Chapter 4 - Awakening
Swishhh…
As the wind rustled and moved the trees along, a small house that looked like a small shack came out of the shadow, small voices could be heard coming out of it.
"Mother! I have found an amazing spot in the forest today! The flowers there are so beautiful!"
Sitting on a large table that seemed to occupy over a quarter of the humble house, the little girl who seemed to be the source of the most prominent voice spoke with enthusiasm, revealing an adorable smile on her small face.
She barely managed to finish her words before she stuffed a spoon into her mouth, it was evident that she couldn't wait to finish eating.
"Oh? That's marvelous my dear, but you should slow down, it's not like the forest is going to run away!"
The only adult on the table, sitting opposite of her, spoke lightly with a gentle smile. She seemed to have no worries in mind other than the wellbeing of the children sitting around her.
"Got it, mother!"
Despite answering with affirmation, the adorable girl's eating pace didn't slow down that much. Seeing that, the mature woman could only smile bitterly at the little girl.
"Well, I was thinking of letting Arthur go with you to the forest so you could collect more flowers, but it seems like you will finish before him…"
The mature woman let out a sigh as if at a loss, causing the little girl who was about to stuff another spoon into her bloated mouth to stop in her tracks.
"Oh! In that case, I will eat slower so he can finish eating as well!"
"That would be great."
The gentle smile returned to the woman's face, she hadn't managed this 'Orphanage' this long for nothing, coaxing a child was a skill she was confident in.
Wearing a proud smile in her mind, the woman observed the rest of the children as they ate, only then did she realize that something was wrong.
"Arthur?"
Just beside the adorable little girl, a young boy sat there staring in a daze. He still held his spoon in his hand like the rest of the children, it was just that he didn't move it out of the plate.
With one look, one would realize that he was the oldest of the children sitting at the table, he seemed to be at least 12 years old or older. In comparison, the rest of the children all looked to be under 10 years old.
"Hmm?"
'Arthur…?'
As the boy continued to stare at the air, he seemed to be slightly moved by the name that was called out. He was sure that it was his name, but he felt like he had one more name.
'Am I Arthur...?'
He was also sure that he had lived his whole life in this little orphanage ever since he became aware, he treated all the other little orphans as his siblings, and the manager as his mother as well as his big sister.
He would run errands around the small town ever since he could so as to help with the Orphanage's financial situation. He would help his little siblings and accompany them to play whenever he could. His life could be considered tough, but he enjoyed every part of it.
He even seemed to have a very close sibling who was both his friend and brother...
'Or am I… Leo?'
At the same time, he had memories of living a completely different life. A life that was even longer than his life as Arthur. He lived in a modern city where life was much easier thanks to technology, both his parents were also alive, he didn't have to work that hard nor did he play with his siblings either. He even went to a place called 'School' where he met other children that were his age.
However, he seemed to enjoy this life much more, the reason behind that was 'reading'. Not any of the things that he took joy in his life as Arthur could compare to his joy when he was reading. Even as he pondered about his true identity, he felt like he couldn't help but crave reading!
Furthermore, he was more special than most humans, he seemed to even remember... taking down a dangerous man all on his own.
"Arthur!"
As he was called by one of his names once more, his memories as 'Leo' were amplified even more, his mind seemed to reject accepting 'Arthur' as his true identity!
'I am…'
Both memories seemed to fight, and it felt like his memories as 'Arthur' would lose at the end as a few of them started fading…
He felt like such an ending was acceptable. After all, he felt closer to his strong memories as 'Leo', but...
'No!'
A part of mind seemed to refuse to let go of the bittersweet life of 'Arthur', giving strength to its memories to resist fading, it seemed like this battle would go forever unless he decided with all his will.
'I am both Leo and Arthur!'
In the end, he decided to not let go of any of them, both lives were his, and they were all a necessary part of his being, he couldn't afford to lose any part of them!
Only then did his mind finally calm down, he felt enlightened as his memories consolidated. He no longer felt so out of place.
"Arthur! What has gotten into you?!"
Realizing that had already ignored a dozen calls from his 'mother' and 'siblings', the young boy finally broke out of his daze.
"Uhh… What? Was someone calling me?"
Even though he was aware of why he was called out, the young boy acted as if he had been simply out of focus. He still had to process his memories to fully understand the situation.
"We have been calling out to you for a few minutes, I was afraid something had happened to you! Thankfully, you are still alright."
The 'big sister', Ria, spoke with worry, only smiling brightly at the end.
"I was worried about big brother as well!"
The adorable little girl, Annie, called out, appearing very cute as she tried imitating Ria.
"Oh… I was just stuck in a daydream. Let's quickly eat so we can go visit the spot you found earlier, Annie!"
"Mm! Big brother is the best!"
Seeing that her oldest 'child' has ruined her efforts to get Annie to slow down with eating, Ria could only shake her head as she decided to let it go.
Eating quickly once wasn't the end of the world. Besides, she couldn't bear to dampen the excitement of Annie as she stared at her cute face.
"Finished!"
"Good job Annie, let's get going!"
As the young boy had already finished his plate in a few big mouthfuls, he quickly picked up Annie and used his handkerchief to wipe her mouth.
"Be careful on the way, don't run too quickly so you won't fall!"
By the time Ria managed to finish her warnings, the pair of excited siblings had already passed through the door.
"Don't worry! I will make sure to take care of her!"
Only the young boy's voice could be heard as they walked in hurried steps towards the forest.
"Jeez, just what had gotten into him, he is usually much calmer…"
As the pair of siblings continued moving at a fast pace, they quickly reached the spot that Annie had found. It wasn't that deep into the forest, it was just that it was hidden by trees. Not only were there plentiful flower beds but there was also a small lake by the side.
As Annie jumped into the small sea of flowers, the young boy made sure she wasn't hurt, before he stared into the clear surface of the lake that reflected his young face, his expression turning serious as he thought to himself.
'Could it be that I have transmigrated into that novel?'