(Y/N POV)

A fragile hand slowly peeked around the corner. The tender boy who had escorted us here before appeared, fear consuming his eyes. He must be Charles. "Show this young lady around," Mrs Taylor ordered, "Mr Hamilton and I are going to have a nice chat..." Charles obliged, waiting for me to follow him.

I did as his trembling hands begged, gently trailing towards him. He edged backwards, and I traced his footsteps. Floorboards creaked underneath our feet, sending waves of sound through the house. Charles fiddled with the hands nervously, stopping outside of the living room. Instead of introducing me to the surroundings, he pointed to a young girl sitting by herself at the window. Although she couldn't distinctively see it, she was tracing something across the window with her finger.

Her head tilted to the side, realising that we were there. "Oh, hermano, hermano! You didn't get into trouble!" Her accent was definitely foreign; it sounded Spanish. In any case, the youngster galloped up to Charles, embracing him. "Perdóname, hermano doesn't like speaking much..."
"Hermano?" I questioned.
"Sibling." she answered plainly.
"Oh."

"I'm Valentino Fernández. It's nice to meet you!" She took my hand, shaking it wildly.
"Y/N." I answered.

Wait hold on that's not my name.

"Sophie!!" I corrected. Charles glanced at me suspiciously, wondering why I'd just said two names. "What I meant was that my name is Sophie Y/N Hamilton... yeah."
"Oh! And this is my hermano, Charles Fernández!" Valentino introduced. "I suppose he wants me to show you around."
"Sure, if you want to." I agreed.
"¡Genial!" she exclaimed. For such a small child, her energy seemed to be unlimited.

"This is the living room: it's where I spend most of my time." Valentino started.
"Why don't you play with the other kids?" I asked. I looked outside of the window, observing as the boy and girl now lay tirelessly on the grass.
"They can't understand me." Valentino giggled. "They think we're strange."
"I see..." Charles and I followed as she skipped merrily around the room.

Valentino pointed to a door leading out of the living room. "The kitchen is through there. We can't go in there unless it's time to eat."
"Nice." She parted up the stairs, unveiling a door to the left and right. She opened up the right door, where plenty of beds were neatly arranged alongside the wall. "Señor Hamilton bought us these, the hombre you came here with."
"Yeah, he's my uncle."
"Perdón?" Valentino questioned.
"Tío." Charles whispered.
"Oh!" A big smile latched across her face.

"So will you be staying with us?" she asked eagerly.
"I... actually don't know." I admitted. "My uncle is going back to war soon, so I assume so." Valentino waved her arms excitedly, pouncing on to a bed.
"This is my bed. You can sleep next to me!" she squealed. "Besides, there's only the three of us! Everyone else has a home to go to."
"You're orphans?"
"Yep! Orphans can live here and get... learnt... as long as they do chores!" she explained.

"Oh, cool. So why aren't there more?" I asked.
"They all got adopted." Valentino gagged.
I laughed at her remark. "You don't like it?"
"Who'd want to be adopted? Families are for cowards!" I raised my eyebrows, not expecting something like that from an infant. "I'll let you get settled in!" Valentino turned to leave, only to have Charles follow her. She shoved the door in Charles' face when he tried to exit.

"Valentino, por favor--!" Charles frantically tried avoiding my eyesight.
"¡No me des 'Valentino'!" -she looked at me- "Creo que deberías conocer a la dama."
"VALENTINO!!"
"¡Buena suerte!" She slammed the door, causing the room to shake. Charles sighed, placing his hand on the wall.

I awkwardly sat on my soon-to-be bed, puffing the pillows up. "Nice place, huh?" Charles didn't reply. He was motionless, glaring at the door. What a tricky situation to be stuck in: two socially awkward kids, locked in a room together.

I decided that I'd take a look around the room. Sketches of animals were stuck to the wall: some were simple designs, others were complex masterpieces. However, I didn't comment on them and continued on. The beds all the same blue quilts and white pillows, tucked beneath the mattress neatly. The more I looked, the more I discovered. Under one of the beds was a stack of books; being the sly fox I was, I inspected them closely.

One book was titled 'Cómo Convertirse En Un Caballero Inglés Fluido'. The most I could translate was 'English', but nothing else. I scanned through the book: a mixture of Spanish and English. Pictures were printed into the paper of men wearing top hats:

"Ugh..." I tossed it aside, moving on to the next one. Now, this was getting interesting. A black cover, with a golden font at the top reading 'Art Book'. Curiously, I flipped through the pages. Plenty consisted of sketches of turtles, which I found rather satisfying.
"D- Don't touch that!!" Charles yelled, scattering towards me. I dropped the book, backing away.
"Sorry, I didn't realise it was yours..." He gathered the books together, cradling them in his arms.

"I like your drawings..." I commented. For a second, a stark of hope lightened up his eyes. But as I said, it was only a second. He rested at the end of the bed, scratching his neck. It was only then that I had remembered the scar that was ripped down it. Though, I didn't want to ask him about it. "You're very talented." I complimented. God, I sound like a freak.

"Thank you..." he murmured under his breath. "I was... taught by a friend of my father's..."
"I'm sure he's very proud of you!"
"He's dead."
"Oh. Yeah. Right."

Another moment's silence had passed, and I started feeling really bad for him. Like, what so terrible had happened that his parents had died, he'd gained a huge scar and barely talked at all? Poor guy must be traumatized. "Your sister's very lively."
"Always has been." Charles sighed. Before I could say another word, Alexander barged into the room.

"Sophie, can I talk to you outside for a moment?" he asked.
"Sure." I left Charles desolate, closing the door. Mrs Taylor firmly stood next to him.
"So since I'll be leaving for the war soon enough, I'd like you to stay here with Mrs Taylor. When we arrive back for a visit, you can certainly stay in my home."
"So I'll be living here now?" I questioned Alexander.
"Yes, until the war is over." He looked up and smiled at Mrs Taylor. "I couldn't think of a better tutor." Mrs Taylor blushed at his words.

"I see. Just don't do anything stupid out there, okay?" I said.
"Sophie." He knelt down on one knee. "I'll be fine, don't you go worrying about me." The truth was, I wasn't worried. I knew that he was going to survive this war, therefore, why should I worry. He embraced my shoulders, as I did with him.

"I expect to see my favourite niece a bright and carefree student when I return." he predicted.
"I'll try." I laughed.
"Oh, and Sophie..." He leant down to my ear. "Don't tell anyone about your secret, even if you learn to trust them." he whispered. I nodded in acknowledgement, preparing for him to take his leave.

This was it now. For about another 5 years, I'd be stuck in this place without having anyone for reassurance. Nevertheless, if I could manage to make friends one way or another, all of this may not be so bad. Even if I could find a way to get back to my timeline, that would be enough. But the sad reality was that I doubted I ever would.

I just wanted to see my family again. They must be worried sick about me. I just want to tell them that I'm okay, that I'm safe. But no. It wasn't going to happen. For now, I had to stick with the path my life has chosen, and lead a successful life.

A life as a Hamilton.

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N

Hey guys! Sorry this took so long, I'm still really sick. I also had injections last week and my braces tightened yesterday, so I'm in thorough pain. Anyway you might have noticed that I've deleted all the author's note chapters: this is because I don't want it to take up the story as such, cause it'll just get really annoying. So I deleted them. Yay.

Also there'll be a big time skip in the next chapter. But comparing to the others, it's only small. Yes, there are, like, humongous time skips later on. So be warned~