Octavia ignored the whispers that were being made about her as she passed by. With her face red with cold and her dress dirtied, she was too tired to hold her usual smile. She was lost in thought, and soon, lost in the alleyways of the capital.

“Ah, what is this?”

Octavia suddenly realized where she was and stopped her mindless wandering. The voice she heard had come from a man laying on the side of the alleyway. He was rolled up in a newspaper and seemed to be red with cold, just like her.

“Are you lost, little girl? You really should not be out here all alone. Especially in these dark alleys. I can count about three other men sleeping down this path. Did you notice them?” he asked in his hoarse voice.

Octavia snapped her head back towards the way she had come. Indeed, there were others like that man sleeping in the darkest corners of the alley.

“I- I did not know. I was just looking for a shop to wait in and out of the cold,” she explained to the man. He gave her a concerned look; like that of a father worried for his child.

“Child, you will not be able to go anywhere without compensation. These store owners can be far crueler than you may think. They will refuse you if you do not have any intentions of spending money in their shops.”

Octavia looked away with a hurt smile. “I know how cruel they can be…” she whispered to herself. She gave the man a small smile.

“What can I do then? I cannot go too far as my master is still back at the restaurant.”

“There.”

The homeless man pointed down the alleyway with his worn index finger.

“Go follow yonder lights and you will reach the plaza. It is much better lit; you will be safer there. If you want to stay warm, the new year bonfires will do the trick.”

Octavia jumped at the idea of toasting by a grand bonfire, but then stopped midway.

“But… what about you? Don’t you wish to warm up by the fires as well?” she asked worriedly.

The man chuckled. “My child. This city has ensured people like me cannot rest near their tax-funded flames. They have built spikes outside the pathways which form around the fires so that we cannot lay there. The bonfires are only there to be gazed upon by walking passersby, not to be slept next to by people like me.”

“Oh…”

The girl felt a tear forming in her eye. “Why… why is this world so cruel to the misfortunate?” she thought.

The man saw her wiping her eye and waved his hand from side to side.

“Do not cry, child. I have lived on these streets for decades. I will be all right. I know the trick to staying warm during these harsh seasons. But you… do not. So please go to the plaza.”

Though shivering, Octavia gave the man a small bow and briskly walked in the direction he had given her. The thirteen-year-old girl had learnt of yet another cruel reality of the outside world.

***

Octavia gasped in wonder. In the center of the plaza, surrounded by bonfires, food carts, and a mix of people of every race, stood the massive statue she had been wishing to see since the beginning of her travels. Lady Lila. The founder of the Lilan empire and the saviour of Genova’s people from over one thousand years ago. Octavia’s eyes lit up with admiration; the reflections of the orange fires danced inside her eyes. But her excited smile suddenly faded.

“What is this feeling?” she thought. “My master is laying sick in a third-rate setting, and yet I am here enjoying something so far out of my class. This experience would have remained a dream dormant inside my mind for the entirety of my life if it had not been for master… I cannot believe I broke my promise of seeing Lady Lila together with him…”

Octavia, feeling guilty for enjoying herself, decided she would give up on the idea of staying warm by the bonfires, and simply go back to waiting outside the restaurant.

“It is only right,” she thought as she took one last look at Lady Lila.

“Oi! Check this out.”

Just as Octavia was about to exit Lila’s viewpoint, a group of boys aged around fifteen to seventeen nonchalantly walked up to her. The youngest, who seemed to be the trio’s leader, marched up to Octavia in an intimidating manner. His red eyes shone with malice, and his jet-black hair stood on its ends due to the winter static. Octavia could not help but let out a small laugh when she realized he looked just like a pet tarantula she had kept back at Alistair County.

“Aw. I miss Spidey all of a sudden…” she thought with a sad smile.

The boy, a little flustered by the way Octavia continued smiling at him, took a step back from her.

“Hey. What are you looking so intently at, huh?”

“Oh, nothing milord. If you will excuse me then,” said Octavia on instinct.

She tried walking around the boy but was stopped by a sudden arm extending in front of her.