Even though not far away, the figure was hidden in the murky shadows, and its features could not be seen clearly. However, Youyou was sharp enough to recognize Natalia from the edges of her snow-white garment.
Wasn’t she supposed to be in the ward?
Youyou sprang up from the swing in shock. The girl seemed to sense his attention and ducked away, turning to leave.
“Natalia!” The boy called out to her. The figure halted for a brief moment, but then quickly took off in the other direction.
“Wait!” When Youyou saw this, he immediately ran after her.
Natalia wasn’t a fast runner. The boy, after all, was taller so it took only a moment for him to catch up to her. But then she very quickly changed direction and disappeared around the corner.
The boy continued to run after her. When he turned the corner and looked up, he found himself facing the entrance of the ward building. He walked around the corner and looked up to see Natalia’s snow-white back view flickering in and out of sight as she ran down the long corridor that disappeared into the distance.
“Wait!” The boy had no idea why she ran when she saw him, let alone why she was in the back garden.
Wasn’t she supposed to be in the ward? Could she have sneaked out again?
Throwing caution to the wind, the boy ran after her, following her as she ran along the corridors. Finally, he spotted her at the door of a changing room at the end of the corridor.
She looked around, seemingly lost and unsure how to proceed.
Youyou halted and called out softly, “Natalia?”
She seemed to be in shock. She turned around and saw that it was him. She didn’t look good. Her expression was clouded over and her purple eyes were filled with anger. She was obviously a little angry!
“Hmph!” She snorted, but it wasn’t an annoying sound. It was like a kitten’s purr and rather endearing.
The boy probably guessed that she must have been a little angry at him for accidentally “exposing” her presence, resulting in her being captured by Alice and taken back to the ward!
“It’s you!” Natalia actually spoke fluent Chinese.
However, Alice had also mentioned that Natalia was a child that Romanka met through a good friend, and adopted from a welfare center when Romanka visited China. The girl grew up in China, which meant that she was probably of Eurasian descent.
Alice had said that Natalia was an abandoned child. There was no way of knowing who her parents were. She was found at the doorstep of a maternity hospital in the deep of winter. The tiny child was swaddled and curled up in a cardboard box. She was found flushed red from the cold and dying. If she had been found any later, she might have been frozen to death.
Natalia did not have a name before Professor Romanka met her. There were so many children in the welfare home that they were all identified by numbers only.
Natalya was called “Nine” because she was the ninth child found that year.
“I’m sorry.” The boy apologized guiltily and sincerely. “I really didn’t mean to ‘betray’ you back there!”
Natalya listened, but it was obvious she wasn’t buying it. She pouted and glared at him, unwilling to forgive him.
The boy looked disconcerted. “Are you still angry?” he asked tentatively.
Natalia turned away from him, her cherry lips pouting.
