“Mom? Can I see what’s outside?”
A little girl stared out the window covered in barriers, longing to see what’s outside the world. Her whole body hurt just to lift a finger, she could feel her bones slowly withered away as she made a contact with the cold iron. Her ‘mother’, the middle aged lady, held the clipboard on her hand, ticking away things that Y/n didn’t even know what’s it for.
The woman didn’t answer the little girl’s question, only glancing up from the clipboard then down back. “Mom?”
“Haven’t you heard of Cinderella whom went out of the kingdom despite her family not telling her to? She was harassed by her charming prince and didn’t end up the way she wanted.”
Y/n’s eyes glanced at the fairy-tale book on her bed, seeing the name ‘Cinderella’ on her book. Her fingertips that grazed the cold barrier now retracted, hesitated to even gaze at what’s outside.
“Feel any pain?”
“No.”
“Tired?”
“...I am一”
Her throat cut off her own voice, no words uttered as she caught a glimpse of the woman’s stare for what seemed to be a glare. “一not tired…”
The woman nodded her head, smiling in content. The woman turned to look at the infuse, seeing the liquid dropped down, taking it off. Y/n gazed quietly, gulping her saliva as she prayed deep to any gods that still wanted to hear her prayer for the experiment not to be as painful as it might be. “Messing around will lead you to fire. So I expect to see a good result, Y/n. Take the pills if you feel anxious,” the woman spoke, syringe between her fingers that was ready to be injected in the little girl’s veins.
She closed her eyes, breathing in whilst counting down from ten, ‘Ten… nine… eight.’
The feeling of the syringe in her skin, unknown liquid she felt coursing in her blood, the world spun and forced her to bring herself to deep slumber一
“Ha!”
She gasped.
How odd.
Her ears thumped harder as if the heart wanted to run by using her ears as the passage way, the throbbing pain on her arm一the same feeling of the syringe being injected in the same place over and over again. The messy books and scattered paper on the table didn’t seem to bother her the slightest bit一in fact, the world seemed to spin violently.
Such dreams… even in a dream, reality would still haunt her down with her memories. Y/n’s hands searched through the stacks of books, hopping to find the pill case she had in the past, praying it’d calm her down from the rising discomfort on her chest.
And as soon as she felt the familiar texture and shape on her palm一her pill’s case 一without a second, she tried her best to swallow the pill. Even if she knew the leftover drugs from her mother shouldn’t be consumed.
****
“Welcome back, Master Lisa!一ah, a visitor?”
Behind the poised purple lady was a man whom resembled the snow. His azure eyes glanced around the library, fixating his eyes on random books he found to be somewhat一’interesting’. “Oh, Y/n, thank you for welcoming me. Do you mind if I have a visitor here?” Lisa asked, her emerald eyes glinting in her usual gentle poised gaze, but now it’s mixed as if she warned the girl before her about a presence. No, Y/n’s not comfortable一 at least not when the man she’d been trying to avoid was right behind her teacher’s back!
“Uhm… I don’t think it’s a problem? I mean, Master Lisa, he’s your guest so I should also make both of you comfortable, even when at times I can’t even carry it out properly, but I’ll be fine! Really, really…” she rambled, thumbs twiddling against each other, her gaze hardly managed to stay in contact with Lisa’s own. The comforting silence in the library now slowly shifted into a rather, awkward atmosphere一curses. If people were to be in Lisa’s shoes, perhaps they’d mock her for such bashfulness spiking in, however, she was thankful it was Lisa.
“My, how thoughtful. Thank you, dear. Please prepare some drinks and leave them on the table behind. After that, you may carry out your duty,” the brunette lady demanded, her smile still plastered on her face as if trying to assure her. “Oh, yes. Uhm, Mister一sir, uh, sir? What would you like for tea一I mean, drink or snack?”
Albedo could hardly catch her voice, how her voice sounded so soft like a whisper一 he wondered, which part of the girl in front of him could’ve been involved with such a peculiar case.
“Ah, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself to you. I’m Albedo, an alchemist.” There’s still one title he hadn’t spoken of, but perhaps it’d be best to be kept for the last. His azure eyes darted from the books, the sun seeping passed through the curtains of the library, to the anxious figure in front of him.
“And you don’t need to bother yourself in preparing anything. I’m only here for work,” he added, earning a gentle playful chuckle from the lady beside him. “Alright, it’s not nice to keep my guest waiting. I’ll escort you to our meeting place.”
“Ah, very well then. I’ll, uhm… prepare snacks for Master.”
As the librarian and the alchemist watched Y/n turning her heels, walking away, Lisa’s assuring smile disappeared, her face now tuned the usual smile she’d kept up with everyday. “You’re not going to introduce your title in the Knights? I believe a title of yours might come in handy,” Lisa spoke, walking along the aisle of books with Albedo behind. Her fingertips grazed over the book covers and the wooden shelf before reaching her final destination.
“Saying my title will not result in cooperation, especially if I were to mention my affiliation with the Knights. The girl seems to be terrified the moment she stared into my portrait.”
“If you hear the original story from her, you wouldn’t be surprised to know some things unspoken in the file case.”
The sound of the chair being pulled back chimed in Albedo’s ears. He sat down, his gaze wandered around the library as if the library itself was the key to solving his case. “Albedo, this case may seems easy because you’ve got the victim without going through complicated stages. But this kind of case will end you with dilemma,” she warned.
As she was the librarian whom had wits and strong holds, her position was higher and striking than being a librarian, her tone could silence everyone to listen to her. However, such tone would not affect him, in result, he was left confused to figure out the meaning behind her words.
“Let’s stop our idle talk and get right into the topic.”
Of course, even if Lisa had an out standing accomplishment, his tone was further more assertive.
- - -
Walking out of the building, the fresh breeze brushed against his delicate face. His hair swayed to where the wind blew, covering his azure eyes. The sound of the lively citizens chimed in his ears, windmill seen from afar as if it’s leading the wind. Albedo took one last glance of the view the world held before taking a step ahead一 “Uhm, ex-excuse me?”
The timid like voice somehow snooped in his hearings, helped by the wind to carry on her voice, he turned to shift his gaze towards the same girl he’d met in the library一 the same veiled girl, her eyes anxiously gazed around his irises, as if warning herself one wrong step might get her into trouble. “I don’t know what you were talking about with Master, but Master told me to give you the snacks.”
She quickly averted her gaze, the bag on her hand released its sweet scent一just some pieces of cookies. “She also told me if I could come to you for help,” she added with the low voice she always had. Albedo fell silent for a second, then gently took the bag of cookies.
If it hadn’t been for the case, he’d reject the offer. Yet, his suspicions crept up beneath his neck. Didn’t Lisa want to protect her? Why was she helping him to get one step closer to his goal? “Thank you for the snacks. And, yes you’re always welcome to come to me.”
Soon after the words said, when his fingers accidently brushes another, none batted an eye一but her eyes somehow collected its lost courage, darting her eyes towards his own as if she’d found something none could ever did. Perhaps it’s the warmth he accidently gave, or the patience emitted from him, whatever it was, the silence was much too suffocating for him to bear.
“She lived her childhood with fairy tales, so maybe that might be a clue to who you’re going to take sides with.”
A fragment of memory he recalled from his conversation just today swept in his mind, suggesting an idea he’d never knew he’d ever come up with. But wouldn’t that idea be too cruel? Putting aside the thought, he lifted a faint polite smile, nodding his head before leaving her alone一still dazed in her own thoughts.
“…Wow, Master’s right! A man with those eyes do exist… he doesn’t seem to have much pigment. What are his genes? Receive right?” the h/c haired girl mumbled to herself, as if the eyes had never existed before her. She spared one last glance, hoping to catch the same glimpse of the eyes she never knew would’ve come true out of the books she’d read.
Without her realizing, such fuzzy warm decided it’s time to develop, there was nothing but fascination in her eyes, glimpse of admiration. Desires and desires bud in her. And before she knew it, a wish came across her mind: ‘I want to see more of it.’
***
Written: 27 June 2021
Edited: 23 August 2022
For old readers, yea I've changed a lot of scenes here and there and it seems completely fresh and new HAHAH. There was supposed to be the shelves falling and those dramatic cheesy romance.
And let me tell you, this is a love at first sight to complement fairy tale theme. But rather love at first sight, i think it's more of a love at first conversation? Up to you to decide ^^♡
Thanks for reading this newly edited chapter! And for your support and love too, I appreciate it all. Have a nice day and please stay safe!
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Beauty /Albedo x Reader/
FanfictionAlbedo who had to solve a case of a missing girl for six years, came to a deal with the girl he was searching for, Y/n, and came to do the deal with her. He'd get to explore three different emotions一yearning, hate, love. And Y/n would be able to ro...
