“He’s waking up, dear! He’s waking up!” Tar heard something hazily.

He was reminded of the days his father would wake him up for school. “I don’t wanna go to school!” Tar protested.

“What? Do you not want to meet Mr Heim?”

“No… Everisch is a good teacher…”

“Well, if it’s not him, then there’s really only one person left…”

“No! It’s definitely not her! I told you many times not to mention her! Because it’s not her, really!”

“Sure, sure. My sincerest apology for getting it wrong. Ah, silly me! Haha. It’s not her, okay? So can you get up? I’ll walk you to the library to take your class.”

“Fine…”

This exchange between him and his father floated in his mind before hearing that voice again.

“He’s waking up, dear!” A woman said. “Honey? Honey! Bern! Get down here this instance!”

“Yeah, yeah, I woke up already! Stop repeating yourself, Ev! Argh… just when I fell asleep too…”

“I’m not telling you to wake up, you idiot. I’m saying that boy’s waking up!”

“The boy, the boy… The boy!”

Tar’s senses had not fully recovered yet, but he vaguely heard something loud coming from behind him. That sound steadily approached him. After a short while, he figured it was the footsteps of a running person.

“How’s the child, Ev?” Bern asked.

“He’s opening his eyes, look!”

They were heavy, but Tar forced his eyelids open. Two people appeared in his vision.

The left was a fat woman in her fifties. The first thing Tar noticed about her was that she had a very light stubble under her chin. She had a big nose and very small eyes. In fact, Tar initially thought her eyes were closed.

Beside her stood a man, also in his fifties. Although he was about 170 cm tall which is quite average among Eustacians, he looked tall because he was very thin.

“Ah, that’s great, isn’t it?” Bern smiled as brushed his thick moustache, which extended all the way to his chest.

“What happened to my leg?” Tar asked. He was surprised by his hoarse voice. “My voice! Where is…”

The pain from his left leg shot up to his torso, making him convulse uncontrollably.

“Here, some water.” Ev handed a cup to Tar. “We saw you passed out beside our house this early morning and you’ve been lying in this bed since for almost an entire day. See, it’s dark outside already. I’m guessing you live near the Amber Manor? Poor child…”

“Oh! Your leg!” Ev suddenly remembered. “You need to thank Vidi for that. You know, he helped you with your broken leg. Um, did he say two months or three months again? Anyway, you’ll recover very quickly!”

“Vidi? Who is that?”

“That’s Mr. Urn for you, child.” Bern answered in a commanding tone.

“Yes, yes, Mr. Urn, Mr. Vidi Urn. He’s the leader of the Garden of…”

Bern quickly shot Ev a glance. Ev stopped talking and just smiled gently.

“What’s your name, child? Have you got a place to go to?” Bern asked.

Tar felt slightly intimidated by Bern’s stern gaze but he still obediently answered, “My name is Tar Im. I… I… don’t think there’s a place for me anymore…”

“Tar… Tar…” Bern repeated Tar’s name in a hushed voice. For the next ten seconds or so, Bern spoke only the word “Tar”. Still repeating Tar’s name, Bern furrowed his eyebrows and drooped his head. Tar was surprised to know that just mentioning his own name would cause such a scene.

“Maybe they’re ones with the man in black who killed Papa! Are they after me now?” He shivered at this thought. However, contradictory to his expectation, Bern’s voice suddenly became very warm. “Tar... Tar!” Bern grabbed Tar’s shoulders with both his hands tightly, as if to prevent him from leaving and smiled, “Just stay here for as long as you want!”

“Anyway, let’s get you something to eat.” Bern continued.

With Bern and Ev’s help, Tar moved from the bedroom to the living room. At the centre of the living room, there was an old round table and a few wooden chairs, one of which he was told to sit on. His eyes darted around the unfamiliar environment before landing on something above him.