Kirven City-Center:

  The midday sun bathed the city of Kirven in a soft golden light.

  Its fragrant, colorful streets overflowed with life. The shouts of the merchants mingled with the laughter of children running between the legs of passers-by. At various street corners, caravans stood parked, offering different shows to passers-by.

  In the middle of all this bustle, Aelrin walked with measured step, his eyes constantly looking from left to right, as if a danger could arise at any time. Ahead of him, Lyra skipped along, observing every detail of the city with an amazed look.

  "Hey big brother look!" she exclaimed.

  "Look at this!"

  Lyra kept calling Aelrin, but he was absorbed in his thoughts.

  It was only after several seconds that Aelrin, pulled from his thoughts, finally heard his sister's calls. He jumped, and suddenly raised his head, before noticing that Lyra was no longer by his side.

  "Lyra!?" he exclaimed.

  He began turning frantically in place, looking for Lyra in the dense crowd that surrounded her.

  "Lyra!" he thought.

  When he didn't see his sister, Aelrin's heart began to pound, and his breath jerking.

  "Where did she go? She was there two seconds ago," he thought, his eyes quickly sweeping the crowd.

  "Big brother... look this way!" exclaimed Lyra in the distance.

  Hearing Lyra's sudden voice, Aelrin immediately turned to her origin, and there he saw her. He saw her a few meters away, glued against the transparent window of a clothing store.

  "Lyra! What are you doing there?" shouted Aelrin as he quickly made his way through the crowd.

  He joined Lyra, and gently grabbed her arm, as if to make sure she was okay.

  But at that moment, Lyra did not seem to notice her brother's anxiety. His eyes were riveted towards the transparent window of the shop. Under the sunlight reflected in the glass, a beautiful midnight blue dress, embroidered with glittering silver threads, was exposed on a mannequin.

  "Look at this dress big brother," she said in a voice full of dream, pointing at the mannequin with her finger.

  "It's beautiful, isn't?"

  Aelrin raised her head, looking at the dress that Lyra was designating.

  He observed it for a moment, before turning his head towards her. Seeing her dreamy expression, Aelrin froze for a moment, memories resurfacing.

  "Ah... that's surely what she's thinking about," he thought.

  "You're right... this dress is beautiful," he replied with a slight smile on his lips.

  At these words, Lyra, smiling on her lips, turned to Aelrin, looking at him tenderly. A few seconds later, she took a step aside to stand in front of the window, and then mimicked the mannequin's posture.

  "Imagine a little..." she said, slowly opening her arms.

  "...With such a dress, people would no longer see me as they currently see me."

  "I would surely be the most beautiful princess in the world, don't you think?" she asked calmly, looking her brother straight in the eyes.

  "Lyra..." began Aelrin before stopping suddenly.

  Seeing her brother's reaction, Lyra sketched a slight smile, and closed her eyes for a moment.

  She suddenly began to spin on herself, humming, imagining the fabric floating around her legs.

  At that moment, she no longer saw herself as a street child, but as the princesses of the stories she was told.

  Aelrin silently watched his sister with an expression that mixed tenderness and helplessness.

  However, before a word could come out of his mouth, the door of the shop opened violently. A plump man, with a red face with anger, came out, armed with an old broom slightly worn.

  "Get out of there, you dirty trash!" he scolded in a thunderous voice.

  Without wasting a moment, the man tried to bring his broom down on Lyra, but the latter dodged him by making a graceful pirouette on herself, as if she were dancing on stage. When the broom struck the cobblestones with a sharp crack that startled the surrounding passers-by, at that moment, Lyra was already on the other side, one hand on her hip and the other under her eyelid.

  "Missed!" she said, sticking out her tongue.

  "You are too slow, sir," she added with a mischievous smile.

  The man remained frozen for a fraction of a second, his face becoming even redder with rage. Before he could pull himself together, Lyra rushed to Aelrin, grabbed his hand, and pulled with all her strength.

  "Come big brother!"

  "We run!"

  Lyra started running, dragging her brother in his crazy run through the crowd. Aelrin, surprised by the suddenness of the action, let himself be carried away by his sister's energy. They weaved between passersby, dodging stalls, their hearts pounding wildly.

  As they ran, Lyra briefly turned her head back, her face illuminated by a mocking smile.

  "Turkey!" she shouted, mocking the shopkeeper who had remained motionless in the middle of the road cursing their existence.

  "Look how red he is, he looks like a beetroot," she said, turning to Aelrin, her face illuminated by a smile.

  Seeing her sister running laughing heartily, Aelrin let a tender smile appear on her lips.

  Meanwhile, Lyra, still distracted, did not pay attention to the path in front of her.

  And by the time she started looking in front of her again, it was already too late.

  PAF!

  Lyra hit a person who was passing in front of her, and stumbled backwards. Aelrin, who was right behind her, quickly caught up with her before she fell.

  "Lyra! Are you okay?" Aelrin asked with a worried look.

  Lyra, still dazed, rubbed her forehead before slowly opening her eyes. Her gaze first fell on a light shirt, then slowly went up to a face she did not know.

  A young boy with brown hair, dressed in beautiful comfortable clothes, stood there, motionless, staring at the floor with a funeral head. He seemed to be their age, and was a little taller than her. Next to him stood two men properly dressed with athletic build. One had blue hair, and the other had brown hair.

  "How handsome they are!" Lyra thought in amazement when she saw them.

  "But otherwise, why does he make that face?" she thought, looking at the young boy with a confused look.

  "My cake…" the boy suddenly said with a gloomy air.

  Hearing these words, Lyra slowly lowered her eyes, and saw what seemed to be a pastry crushed against the stones, her beige cream spread in a shapeless spot.

  She widened her eyes, but before a word could leave her mouth, Aelrin suddenly grabbed her from behind and instantly tilted her head.

  "Forgive us!" Aelrin suddenly exclaimed, her head deeply tilted.

  "This is all my fault. If I had been more careful, all this would never have happened."

  "If you want to let off steam, let off steam on me."

  "I just ask you to leave my sister out of this story... please!"

  Seeing her brother like this, Lyra widened her eyes.

  "Big brother," she thought, clenching her jaw.

  "All this is because of me... but he is obliged to apologize in my place."

  "What will they want to do now?" she thought, discreetly looking up at the three boys.

  "Will they hit Aelrin, or will they decide to hurt us both like the others before them did?" she thought with a sad look, all light disappearing from her eyes.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  After seconds of silence that seemed like hours, an amused laugh suddenly echoed through the air.

  "Heh, heh... come on, you don't really think we're going to lay a hand on mere children, do you?" said a person with an amused look.

  Surprised, Aelrin and Lyra instantly raised their heads. They were surprised to see that it was the blue-haired man who acted like this.

  "Uh?" Lyra said with a confused look.

  But before she could say one more word, the brown-haired man approached her, and stroked her head.

  "Don't worry little one. We won't hurt you," he said in a calm and reassuring tone.

  "Anyway, you are not the only ones at fault in this incident, we also have our share of responsibility."

  "Isn't it... Lucas?" he said, turning to the young boy who still had his head down.

  Lucas didn't answer right away. He remained still, staring at the cake's cream spread between the cobblestone.

  A few seconds later, Lucas sighed slightly.

  After that, he stepped forward slowly, dragging his feet, until he found himself in front of Aelrin and Lyra. He stopped in front of them, and finally looked up... but his gaze seemed strangely empty, as if he was immersed in deep mourning.

  "Arden is right," he said simply without emotion.

  "I also have my share of responsibility in this inci—

  As he set his gaze on Lyra, Lucas suddenly stopped. Staring at her, he slightly bit his lips, and his fists slowly tightened.

  After a few seconds, he took a deep breath, and in a calm tone, without apparent sadness or anger, he added:

  "If I had been more focused, I could have avoided this incident... sorry."

  After those words, Lucas turned his head, staring once again at his cake spread on the ground. He bit his lips slightly before turning around.

  "We should go," he said before starting to walk away, his head down again.

  Lyra, surprised, blinked while looking at him.

  "Uh, wait...

  Before Lyra could add a word, Arden put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

  "Leave him alone and don't worry," he said calmly.

  "Lucas acts like this when it comes to sweets... he must surely be devastated from the inside at this time," he added with an amused smile on his lips.

  Following these words, Lyra turned around, watching Lucas walk away.

  As for Aelrin, he remained motionless, not knowing how to react to this unexpected attitude.

  At that moment, Jayden approached them and put his arm around Arden's shoulders.

  "Hey, don't you think we should catch up with him?"

  "We might still lose sight of him if we linger too long," he said, watching Lucas gradually disappear into the crowd.

  Arden looked up, looked at Lucas for a moment. He then removed Jayden's arm around his neck sighing, and calmly put his hands in his pockets.

  "Alright kids… we have to go."

  "Above all, take care of yourselves," he said with a slight gesture of his hand, a slight smile on his lips.

  Arden passed by Aelrin and Lyra, followed by Jayden.

  As they moved away, Jayden slowed down slightly before stopping for a split second.

  "Hey, little girl..." he said, turning to Lyra.

  He then raised his hand and made a slight gesture of his finger near his lips, as if to wipe something. After that, he turned around without waiting for a reaction, then immediately resumed his journey, catching up with Arden and Lucas.

  Lyra blinked, not understanding the meaning of this gesture.

  "Why did he do that?" she thought intrigued.

  Instinctively, she then imitated Jayden's gesture by bringing her hand to her cheek, then observed the tip of her finger. Seeing beige cream on her fingers, she froze for a second.

  "I wonder what this famous cake tasted like," she thought, observing the cream on her fingers.

  Out of curiosity, Lyra brought her fingers closer to her lips, and tasted the beige cream.

  Her eyes widened immediately.

  "It's... so good," she whispered, her look amazed.

  Meanwhile, Aelrin was still watching the three silhouettes gradually disappear into the crowd.

  "They're really different," he thought.

  While Aelrin was in these thoughts, he felt someone pull on his sleeve. When he turned around, he fell nose to nose with Lyra's amazed look.

  "Lyra... what's going on?" he asked in a slightly confused tone.

  "Big brother..." Lyra began slowly.

  "Could we go to a nearby pastry shop?" she asked enthusiastically.

  Surprised, Aelrin blinked.

  "Huh... why this sudden request?" he asked with a confused look.

  "Don't forget that we have to do some shopping first. Then we will buy sweets as promised," he added calmly.

  At these words, Lyra froze for a moment.

  "If that's the case, then I only have one way left," she thought.

  Suddenly, Lyra crossed her arms and turned her gaze away with a sulky expression.

  "If we don't go to a pastry shop, I won't move from here!" she said with a determined look.

  "Huh?" Aelrin suddenly said with a surprised look.

  Listening to her brother, Lyra did not react, and pouted even more.

  Seeing her sister like this, Aelrin looked at her for a long time before sighing.

  "Why do you suddenly want to go to a pastry shop?" he finally asked.

  "A cake!" replied Lyra instantly, turning to Aelrin with an enthusiastic look.

  "A cake? Now?" asked Aelrin, shocked.

  Lyra nodded her head sharply.

  "Yes yes."

  "Preferably a cake like the one that famous Lucas had,"

  "It was so good that I want one just for myself."

  At these words, Aelrin frowned slightly.

  "Lyra... how can you know the taste of this cake?" he asked skeptically.

  Faced with this question, Lyra tensed up instantly.

  "You barely bumped into each other, and his cake fell to the ground. It's impossible for you to know what it tasted like," Aelrin continued.

  "So tell me… how could you possibly know what that famous Lucas's cake tasted like?" he asked, staring intensely at Lyra.

  Faced with the intensity of her brother's gaze, Lyra looked away, embarrassed.

  "Uh... big brother," she began, her voice trembling.

  "For the taste... hmm, how to say..."

  At that moment, Lyra's gaze slowly turned to the cake on the floor.

  Seeing this, Aelrin followed his gaze, also observing the cake. A few seconds later, his face broke down, understanding what his sister meant.

  "Lyra... don't tell me you did what I think?" he asked in a trembling voice.

  Lyra let out an embarrassed laugh while scratching her temple lightly.

  "Well... after tasting the cream... I couldn't help but have another taste."

  A silence settled.

  Aelrin remained frozen for a few seconds, looking at his sister with a lost look.

  "Lyra," he began slowly.

  But before he could add anything, Lyra suddenly grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.

  "Big brother... I admit to having made a mistake," she began in a sorry tone.

  "But... I really want a cake."

  Lyra then looked up at Aelrin, looking at him with the air of a beaten dog.

  "A very small cake..."

  "After that I promise you to be wise," she said in a pleading voice.

  Aelrin instantly raised his head, avoiding her sister's gaze.

  "Damn... why does she always do that?" he thought, clenching his teeth slightly.