Chapter 360: Sneaking In The Wood-I

Away from Elise who wondered about her sister in the White Mansion, a young girl came out from a small hut in a certain village. Her hair which she tied to a high ponytail was black in color, and her eyes that were bright blue shifted from one house to another. When she walked out of her house, a woman passed by the house, "Oh, Esther! Are you leaving now?"

The girl with the black hair whose name was called Esther offered a wide smile to the woman who was a neighbor to her house, "Mrs. Donahue, I will be leaving to the market."

Mrs. Donahue looked at her, her eyes shifting from Esther's black hair to her dress, noticing that the girl was dressed lightly a worried expression came to the woman's face, "You should dress a little thicker, my dear. What do you think about the work I offer you? It's unfortunate that the last place where you were about to work at was burn to ashes. What was the family's name again?"

"Lipton," said the Esther for the woman to nod.

"It's a very frightening accident. I heard only two person was alive from the accident. We thought you were unlucky for the wagon to break down on your way to Lipton's Manor, but you were in fact lucky not to be involve in the accident," said the woman with a worried tone. She imagined if Esther had went and the thought send shiver to this day.

"I also thought the same," said Esther, who then looked at the woman to say, "I am very thankful of your offer Mrs. Donahue but I think I will have to think about it a little further. I am still reluctant to leave this village after my father's death four years ago."

Mrs. Donahue thought about it before squeezing her hands with a warm smile, "I understand, you do need time. Leaving the village is not easy for you. I shouldn't hold you up here, you should go before the night come. Stay safe."

Esther watched the woman leave and she continue on her way. During her walk to the market, she met some other villagers who greeted her and with a smile, she returned the people's kind greeting.

"Will you be leaving for long?" asked one man who was carrying a haystack on one of his shoulders.

"Yes, I will not be out for long," smiled Esther and her smile skipped the man's heart, "Are you leaving to the barn?" she questioned after noting what the man's was holding on both hands. 

The man nodded and he suddenly noticed something, "You look a little pale, did you sleep well last night?"

On the question Esther pursed her lips, she looked reluctant for the first few second and with her hands clenched together on her waist, she spoke apprehensively in a hushed tone, "I was thinking to ask you, Jeremy."

"What is it?" Jeremy readily ask, noting the hesitation on Esther's face.

"I felt someone following me for the past few days, I am not sure about what I felt, but last night..." sighed Esther her expression was contoured with worries and concern. "I was out for a moment when I saw a shadowy figure near the tree from Mr. Kale's house. I think it was watching me."

"What?" Jeremy exclaimed a little loudly for Esther to hush him. "We should let the magistrate know of this. You live alone and for a lady to be alone it's bound for you to catch attention of strange people like those. Especially because you are beautiful-" the man had spoken with worry that it took him a while to realize what he said. Meeting Esther's eyes that grew wide, Jeremy cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment. "Anyway, I think we should inform Mr. Peter."

"Wait!" stopped Esther when seeing Jeremy ready to move from the place, "I want to tell you this because I hope you wouldn't tell anyone about this."

Jeremy raised his brows at her words, "Why? This is a dangerous situation for you Esther, we don't want you to get hurt. In time like this it would be better to be cautious rather than getting hurt."

"I know," whispered Esther, "But I'm not yet sure if it was a person who is watching for me. You know after my father's death, I've been having nightmare and the doctors told me too that I could be hallucinating from fear."

Jeremy understood the pain Esther was going through. It has been four years since her father's death where the man was killed, "Don't be afraid Esther, we all have seen the person who killed your father sentenced to death. I understand, for now I will keep this matter to myself, but tomorrow I will be guarding your place to see that person myself."

"But would that be alright for you? I don't want to burden you," said the girl, her words demurred.

"No it wouldn't, you should go now. If the dark come it will be more dangerous. Would you want me to come with you." 

Esther shook her head at the man's kind offer. "I couldn't possibly let you help me more than this. I will be going there just for a few minute. It shouldn't be dangerous."

"If you don't come back more than an hour, I will come for you. Walk in places with many people, okay?" 

"Okay," Esther thanked Jeremy, who had been kind enough to care for her, and she left while Jeremy who stood behind her, make sure she was safe going alone.

Following the path of the village, Esther walked with the basket on her hand to the direction of the market. There were people around her that made her felt safe. But when she pulled a small hand mirror on her hand, she caught the sight of a person dressed in all black, who walked as if following her. 

The girl narrowed her eyes, but she didn't speak nor ask for help from the people around her. Even though she had showed a fearful nature earlier, now, Esther had became brief, noting the presence of a person following her, she made a sudden turn in the middle of her walk to the market, making the way opposite from the market to the nearest forest.

The person who noticed her making a turn frown and quickly followed the girl from behind, however, the person found himself lost in the middle of the forest. What was going on?! The man looked left and right, however there was nothing but trees. He had made sure to follow every steps the girl make. Pulling away the hood, Austin clicked his tongue.

"Something is strange," Austin whispered when he heard from a far sound of bustling woman.

"Esther!" Said another woman who stood in front the black haired girl, seeing this Austin raised his brows, wondering if he had made a mistake while following her and went closer to see that it was indeed the same girl. Being a were cat, he would have sniffed his way but without learning the girl's smell he wasn't sure if he could do it.

After some further confirmation, Austin decided to follow the black-haired girl who was on the street under the bright sky while joining laughter other woman had.

What Austin didn't know was, while the Esther on the street looked like her, in fact the real one was standing not too far from him, hiding behind the trees in the forest.

Once she had seen Austin left, Esther took a step outside the tree, her bright blue eyes narrowed. For the past few days she hadn't been wrong when noticing the person that had been following her and pulling the paper that was in her pocket, she unrolled the page to read the warning 'A person is following you, I don't know if it is a human, or Demon, be cautious— Reinhard. We will tell you what happened in the forest soon.'

"I was thinking to let that man follow me for another few days, but if I want to contact Thomas and Reinhard, I would need to get rid of him," whispered Esther, her eyes that were on Austin narrowed very lowly in a cold glint, looking completely different than when she was with Jeremy or the people in the village as her wife cherry smile had disappeared.