Anastasia knelt down, observing the boy's face. He looked quite hurt. Marriane's voice trembled as she asked, "Now... what do we do?"
The boy seemed to be in great fear, as if he were terrified of something — or perhaps he had no emotions at all. It was quite strange, to be honest.
Anastasia looked at the boy with a concerned expression and asked, "What are you doing here? Why are you alone?"
The boy with black hair and matching dark eyes stared at the two girls standing in front of him, his face blank. After a moment, he mumbled, "I don't know... I don't know anything."
Marriane furrowed her brows and asked, "What do you mean by 'I don't know anything'? You must at least know who you are, right?"
The boy simply stared at them, his blank expression unchanged, without saying anything further.
After noticing the boy's expression, Marianne and Anastasia exchanged a glance. In unison, they asked, "What do we do now?"
"Maybe we should take him with us. We can't leave him here — it's dangerous," Anastasia said, looking at Marianne.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Marianne replied with a nod. "With how things are going, we don't really have a choice."
After a while, they finally managed to convince the boy to tag along with them. The process was exhausting—it had taken them an entire hour. Nevertheless, the boy was now following them.
As they retraced their steps, they ran into Jeremy and quickly explained the whole situation to him.
"So, what's his name?" Jeremy asked, curiosity evident in his voice.
"We... don't know," Anastasia replied, glancing at the boy. "It's quite strange. He doesn't know his own name either."
"Yeah, it is strange. I knew my name when I was one!" Marianne said with a proud expression.
Jeremy and Anastasia sighed in unison, clearly unimpressed.
...
In a quiet street, a boy sat with a blank expression, a mix of fear lingering in his eyes. That fear only deepened as two girls approached him. Startled by their presence, he instinctively tensed. But soon, his expression returned to its vacant state when he realized the girls didn't seem harmful.
However, they soon asked a very strange question.
"What am I doing here? And why am I alone?"
The boy's mind raced. What do they mean by that?
I don't know what they mean by that, but I don't know anything at all. I don't know what I'm doing here, who I am, or where I came from. As far as I can remember, the only thing I see is darkness — and some strange, fragmented memories.
Sometimes, I even question myself. Are those fragments of memories even mine?
Soon, one of the girls with black hair and blue eyes started saying a strange word.
"Choc... Chocolates?"
What is that? I don't know. But they're saying if I follow them, they'll give me that "choco" thing.
Should I follow them?
I don't know...
Nevertheless, I followed them after a while. I didn't have anything else to do, and maybe... maybe I just wanted to belong somewhere.
Soon, they met a guy. I don't know who he is, but they seem quite close.
But what does it mean to be close?
Hnn... What a strange thing indeed.
I don't know. Sometimes, words come to my mind, even though I don't know what they mean. I have no idea where I learned them.
Maybe it's a good thing. After all, I can understand them a little.
...
As they reached the inn, they ordered the servants to prepare a bath for the young boy, as he was quite dirty at the moment.
When the servants came to take him, he hesitated at first, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. But after a brief moment, he reluctantly followed them.
While the boy was in the bath, Anastasia busied herself, preparing something to eat for him — and, as promised, some chocolates.
Jeremy sighed. "We made no progress on the kidnapping case today anyway.
So, what do you think about that boy? It's strange, right? Like, he doesn't know anything. Could it be memory loss?"
"No, I don't think it's memory loss," Anastasia replied, shaking her head. "He's quite young, and judging by his expressions, it doesn't seem like that."
"So, what do you think it is then?" Jeremy asked, curiosity evident in his voice.
"Well, to answer that... I'm not quite sure myself," Anastasia replied, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "It's rather strange."
"Haha, maybe he doesn't have anyone to name him or make memories with," Marriane said nonchalantly, a small shrug accompanying her words.
Anastasia and Jeremy looked at Marriane with a sad expression.
"Wait... what you said makes sense," Jeremy murmured, his voice low. "But it's really unfortunate. I feel bad for him. He's so small, yet he had to go through that."
Anastasia's thoughts wandered as she listened. I can understand this loneliness all too well, she reflected, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.
With quiet determination, she finally spoke. "I've made a decision."
"What decision?" Marriane asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Let's take that boy in," Anastasia said firmly, determination gleaming in her eyes.
"We'll take him with us to the capital."