ScarletThree years ago at the orphanage

I slowly make my way through the orphanage halls while yawning and still wearing my tank top and shorts that I tend to wear when sleeping.

Who is talking so loudly this late at night anyways…?

Whoever it is that woke me up, I’m gonna yell at them and then go back to bed. Because seriously. The one time I decide to get a full night’s rest, someone decides they want to make a bunch of racket.

And somehow the kids managed to just casually sleep through it.

Not sure how they managed that.

I know Arthur sleeps with earplugs in, and Belle isn’t here today. Which is for the best, since they’d get a lot more pissed than me. Especially Belle.

But that also means it’s not Belle making the racket. So who is it?

I groggily walk through the hall of the orphanage towards the origin of the voices, my body practically demanding that I go to sleep, and the winter air biting at my mostly bare legs and arms despite us being inside the orphanage building.

Maybe I should consider wearing pants instead of shorts when sleeping during the winter…

“Are you reneging on our contract?” I hear a woman ask when I get close enough to Allen’s office, making me stiffen up for some reason. Then I hide up against the wall before slowly inching over to the door that is currently cracked open a little bit.

“Of course not,” Allen answers whoever the woman is. “By the time it happens, she’ll have already left the orphanage, so you won’t have to worry about that.”

Contract? Left the orphanage?

What are they talking about?

I frown, some of my grogginess leaving my mind as I slowly move closer to the door before poking my head far enough out to see through the crack. And what I find immediately makes me realize that whoever he’s talking to has some really nice choice in outfit.

It’s a beautiful woman with white hair wearing a jacket that looks a lot like my own, with a white shirt and black pants.

Of course, if she were just to add a bit more red, then it would be perfect. But that’s beside the point.

“And what is this about adoption?” the woman bluntly asks, not really expressing much emotion despite the sternness of her words.

Allen rubs the back of his neck while pointedly looking away from the woman and saying, “Well, it should be alright after Scarlet grows up,” he looks at her again as he awkwardly adds, “right?”

My eyes widen in shock.

Adoption? Me? What? How?

The woman doesn’t say anything, instead only narrowing her eyes slightly – the first sign of emotion she’s shown since I started eavesdrop- err, I mean passing by and casually hearing their conversation. While stopping in front of the door.

Allen grows more confident as he looks around for a few seconds before crossing his arms and saying, “Do you even have the ability to say that I can’t adopt her? That won’t be going against our contract as long as we do it after she’s an adult. Who is she to you anyways?”

There’s that contract think again. And who is this woman anyways? I don’t recognize her.

“That is not something you need to know,” the woman coldly states as her eyes narrow even further, meanwhile a strange white fog begins to leak from her skin. “Just know that you are not allowed to adopt her.” She then turns to look directly at me before raising her hand and sending a wave of white mist straight at me, making everything immediately go dark.

ScarletThe present

I wake up with a start, finding myself staring at Aria who is currently crying rather harshly.

Uh… huh?

The girl tackles me with a hug and squeezes a lot harder than a girl her age should, and surprisingly it doesn’t hurt any of my wounds… wait, wounds? Didn’t I have wounds?

“Aria arrived soon after you fell unconscious and healed you with her magic,” Tar answers my question as I begin to sit up, dragging the young girl along with me into my lap as she refuses to let go.

Huh.

I pat Aria’s back before asking, “So you saved me?”

She furiously nods her head over and over again, despite me only asking a single question. Then a… squid? A squid appears in the middle of the air…

How is a squid so cute? I mean, it’s a squid. How is this thing so cute?

“Well, fae are meant to look cute, even if the animal they take the form of isn’t necessarily normally cute,” Tar answers in my head. But before I can think much on that, the squid begins talking, with that very same authoritative and powerful tone that Tar has.

“I would like to ask you not to get into that much danger again, young lady,” a female voice comes from the squid, sounding like an elderly grandma sternly scolding me. Which makes me blink in surprise.

Huh?

“Greetings, fourth princess Rowena,” Tar says, making my eyes widen slightly.

Holy shit, another royal fae?! Also, I’ve been meaning to ask, but what sort of system are you using to call them? You mentioned before that you only had eight brothers, but you’re the eighteenth prince. Does that just mean you’re eighteenth in line for the throne?

“Correct,” Tar answers in my mind and not out loud, looking rather tense as he glances between me and his sister. “Our line of succession pays no heed to gender. So when we use our titles, it is solely based on your current ranking in the line of succession. Meaning she’s the fourth in line for the throne, and I’m currently the eighteenth. Although I should be moving up in succession ranking soon.”

Oh? Congratulations.

How does that even work though, with the tournament and all?

“Shouldn’t we talk about this at another time?” Tar asks, reminding me that we’re not alone.

Oh, right.

Hmm, it makes sense that someone with an etched skill would contract with a royal fae now that I think about it.

And there’s still that dream as well… actually I can think about that later.

For now…

“Why do you have tentacle hair, Aria?” I ask rather gently while staring at the few strands of the girl’s hair that had turned into tentacles.