"So you are planning to go to school with your current condition?" Her maid servant spoke while fixing her collar over the Prussian blue pinafore with the constellations at the edges and the lacy jabot at her neck. "Alright I guess... but don't get back to the palace covered in blood. Do you know how often you are seen in the colour red nowadays?"
Her maid flicked her fingers at the bandaged forehead and placed her halved top hat at her head with enough shadow falling over her face, to cover the bandage from being shown. "And if you come home with this white fabric turned red, I am definitely not going to let you go back there anymore." She crossed her arms while moving away to grab her comb.
On the mirror reflection, her eyes caught sight of her look as she seemed to be regaining a little bit more of her original complexion, with a very faint black hue falling over her bright red eyes. Or maybe, it's just the shadow. She sighed as her maid looked towards her direction with a calm and comforting face. "Don't worry, I have a feeling you have a willingness to kill that Guardian, and that once they are dead, you will be able to regain your past mentalities."
"..." She reminded silent for a long time as her mouth began moving to form words. "It's not that. I am trying to break out of my curse the first thing. And that same curse is draining my energy away like a leech, which in return is taking away my health a little by little." Immediately following her own words, she remembered the vivid image of the duchess in bed. "By the way, how is mom?"
With a shocked face, the maid servant hesitated to believe it was Aefia the one speaking before her. "I... isn't this the first time you have personally called her 'mom'? The other times you are always calling her 'woman' or 'duchess'. What is with that sudden change?" She furrowed her brows and with a smile.
"Well... do I have a choice? She is sick in the death bed and speaking bad about her at around this time? Am I a coward?" She replied while stretching her arms in the air and yawning. "... I highly regret staying all night trying to escape a horror game. Darn! Why am I so lazy nowadays?"
The silence between their conversation was intimidating for the both of them as none knew how to speak. "... I will just have to inform your brother about this then." The servant spoke after a long moment as she placed her steps towards the door and a panicked expression appeared onto Aefia's face as she caught up behind her just in time and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hold on! I was joking!" Actually I wasn't. I can't control my thoughts now?
"Then that's a relief!" The maid responded while bowing in front of her and also adjusting her master's collar before walking away. "Anyway, remember to keep your promise. Otherwise... seriously! I will tell your brother about this." Her eyebrows furrowed once again as she let go and stepped back.
Not knowing how to respond, she nodded and walked out the door while holding her hat at her hand. Throwing it open, she had accidentally hit someone square at the face as her head immediately diverted towards the fallen figure with concern. "Oh sorry! I didn't see you—but I guess you deserved it!" She shrugged as her eyes stared mockingly at Lewis.
"Darn you!" He held his nose while sitting up.
"I mean... a samoyed like you really deserved it honestly. Eavesdropping? I didn't think royal bloodline would have the audacity."
A short moment of no sound was held heavy in the air as a whisper felt at her ears with golden hue could be seen at her side, floating with glittery dust that settled on the floor. "It seems you are pretty close to your brothers this time a long. I would like to rip them apart now. Don't you know the fact? Siblings only tease when they have a good bond?" Following the last word, the voice against her ears went away, leaving her in thoughts and mostly precausious thoughts.
So... just for removing myself from the competition and being able to understand her scheme, she wants to exterminate everything around me... I also want to see how long she wants to continue like this. I have got my cards to play too... and she placed hers before I did, now let's see... I will play the ace for now, though it's pricey.
"I am sorry... I honestly didn't see you. Are you hurt?" Aefia held out a hand in front of him while holding a straight face. "But I really get irritated with the idea of spying on me. Try to avoid that the next time?" Behind her, she could sense the Gaurdian's stare down at her back with an anger.
Despite knowing the fact, she didn't change her gaze from her brother who grabbed onto her wrist and straighted himself upright while staring at her with confusion. "Thank you... for nothing." He spoke as if experimenting her. But later, she was dragged inside her room as he held out a piece of paper in front. "Anyway, that butler guy sent you a letter. And he told me to hand it to you on your way out. So... what is going on?" He furrowed his eyebrows in question.
"... I hate this guy's handwriting." But instead of replying, she turned the edges of the paper, rotating it around again and again while finding no end or beginning. Finally, with pure frustration, she turned it into a paper plane and threw it to her desk as she slumbed into her sofa with her hand placed against her forehead and her fingers holding the bridge between her closed eyes. "What else do I do with this now?!"
Lewis stared at the table with question as he walked over and unfolded the paper. "That is a hell of a handwriting!" He spoke while scanning his eyes against the written text. "But it's still readable. It states here that... the hooded man is not found yet and... he is wondering if you knew anything about it? But he thinks that the Guardian is probably the hooded man."
Aefia's eyes shot open while widened as she bent over while tapping her chin. "So does he know but is faking it? Or does he really not know?" She spoke softly as she fell into deep thoughts. "Then why don't you ask him?" Her brother spoke while observing her from the distance as she stood up and walked over to snatch the paper back, rubbing her fingers against the ripped and crumbled edges, with stains added to it.
"I don't think I need to, he seems to already know, but he is trying to confirm it through my voice. So basically, he wants to see if I was lying to him or whether I was just hiding the matter. You get what I mean? Some people have the mentality where they can't help but test the other person for their honesty." She spoke while placing the piece of paper on the table.
"And what are you going to do about this? No that's not the question, who is this hooded man?" He asked while looking directly at her darkening eyes, turning back to their gradient black and red. Regret hovered against her face as she narrowed her eyes with deep thought.
"The hooded man... I killed her. I killed her with an attempt to save myself." She spoke while leaning against the table and looking at the piece of paper in front of her. "The hooded man was the person the Guardian had got to first, so she could get to me, and that was around the same time that I had returned from the unknown worldly mission."
"I think I am getting to a point, do you think you can provide more contrast?" Lewis spoke while leaning back with the same gaze at the paper now. "That person at the library, who was said to have come from an unknown world, he followed me back to his world with the help of Torture Cell who in return helped me stay alive the last dungeon I had gotten into. That person's name was Albert, and I think my first mistake was killing him. Because he was most likely trying to... keep me away from the duchess. That was the first time I had seen mom and she even noticed me back.
"A week earlier, I had come back from my first outer worlds mission with an injured eye. But at the same time, I think I had leveled pretty fast following that. But it still makes no sense, did she come to you guys when I levelled to Phase two? Because a week later I was already met with the person behind the hooded man's identity." Suddenly, as if recalling this was a troubling thing, she reached her fingers against her scalp. But even when she was facing problems, she still continued to speak as beads of sweat settled onto her forehead and her eyes consequetively darkened.
Almost there... just hold on one more moment. Lewis thought as he watched her slowly forget about her revenge and the Gaurdian of Silence. "Alright that should be enough to tell the hooded man had approached you as soon as levelled up. That explains enough she was a tool used to control you in return. Why don't you explain the same thing to him?" The question struck square in her mind.
"He won't still understand." She lifted her gaze with more than half of her eye turned the colour black. "The human mind is made so that they will suffer grief and regretfulness the rest of their lives, and no one can fully understand what is inside someone's mind as they speak, because even then, they will be hiding something. I am not sure, but he might just be planning something else too. I will... just apologize and tell him that the hooded man was his colleague."
"Then who was the hooded man?"
"..." She remained silent as her gaze lifted towards her brorther's face with a fragile, expressionless look alongside a hesitation. "Remember the Banshees? She was the underboss for that company and the same person who killed me back then. And the butler was also from that company. I know it's strange to hear the hooded man was actually a woman, but she was given a disguise to cover up her real identity."
"Well that's twisted!" He spoke while seeming shocked. "But anyway, you should go tell him that at the most. The least he will do is not accept your apology knowing how you were the one who brought him inside this palace. But if it's a problem, then I will say it in your place."
"What?! Are you insane!" Her voice was heard as if shouting as she continued speaking in a low voice. "That way he will think I am not confident enough to answer it in person and he will assume things. Then who is going to take the blame?" She slammed her hand on top of the paper as she picked it up with a fist while picking her steps towards the door.
Lewis followed behind as he watched her angrily throwing her steps towards the duchess's room, but within the time he had realized, the piece of paper was gone. What is this thing she keeps doing? How does she dissolve things into the air?! I need to learn this trick from her someday...
Inside the room, Henry and George was already present beside their unconscious mother who seemed utterly and dizzingly silent to Lewis. He stopped short of the threshold as Aefia turned around abruptly to notice his contemplated expression. "Is there something wrong? Something you need to do?" She asked after a moment of observing.
"No. I just don't want to see her face. I fear I might feel pity for her." He replied while keeping his head lowered and his shadowed. "She had ruined my entire childhood and down to ruin Henry's too. I don't want to have the feeling of forgiveness towards her at the end of the day." He placed a step back as he tried to retrieve.
"But then... if you don't want to go see her, then nor do I." With a short pause, her footsteps echoed towards the opposite side of where her brother was walking... towards the dining hall. A small wave of dark energy left at her footsteps as her hair turned whiter at the ends that sent ominous shivers up his spine, and his footsteps fell heavy as he rushed to her side.
Stopping in front of her, he heaved deep breathes as he glanced up at her questioned face with bright red eyes that were nearly black the last time he had seen it. The realization was a little too late, as he wrecked his mind with the thoughts that he had messed it up again.
"What happened back there?" She asked with the same coldness as before as her eyes narrowed down. As he straightened himself, he spoke out with calmness at his voice. "Let's go to mother's side. I think... I would choose to forgive her."
"..." Aefia breathed out heavily as she placed a hand against her face while staring slightly above his head, where a golden glow appeared to be reflecting against her eyes. "I understand that... but what does that have to do with me? I don't want to forgive her and that's my final decision."
A shocked expression lifted onto his face as her eyes stained reder by the passing seconds, and they settled down to his face with the golden hue cut off. "Besides, if you wanted to visit her, why did you have to ask me? I wasn't going to go apologize."
Lewis stayed silent at the command. His thoughts scattered across his mind as he tilted his head downwards. "I know for short... that since you wanted to visit her by your own willingness, you must be eager to know her conditions... and so do I. At the end of the day, she is struggling with her own problems too."
"... I am glad you realized." Her voice echoed against the empty hallway. He lifted his gaze to watch her with a smiling face, half turned as if to walk towards the otherside. Her eyes were dark, completely, down to a very soulless black.