Enslaved To The Alphas-Chapter 240: The Past

The sun was warm in the small courtyard, lighting up the worn stones beneath a young girl’s feet.

She was sitting on the ground with her legs folded under her, her coarse skirt brushing against the dust as she played with tiny pebbles arranged in a crooked circle. She giggled a bit when she saw the little ant that she had trapped in the circle trying to escape. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

So focused was she on her little game, that she did not even notice anything else around her.

Her fingers moved quickly, pushing one pebble forward, then another, as if they were soldiers lined up for a battle. She hummed under her breath, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

Just then, a shadow fell across her stones. She looked up then. And when she saw the person standing there, her little pout changed into a big smile.

A boy a few years older stood there, holding a small clay cup with both hands. His shirt was patched at one shoulder, his trousers faded, but his smile was gentle. "Aron! You are back."

The little girl jumped up excitedly, forgetting her earlier game, only wanting to go and hug the person. But before she could hug him, he held the cup out toward her. "Mira, you have to drink this. Mother said your fever will come back if you skip it again."

Mira’s face fell immediately. She threw the pebbles aside and scrunched up her nose. "I don’t want to drink it. Its too bitter! You know it. I am okay now..."

The boy sighed like he had been through this a hundred times before. "Bitter medicine will keep the fever away. If you don’t drink it," he said firmly, "I won’t play with you later."

Her mouth dropped open in shock. "You are very bad, Aron! You just want to skip playing with me!"

But even as she complained, she took the cup from him. She lifted it slowly, staring at the dark liquid as if it had personally offended her. Then she glanced up at him again, eyes shining with mischief.

"Since I’m drinking it, you will have to play with me a game I like. I want to play house." Mira declared with a smug smile.

Aron raised an eyebrow. "House?"

"Yes!" Mira insisted, taking a tiny sip and making a face. "You will be the master. And I will be the mistress. We will get married and then have children."

She had barely finished speaking when a new voice chimed in from the courtyard entrance.

"What about me?" a girl said, walking in with her hands on her hips. She was the same age as Mira, wearing clothes similar to her, with thick dark hair tied into a loose braid. The only other difference between the three children was that her clothes were newer and softer while the others’ were coarse and patched up."

"Why are you making plans without me? Why do only the two of you get to play the important roles?"

Mira brightened at once. She set the cup aside and hopped to her feet. "]Sister, you can play with us! What do you want to be? You can be my older sister-in-law! Or mother-in-law!"

The girl snorted. "No. I don’t want those roles."

Aron sighed, as if already sensing trouble." Shiqi..."

But Shiqi lifted her chin proudly. "I want to be the mistress of the house with the master. As for you"-she pointed at Mira dramatically-"you can be my little sister who has a crush on my husband. I will fight you for him and then finish you off."

Mira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "If you want him, you can keep him. I’ll play his little sister. Why should I fight with you for something like this, when I can have his love like this?"

She turned to Aron with exaggerated sweetness and fluttered her eyelashes. "Big Brother, you have only just returned from your journey. What gifts did you bring for me and for Sister-in-law?"

Aron burst out laughing, at her antics. Whatever the game, little Mira had only one goal. And that was to get gifts.. "For my little sister..." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small wrapped sweet. "I brought this."

Lira gasped in delight. "Candy!"

She snatched it before he could even finish speaking.

"And for your wife?" Shiqi asked, raising an eyebrow in expectation.

Aron scratched the back of his neck, suddenly awkward. "For my wife, I didn’t bring anything this time."

Mira’s grin widened when she saw Aron’s awkward expression. She twirled the candy between her fingers and said with a triumphant little huff, "See, big sister? You made a big loss by choosing to be the mistress. If you were the younger sister like me, you would have gotten candy too!"

Shiqi’s face tightened. "That’s only because he spoils you," she snapped.

Mira stuck out her tongue. "Still better than getting nothing. Being the mistress looks very sad now."

Aron pressed his lips together, clearly fighting a smile. But Shiqi’s pride was far too big to handle such teasing. She stomped her foot and turned sharply away. "I don’t want to play with you children anymore," she declared, lifting her chin in the air.

Neither Mira nor Aron moved to stop her as she marched off in a dramatic huff.

The moment she was out of sight, Mira and Aron exchanged a look.

And then both burst into laughter.

Mira leaned against Aron’s leg, giggling helplessly. "She always gets angry so fast!"

Aron shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "And she always comes back the moment she cools down."

Mira nodded, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. "Yes! She will return before dinner and ask us if we want to play again."

Aron chuckled at how accurately Mira predicted Shiqi’s habits. Then, as Mira was still laughing, he reached into his pocket again.

She gasped in surprise when he pulled out two more small candies, slightly squished but still perfectly edible.

Her eyes went round. "More?"

Aron nodded and held them out to her. "Here. These are for you too."

Mira’s grin widened. She reached to grab both immediately-but he stopped her with a gentle tap on her hand.

"And," he added, placing the sweets in her palm slowly, "share one with Shiqi later. She’ll be angry, but she’ll eat it anyway."

Mira snorted. "She always eats candy even when she pretends she doesn’t want it."

"Exactly," Aron said softly.

Mira stared at the candies in her hand. Three in total—more than she ever expected.

Her chest warmed. She looked up at him with a smile so bright it showed all her tiny teeth. Without thinking, she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly around the waist.

"You are the best!" she declared loudly.

Aron laughed, patting her head. "You only say that when I bring you sweets."

Mira pulled back and shook her head firmly. "No! You are the best even when you don’t bring sweets. Because you always come back. And because you always play with me."

Aron blinked, a little surprised by her sincerity.

But Mira only grinned again, holding tightly onto the candies as if they were treasure.

"Come on!" she said happily. "After I finish my medicine, we can play house. And later, when Shiqi stops being angry, I will give her one candy. Then she will stop fighting with me."