Filed to story: A Little Princess's Journey from Darkness to Light Novel
Lilly held up her hand in response. Around her fair, plump wrist was a slender red cord with a tiny urn-shaped talisman hanging from it. “Here!” she chirped.
Pablo lightly touched the urn with the tip of his index finger. “I’ve never told you before, but this jar needs to be filled up until it’s full. If it isn’t, you might need to go away, Lilly…”
Any remnants of sleep immediately vanished from the little girl. Opening her eyes wide, she asked in dismay, “Go away where?” She had only just gotten to know her uncles, Granny, and Grandpa Hugh. She didn’t want to leave them.
“To a very distant place, and you can never return,” Pablo answered solemnly.
Lilly pursed her lips, then quickly got up from the bed and ran towards the bathroom. Turning on the tap, she uncapped the tiny jar and tried to fill it with water. The talisman was only the size of a fingernail, but even though water flowed through the opening, it seemed as though not a single drop went in.
Pablo couldn’t help but smile faintly. “Tulip…” He murmured, rubbing his forehead. “This little object is called a jar of souls because it can only contain souls.”
Lilly blinked. “Huh? Then what do I do?”
“Just gather ghost spirits until it’s full,” Pablo replied. He flipped open his book again and explained as he read, “It will take 100 wandering spirits to fill this jar, but only 49 resentful spirits. Oh, malignant spirits are perfect! It’ll only take 18 of them to fill it up.”
Lilly nodded eagerly. “Okay! I understand!” She peered into the opening of the jar, then asked, “Master, won’t Ms. Ugly fill the jar already?”
Pablo scoffed, “Far from it.”
Lilly looked upset. “Ms. Ugly, you’re really useless!”
The grotesque female ghost was left speechless. Hey, aren’t you expecting too much from me?
Suddenly, Lilly spoke up, “Master, wasn’t the ghost on Cheryl’s head a malignant spirit?”
Pablo was busy writing in his book; without even bothering to look up, he replied, “That’s right!”
Lilly looked delighted. “Oh, in that case, I’ll go find Josh!” Before Pablo could stop her, she rushed out of the room.
Pablo stared after her, blinking in confusion. He quickly floated after the little girl, asking, “Why are you going to look for Josh Crawford?”
Lilly rolled her eyes at Pablo. “Master, you’re really foolish today! If I want to find Cheryl, I need to go where she is, right? Cheryl and Josh go to the same school, so if I want to go to Cheryl’s school, I need to find Josh!” She gave him a sympathetic look. “Master, your brain has decayed from being dead for so long!”
Pablo was left completely speechless.
After being so abruptly dismissed by a chubby four-year-old, Pablo’s face displayed a weary resignation.
Meanwhile, Lilly happily ran to Josh’s room.
Josh and Drake Crawford were the type of children who perfectly embodied the old adage, “Children should be seen and not heard.” Anthony’s busy schedule left him little time to spend with them, and by the time they were six and seven years old, they had already become accustomed to it.
Personality-wise, both brothers were very calm, cool, and collected. Drake was in 2nd grade and had a fondness for the arts. Josh was a year younger and enthusiastic about math and science.
At present, Josh was in his room working on a complicated mathematical equation. Suddenly, he heard an excited knocking on his door, so he looked up and called, “Come in.”
Lilly poked her head in and chirped sweetly, “Oh Josh!”
Josh furrowed his brow. Lils was here again, being her usual irritating self. Coldly, he asked, “What do you want to ask this time?” Last time she had asked him how big ten pounds of poop would be. The question was utterly embarrassing, and he had answered extremely unwillingly. He had used all the formulas he knew and filled an entire sheet of paper with calculations…and in the end, all she had remembered was, “A bucketful!”
A metal bucket, no less, and not even how many cups or fluid ounces!
Lilly cradled Bunny in her arms and stared at Josh, her face full of happy anticipation. “Josh, when you go to school tomorrow, can I come with you?”
Josh immediately shot back, “Of course not.” There was no way he was bringing her to school with him, ever. He detested someone tagging along. Furthermore, he had to attend classes. He certainly didn’t have time to take her along with him!
Lilly batted her lashes and put on her most pitiful expression. “But Josh…”
Josh impatiently pushed her out of the room. “Go play somewhere and stop bothering me.” With that, he closed the door with a loud bang.
Lilly stared at the closed door and let out a big sigh. She obviously wasn’t being cute enough!
“Erm…” She pondered for a while, then had an idea. She should wear a dress, of course! Running back to her room, she changed into a strawberry-print dress and then hurriedly searched for Josh again.
Knock knock!
“Josh…”
Bang! The door slammed shut before Lilly could even say a word.
Pablo had been watching from the sidelines with mischievous amusement, his arms folded. However, when he saw Lilly being chased out of the room twice, he became indignant. How dare that boy treat his beloved disciple like that?
“Go find your Granny, Tulip, and tell her that Josh will definitely take you to school with him.”
He did not expect that Lilly would stubbornly shake her head. “That won’t do! Children should take care of children’s business! We’re not three years old anymore. Telling tales to the grownups is such a childish thing to do!”
Once again, Pablo was left speechless. From the time she was three until her recent fourth birthday, this little girl had developed a significant amount of backbone. Now she even dared to say that she and Josh were no longer three years old!
He did not know whether to laugh or cry, and settled for asking, “Well, what are you going to do then?”
Josh was not someone she could easily persuade.
Undeterred, Lilly blithely ran downstairs to get a glass of juice, then began making her way back upstairs very carefully.
Bettany hurried in from the garden when she saw what Lilly was trying to do. “Let me carry that upstairs for you, dear.”
Lilly’s clear voice floated down. “No, it’s okay! Please don’t interfere with children’s business, Granny!”
Bettany was so taken aback that she just stared at Lilly’s disappearing silhouette, blinking in confusion.
Once Lilly had arrived upstairs with the glass of juice still intact, she knocked on Josh’s door again. This time, it was a good while before Josh yanked the door open and snapped, “What are you trying to do?” This was so frustrating! He was quite confident that he could solve this complex mathematical equation that was taught in 8th grade, but every time he tried, Lilly kept interrupting him.
Lilly was taken aback; only then did she realize that she was disturbing Josh. She held out the glass of juice and said in a small voice, “Have some juice, Josh…?”
Josh impatiently swatted the glass aside and growled, “I don’t want it! Can you stop coming up to bother me?!”
His abrupt movement jolted the glass, and the juice splashed all over Lilly.
Josh froze.
Lilly’s smile slowly faded away, and she mumbled, “I’m sorry, Josh.” She turned to leave, still holding the glass. She was at fault here; she shouldn’t have bothered Josh while he was studying. Perhaps…perhaps she could ask him tonight when he wasn’t busy?
Josh felt even more out of sorts as he watched Lilly’s drooping, disappointed little figure. Was she sniffling? She really was such a pest! “Come back here,” he said stiffly.
Lilly hurriedly turned around, looking cheerful again. “Yes, Josh?”
Josh had assumed she was crying, so the sight of her bright, smiling face took him by surprise and caught him completely off-guard. “You…you…just bring that juice back here.”
Lilly was delighted and held out the remaining juice in the glass. Josh awkwardly thanked her, only to hear her say in her sweetest voice, “You’re welcome!”
Josh took a sip from the glass, looking as if he were being drowned, then frowned. Orange juice? He absolutely hated the stuff…
Noticing Lilly’s expectant little face through the glass, he braced himself and gulped everything down.
Lilly was thrilled to see Josh finishing all the juice in one go. “Bye-bye, Josh!” She turned and skipped away happily.
Josh blinked. He stared blankly at the empty glass in his hand, then stared at Lilly skipping down the stairs. Why did he feel as if he had been somehow tricked? “Bah!” He closed the door again. Now that he had finished the orange juice, he didn’t owe her anything. He certainly wasn’t about to take her to school with him.
After dinner that night, Lilly hurried over to Josh’s room again. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she suddenly paused, and her little face scrunched up.
“What’s wrong now?” Pablo asked.
Lilly whispered, “What if Josh is still studying?
What do I do then?” She couldn’t interrupt him if that were the case; it was not pleasant at all to be bothered by someone.
“Well, why don’t you let Ms. Ugly go in and check if he’s there or not?” Pablo suggested.
Lilly’s eyes brightened. Of course! Ms. Ugly was a ghost; she could pass through walls! Her chubby fingers reached for the jar of souls, pulling out Ms. Ugly. “Ms. Ugly!” If she wanted a favor, she had to ask politely. Oh, wait, that wasn’t right. If she wanted a favor from ghosts, she had to ask them nicely.
With utmost sincerity, she said, “Ms. Ugly, could you please take a look inside to see what Josh is doing?”
Ms. Ugly seemed to find this request incredibly bothersome. Could this little girl just stop calling her Ms. Ugly before asking her to do anything? Even if Lilly were to call her a demon, it would be better than Ms. Ugly! Grumbling, she went through the wall regardless.
