A Heartfelt Memory

As for Miri she had gotten used to it since she was little and Miriam never stopped her in fact she was happy that she was called "mother" indirectly

Miriam heard this and the displeasure she had on earlier was soon gone away and a bright smile came up on her lovely face,

just because she was angry at the child's mother doesn't mean she would vent on the child

"I'm doing well my darling and you look lovely as ever"

Miri was very happy with such praise and a smile appeared on her face making her look soooo cute and well mannered

Seeing this Miria walked up quickly to Miriam and held her hands, she wanted to apologise by using her daughter whom she knew her friend loved dearly

"Dear friend I'm really sorry for speaking out of tune and saying such words, I honestly didn't mean to offend the child"

Miriam was still smiling and petting Miri's head when Miria had held her and apologized, she was about to speak up when Miria quickly turned towards Asahel

And started apologising as well

"Pretty girl I'm sorry for what I said I was wrong, I should never have assumed such without hearing what my friend had to say and because of this I almost lost my friendship with my dear friend because I spoke without thinking I'm really sorry"

Asahel was stunned by this sudden change of behaviour and if not that she was an emphatic person at heart she would have believed it

But that was different from Miriam who immediately felt better and smiled

She was happy that her friend had realised her mistake and even apologised to the child

Miria on the other hand was feeling much better after seeing her friend had smiled back at her. When she was apologising to her friend she didn't need to wait to be told to apologise to the child,

so when she did it, it showed that she was truly sorry

Since the situation had calmed down and the Countess still had other guest to greet she quickly pulled Miriam along since she was of a much higher birth

And with that the children were left behind to mingle,

Miriam still said a word or two of an apology towards Asahel before leaving and even spoke to Miri about the both of them becoming good friends

Miri happily nodded and watched as her mother and godmother left then she turned back at Asahel still with a smile on her face

but Asahel wasn't the least bit interested and continued stuffing more desert to her face

Miri scoffed but soon regained her pretentious smile

"Hello friend.....my name is Miri and what's your name?"

Asahel didn't even bother with such introductions and continued on what she was doing, this made Miri very unhappy

Asahel didn't respond because back in her world such pleasantries were not always reciprocated

like seriously you meet someone you don't know, whose all by himself and not caring at all and you still wanna say hello even when when the person shows no sign of responding you take offence?

and Asahel wasn't good in talking with others so she thought ignoring these girls would make them leave but unfortunately they choose to be foolish

The group of girls who followed behind Miri soon saw her unhappy expression and thought to curry favour so they tacticaly surrounded Asahel as though they were craving for the same deserts on the table

Anyone who saw this wouldn't think anything was wrong but Joram couldn't help but feel uneasy this was because he had seen the previous display of the Countess but he couldn't intervene,

while Kadesh was still surrounded by the Barons and Viscounts of other family, he stayed at a corner since he wasn't a noble but a servant in public

This was also how he was able to see the situation that occurred a while earlier but now these little girls were trying to bully Asahel even after the two adults had settled the matter

In order not to be rude he thought of not involving himself until it was absolutely necessary

Back at the desert table Asahel who hadn't paid any attention to the other children that came along now felt their presence surrounding her

This time around she felt bad intentions around her so she frowned and looked up but before she could ask what they wanted a girl grabbed her chin and pinched it hard

"Miri...you don't have to waste your time on someone like this she's soooooooooo ugly"

Everyone laughed

Asahel frowned and withdrew her face from the girl's grip but she was soon held by another girl but this time she was pulled by her ear

"You're right she really is ugly, I can literally see dirt in her ears"

Everyone still laughed

"And look at her head I think your mum was right she's indeed sick that's why her hair keeps falling off"

"I wouldn't touch her if I were you....I mean we don't know how contagious she might be"

"hahahahahahahaha..…...."

The girl holding Asahel's ear quickly let go and cleaned her hands on Asahel's dress

Asahel wasn't the list bit happy about what they said but the next word made her heart and head ache

"You know girls she reminds me of a little thief I met in town" this time Miri spoke up with her usual smile

Soon one of the girls spoke up

"You're so right Miri..... you're really a genius"

"Huh.....was there something we missed"

Some of girls who didn't go out that day didn't know about it so the girl who spoke up decided to tell them how Asahel was a reminder of a thief they met back in town

"It happened about two months ago, a smelly dirty thief was standing outside a cake shop and we were inside...I bet she wanted to steal something so Miri, I and the others walked towards to her and confronted her and of course we were nice enough to offer her a piece of cake only if she admits that she was indeed a thief"

"And then what happened?"

"What do you think....she really was a thief and thieves like that are meant to pick food from the ground and so we threw the cake on the floor and guess what she still ate it"

The girl ended the story feeling smugged.

When everyone heard this they began to laugh but someone suddenly spoke up

"Hey look she's crying"

Everyone then turned to look at Asahel and she was indeed crying

"Well would you look at that a glutton cries for a thief....and if I didn't know any better I'd say they might be related"

Hearing Miri's word everyone laughed as they watched Asahel cry but before they could continue their bullying Joram came forward and pulled Asahel out of the group and then walked away

Miri wasn't happy seeing this,.this was because Joram had never looked her way before even as a mere servant and it infuriated her.

Though Kadesh was far older than her by five or six years gap she had feelings for him and hoped that he would consider her

and so sometimes she tried getting close to this servant but he would always ignore her but now he was willing to come in and help a total nobody

The others girls didn't know what to say so to ease the tension around Miri they continued mocking Asahel

Joram had quickly walked towards a quiet corner and took an handkerchief to wipe Asahel's tears

He hadn't known the child for long but he felt she was somehow unfortunate being targeted like that. Asahel whose face was been cleaned showed a surprised expression on her face

One thing the girls and Joram didn't realise was that for someone who was crying she had no sad expression just a trace of shock

Asahel was surprised because of the tears that flowed down her cheeks.

she couldn't remember when last she cried 'was it for joy, sadness, anger or humiliation' she couldn't pinpoint anywhere in her life she had cried just like she did now

A while ago as the girls talked Asahel felt that usual pain in her heart and head and some memories flowed in

Just like what the girl said, there was a time the original owner of this body had stood outside a cake shop and was craving for something sweet,

she had no money and since she was a petty thief stealing was the first thing that came to her mind but she wouldn't dare to do such especially in a place like this that was filled with people

but soon her eyes caught something more beautiful and this were the pretty girls she saw inside the cake shop all looking dolled up

She looked at herself and felt uncomfortable so she turned away but before she could go far she was called back by a maid who told her, her little lady wanted to give her a piece of her cake

The child was immediately surprised but became very happy and went along with the maid, and indeed there was cake in one of the girl's hands

The child saw about five other girls but she still shyly approached the group of girls hoping to get a piece of the cake

But her happiness soon turned into misery as the group of girls took turns in calling her names. Miri had seen the girl standing outside the shop and because of her double personality she could sometimes observe people and bring out their flaws

the child wanted to go away and not even bother about the cake but one of the girls pulled her hair and told her they would be generous enough if she admitted that she was a thief not only would she get the cake but they would let her go

The poor child wasn't used to withholding her tears and soon she began to cry but that only made the other children happy,

finally she accepted and they threw the cake at her and forced her to eat it on the dirty floor

and as if that wasn't enough one of them walked back to the cake shop and called the manger complaining that a thief stole her friends cake

The manger being an ordinary commoner did not want to offend the young misses so he followed with two cleaners and soon saw the child on the floor eating the cake

When the girls saw the manger they immediately told him how she came and dragged the bag containing the cake, threw it on the floor and ate it so they couldn't take it back

and if they were lying he could ask their maids who were witnessed to the child saying she was a thief

When the manger heard this he quickly apologized and offered another cake to girls