“You, what? Faith is my oldest and bestest friend. No one can say anything against that! So me hugging her arm is only natural.” Jen’s smile was very pretty, but the look in her eyes was not inviting.

“I am also Faith’s best friend, so I can hug her arm as well!” Adel shot back while staring daggers at Jen. But I wonder…. Do these two not realize that they have yet to ask me my opinion on this? I do feel that even if I did, I would just be yelled at.

Jen smiled, seemingly ignoring Adel’s retort, and looked at me as she said: “We should probably continue our conversation from earlier. I still have a lot to tell you.”I knew this would probably cause a scene, but I had many things to ask Jen about as well. “Mm… Adel, I got something I need to speak with Jen about.”

“What?” Adel looked at Jen and then at me. When she saw me nod my head, she understood my meaning as she lowered hers and let go of my arm. She seemed sad, which made me feel bad, but what could I do? The king told me not to let her know that I was reborn. But to be honest, this was leaving a sour taste in my mouth. As Adel began walking around with her shoulders slumped down, I grabbed her hand and pulled her back. She turned and looked up at me with a confused expression.

“I may have been told not to tell you anything, but that doesn’t mean I will be able to hide it from you much longer. Come with us, I will explain everything, but you have to keep what I tell you a secret and act as if I have never said a word to you about it, okay?” I said this, looking directly into her eyes to show her how serious of a matter it was. I just did not wish her to take things in the wrong way or think I had come to hate her. Adel may not seem it, but she is a delicate person. Her emotions sway in many different ways, and I do not want her to think she was losing me as her friend.

“I swear never to speak a word,” Adel replied.

“Then come on. Let’s go to my room.” I said as I walked forward.

A few minutes later, we are all sitting in the sitting area with some tea and snacks. Adel sat across from me as I explained many things to her. Her expression changed many times from sad to shocked to sad again and then repeated over and over until I was done. “The reason your father asked me not to tell you is that he does not want the information to spread, and knowing will ultimately make you a target. So never speak a word of any of this to anyone.”Adel nodded her head as if she was a baby chick. “I won’t speak a word of it. But now things make more sense. Seeing you so close with Jen so quickly had made me confused, but now I understand.” Adel took a deep breath and looked at Jen while bowing her head. “I apologize for my rudeness. I thought you were just trying to get close to Faith. She is like an angel and will treat everyone she meets with kindness.”

Jen chuckled and glanced at me before looking back at Adel. “It’s fine. Faith has always been this way ever since she was a young kid. I will tell you some stories later about her childhood.”

“Hey! I can hear you!” I knew Jen would talk about all kinds of embarrassing things. But to be honest, I really don’t care.

“I would like that very much!” Adel replied with a smile before adding. “But she is still mine.”

I held my head. Did she really need to add the last part? “Anyway. Jen, I want to know how my family fared after I passed…..”

It was time for some doom and gloom on my part. I wanted to know if my family fared well and kept living their lives. I was nervous. I have no idea if I was even ready for any of this, but I had to know. I had to know how they lived after my passing. I took a few deep breaths and prepared myself for what I was about to learn.

“Your parents were devastated when you died. They hated me. I guess they kind of blamed me for your death. Like if not for her, my Faith would not have died. So I stayed away from them. But even though I could not ask them directly or go see them on my own, I still inquired about them. Your father and mother continued their lives. Going to work and then going home. The last I heard was that they moved from the house they lived in, and from there, I lost track of them. Sorry I do not have much more information than that.”

“I see… As long as they were able to continue their lives….” Truth be told, I did not know how I felt about all of this. I am sure my parents hurt a lot inside. Death, to me, is a scary thing. While I may have been reborn this time, what about next time or the time after that? When would eternal darkness finally take me over? These kinds of thoughts have spurred up from time to time, not just in this life but in my past one as well.

It is one of those things no one really wants to think about but have to. The reminder of death is always sitting there in front of our faces. Everywhere you turn, there is death. Whether it is human or demi human, dragon or demon, even the bugs that crawl on the ground, death is everywhere.

Before I knew it, as I was lost in my thoughts, I was embraced on both sides. I guess my mood must have been felt by these two. I smiled and patted both their arms as I said: “I’m fine thank you.”