Once Upon a Time, in a Nostalgic Dream…

A melancholic tune of a violin flowed through Cherry’s ears, forcing her to open her eyes. She looked around and found herself in a familiar piano room, the evening sun rays gleaming a warm, comforting light onto the center of the room as particles of white, glittering dust floated around.

Standing beside the piano was a fair, middle-aged man playing the violin, his white hair glistening under the soft light.

He opened his eyes, his gaze falling on her. “Why did you stop?” he asked.

Cherry blinked and looked back at the piano keys before her. “Oh, sorry. I spaced out.”

Strange. Something felt off.

The tutor glanced at the grandfather clock that chimed late afternoon, and he set his instrument down with a sigh. “I suppose that’s enough practice for today.”

Cherry stretched her arms. “Thanks a lot, Mister Horace. I think I got the gist of this piece now.”

“Hmph, you better be,” he grumbled. “We’ve been practicing all day on it.”

“Eheheh, sorry…” She scratched her cheek with a guilty grin. “Our professor just teaches much faster than I can handle.”

“It can’t be helped. Most students have already learned how to play certain instruments growing up—as it was a necessary custom in high-class society.”

Cherry sighed as she closed the piano’s fallboard, organizing her notes. “It’s not fair for the rest of us who didn’t,” she mumbled.

As she stared at her notes, another wave of uneasiness swept by, prompting her to survey the room. Everything seemed to be where she remembered, but something still felt out of place. Was she supposed to be here?

“I think it’s ridiculous as well.” Horace walked over to a table with a floral-themed tea set and poured some tea. “Never mind that. Come take a break,” he said. “I’ve already prepared some snacks.”

With just one word, Cherry instantly threw all her concerns out the window.

“Ooh! Snacks!” The young lady grinned and grabbed a seat across from him, taking a blueberry muffin and a teacup. “Just what I needed! Thanks!”

Horace blinked at her. “I cannot even fathom how simple sweets can change your attitude so quickly.”

“Because sweet food always lifts my mood,” said Cherry, already munching away.

“Don’t talk while chewing. Did you already forget my etiquette lessons?”

She swallowed. “Of course not.”

“Also, don’t fidget your legs.”

Cherry didn’t even realize her legs swung so carefreely until she looked down. She forced herself to stop and said, “Sorry.”

“‘Please excuse me,’ you mean.”

“Ugh, give me a break.”

“If you want to fit in with your schoolmates, then you must learn to behave like them.”

Cherry pouted. “I know. I’m grateful for those classes, Mister Horace. I do remember all your lessons, but can’t I be myself with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I… just feel wrong, pretending to be someone I’m not with people I’m familiar with.”

Horace paused his teacup mere inches from his lips with a peculiar gleam in his eyes. For a second, he had an odd look of self-awareness. “Is that so?” he murmured, pondering to himself. “Say, Cherry, how did you meet the Vamiers?”

“Where did that question come from all of a sudden?” She rubbed her head. “No, wait a second. Didn’t I tell you already?”

“If that was true, I cannot recall,” said Horace. “I am simply curious how you’ve met and charmed Lady Maribel.”

“Did I? I don’t remember doing anything.”

“Nonsense. She wouldn’t ask me to tutor you otherwise.”

“Oh. Well, we met at Astrale Academy’s Spectacle Streak.”

“Ah, that one-week spring festival that mimicked The Spectacular Theory, right?”

“Yeah, that one. Remember now?”

“I do not.”

Weird. Cherry could’ve sworn she already told the story.

A strange sense of suspicion sparked inside her, but even so, she shrugged it off and reached for another cookie. “Yeah, Charlie and I didn’t want to go at first because we were still dealing with the infamy, but we wanted to support our new friend. Our headmaster personally invited Eloi to open a stall and sell some pastries, and we thought it would be nice to see how he was doing.”

“Was it a difficult decision?”

“Not really, actually. Since it’s an open-campus event, anyone can attend the festival, so most people there wouldn’t know anything about us. As long as we don’t draw attention, it’s fine.”

“I see. So what happened during the festival?”

Cherry awkwardly chuckled. “When we arrived, we realized we forgot to ask where Eloi’s stall would be, so we ended up exploring the whole place to find him. While walking around, we found the first Vamier sibling tangled up in the festival banners. Can you guess who?”

“Hm, if anyone is capable of getting into that bizarre situation, it has to be Theodore.”

“Right!” Cherry giggled. “We found him stuck in those ribbons after he jumped off the second floor of the school building!”

“...Seriously? Just… why would he do that?”

“He—along with his siblings—was a part of the security team. With a big festival, the school needed plenty of people to watch out for any troublemakers and maintain order, so lots of students volunteered to help out for some merits.”

Horace rubbed his temple. “Honestly, he takes after his mother.”

“I can see it.” Cherry shuddered. “One hell of a first impression too. It was the first time I’d ever talked to Theodore outside of class. He told us he found someone creeping around while on patrol and got stuck in those banners during the chase, so we just had to help him out.”

“Someone creeping around, you say?”

She nodded. “Ever since we stepped inside the festival, we had a feeling that someone was watching us.”

Horace lowered his gaze. “That must’ve been terrifying to experience. I’m sorry you went through it.”

“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, we continued walking around until we ended up at the outdoor auditorium hosting an invention contest, and we saw Penelope presenting her Heart-seeker.” She scratched her head. “Well, somewhat. We… couldn’t hear her well.”

“Ah, that poor, shy girl. Honestly, I understand the pressure of having to speak before a crowd.”

Cherry raised a brow. I thought butlers don’t do public speaking? “Right... I also saw a part of myself in her—the part of me who’s afraid to face the public.” She stirred her teacup, staring at her rippling reflection. “So I decided to help her and voted for her invention.”

“You’re too kind, Cherry. I’m starting to see why Lady Maribel adored you.”

“Gosh, I didn’t do much, really,” she shyly said. “Speaking of Lady Maribel, Charlie and I actually met her right after. She approached us and thanked us on Penelope’s behalf.”

“Oh, so that’s how you met her. What a small world we live in.”

She nodded. “While we talked, someone’s invention suddenly blew up. The authorities told us to move away from the scene, but Lady Maribel thought otherwise.”

“Ugh, of course. She dragged you two toward the scene, didn’t she?”

“Exactly. She said if anyone could deal with trouble, it was her and us. Totally undermining the whole point of the security team.”

“She and her adventurous whims, I swear…”

“Right? When we arrived at the scene, we found Dorothy getting yelled at by an angry inventor. Turns out, while Dorothy chased after the suspect, she tried throwing herself at him, only to crash into someone’s machine!”

“...Oh dear. That’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah, Theodore was also tailing the offender, but when Dorothy broke the machine, the explosion damaged his eardrums. It was a good thing his father heard the explosion though, so he arrived in time to treat him.”

Horace frowned. “Did Lady Maribel know that her husband would show up at the scene, and that’s why she decided to go as well?”

Cherry shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Clover also showed up too.”

“Most likely because he smelled the smoke in the air, I suppose,” he murmured. “I assume he and Lady Maribel pitched in to help Dorothy out of the dispute?”

“Yeah, she volunteered to help and substitute for Dorothy because she knew her daughter was better off continuing her chase than dealing with a ‘petty argument.’ She also asked Charlie and me to help her find the suspect, and we just couldn’t say no.”

“And in the end, you managed to spot him, didn’t you?”

“Right. After pointing at him for her, Dorothy sprinted way too fast for us to catch up, so we decided to hope for the best and went with our business.” Cherry reached for another cookie and refilled her tea. “We finally found Eloi and helped him sell his pastries while we hung out.”

“Oh, how wonderful. And yet, that fun didn’t last for long, did it?”

A nauseating, dreadful knot formed in Cherry’s stomach. “Not long later, there was a bigger, nastier explosion, causing a lot of panic,” she said. “The authorities called for evacuation, but Charlie and I…” She scratched her head. “Maybe it was Lady Maribel’s influence, but we rushed to the explosion instead of running away. Eloi understandably hesitated at first, but in the end, he tagged along to watch over us.”

“That’s proof of a genuine friendship if I heard of one.”

Cherry set her teacup down, staring at the ripples. “Turns out, after Dorothy detained the suspect, Clover caught him wandering around the school building, and when he snatched and wrestled with him, he caused a distraction by blowing up the gates.”

Horace narrowed his eyes as he set his teacup down, leaning slightly forward. “Do you perhaps know what M—what the suspect was doing in the building?”

Cherry shook her head. “All I know is that a gate blew up, and all the Vamiers—including the headmaster himself—showed up to help. We all worked together to stop the fire and stayed to have a meeting. That’s how we all met and formed a camaraderie.”

She finished the cookie she was eating and wiped her face with a napkin. “But after that, I didn’t learn anything new about Monty. Sorry if you expected more, Ren.”

Horace widened his eyes, staring at her for a brief moment. With a smirk, his dark blue eyes flashed into pure crimson. “When did you figure it out?” asked his real voice.

“This memory takes place weeks after I met Mister Horace. By then, I already explained to him how I met the Vamiers, but I guess not as detailed as this.” She rubbed her forehead. “And while we talked, I… gradually remembered what happened in The Spectacular Theory and… who Monty truly is. This place… this is all just a dream, isn’t it?”

A wave of fire burned away Horace’s figure, transforming into a different man, his long, raven-black hair glinting streaks of scarlet under the sun’s rays. Ren stood up with hands clasped behind his back. “I’ve been hunting down that bastard ever since The Star-Crushing Tragedy,” he muttered. “But that disgusting smartass knows how to erase his traces pretty well.”

He let out a defeated shrug. “Before the tragedy, I didn’t suspect a single thing. None of us did. After discussing with Horace, Fantario, and your mother, I decided to retrace our steps back to when it all began—which was that incident in your first year of school. Since Monty was mostly stalking you, I’ve been wondering what he had done to you kids during the festival.”

Ren narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. “Monty must have realized Maribel suspected him first, so he killed her before she could expose him, leaving only you with possibly having some information that none of us knew yet. Sorry for intruding on your sleep, kiddo.”

Cherry stood up, a storm of questions swarming her mind. “So he spiked Clover’s medicine? What about Penelope’s drink?”

“Probably him too. It makes sense to think that he planned to take out all of the Vamiers—one by one—just to get rid of the pests meddling in his affairs.”

She gripped her fists. “You also mentioned Mom,” she muttered. “She’s alive?”

“Of course. That headshot was just an illusion I made in an attempt to discourage Monty. Why the hell would I kill my own wife?”

Cherry slumped back onto the chair, debating whether she should be relieved of her mother’s survival or be crushed with despair about the truth of the Vamiers’ misfortunes and Monty. To distract herself from such clashing emotions, she threw more questions.

“Why did you pretend to be Horace?”

Ren chuckled. “I figured you wouldn’t be comfortable explaining the story to me, so I thought Horace would do, considering it was only him and your mother who weren’t there besides me. Haha, I thought if I pretended to be someone you know less about, you wouldn’t catch on, but here we are.”

“If you can visit my dreams, why didn’t you let me relive that particular incident? Why make me explain the story instead?”

“That’s because I’ve already seen your memories about it while you were recovering. Charlie’s perspective too. I just wanted to hear your thoughts and theories about it now that you’ve learned the truth about Monty.”

Cherry stared at her teacup and tapped her foot as if it could help her jog her memory. “Now that I think of it… was it really Monty in disguise? Or someone working for him?”

“I believe it was him, but why ask?”

“I remember Clover is allergic to perfume. If it was Monty, he wouldn’t be able to even reach remotely close to him during the chase.”

Ren raised his brows, dumbstruck. His face gradually turned into a gleaming smile and pulled his walking cane out of nowhere, twirling it around. “I should’ve known that coward wouldn’t be careless enough to attend the festival himself! Thanks, kiddo, I think I got some new leads now.”

Cherry lowered her head, sulking as the truth finished burying itself into her heart. “Glad to help,” she mumbled.

Monty, that damn, deceitful rat.

Why? Why would he do such things? Why did he ruin everything? Where did that kind, passionate performer go? Where was her role model? That monster couldn’t be him. He couldn’t be. He wouldn’t do such cruel things. The real Monty would make everyone smile. That Monty that day… he… he couldn’t be the real one…

Cherry bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes.

Ren stopped spinning his cane as he observed her depressing gaze. Awkwardly, he stepped closer and kneeled before her, gazing into her watery eyes.

“When one falls into the darkest moments in their life, a fake light like Monty would look like any star,” he said. “Horace told me how much his performances lifted your spirits during your infamy days. Don’t blame yourself, kid.”

“I… I looked up to him for so long,” she croaked, tears streaming down her cheeks. “He was always so nice to everyone. His songs always cheered me up and always gave me hope. He was the reason why I managed to tolerate those bullies at the academy. He… he…” Her tears hit her lap as she choked on her sobs, and she buried her face in her hands.

Ren narrowed his eyes, a dark gleam in his eyes. “Those who parade their virtues often do the most vices,” he muttered. “That, I’m afraid, is one of the darkest secrets of this world.”

He stretched a reassuring smile. “So, won’t you help me fix that? I’m in a pickle trying to protect your mother, hunt down Monty, watch over Horace, and deal with the Vamiers all at once. I didn’t want to drag you and your friends into our mess, but we’re all seriously running out of time—I think I might lose it too, haha.”

“What do you mean ‘out of time?’”

“Well, your mother predicted that Horace is going to die soon, but we don’t know how. I tried warning that idiot to be careful, but I think he’s at his limit already.”

Cherry widened her eyes as the plan finally clicked. “So that’s why you made us rush the rescue mission? So that we can all save Mister Horace?”

He dropped his smile. “You can say that. But, should he die out there… your friends might die next, followed by you and Charlie. If that prediction is still inevitable, then I figured you all should prepare for it as soon as possible.”

“I see… Then you should send us to him and let us help out!”

“No.”

She frowned.

“Sorry, you’re all still too weak to help, kiddo. Clover and Dorothy are the only ones strong enough to fight against any threats.”

“...Okay, that makes sense.” She pouted and folded her arms. “But, thanks, I guess,” she shyly mumbled.

“Hm? For what?”

“For… you know… doing all this.”

“Of course. I’d be pissed if I didn't get any explanations either.”

Cherry slumped his shoulders. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Eh?”

Her face flushed, tears welling in her eyes. “D—R-Ren, you have no idea. I… I’ve been waiting to see you for so long. Out of all scenarios where and when I imagined finally meeting you, this… this wasn’t one of them.”

Ren shot his brows up, finally understanding her message and twitching a faint smile. “I didn’t plan for our first meeting to be like this either, but fate’s been kicking all our asses, hasn’t it?”

She sniffled and mumbled, “Is our family cursed or something?”

“Probably? I don’t know either.”

“...Hearing that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Haha, sorry, sorry. But, I promise you, Cherry. Your mother and I will explain the rest of the story very soon. Once we finish dealing with the war between Horace, Solomon, and Clover, I will take you and Charlie back home.”

“Really? You will?”

Ren lifted his pinky finger. “I am a man of my word.”

Cherry swallowed, wiped her face, and took a deep breath. She stood up with furrowed brows and wrapped her pinky finger with his, tightly squeezing it. “You don’t even have to ask me for help,” she said. “I’m planning to stop the war and get my revenge on Monty anyway!”

Ren grinned as he squeezed back. “That’s my girl. Good luck, kiddo.”

He pressed two fingers on her temple, and all faded to black.