Lidia was currently carrying half a cart of food and three passengers with ease across the infinite green fields in the east. She seemingly had infinite stamina and strength as she walked. Jacob never saw her so much as struggle with such a heavy load being pulled behind her.
"Well, since we’re going to be travelling for a while, we may as well get comfortable with each other."
"Agreed. I feel like I hardly know you, Jacob. Which is bad because you’re my son-in-law! I feel so ashad of myself for not making a better effort!"
Doc seed to almost start choking on sothing.
"Jacob, you’re married?!"
"Sothing like that."
"Anyway, what exactly do you like to do? When you were a grouch, all I ever saw you do was beat up on innocent palace servants. I don’t believe you found that sort of thing fun, did you?"
Jacob blushed embarrassingly.
"No. But in my free ti, I liked to practice my swordsmanship a lot."
"That’s it? You never did anything fun like play an instrunt or sing?"
"Not really. I used to read a lot, but I wanted to put my ti sowhere else."
Maria started nudging Jacob playfully. Her skin seed to be coming back to life, and she was slowly filling her muscles back in with the much-needed nutrients.
"That reminds , you owe a song choir boy. When are you going to sing for ?"
"I don’t know how to sing! That was just trying to use my power!"
"Mhm. Sure."
"I’m telling the truth!"
Doc looked over at Jacob surprised.
"You have a power?"
"I do. And you’ll never guess what it is. It’s the ability to control the growth of roots. I’m just an off-brand version of Emma’s power from the Rose Clan!!"
"Wow. That’s... unique?"
"Tell about it. Last ti I tried controlling them, they started growing out of control on their own."
Jacob laid down in the cart and stared up at the clouds rolling over them. Maria laid down next to him and started asking questions she was curious about.
"Jacob, what’s your favorite color?"
"My favorite color? I haven’t really thought about that before. Do you have one?"
"I do."
"What is it?"
"I know I dress in green a lot, but my favorite color is probably yellow."
"Yellow? Is there a reason?"
"The color is very warming and welcoming. I love how it’s very bright too. Many flowers around the kingdom have a nice yellow hue to them and always seem to stand out amongst the others."
"Wow, that’s very poetic."
"So, have you thought of one?"
"Hm. I would probably have to say green is my favorite color."
"Green? Why green?"
"Green is a color of life and growth. Green things like grass always change so much, yet they never turn into sothing else, sothing that isn’t like themself. For example, leaves can’t turn into grass, but they can change color and shape given enough ti and still stay as leaves. I find it very inspiring in a way."
Maria seed very pleased with this answer.
"Oh. And your eyes are green as well. That’s probably what I like most about the color."
Maria smiled even harder.
"So, you hate the color of my hair?"
Jacob started laughing.
"Am I allowed to choose two favorite colors?"
Jacob sat up and tried talking with Lidia a bit more.
"Miss Lidia, if you don’t mind asking, what was your childhood like?"
Lidia didn’t seem bothered by the question at all. In fact, she seed excited to answer it.
"I don’t mind sharing, but it’s rather boring compared to other people’s pasts if you’re willing to hear out."
"I don’t mind. I’m very interested."
"Well, I grew up rather pampered to say the least. There was always a warm plate of food for at ho, I slept in soft beds every night, and I never had any real struggle. However, I never really knew my dad. I just had one hard working mom who always made ti for ."
"Did you have many friends growing up? I would find it hard to believe no one liked you. You’re so nice all the ti."
"Thank you. However, I really only had one close friend growing up."
A saddened expression found its way on her face.
"It was Zeke. We would hang out all the ti, but he was rather stubborn. Such a stickler for the rules. I on the other hand, didn’t care much for them. He always got out of trouble when I needed it. He was a good friend, the best friend one could have. As we grew older, we slowly drifted apart more but still kept in good contact."
"I’m sorry, Miss Lidia."
"It’s okay. Anyways, I received a really good power one random day, and the king recruited for one of the noble clans."
"Wait, did you have a last na before being Rose?"
"I did. My old na was Lidia Forger. Kind of weird, right? I personally like Rose a lot more."
"Wow. I never knew you had all this history for being so young!"
"Are you trying to get on my good side for Maria’s sake?"
"Maybe."
Lidia started laughing. Jacob asked a question he had been really curious about.
"Have you ever thought of starting your own family? I an, you already technically treat everyone in the clan like family, but I an like settling down with soone eventually and having kids of your own."
"To be honest, I did for a while. Or at least I thought I did. However, sothing always bothered about it, and I don’t know why. Think about it. How many kids do you think will grow up in the kingdom without a family? What about being without soone who wants them? I always found that idea disgusting, so I dedicated my life to being the person those lost people can co to and welco them with open arms."
Jacob was really moved hearing Lidia’s resolution. She threw away an entire life of personal pleasure to be the maternal figure for those who needed it most.
"You’re very admirable. Not many people would be able to do what you are choosing to do. However, I don’t feel you have to eliminate the possibility of having a personal family of your own. What’s the harm in having multiple families you can love?"
Lidia smiled brightly.
"You make a fair point, but it is never that simple. I know myself well enough that if I have a child, all I will ever want to do is center my world around it and make sure no harm cos to it. I’m sure Maria can support on that point."
Maria nodded her head.
"I don’t think that’s a bad thing, mom. But if it’s your choice, I respect you greatly for whichever you pick in the end."
"Thank you. What about you, old man? Why didn’t you have any kids?"
Doc seed startled by the sudden question.
"Kids? Why would I want one of those?"
"You know, to start a family, have a permanent little helper. Things like that."
"I never really desired such a thing. I left that busy work to my dear brother."
Doc started laughing even though his joke wasn’t that funny.
As the group continued on, a mountain range started making itself clear in the distance. They would eventually have to find a way through them if they wanted to continue their journey. However, as they got closer, they noticed sothing unusual resting at the bottom of the slope.
It was a cabin made out of a dark wood, with a small fire escaping from its chimney.
User Comments
0 comments from readers