New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 99: DREAMS AND MEMORIES (1)

Chapter 99: DREAMS AND MEMORIES (1)

"Greetings, Your Highness." Vasily greeted with a friendly smile on her face when she saw Aristia enter the drawing room.

"Greetings, Viscountess Hemsworth." Aristia acknowledged the greeting.

"How are you today?" Vasily asked.

Aristia’s classes for the previous day had been cancelled for unexplained reasons and she hoped everything was fine with her.

"Chirpy!" Aristia replied.

When Vasily’s face morphed into confusion, she explained.

"It means I’m happy— fine."

"Ooh," Vasily nodded slowly, trying to hold back the smile from forming on her lips. But the amusement in her eyes was not hidden.

What was the little princess talking about now?

"Alright, then. Let us begin the lesson." Vasily looked away from her to open her textbook. "Today, we will be discussing the history and geography of our Kingdom. The lesson for yesterday was the Kingdom’s history, and for today, it is its geography. But because you couldn’t attend the class yesterday, we will consider the two lessons today."

Aristia only nodded as Vasily began.

"Now on to the history of the kingdom... The people of Amberale worship Lord Nerin Von Cali. Long ago, there was a brave man who wandered the world. His name was Fabian Reuben Amberale. He encountered Lord Nerin on one of his journeys. Lord Nerin was in the form of a human and was being surrounded by bandits. The brave man, Fabian risked his life to save him, not knowing that the man he had saved was Lord Nerin."

[Sure. A fairytale-like tale indeed.] Aristia thought sarcastically.

She had read most of the information Vasily was talking about in the book, The History Of Amberale, that she had found in the library when she first arrived in Amberale and wanted to teach Alaric to read.

She was sitting with her chin resting on her hands as she listened to Viscountess Vasily. Vasily continued.

"Lord Nerin graciously blessed the man as a way of thanking him. He conquered many lands with the help of the blessing Lord Nerin had laid upon him, and twelve other men who stuck with him with great loyalty and aided him. The twelve men were the first patriarchs of the twelve pure noble families. These current pure noble families are their descendants, just as you are the descendant of king Fabian..." She paused to see if Aristia was listening and continued when she confirmed that she was.

Her voice trailed off occasionally as Aristia’s eyes drooped.

"Together, they began to rule over the lands they had conquered. When they formed a kingdom, Lord Nerin came and blessed the twelve men who had been with the king. They are called the first generation nobles or the pure nobles. That is why the nobles are able to manifest aura and Daemons, because of the blessing. Lord Nerin also blessed Amberale with prosperity. King Fabian and the twelve noblemen, along with the kingdom, swore to worship Lord Nerin."

"As the years went by, many people began to settle in Amberale, and King Fabian continued to conquer many lands, expanding Amberale’s territory. The kingdom became stronger and stronger, even after the death of King Fabian and the twelve patriarchs. Many centuries later, King Fabian’s descendant, King Asher Amberale, appointed some men loyal to himself as nobles. Those men formed the second generation nobles I told you about..."

Vasily’s voice became distant and faded away as Aristia’s sleepy eyes finally closed shut, her mind taken far away.

She dreamed she was in her world. Twenty four again.

...

"Mom, I’m leaving for the company." She called out. "Mom!" She repeated when her mother didn’t respond even though she was in the same room.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I guess I am no longer loved now that the triplets are here."

Her mother, Veronica Andrews, was a bit unusually silent.

But the next moment, she laughed and patted the heads of her grandchildren. "Look babies, your aunt is jealous of you." Then, she turned to her daughter. "It is a good thing you know that."

Aristia put on an expression that was a mix of shock and heartbreak.

"I’m just joking. Huu~ Why do you always have to go to work? I was starting to become lonely until I had the triplets." Her mother sighed, cuddling the children in her arms.

"You didn’t have the triplets mom, Suzy did." Aristia laughed, "And you have El and Suzy to spend the with you." Aristia defended.

"Oh, please," Veronica scoffed. "It is either Ellie and Suzy leave for work or they are around hav-"

"Mom! There are children here." She interrupted her mother from completing her sentence. She didn’t need to know about what her older brother and sister in-law were up to when they were alone. "Then, what about Dad? You have Dad to accompany you."

"Your father? Meh." Veronica replied and waved her hand.

"Hey, what does that mean?" Her father asked with a wronged look, looking up from the newspaper he was reading on the opposite couch.

Aristia had a feeling he wasn’t concentrating on his newspaper, but she didn’t dwell on it.

Her mother just shrugged at her father’s question.

"Heading to the company? Good morning, Ari." A new voice joined in. It was her sister in-law, Susan, in the company of her brother. She approached Aristia and hugged her.

"Good morning, Suzy. I am." Aristia nodded.

"Morning, little sis. Have you had breakfast?" Her brother, Eliot, asked and moved to deliver a light peck to her cheek.

"I have. Good morning to you too, El." Aristia dodged. "You haven’t brushed your teeth." She smiled playfully.

"Ouch, I’m being despised." Eliot said dramatically. "At least my darling won’t despise me." He said and approached Susan but she pushed him away playfully.

"Even you, Suzy?" He put on a hurt look and held his chest.

"Don’t cry, daddy." The triplets got down from their grandma’s embrace and ran to hug their father.

"At least my children still love me." Eliot sniffed and then laughed, picking up all of them and carrying them in his arms.

Aristia shook her head. "Anyway, I’m off to work. Don’t miss me too much." She said and gave them a few kisses.

She turned to the triplets, "Be good. Don’t disturb Grandma and Grandpa and don’t make them worry too much, you got that, my mischievous little Chipmunks?" She booped their noses and kissed each of them. She knew just how mischievous the children were.

The children giggled at the nickname, nodded and tried to hide their grins. She waved at them and they waved back.

"Bye-bye, aunt Ari."

"Bye, Ari,"

"Bye, Aris,"

"Bye, little sis."

Aristia shouted over her shoulder. "Stop calling me little sis, El, or else I won’t ask Mom to stop calling you Ellie."

Elliot groaned behind her.

Aristia laughed. She didn’t forget to give hugs to the rest of her family.

They hugged her tightly. A lot tighter than usual.

When she went to her brother for a side hug, he pulled her in for an embrace.

Aristia rolled her eyes m, but hugged him back.

"I’ll miss you, baby sis."

Something about his tone made Aristia uneasy, but she ignored the feeling, instead hitting him lightly on the chest.

"Stop being so cheesy." She said playfully, a small smile settling on her lips.

She turned to open the door. She just loved her family.

She failed to see the looks of worry, sadness and uncertain they exchanged as she had already opened the door to leave.

She stepped out of the house and the scene changed.

She was now in the body of a fourteen year old. Only now did she realize that she was dreaming.

She looked around her, noting she was at home. She saw her parents stand up together with a tall man wearing a dark hooded cloak. She couldn’t see his face. She watched her parents walk the man to the door.

Her parents looked in her direction and a look of surprise appeared in their eyes. Aristia had no time to dwell on this. She ran towards them and jumped into their arms.

"Mom, Dad. I missed you both so much." She hugged them tight, afraid that they would disappear.

"You missed us?" Her parents asked with confusion written on their faces.

"Oh. I mean— Yes, I miss you both. I was waiting for the school’s dismissal bell so that I would come back quickly." She said quickly.

"Aww, sweetie." Her mother caressed her face lovingly.

She leaned into her mother’s warm touch. Her gaze turned serious. "Mom and Dad. Who was that man?"

Her mother’s hand on her face paused and her parents exchanged worried gazes.

"It’s nothing, Ari. Just somebody who wanted to talk to your father about something." Her father replied.

"About what?" Aristia probed. She wasn’t usually inquisitive. She just oddly felt like she had to know this.

When her parents saw that she was insisting, they exchanged glances and nodded, then turned to face her.

Her father held her shoulders and opened his mouth to answer.

"Aris, sweetie, that man you saw was—"

Her father opened his mouth to answer.

"...Your Highness!"