I was expecting that the kid would elaborate, considering how chatty she was. But she did not say another word. And it looked like she had no plans of explaining anymore. What a tease.
“That’s it?” I asked, still surprised.
Ali giggled. “Yes, that’s it, Mister Sormont.”
I sighed in resignation. “This person that you are looking for… who is it? Do I know him or her? How special was that person that you risked coming here alone?”
The glow in her eyes disappeared. Her eyes watered as she looked away. Her voice cracked when she replied, “I am looking for my father. I don’t know if you know him, but I hope you do.”
When Ali’s tears fell, my chest constricted. I felt her pain. How important was she going to be in my life that she could affect me this much?
After a while, she glanced at my wristwatch. She sighed like an old woman before she looked back at me. “I don’t want to part from you yet. But it’s a little late now, Mister Sormont. I need to go back home. I will come back tomorrow. Goodbye for now,” she said and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
Right. I almost forgot about the time. It was past eight in the evening. “How will we see each other tomorrow?”
Ali’s eyes smiled along with her lips. “You sound like you don’t want to part from me too, Mister Sormont.”
I snorted. “You are imagining things, kid. I only asked how you will get to see me. I’m planning to travel overnight. I will no longer be in this place tomorrow.”
“You are worried that we won’t see each other again, aren’t you?” she teased. “I will find you, Mister Sormont. I promise to always find you.”
Ali held the pendant of her necklace and then she disappeared before I could answer. I coughed and leaned on the chair. My energy was now declining.
“Let’s go,” I told the coachman.
I closed my eyes when the carriage began moving. I can’t believe that I’m already looking forward to tomorrow so I could chat with the naughty kid again.
“Make sure to find me, kiddo. Because I will be waiting,” I whispered before I finally allowed myself to drift to sleep.

“WHERE are we going today, Mister Sormont?” Ali asked while munching the cookies that she made me buy from one of the bakeshops that we passed by. This was our third day traveling. As promised, she really appeared on our first day in front of my carriage. And now, we are having breakfast together. I sent the coachman away at dawn three days ago that’s why I am now the one driving the carriage with this kid as my first ever passenger. I decided that I will personally help her find her father since I could not send her away anymore.
I don’t think I could ever send this adorable child away. She was eating merrily. It was the first time that I enjoy eating, too. Because I was not in a rush to do anything this time.
I used a cloaking spell to make sure that no one would recognize me while we are traveling. I feel relieved that neither the council nor my family tried to follow me. I know that if they would try, it would be easy for them to track me down.
I wiped the crumbs off Ali’s pinkish chubby cheeks before I replied. “We will go find your father first before I proceed in finding the one I’m looking for. Do you have a picture of him so we could find him easily? If you have, I could use a spell to detect him.”
“I don’t have any pictures of him with me, Mister Sormont. I can’t bring anything with me whenever I travel. But don’t worry, I know what he looks like. I would recognize him in an instant.”
“That would be hard. Arameth is big, kiddo. Do you have a clue where we could find him?”
“Well, I know the places that he frequents. Mommy told me about them. Maybe we can start from there. How about you? What are you looking for?”
“I don’t know. Peace, perhaps?”
Ali’s brows furrowed. She looked so cute that I feel tempted to hide her in my pocket so I could keep her and see her for a long time.
“Peace? But can you find it in just any place? My Mommy said that peace is right here.” She pointed her heart. “It begins here. She said that you won’t be able to find it anywhere if it doesn’t begin here first. That’s what she always tell me whenever I’m having trouble controlling my magic. She said that I have to be at peace with myself first and with my magic before I can do things. Was Mommy wrong? Can we really find peace in a specific place? Can we just buy it, Mister Sormont? So we can have tons of them at times of trouble?”
I chuckled. “And what if I say yes? Do you have enough money to buy it?”
Ali looked crestfallen. “I don’t have money. Besides, the money in my Kingdom is different. Can you please lend me some money so we can buy it together? Or you can just treat me instead, Mister Sormont. After all, we are pretty close now, aren’t we? You are also the richest man in this kingdom. You can buy anything you want.”
“If there is really a store that sells peace, kiddo, I swear I would buy the whole store for us. We will divide it in half. Too bad, there is no such thing in real life,” I replied before I stared at the kid, amazed again. I was the one who teased her this time. “Wait. This conversation makes me feel like you are cheating on me. Are you just pretending to be a kid to make me help you? Why do you keep talking as if we are the same age?”