"YOU TRIED DOING WHAT?!", screamed Ellowen.
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The first thing Ysolde did after waking up the next day was to check her feet. They were indeed dirty confirming her speculations.
Last Night was real
She hurriedly dressed up and rushed to meet her only friend Ellowen.
Ellowen was surprised to see Ysolde being so cheerful. Since that incident she had stopped showing up in the square and even avoided her. Ellowen and Ysolde have known each other for two years and had grown to be really close friends. But after she hid herself away Ellowen was deeply concerned. Despite the desire to talk to her she wanted to give her friend some alone time to grieve.
So, seeing her friend come up to her out of nowhere with a smile on her sweet face was a pleasant surprise.
The two hugged and sat down at a nearby bench. Ellowen asks Ysolde if she is alright and what was the reason behind her sudden cheerful demeanour.
Ysolde starts talking about the past few days. The air got gloomy as she narrates how lonely she has been, how every small thing reminded her of him and finally the events of the previous day.
"YOU TRIED DOING WHAT?!", screamed Ellowen.
"I feel ashamed. I really do. But it really got so difficult for me Ellie. Everything felt worthless. My life felt worthless. I had lost my wits at that instance", Ysolde whispers. "I would not blame you if you decide to walk away from me now. I know how pathetic it looks. Someone who tries to end their life just because...well..."
Before she can finish Ellowen grabs her shoulders. With tears in her eyes she says, "Please never think of me like that. I think of you as my own sister. I truly care for you. But please if you ever happen to have such thoughts again come to me Ysolde. I know you are grieving but you know how strong you are and even he knew how strong u are. He would not want you to throw your life away".
Ysolde holds Ellowen's face and ensures her such a thing would not happen again because he is alive.
"He is alive?" exclaimed Ellowen.
Ysolde then goes ahead and tells her about the mysterious person and how they told her that her beloved is still alive.
After hearing her Ellowen cannot help but feel that maybe just maybe Ysolde had started to lose her mind.
Afterall how can he be alive when the entire square had witnessed his corpse being carried away. However, to prevent her friend from having such thoughts of death she plays along with this.
"This is such a pleasant news Yeus. But tell me how are you going to find him?"
Ysolde thinks for a while and realises that a simple poor girl like her does not have any sort of connections that will help her find him. Just then Ellowen had an idea,
"What if you fulfil your and his dream of opening your own Opera House?"
Ysolde pauses and exclaims, "That's it! With me working on having our own Opera House I can not only fulfil both of our long-lost dream but also come across people who might help me search for him".
Ellowen had proposed this because she knew how talented Ysolde is. How mesmerizing her voice is. How she's able to trigger deep emotions within her audience. With her having her dream fulfilled she would finally move on from this grief and find new purpose in her life.
With this, Ysolde and Ellowen decide to pay a visit to the capital of Miranor where Ysolde can show her talents to a larger section of people.
While returning to her home, Ysolde comes across Gerard and his men who start harassing her again.
She ignores them and again Gerard shows his pervert side by holding her forcefully while saying inappropriate stuff to her. Ysolde got scared again but she remembers the knight who had saved her and asked her to protect herself better, she recalls how Ellowen claims she is strong, she recalls how he had told her that she is the strongest woman he ever met.
Ysolde decides that if she is going to achieve her goal the first step will be her overcoming her fears.
She puts her hand in a fist and with all the might she had punches him and starts yelling,
"Get away from me Gerard! Men like you disgust me!"
Gerard loses his balance for a second, he never thought such a little woman can ever talk back at him let alone hit him.
"You worthless creature! Let me show you your place!", yells Gerard as he lunges at her.
But before he can do anything a group of knights suddenly appear in that spot and pin him down to the ground.
"My my attacking a girl in broad daylight is not something you can do according to the laws. I am afraid you should have heed to my warning"
Ysolde turns around to find it was the same old knight who had helped her the previous day. Gerard and his crooks were arrested on the spot and the other knights leave.
She thanks the knight for helping her again and that she might have been in a real danger if he had not shown up. To this the knight replies, "You were a brave girl. It takes guts to stand up so boldly against your offenders and even hit them"
Ysolde's eyes get teary as the knight pats her shoulder. He reminded her of her father who also used to pat her whenever she did something good. He was not with her anymore. She burst into tears again because this was the first time, she felt fatherly love from someone again.
The knight calms her down and takes her back to her home. On the way they meet Ellowen who had finished her work early to stay with Ysolde. The knight drops them off and before leaving Ysolde asks for his name.
"My name is Arvion", he replies and takes his leave.
Ysolde fills in on what happened to Ellowen and how he was the same knight who had helped her yesterday. "He reminded me of my own father", she murmured.
Ellowen thinks about the situation and then she suggests,
"Since he is a knight, he might be able to guide us through the capital. It will be very much easier to have someone with us who knows about the city."
Ysolde also agrees to it and they decide to search for Sir Arvion and ask for his help.
Ellowen decides to stay with Ysolde till they depart for the capital. Both of them had a hearty meal and slept.
That night Ysolde dreamt of performing on a big stage along with her beloved.
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