*Next day*
"Miss Jane. Please wake up. You need to get ready today." My maid told me. Today, some certain noble is going to throw a grand party in their mansion for celebrating their son's 8tb birthday. I have to ruin my precious sleep for that spoiled brat.
It almost took 3 and half hours just to get me ready. I wonder how long will mother take she's is still getting all dressed up. I sighed with tiredness. My father and Ethan are all prepared. We were gathered in the living room.
An hour later, mother came. We finally got in our carriage and went to the party.
"Mr. Jonathan's son is around Jane's age. How about we engage her with him. It would increase our status as well." Said my father. I felt kind of annoyed with his statement. I'm just a child, father!!! Slow down!!!
"Oh dear! You only think about status. I let this decision up to Jane when she is smart enough to choose her ideal partner." Mother said while gently patting my head. I smiled back at her and pretended to not understand them. I looked at my brother who was sitting beside father. Ethan looked displeased with the word 'engagement'. Good thing! If father ever try to pressure me, I can go to my brother and mother. They will keep him in check.
*Few hours later*
We arrived at the party. I entered while holding my mom's and brother's hand (gotta act like a child!). Woah!! Just like movies, everything looks so fancy. My parents got busy with other nobles after introducing me and Ethan to them. After that I went away to explore along with Ethan. Everyone there was talking about their possessions and how rich they are. Blah blah... It's literally annoying. It can't be helped, they developed this mindset because of people around them. So, in order to not be abandoned or feel like an outcast, they try to keep climbing the stairs of greediness even my own father. Suddenly, I bumped into some older boy. I accidentally spilled my juice on his suit.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." I did my best to look pitiful, since these rich kids are damn annoying. I was ready to hear him say "Noooooooo my expensive suit!!!! Blah blah blah"
But what I heard was....
"Don't worry. It's just a suit. It happens." The boy said. In this era, for a noble kid to let things go that easily is a MIRACLE! I was so shock that I abruptly looked up to him. Woah! He looked like a character named Albert James Moriarty from the anime, Moriarty The Patriot. I used to watch that anime a lot. I even rewatched while waiting for 2nd season after the season 1 ended. Also read the manga while waiting. It was thrilling! Green eyes and dark brown hair. He's young and handsome. I would like to know his name.
"Really? Thanks for forgiving me. Your are really kind. I'm Jane Hellem. Umm.. can I know your name?" Aahhh I said in such childish manner. It's embarassing!
"It's Albert James Moriarty. Nice to meet you, Jane." He gave his gentleman bow.
Wait, what??? Don't tell me, this world is.....
"Ahh...n-nice to meet you too, Albert" I suppressed my emotions. Showing him my shocked face will only make him curious. Fine! Let's just confirm if those two already met him or not. "Do you also have siblings?"
"Yes! I have a younger brother named William." It looks like he still haven't met them. So, this world is actually Moriarty The Patriot. Why of all animes?? And this guy is gonna kill his family!! Wtf!!! I loved the anime but getting into this anime world is suicidal. Well, I usually watched gore and horror anime. Compared to them this one is still fine. Yes! I can survive here! *Cheering mentally*
"Ohh really! I also have a big brother. He is...." I looked around, realising I was left alone.
"Looks like you two got seperated. How about I accompany you while we find your brother." He reached out his hand to me with a smile on his face.
"Yes. Thank you!" I took his hand and we went to look for Ethan.
On the way, we met Albert's real brother.
"Who is this kid, brother?" The dead- to-be-brother asked.
"She's Jane Hellem. She got seperated from his brother. So I was helping her get to him." Albert replied.
"Oh! Anyway, do your best in childcare." He said while giving a final glance to me and went away. He didn't even greeted me. Rude kid!
"Please forgive his rudeness. He's still learning. You don't mind him, right?" Albert apologizes on behalf of his dead-to-be-lil bro. (Alright I'll stop with this joke). However, he's even polite to a 5 years old me. That's surprising. He looked annoyed by the sight his lil bro. Understandable.
"It's alright. I don't mind. He'll surely be like you oneday. Hehe" I laughed it out and frankly said that. He just smiled back in response. Albert right now is still haven't had his hand dirty so I'm chilled out with him.
"JANE!!!!!!!!!!" Ah it's my brother. He came running to me and hugged me.
"Are you alright? Nothing happened to you, right? I'm sorry. I went a little too far from you." He hugged again.
His eyes finally fell on my hand which was still holding Albert's hand. I left his hand after that and hugged him back.
"Brother!" I said happily.
He glared at Albert. "Who are you?" He asked cautiously.
"You must be her brother. I accompanied her since she was alone. I'm glad we found you. I'm Albert James Moriarty. Nice to meet you." He bowed. My brother's expressions softened since Albert took care of me.
"I'm Ethan Hellem. Nice to meet you too. And thank you for helping my little sister. I really appreciate your help." My brother said while bowing back with a smile.
"It's my pleasure. Well then. Since you two finally met. I'll be on my way."
"Yeah sure!" Ethan said. Albert gave his usual smile to us and went away.
Ethan and I return to our parents. Afterwards, the birthday celebration started for that kid. Everyone gathered around him. His parents were behind him. To be honest, the kid looked bored through out his cake cutting ceremony. But he kept his smile which was obviously fake. Anyway, I want to go home! I even ruined my sleep for this bored looking kid. I was too lost in my thoughts that I didn't realised that I was glaring at him. That caught me off guard when he glared back. I sighed and looked around to find something to eat alone. I found some cupcakes at the corner of the table. I quickly got there and was about to eat my cupcake. Suddenly I heard that bored birthday boy's voice talking to some other kids.
"Steve! Did you saw my gift? I've got a beautiful statue of a lady made of gold! Do you like it?" Said a little kid. She was eagerly waiting for him to praise her.
"Yeah. It was a really grand gift but I would have been happier if you had brought me some Netflix shows." Huh???? What kind of Netflix existed in 19th century? I turned to him out of shock.
"Netflix shows?....." Even the girl is confused.
"Haha it's nothing." He said and got away from her. Now he's suspicious. Totally suspicious! I need to talk to him! I quickly finished my cupcake and approached him.
"Happy birthday, Steve! I'm Jane Hellem." I said with a business smile.
"Ah, thank you, Jane. Aren't you the one who's glaring at me few moments ago." He said smiling back. Whoops!
"Ah no! Actually I was thinking about something. It wasn't related to you" I responded. Although it was actually related to him.
"Oh I see! Little girls sure have their own worries." He said sarcastically. I just laughed.
"Haha yes! Steve, don't you having fun at your party?" I questioned him innocently. I changed the topic. I mean seriously. He's getting on my nerves.
"Oh yeah, It's my birthday party after all. Of course! I'm enjoying my time here. What about you?" Hah! Liar.
"I would have enjoyed if I could Netflix and chill." I said while analysing his expressions. His eyes were wide open and looked speechless for a while. Then he grabbed my hand and took me somewhere with no one around.
He finally stopped and turned to me.
"Are you happened to be from modern era?" He asked with a serious look on his face. I knew it! He must have past memories too.
"You can say that. You are also from that era, right?" I asked back.
"Yeah, around year 2025, I died. This is my second life with the memories of my past. What happened to you and which year?" he explained. He almost told me everything that is suffice. That's great! But 2025? The same year.
"What a coincidence I died the same year! I was only 25 at the time. I got my past memories a month ago. How did you died?" I was just curious.
"I was 30 and died from an accident. I don't remember much." He replied. It seems like he's hiding something but it would be rude to ask about it so leave it be.
"I don't even remembered how I died. Just the little stuffs I did is still in my mind." I lied. I have crystal clear memory from my past though. "You must know about this world then?"
"It's 19th century. There's no phone, no internet. Just some nobles showing off their wealth." It seems like he's ranting.
"Well, that's true. But haven't you watched anime in your past life?"
"Yeah! I did. I used to watch Naruto, some slice of life animes, also shoujo genre."
"That's cool but haven't you seen Moriarty The Patriot?"
"No! But why are you asking about anime out of nowhere?" I sighed listening to his question.
"Because this world is from that anime." I clarified.
"Huh!? Are you crazy?" He found me ridiculous.
"It's true!" I said boldly. He facepalmed. He still can't find my words believable.
"Then prove it." He looked straight into my eyes.
"Alright! First of all, you must have heard the name Sherlock Holmes. That person exist in this world and the James Moriarty are his rivals." I tried to explain as simply as possible.
"Sherlock Holmes, the great detective. Yeah let's see! If he's real I'll believe you."
"Well, even I can't prove that now. But I can prove through his rival, the Moriarty." He was suspicious of my words. "The guy named Albert James Moriarty is here in your party. Right now, he have a little brother named William James Moriarty. Soon Moriartys' gonna adopt two young brothers. Those two have blonde hair and red eyes. That's all I can tell for now" I took deep breath after telling that.
"Alright! But I want to ask on more thing. If he's Sherlock's rival, wouldn't that mean he's a bad guy? Or is Moriarty just a rival in solving cases?" He asked.
"They are not bad guy but they chose crime as a mean to make this world a better place. So yes! They commit crime. They won't mind good people though. Just don't be like those evil nobles and you'll be safe." I did my best possible explanation.
"Okay. Where is he right now? I would like to see this Moriarty." He said amusingly.
"Sure. But I'll behave like a kid in front of him. So, go with the flow okay?" I made a peace sign at him.
"Got it! I'm also 8. So I'll behave like a kid too" he smiled at me. Then we went to search for him. I looked around for a while when my eyes finally landed on Albert. He was standing alone, looking pissed off. Probably because he had enough of those noble's way of thinking. I looked at Steve. "Hey! Do you see that guy standing alone there. The brown hair and green eyed boy he's around 13 years old." I pointed him out. He finally saw him.
"Oh, that guy! I see."
"Let's go!" I gave him a smile and we went towards Albert.
As I came near to him, I called out his name.
"Albert!!"
"Ah! It's Jane." He changed his grim expression into a smile.
"Hehe yes!" I smiled back. Then his eyes went to Steve.
"Happy birthday Steve. I'm Albert James Moriarty. Thank you for inviting my family here." he said while keeping up his smile.
"Thank you for your wishes. I'm glad to see you here. Hope you are enjoying yourself." As if he would! Anyway, isn't he talking maturely to Albert? Whatever.
"Of course!" Albert faked it well. Nice Albert! "By the way, are you two friends?" He looked at both of us.
"Yes! We just made friends with each other. You are also my friend, Albert. That's why I wanted you both to meet." Oh god! That was too childish! Albert laughed at my innocence. Steve just keep smiling there.
"Well, I'm really grateful for that." Albert said
"I would love to be friend with you, Albert. How about we meet again soon?" Steve said. The hell is he thinking about? I have to go with it too.
"Yes! I want to meet you again too!" I said with a big smile.
"Sure, you can come to my house whenever you feel like, just inform me beforehand through letter. So I won't be away when you arrive." Albert explained.
"Okay!" Me and Steve said in unison.
"Oh dear Jane! Where have you been!?" Oh shit! I almost forgot that came here with my family. My mother said those words while approaching me with father and Ethan.
"You sure get seperated a lot." Albert joked while laughing. "Don't make them worry like that" said the one who's gonna set his family on fire.
After that, I spent a little more time there with my family and finally returned home.