Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1272 - 58: The First Meeting of the Two

"Yes, that would indeed make your father more distressed," Pannis nodded. "But you couldn’t just pretend to know nothing and continue your prior actions. Hmm, I understand now, you confronted Odin."

"It wasn’t that severe, I just had a deep conversation with father, shared my thoughts about him and my longing for mother with him candidly. He did the same, revealing his own thoughts to me, and it turned out to be similar to what I had guessed," Freya said. "I let him know that I was aware of how much he loved me, and that my visits to see mother weren’t because he wasn’t doing enough, but simply because I missed mother and wanted to spend more time with her. After that, things improved a lot, I think he felt less pressured too."

"You should have done this earlier. If you hadn’t, neither of you would have suppressed your feelings for years," Pannis said with a bitter smile. "That goes to show how detrimental a non-transparent personality can be."

"And aren’t you the same? My sisters might have the right to say that about me, but you certainly don’t," Freya stared at Pannis until he made a gesture of surrender. Then she smiled contentedly and said, "From then on, until I was sixteen and taken as an apprentice by a teacher, I kept up a routine of visiting here every two to three days. I knew the paths here even better than my own backyard at home. When I first started coming here, I was still very young, simply playing beside my mother. The game I loved most involved climbing up my mother’s legs to her shoulders, where I’d sit and watch the surroundings while talking with her. Hmm, back then I was just an ordinary person, not even a professional. It was quite a struggle to climb, and I’d often fall midway, but for some reason, I really liked that game and felt very happy playing it."

"Falling... down?" Pannis glanced at the height of the statue and grimaced without commenting. The cemetery statues weren’t very tall, topping out at five meters including their bases, and they were surrounded by soft land on three sides. A fall mid-way for an adult wouldn’t be unbearably painful, but for an eight-year-old child, a fall could feel very painful. A child who had learned from such an experience would normally not attempt it a second time, which showed just how persistent young Freya was about this game.

"No, it wasn’t very painful, I think it was okay," Freya, seeing what Pannis was thinking, shook her head and said: "I know my mother was protecting me, so each time I fell, it was safe. I hardly ever got hurt from the falls, and I never suffered any injuries. Beside my mother, I didn’t need to worry about getting hurt."

"Perhaps," Pannis looked up at the statue, which seemed to radiate a loving gaze, and felt what must have been Freya’s mother’s endless maternal love. He could only nod in agreement, "I can imagine, she was a good mother."

"Of course, she was the best mother," Freya said without hesitation. "By my mother’s side, I was not only safe but also lucky."

"Lucky?" Pannis asked curiously. "What happened?"

"You couldn’t possibly imagine," the princess smiled mysteriously, feeling quite nostalgic as she said, "When I was nine years old, I met someone nearby. It was our first meeting, and I even suspect that it was mother who guided me to that person."

"The year you were nine? Met someone?" Pannis stroked his chin, pondering for a moment before probing, "It can’t be such a coincidence, was it... Catherine? I haven’t heard her mention it, though."

"Of course, because that was our little secret," Freya said with a childlike pride. "What did you think, that I just randomly joined an adventure team a few years ago? Even if I wanted to join, would Catherine really let some mysterious stranger join just like that?"

Pannis didn’t speak, but just pointed to his nose.

"You’re the exception," said the princess irritably, "Besides, you only joined after they unanimously approved your character following the battle at Crying Cave. Hey, I don’t believe you’re not doing this on purpose."

"Okay, okay, I’ll stop causing trouble," Pannis scratched his head, "It was indeed a bit strange before, but now I understand. Did you all meet here from that time? But why did she come here, her parents... Oh, I see, her grandfather was entitled to be buried here, though there is no body."

"Yes, that day she came to visit her grandfather, just passing by. At that time, I was resting on my mother’s legs asleep. We wouldn’t have met each other, but in my dream, I just heard my mother calling my name, answered her, and woke up immediately," Freya drifted into her memories and spoke leisurely, "She was over a year older than me, we were both still children. We found it odd that each of us came here on our own, so we started talking. You know, though I often saw some children willing to play with me, those children actually appeared with some tasks in tow."

"I understand, the tasks given by their parents," Pannis nodded, "And Catherine didn’t have those tasks. Hm? Did she know who you were at that time?"

"What do you think?" Freya patted her mother’s leg, "Even if she didn’t know the first or second time, how could she not know after seeing me here several times?"

"Right, that was a stupid question," Pannis scratched his head, "So, you became friends?"

"Yes, during that period we often met here to talk, and she would join me in chatting with my mom, and I would accompany her to visit her grandfather," Freya said with a smile, "Until she turned fifteen and gradually started to venture out of the city, our meetings became less frequent. Hehe, this history, probably even Lina and Vivian don’t know, it’s always been our little secret."

"Oh no, now I know too," Pannis made a scared expression, stepping back two steps, "You’re not going to want to silence me, are you?"

"I want to silence you right now," Freya glared fiercely at the mischievous Pannis, then rubbed against her mother’s leg again before reluctantly letting go of the statue’s leg, walking over to stand next to Pannis and looking up at her mother’s statue, "All these years, whenever something important happens or my emotions are disturbed, whether happy or unhappy, I would come here to talk to my mom, share my thoughts with her, and then I could face everything with a calm mind."

Pannis closed his mouth, saying nothing in response. Freya, unsurprised by Pannis’s reaction, just smiled and glanced at him, saying, "Today, I came here again."