The Second Time

"What?! Are you crazy--Cough, cough, cough!" Arran, who was already feeling better, suddenly felt sick again. "You barged into that house alone? What were you thinking? What if you get caught too?" He scolded Aria nonstop.

"I know, I'm sorry. But please sit down first." Aria said while trying to push Arran back who was about to stand up. "What's important is that I didn't really get caught. Although I also couldn't find Mika and Leyna…" She added sadly.

Leaning back, Arran was about to take back all his scoldings. But then he realized there was something strange about Aria's sentence earlier. "Wait, 'didn't really'? Don't tell me you were actually almost get caught?"

Caught red-handed, Aria spontaneously averted her gaze. "...Not really."

"Did they see your face? Aria, you seriously--" Arran babbled back, straightening his back. "You must leave here immediately. What if they come looking for you? That mad magician will burn you!"

But being answered like that, Aria just curled her lips. "I can't leave you alone when you're in this condition." She said. "Besides, well, if he catches me maybe I can at least meet Mika and Leyna."

"Aria--"

"Aaah! I almost forgot it's about time for Mina and the others to return! I better check them at the shop." Aria interrupted, who then immediately ran out of the hut because she couldn't stand the constant panic of being interrogated by Arran.

"What? Wait!" Arran tried to call her, but she was gone really quick!

Though, following the original excuse she made up, Aria actually really went to the shop to check on their younger siblings. She couldn't just stay restless thinking about this unfinished mess, so she at least needed to do something else.

But after checking into Mrs. Rumia's shop, it turned out that the three of them were still playing in the mud near the fields. "Ahaha, they were so excited when I asked them to help in the fields." Said Mrs. Rumia cheerfully.

"I'm so sorry. They must be troublesome." Replied Aria.

"Don't worry about it. But after telling them to take a bath, can you help me to pack some more medicines?" She said. "I just received a large order and they wanted it delivered immediately."

"Is that so? I understand."

And with alacrity, Aria immediately took her three younger siblings to the well and bathed them quickly. Then while they were playing in the water for a while, she also took some rags from the storeroom and hastily used her magic to sew it into simple clothes for their changes.

"Yeay! New clothes." Lily said cheerfully.

"Do you like it?" Aria asked back.

"But my clothes are better than yours!" Kuvi chimed in.

"My clothes are better!" Replied Lily again.

And as long as the twins were arguing loudly, Aria lowered her body towards the other girl, Mina. "I'll be helping Mrs. Rumia at the shop for a bit. So how about you take Kuvi and Lily to buy potatoes at Mr. Teran's shop for dinner tonight? Here is the money." She said while handing over some coins.

The girl with the short hair seemed to obey immediately. But carefully, she then said, "Um, Aria... Can I also buy an apple too? In case Leyna comes home later."

Something's squealing Aria's heart, so she immediately reached into her pocket to find the rest of the money she had. "Of course, buy some apples too."

"..." Aria was actually almost in the 'want to cry in the corner' mood again as soon as the three children left. But since she had to help Mrs. Rumia, she tidied her emotions again and hurriedly went to the shop.

Aria glanced through the room and found that only the boxes on the left shelf were open. All of that consists of all kinds of teas. "Somebody ordered this much tea leaves?" She asked as she began to sit down next to Mrs. Rumia.

"Yes. He wanted all the tea leaves we have, 2 boxes each." Said Mrs. Rumia as she shifted her small boxes near Aria. "He actually also ordered some other medicines though. I'll take it first, so you do the rest, okay?" She added before she immediately went into the next room where the medicines were.

Aria put in all the tea leaves as fast as she could, but it looked like she was doing it too fast. Because when she brought all the tea into the middle room, Mrs. Rumia still hadn't returned from the medicine room yet.

Aria was going to walk over there to help again, but then she heard the sound of a doorbell and suddenly turned around again. "Welcome, is there…"

But Aria immediately became frozen.

Not because of the old woman who entered the shop, but because the faces of Hiki and Rei who were seen passing in front of the shop.

'My goodness!' She screamed in her heart, even though her body could only freeze there while hoping they would not notice her existence.

But even though Rei just walked by, for some reason Hiki stopped and looked inside the shop. And now Hiki also put on the same surprised face as Aria. 'Wow, we really found her!'

"Reibgh, Reibh! She's here!" He shouted immediately even though his mouth was still filled with bread.

Panicking, Aria was about to think whether she needed to escape through the back door that very second. But just before her body could give in to her thoughts, her name was called out again. "Aria!" Call Kuvi.

"We've already bought the potatoes and apples. Let's go home now." They chirped while innocently crossing Hiki's legs and entering the shop.

And as if that wasn't enough to make Aria panic, Mrs. Rumia also came outside. "Oh, Mrs. Felicia. Do you need more medicine for your cough?" She asked the old woman earlier. "And sir, do you need anything?" She also asked Hiki who was now at the door.

Mrs. Rumia and the old lady had a bit of a weird feeling because the atmosphere suddenly became quiet. But in the end both of them just ignore it. "Yes, I want the usual cough medicine." Asked the old woman.

"Sure. I'll take it now."

Though on the other hand, Hiki was about to call Rei again. But it turned out that he was already behind him. He scanned the shop for a moment and decided to just stay silent for now. Since there were two old women and three small children there, they obviously couldn't just drag Aria out right away.

Aria, Hiki, and Rei glanced at each other with apprehension. But finally Aria decided to walk towards her 3 younger siblings to make sure they kept their distance from those 2 nobles.

Although unfortunately she still couldn't escape because Rei was clearly blocking the door. Hiki even sneaked up to the side so he could catch her in case Aria tried to run to the back door.

"Aria, are we not going home?" Mina asked again.

"...O-Of course, just a second."

"Ah, Aria. You can go home now if you want to." Mrs. Rumia chimed in. "You already finished all the teas, right?"

"And by the way, Aria. The back pain medicine you gave to me was very effective." Praise the old woman then. "It's been a week & my back doesn't hurt anymore!"

"That's why I told you it's effective, right?" Replied Mrs. Rumia who was also proud of it. "This cough medicine was also made by Aria, so it must be more effective than the usual one." She added.

Although to be honest Aria didn't really listen to them because her heart sounded even louder at that moment.

"Then, for the young masters, are you two looking for some medicine too?" Mrs. Rumia asked as soon as the old lady left.

The two of them were silent again, but finally Rei walked in. "Mm, then is there a medicine for sleeplessness?"

"Ah, just a moment." Replied Mrs. Rumia while looking through the side shelves.

Only after confirming that the woman was looking elsewhere did Rei look back at Aria. And without speaking up, he just moved his hands and his mouth.

'We are waiting outside. Don't try to run away', he said while putting on an expression that was as threatening as possible.