Cherreads

Chapter 8 - An Old Friend

[Dunha's P.O.V]

After eating some fruits, Dunha ignored the screen and jumped on the bed again. Once she got on the bed, she began to think of everything that happened so far.

"Let's see... I woke up and somehow ended up going back to the past. Judging by how I can feel pain and hunger, this doesn't seem to be some sort of dream..." Dunha thought. "This means that I really did return to the past."

Although she wanted to smile in joy and be happy, something prevented her from doing so... It was her memories of the past.

"Would I be able to endure all of that suffering that will be waiting for me in the future once more?" she wondered. "Would I be able to stay strong when I see my family's death again?"

She then remembered all the events that'll happen in the future. The many wars that'll kill millions of innocents, the deaths of almost everyone she knew... All of these events were not something that can be easily forgotten.

Dunha began to quietly sit down on the floor and stared at the ceiling for a good long minute with only the sounds of birds chirping outside filling the silence.

"I can't... I can't go through that again..." she murmured. "Should I just end it?"

Dunha looked around and found a fruit knife near the bowl of fruits and grabbed it.

"Yeah... It'll be quick. Death shouldn't be as bad as that hellish life that I have lived through, right?" she wondered.

She then placed the knife to her heart and was about to stab herself.

However, she hesitated.

"Why can't I do it..?" Dunha wondered as her hand trembled.

She then remembered.

"Wait... When my parents died, I was devastated, then wouldn't my mother and father be devasted too if I were to die? What am I doing right now?" Dunha thought as her dull eyes regained their colors. "Many people went through worse and still tried their best to live on! I shouldn't something so reckless!"

She threw the knife across the room and gently sat on the floor she then began silently cry while covering her mouth.

"It'll be okay... This time, it'll be okay..." Dunha whispered to herself.

Suddenly, she heard loud footsteps approaching her door. Assuming it was her mother coming, she quickly calmed herself down and wiped the tears off her face. Just as she wiped her tears, the doors burst open.

"Dunha!" the voice of a young child shouted.

"Milady Lily! You can't just burst open the princess' door like that! Please stop!" said a panicking guard as he desperately attempted to stop the young child from entering Dunha's room.

Dunha was caught off guard as she was not expecting the door to burst open. The young child ran towards Dunha and jumped towards her with her arms open.

"Oof!" said Dunha as she fell backward after being tackled by the child.

Luckily, she fell on top of one of her pillows that have fallen off the bed so she wasn't hurt from the fall. Dunha then looked down to see who the child was. She then opened her eyes widely in surprise when she saw the child's tail and cat-like ears.

"Lily?" said Dunha.

"Uwa! I heard that bad people twied to hurt chu!" said the child while hugging Dunha.

I remember her... She's Lily Ashlyn, the firstborn daughter of Clover Ashlyn, who is one of the 7 Great Generals of the Star Kingdom. What's unique about her and her mother is that they're demi-humans. Her mother was originally from the Zanaharia Kingdom, a demi-human kingdom in the east of our kingdom and the only known demi-human country in the entire continent.

Lily's mother was part of the Cat-Human species and she left her clan to become a mercenary. At some point, she encountered my father and joined him in his efforts to overthrow my grandfather who was the king at the time and went insane at some point during his rule.

After my father won the rebellion, he appointed Lily's mother as one of the 7 Great Generals for her participation in the battle against my grandfather. A few months later, she got married and gave birth to Lily a month after I was born. I'm not sure what happened to Lily's father... I never saw him in my first life.

"Lily..." said Dunha as she sadly looked at Lily.

She then placed her hand on Lily's head.

Lily appeared to enjoy it as she smiled and closed her eyes while making a purring noise.

"I'm okay, Lily. The guards were there to help us." Dunha reassured Lily.

"I'm so glad!" said Lily.

"Milady, please! The princess still needs some rest." said one of the guards.

Although the guards wanted to grab the small child off of Dunha, they couldn't dare to grab the child of one of the 7 Great Generals, so they were having a difficult time on what to do.

"No, no. I'm okay. You can wait outside," said Dunha.

"Um... Well... Understood..." one of the guards answered meekly.

They all left the room, leaving behind Lily and Dunha to have some private time.

"Why are you here, Lily?" Dunha asked.

"Mama heard that you and your mama were attacked by bwad people, so she rushed here with me. She went to the meeting room while I rushed here to see you!" said Lily.

"I think I can understand most of the words... Somehow." Dunha thought.

"Since you are okay... Do you want to play?" Lily asked as her tail moved around.

As Lily wagged her tail, Dunha began to blush.

"Oh gosh, that tail... Those ears... She's so cute that I just want to hug and pet her all day!" she thought as she imagined herself petting Lily. "But I can't... It's rude to treat her like she's some sort of pet."

"Dunha?" said Lily after noticing Dunha's sudden silence.

"Ah? Oh! Yeah! Let's play!" said Dunha after realizing she was daydreaming for too long.

I was such a fool for thinking that ending my life would've made things better... If I actually did stab myself here, Lily would've found me as a corpse...

Dunha looked down in shame for attempting to do something very reckless.

"What do you want to play, Dunha?" Lily asked.

"Um... How about hide and seek? My room is big and since I can't leave until mama returns, it's perfect!" said Dunha.

"Sounds gweat! You count first and I'll hide!" said Lily as she moved her ears in excitement. "Count to 30!"

"Okay! 1, 2, 3, 4..."

That's right since I returned to the past with my memories intact, I might be able to change the future for the better...

Dunha continued to count as Lily tried to find a place to hide.

(To be continued)

2020/03/03

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