Three Days to Change Our Future

DAY 3 - 29

The playroom was filled with younger orphans. And here I am, hopelessly sitting in the corner. Both of my knees kept me from being noticed. In my mind, the guilt from before replayed like a broken record.

Why did I do that? Even if it was an accidental kiss, it's still my fault that I was forcing my feelings on her. Heck, did I even apologize to her for that reason?

I sighed as my head lowered down to my knees more. Our last conversation made me lose motivation to move forward. Even my head forgets why I was here in the first place.

Guess, I need to-

"Viona! Let's play together!"

Great. What now?

I looked up to see Natasha hovering over me. Her long auburn hair almost covered my face, and a pair of blue eyes watched every move I made. Honestly, I was annoyed by her sudden appearance-especially, because of her hair. But as her senior, I must be more mature than her.

My mouth curled up, "Alright. What do you want to do, Natasha?"

"Let's play house!" Her blue-as-the-sky eyes sparkled. "I want to be a baby today, so I need you to be my mother!"

A mother, huh?

In retrospect, I never intended to become a parent. Not because I hate children or dislike babysitting the younger kids in the orphanage. Sure, sometimes they annoy me, but their cute behaviors still win me over all the time. It's just that-

Am I even worth it to be a parent?

I, who don't even know my parents themselves, understand that raising children is not as easy as it seems. Maybe I would be a great parent, like Matron. But... The oncoming uncertainty made me think twice, and I hate it. As soon as there was a chance, I tossed aside my desire to be a parent so I could focus on my life without being worried. Just like that, it was buried alongside the longing to search for my biological parents.

Still, I couldn't say no to Natasha for that reason, could I?

With that said, I stood up and picked up the little one. Natasha looked surprised, yet her eyes still shone with excitement. It's refreshing to see kids acting their age - It almost made me forget that I was heartbroken.

"Wow! Viona, you are so cool!" She praised me while holding onto my shoulder.

"Thank you," I smiled at her and said, "you can do it too in the future."

She beamed at me, "Really?"

"Yes," I responded with a chuckle, "as long as you train your body and eat enough."

She seemed doubtful and asked while holding out her pinky finger, "Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."

"Hehe," her smile melted my heart while she said, "then, say the pledge like we always do, Viona."

"Uhum," I cleared my throat and said, "I, Viona, will be your mother for the next few hours until the game finishes. Shall we start the house now, my baby Natasha?"

"Yes, we shall."

I bopped her nose as she made a cute face. Honestly, it's one of her best qualities and made me feel at home. Seeing her like this, made me remember that I was supposed to only care about my best friend. Yet, my head shook as if it didn't agree with me.

No. The reason I only cared about Trix was not because I didn't care about them. It's simply because-

She's the only one left from them.

Realizing that, my stomach churned with guilt. All this time, Trix has had to endure my projection as the only one who survived the fire incident. How stupid I was to believe that I could do something for her even though I was making her stay out of my selfishness! If she notices it, she will-

Oh, that's why she left.

One by one, tears fell down my cheeks. The pain in my chest gradually took control of me. Carefully, I sat on the floor as my knees couldn't hold me anymore.

Thank goodness, Natasha was still on my arm peacefully, and no one would notice-

"Viona, what's wrong?"

Or so I thought...

"No-Nothing is wrong, Natasha." I lied.

"You're lying. I already saw you."

Quickly, I closed her mouth with my palm while looking around to see if anyone else heard her. Luckily, my eyes didn't catch anyone in this room anymore. Relieved that no one heard us, I smiled and focused on our conversation again.

"I'm sorry for lying," I patted her head, "it's just that... My legs kind of gave up on me."

"Your legs gave you up? But... They are still here? How?"

Her response made me smile. While chuckling, I put her down on the floor.

"It means I couldn't stand anymore," I clarified briefly, "let me rest for a little bit. We can start again when I got my strength back."

Natasha was staring at me thoroughly, then she sat beside me and cuddled my arm.

"Okay," she muttered while pouting, "but... Pet me more, please."

"As you wish," I said, continuing to pat her auburn hair as she requested.

Maybe I spoil her too much, but I never regret showing her the love she deserved. Because I know she's a good kid after all these years.

If only I could adopt her as one of my family members.

Then, I felt her tugging at my sleeve.

"Were you crying because Trix was mad at you?" she asked while staring at me with blue eyes.

"No," my hand halted their movement, "where did you hear that from?"

She's looking down at the floor and saying, "No one. It's just that... You rarely cry, so I just thought you two had a fight with each other."

My eyes widened for a bit.

Am I that simple to read?

"Hahaha... It's not like that. However," I patted her head again, "thank you for being concerned about us, Natasha."

"You're welcome," Natasha replied with a smile, "and I want to ask one more question. Can I?"

"Sure thing."

She beamed excitedly, "Your hair changed color and length! How did you do that?"

My hair?

"I didn't do anything. Maybe, it's only your-"

Hmm? What is this?

My hand brushed something and grabbed it softly. When I gazed at it, a flock of monochrome hairs unexpectedly came into my sight. Uneasy with that drastic change, I checked my back and pulled some of it to the front.

She was right.

My hair grew, but with different colors.

Was this one of the side effects that also written about in the book? I don't recall it being there, did I change the book's content? If it's not, what's the meaning of this?

While trying to figure out where all of this is coming from, my nose picked up on an unusually new scent.

Is this gunpowder? Where were on earth did it come from?

Before the source of it was found, there was the sound of a big explosion from afar. Natasha was shocked and then hugged me tightly. I casted a silent spell around her ears without hesitation. Suddenly, the walls behind me exploded, and everything was engulfed in flames before my eyes.

Just like what I heard from the detective at that day.