Or will she have to go back before that?

"There is a record of all the residents in Blue Haven at father's office. We can find George Ainsworth through that." Arthur stops and explains. Both Astrid and Katherine stop with him, carefully listening to him.

"When are you going to do that?"

"I don't know. He called me to his office today. I can look through them tonight itself." He slowly nods after explaining.

"What will you say, when he asks why you are trying to find someone?" Katherine asks.

"Uh...I probably have to sneak in and look while he's away." Arthur shivers at the mere thought of sneaking into his father's office.

Katherine shrugs and puts her attention back into her book and walks away, leaving the other two alone.

"Thank you." Astrid babbles, out of nowhere.

He looks at her, surprised. His eyebrows knitting together as he carefully recaps the words that left Astrid's mouth just now. For a second, the shine in his eyes increases in intensity, making him look even more surreal. His soft features looking so familiar and assuring in the dim light along the corridor. Then slowly, a smile, which can only be expressed as a perfect one, sneaks onto his face. His teeth tug at his lips as he softly smiles at the girl in front of him.

"You don't need to thank me. For anything." He says.

That moment, Astrid finally realized how beautiful the boy in front of her is, from within. He is pure from his very core. Nothing can make him change the way he is. As he was molded into pure soul, the day he was born. Astrid smiles. A genuine one. Her cheeks lift up and a slight pink colour graces the apples of her cheeks. The corners of her lips lifts up showing her teeth, with is slightly crooked. Her big beautiful blue orbs becomes small as her cheeks rise up. She finally smiles, after it felt like a life time. She smiles, putting all her might into it.

Arthur smiles even wider after seeing Astrid smile. He's never seen her smile so wide and bright like that. All the smiles she gave him were either weak or forced. Some were even sad. He knew she has something to tell. A story of her life, perhaps. But, she is not choosing to tell anything. Hiding all her pain behind those ethereal sapphires of her eyes. And now here she is, smiling genuinely for the first time since he saw her. He knows he wouldn't be able to witness it very often. So he cherishes the moment. The moment when her eyes crinkled, her lips lifted up, her cheeks the faintest of red, and finally saw the gleam in her eyes. A gleam of happiness behind pain. Her slightly crooked teeth, which shows as she smiles, he can't help but find it perfect. The little imperfections on her surreal face, makes him realize that she is actually real, and here right now, at his reach. And if he could, he would pause the whole world just to make this moment last longer.

"No, I have to thank you. For everything." Astrid says, as her smile fades ever so slowly.

"Don't be." He shakes his head. "It's the least I can do."

***

Arthur's boots clank against the marble floor as he hurries towards his fathers office. His father won't be in there so early. It's the perfect time to sneak in and look through the records.

He is nervous as hell. His father doesn't like anyone getting in his office without his permission, and that's exactly what Arthur's going to do right now. He is furiously biting his lips as the nervousness takes over him as a whole. Astrid  and Katherine are waiting in the library for his return. After walking for a good few minutes, Arthur finally reaches the big mahogany door to his father's office.

His father doesn't usually lock it, so he slowly turns the knob, hoping for it to be not locked, like everyday.

Hopefully, he manages to open it without making any loud voices. As the door opens, Arthur starts to panic. A sudden feeling that he's going to get caught. But, it quickly subsides as he remembers the reason behind all of his doings. The reason is for sending Astrid home. It is not a bad thing to do. He convinces himself that he isn't doing anything wrong. It is to help her.

It is to help her.

He chants it in his mind over and over again. Finally, regains some confidence and steps into the room, with the biggest window in the whole palace. Three walls of the whole room is combined together as a huge window, giving the most wide view to the most beautiful part of Blue Haven.

His nervousness seems to go away as he witnesses the breathtaking sight before him. Blue Haven was always the best place to live, according to him. It had everything. Big mountains and deep oceans, huge trees and small buildings. It was perfect for him. He would never want to leave a place like this, ever. Home. That's how everyone feels about their home.

The huge table at the middle of the room has all the records of literally everything. Being the viceroy of a big town like this includes a lot of paper work. And not to forget the fact that the Rosenheim family controls the import and export of goods from place to place. 'Business is in the Rosenheim blood'. That's what his great grandfather used to say. That's why eventually Arthur came to follow his father in their family business.

Arthur looks around the room, filled with huge shelves and books. Where are the records? In one of the shelves or on the table. Maybe in the drawers?

He doesn't waste a second and goes to rampage through the shelves. File after file. Books after book. He doesn't forget to place all the books in the same exact order after looking through them. He doesn't have much time. And the whole place is so hot that he is sweating off literally everything he drank that day.

Phew. This isn't going to work. Searching the shelves is going to take forever. By that time, his father is going to came back.

Think Arthur. Think..

Important documents are always placed on the table. Yes. Records of the people are definitely important.

Arthur hurries towards the huge table. Going through all the bundles of paper. Import of thread, cotton, luxury items. Annual funding. No no, where are the records? Blue Haven.

That's probably the record of the people. He quickly flips it and starts reading. Information regarding residents. Yes. That's it!

It was thankfully in alphabetical order. Otherwise, it would have been the death of him.

Ainsworth, where are you?

He goes through the names of different people of Blue Haven. Both alive and dead. Running his fingers through each of the name, he stops at one. Ainsworth. George Ainsworth. Found you.

****