Both Henry and George was sitting at the duchess's bedside as they glanced up to look at the two other siblings standing at the edge of the bed. Aefia's gaze was a little unsettling, calm and dark while Lewis seemed to be happy about a thing or two. This got both of the brothers curious as they looked at each other's face with concern.
"What is up with the both of you today?" Their eldest brother asked after a long moment of silence. They both shifted their gaze at the same time as the silver haired brother spoke before allowing her to even open her mouth. "Well I managed to make her smile! Speak about being a good elder brother!"
"... I was going to say that this grandfather finally confessed about forgiving mother." A smile landed on Aefia's face as she sat at the edge of the bed near their mother's feet. "Although...I should have asked a long time ago, how is mom's health?" Her dark gaze seemed calm and concerned at the same time as her words fell out.
Suddenly, her hat fell backwards as she reached her hands to try and hold it back, but it just seemed to be levitating above her head as she turned around to face an angry Lewis who was fighting with the deep blue ribbon tied against black top hat. "What are you doing... do you know how hard it was to place it correctly?"
"Did you just call me a grandfather?!"
"Then why is your hair fully white?"
"And why is your hair whitening at the end?!"
"... you know what? Nevermind. I don't want that hat." She let go of her fingers and let him fall backwards as her eyes stayed locked at George who was observing their interactions. "You just saw who starts the fight." She added after a moment.
"Yeah... anyway, the nurses told us that mom is just having a hangover. But if you are concerned about her overall health, you were right about her liver being damaged." Their eldest brother replied as he stood up to allow for her to get a closer look at their mother. Despite there being an empty seat, she didn't get up and reluctantly placed a hand onto the duchess's feet.
As her warm hand caused colour to return to their mother's face and skin as she spoke without lifting her gaze. "Her feet are extremely cold..." She trialed off as she lifted her fingers and stepped away. The woman's face rested into a calm and smiling one as she glanced with slightly open eyes at the young girl retrieving from the room, while holding her hand up from contacting anything else.
"Mom!... She is peaking!" Henry shouted as Aefia abruptly turned her head and looked at the child. George placed a hand onto the kid's mouth and blocking her view from them. As if curious, she tilted her head and spoke. "Is that true?... Brother?"
"No, he was just speaking nonsense. You know children his age are like this..." He sternly replied as he sighed heavily and letting go of the kid's mouth. "Anyway, how did you manage to warm her up so fast?"
"That's the work of my element. I can simply generate heat with my hand, so I used the same criteria to do that. My element allows me to control fire." Her speech dropped as she held out a flame at the centre of her palm.
"So your element is a destructive type? And to be honest... you might want to watch out for the way you use it, because then it's highly destructive. Correct me if I am wrong, you do know how to do psychic damage, right?"
"Yes, although I use my physical damage more often." She added while the flame flickered off and she stood for a few more seconds to ensure there was nothing left to say. Then, her steps echoed through the hallway as she moved towards where she could find a sink. Only Lewis stood there now, holding her hat and questioning himself whether he had to follow behind her.
Suddenly, the duchess sat up while holding her forehead with her own palm. "She is... a little odd as a person." The woman spoke while glancing at the silver haired son with an annoyed face. She remained silent for a long time as Henry looked at her with widened eyes and curiousity, along with something new, fear. It was unknown to anyone what the fear was.
"Lewis? I thought you wanted to apologize to me?" She asked while locking her eyes with the son who stood gripping the edges of the halved top hat tightly. "The only reason I did say that was because she forced me." He turned away as he stood to walk out of the room through the door, but hesitated for a long moment as he glanced at the hat. Recalling her words, he faced his mother with a smile.
"But to think... I was concerned when you fell unconscious yesterday." He lifted his gaze and walked over to the edge of the bed where the others were standing at. "Looks like our sister made us realize that we may hate you at certain times, but we will also rip the world apart if something bad happens to you." George added while smiling as he rustled both of the younger sibling's hairs. "Although I should agree with her with one thing... that Samoyed here starts a fight everytime someone teases him."
"What?! Me?!" Lewis shouted as he too broke out in a laugh. The servants left and shut the door behind them as the room turned lively with conversations that could be heard from outside too. Murmers ran along every maid's ears as they too smiled and walked around speaking to the others about the family getting back together after four years. It seemed that the palace was in a celebratory mood as it came alive with conversations and laughter, but only one person was out of the odd.
Aefia, who had watched the entire thing from behind the door, smiled with black souless eyes as they looked away. Her footsteps echoed to her ears as she passed many joyous people and ignored them on the way to the empty kitchen where she silently washed her hands while humming a small rhythm she had once heard back when she was younger. The maids would have her and her brother sit at their laps as she would sing a song for the both of them.
It had become a habit for her ever since the maid servant had left the world due to an accident while trying to reach her hometown. It was entirely the bus driver's fault back then, and a lingering anger still hovered inside her mind. It was a farewell so intense, that she couldn't see her dead face before permanantly leaving her memories to rot inside her mind. She was merely eight, a few days before she went to seek help from her uncle who then granted her a position as a spy.
But also, thanks to that she was able to survive in this gruesome world. "I mean... everything in people's life happen to provide them with happiness in the future... Right?" She spoke to herself while turning off the tap and the running water. Suddenly, she found herself silently sobbing as every scream stayed stuck at her throat, being stopped by her vocal cord that didn't allow the voice to let out.
Then suddenly, as if realizing lost memories were something not to cry about, she splashed water onto her face and rubbed her eyes while leaving the kitchen the following moment, she wiped a hand against her emotions, walking out completely expressionless. Darn... am I just a person who seems to get emotional with something so forgotten? I need to eat off that habit.
Her steps took her towards the garden at the back of the palace, while it was still dark outside as she found herself staring at the same flower bush that was said to be able to predict someone's fate. Dumb peoples... they really learned how to believe falsehood and lies. It really must be pure luck I still haven't gone completely insane at this world. I am so curious now... to meet the person who started the curse of this world.
Majestic looking... and so many genres into a single piece of land that stretches so long. Yet... people seem to be held back with so much that almost no one knows their potential. Beasts and monsters... I have a question stuck in my mind... why... the first day that we had arrived... we got ourselves faced with a beast? The dungeons weren't open back then?
She bent her head downwards as she glanced at the ground that her black shoes were clicking against. Her arms stretched above her head as she slouched down along with their weight flopping down at her sides. "I am... stressed out." She finally spoke as she walked towards the fountain, and past it. Her eyes lingered against the water, where she found a faint image of her dark eyes. "Honestly... I am self-obsessed with my black eyes at this point."
Her head looked towards the bench sat between three flower bushes. One of dahlias, one of orchids and the last of hibiscus. "Well... that's odd!... But who cares." She walked towards it with a pair of almost closed eyes which shut with sleepiness as soon as she slumped down on the long, empty, metallic bench.
Her head hung from the back of the support as she glanced up into the starry night sky that was made of glittering dust which was obviously unreachable. A short breeze blew against her face as she rested her eyes and almost fell asleep when a figure approached her from behind. "Did you receive my letter?" And this sentence was enough to jumpscare her as she jolted awake, and stood up. Despite knowing what to reply, she stayed silent.
Cedric stood behind the bench with a rush hovering above his face. "You seem to know the answer? Behind the hooded man?" He spoke while setting down another letter. "If you don't mind... maybe you can read this one and respond on whether it had improved from the one I sent earlier. Don't mind me, I am just practicing writing."
"Wait... so which is it? Do you know the hooded man or do you don't?" She spoke while confused as she slowly took steps forward to her previous sitting place. Or maybe it's just a scheme he is playing to test me in a more valid way? But also, if I seem to hesitate like this, he will be suspicious. Then I guess this guarantees that he already knows.
"Even if I knew, I already know you had a good reason to why you killed her." He spoke with a piercing smile as she reluctantly picked it up and unfolded the paper which looked splashed with water over wet ink. This summoned a new question into her mind. Was it just a way to scare me back then... I still can't seem to grasp an idea of whether he is mad or just acting to be. But then also... there is another prove that he knows who that hooded person was. Either ways... I still have to ask...
"Are you mad? That I killed Lady Gray?" The words escaped her mouth after a long moment of hesitation, and she made sure to keep her entire attention into the piece of paper at her fingertips then a prolong worried stare at him. Mostly of what was written on the surface, were the words 'hooded man'. The more it appeared, the more stress settled onto her brain and the less sleepy she felt.
"Isn't it true that she killed you once and you were barely surviving around the next time?" He spoke while going around the bench and sitting in front of her. "Honestly, our underboss who worked for us... the Banshees... she was a little too violent with people... at a point she kills them and didn't let go of them until the last of their soul has gone out of their body. Seeing how fatally injured you were back then that day, I could already tell you died once, and that your magic core still allowed you to stay alive. It was truly inspiring the way you managed to walk yourself back here."
She silently listened as she folded the paper and passed it back to Cedric with a slightly tilted head and a confused face. "You heard a lot... and wrote a lot... but most of all... try making your handwriting better the next time. At this state, it's almost unreadable." As soon as he took back his letter, she stepped back and glanced at her broken watch which was later decorated by her handmaid with ribbons the colour baby blue and olive green. It started looking more vintage following that as it became a more aspiring thing to her now.
"Then...are you mad? Either ways, I apologize for not letting you know about your colleague's death and that I had killed her... Sorry." She spoke while looking to the ground as if bowing, despite her never learning to do that as a human and a growing teenager. Her back straightened as she threw the watch into the air and it dissapeared into her inventory.
"Why would a member of the Imperial family apologize to a lowly butler? Then aren't you ruining your image along with your mother's?" He laughed as he stood to his feet and bent his head at a low angle. "I should be happy that the young master has finally recovered from her last mentality and is now acting more normal."
Adjusting his face, he finally spoke the matter that concerned him the most. "I just heard from the palace butlers that Prince Lewis has gotten along with his mother... and I know you have done so for something else to happen. What I am curious about is... what are you planning on doing next with this family?" He asked while straightening his back and coming to stand slightly ahead of Aefia as she turned backwards and headed towards the palace.
"I had just come to realize that all this time, the Guardian had been placing her cards and I didn't even get the chance to start my part of the game. So the family getting back together... was the ace card I used against the rest of my deck." She answered as the soft breeze lifted her front hair to highlight her stern expression and those fierce eyes.