It's praying time III

I turned towards the ground, but just in time, I hooked myself again and avoided falling. 

"These trees are very rare and sacred. They aren't for playing." 

When I managed to control my heavy breathing, I angrily turned back to the person in question. 

A boy who looked about the same age as Arina was standing in front of the tree, looking at me as if I owe him. 

His raven-black hair, shone under the light, and his blue eyes were so dark that if sunlight didn't shine on them, I might mistake them for pitch black. His lips and mouth were proportionate to his face. His well-shaped eyebrows were drawn close together due to his frown. Overall, his face was so beautiful that instead of being angry, my jaw dropped and left me speechless in surprise. His outfit and clothes indicated he was aristocratic.

 'How have I never seen such a beautiful person at any gathering?'

 "I'm not talking to the trees" he said seriously.

 "I'm not here to play; I'm gathering olives for the ceremony," I shouted.

"Don't lie. Why would they send a little girl like you for such an important task?" 

"I'm not little; I'm 11 years old."

He crossed his arms. 

"Ha! Given your size and behaviour, you must be at most 8 years old."

"Wh-" 

I paused for a moment and took a deep breath in anger out of frustration. I didn't care about his words because most of them were just factually wrong. What annoyed me the most was the way he spoke. Without so much as a twitch in his facial muscles, he spoke to me in a cold and condescending tone. The frown he had was practically gone, making him look like a statue. 

'What a shame for such a pretty face to belong to a jerk.'

"where's your mom at? I must have to take you to her."

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

"The church nearby."

"Ah, the church..."

He looked at me with those dead fish eyes and an open mouth.

"Well... do you know the way?"

I gave him a poker face.

'No, that's impossible. It can't be...'

"Excuse me, but can I ask where you're coming from?"

"The church."

"What do you mean, a deadpan like you would forget his way on such a straight path?" I yelled.

"The situation isn't what you think..."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Well uh... about that..."

He lifted his head, and while adding a bit of seriousness to his lethargic face, he stared at me.

"...can you help me find a little boy?"

"..."

"The servant told me he went to pick olives for my brother's ceremony. But apparently, they still have olives from the previous ceremony, so there's no need to pick olives."

"Did they seriously Send a dump-a$$ like you to find someone else right now?"

'Wait, now that I think about it...' 

"Do you have any details about that boy?"

"No, not really. I just know he has green eyes and black hair. He's wearing a blue suit with a white shirt underneath."

'That's Specifications are that similar of Aldous. Didn't he realize I was the one who was supposed to pick the olives by myself? I remember very well he told me to do it...'

"I'm the person you're looking for."

"But you don't match any of those descriptions."

"Those details were about my brother, who was supposed to do fulfill this task. I came instead," I said that with my eyes closed from fain.

"Why would a girl your age—"

"Do you think I'm a jester telling jokes or something?" I yelled.

Suddenly, the branch cracked, and I leaned downwards.

"Damn it! First of all, save me from this situation," I shouted.

He still had his mouth open and stared at me with a poker face.

"You climbed up like a monkey; you should know how to come down."

"If you hadn't been talking nonsense and distracting me, I would have come down a long time ago."

"I just wanted to do what an adult is supposed to do, nothing more."

"The only thing you did was to annoy and embarrass me—"

"Crack!"

The branch lost its strength, and as I clung to it, gravity pulled me down.

"What's with this déjà vu?"

Suddenly, it felt like I fell onto something soft. I looked down in fear. A thick layer of white foam with a bunch of leaves and branches was in turmoil and making noise beneath me.

"Oh this…"

"Hey, fiery girl. Are you alright?"

The statue finally showed some expression. He had his hands under me worried.

"Was this your magic?"

"So how did you think I saved you?"

On both of his hands, now there were writings and shapes that I hadn't seen before.

'Inner magic?'

" put me down Quickly."

"Is this what i get as a thank you?"

While saying that, he slowly raised his hand in front of his body. As his hands came down, I descended lower too, until I could finally place my feet on the ground.

"Okay, thank you," I said with a smile.

He stared at me again without feeling. I got annoyed.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you staring like this at me?"

"I didn't expect you to actually thank me."

"I'm not an ungrateful person, and I don't mean to..."

"What's your name?" he suddenly asked.

"Azima!"

"Azima?"

"m_my name is Angela. I misspoke."

'Damn, he asked so suddenly that I panicked and said my past name.'

He raised an eyebrow.

"This is the first time I've seen someone misstate their name."

"So what?" I said, embarrassed.

He held out his hand in front of me.

"I'm Leonardo. You can call me Leo."

I squeezed his hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you."

"Really?"

He replied again with a lethargic poker face.

I smiled mischievously and squeezed his hands tighter than before.

"And I hope you end up under a carriage today."

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the bushes shaking and heard the sound of them rustling. I released Leo's hand and glanced suspiciously at the bushes.