"Before that... I need to know something." Aefia spoke while finally turning around. "I have paused the time so as to ensure no one can listen in to what I have to say. You may have already noticed how dire the situation is based on how silent this matter needs to be. And you will be surprised that its about the Empire and the family."
"Pause the time?! You can do that?!" Lewis asked while taking a step back and looking around as a small dust particle seemed to hover close to his eyes with defined magnification. He lifted his fingers to check on the particle as it moved backwards with the small amount of force and froze back into place. "That is insane!"
"..." Watching the childish curiousity, she let out a deep breathe and fell silent for not long. "Are you going to listen? I can't hold the time for much long before I will unknowingly collapse." She finally spoke while placing a hand under her chin and frowning as she waited for a response to return. For a long time, he acted as if not to listen. "Nevermind, I will discuss it another time then."
She held out her fingers as if to rub them against the prints of her fingertips, but before she could allow the clicking sound to echo against the silent atmosphere, his attention got drawn to her still serious face and the pale complexion that held a little clue of red. "Are you sick?" He asked after a long time.
"I am not in the present time, but using this specific skill drains my health by large quantities over a short time. So I think that is why I look feverish." She replied while using the same hand to place it against her forehead. "I will ask again... are you willing to listen to what I have to say? It is dire the situation as I have said."
"Before that... is it about Stephany and the principal?" He asked while folding his arms and staring at her with a strict face. "You still haven't answered my question when I asked you why you didn't fight back or use your powers?"
"For short... I did use my powers." Her face was a lot calmer now, but her voice remained serious. "But to try and fight back... she would place her attack on me too, building a tantrum of anger between us that would sent us into an infinite loop of revenge and trying to defeat the other. And that way... I would be more injured then what I suffered that time, and that would also cause an endless rivalry between us."
"Still!"
"No... the human mind doesn't work like that. If it did, then explain how the Guardian is still trialing me." She held out a hand to stop him as she shut her eyes, not wanting to see his caring face. "And either ways, if I hit her back, she was going to complain this incident to her father and you know what happens next? My identity would be exposed... and do I need to explain why that would be a major problem?"
"I still don't know."
"Fine then... for short, I was brought into this empire to save it... not more than this." She spoke while narrowing her eyes at him. "And I think you know until this, that my first reason was for the duchess's free use of me as her pawn in a chessboard." She tilted her head sideways following the last words.
"Oh... yeah... I knew."
"Then if you knew... don't tell me you don't know this fact too that I am a pawn being used against the enemies of this empire... and you know who has the biggest feud against your guys?"
"No. I am not even allowed to get into this sort of political problems!"
"Stephany's father... Count Lucius." Aefia answered immediately as she held her breathe at the end while slowly breathing out and recalling the fact about that one odd letter that had accidentally fallen into her pile and held her hand out in the front. "Although I am not allowed to say this, but I have prove that he is against you guys in everyway and I believe that is the reason I was brought in. As an eye witness... for the palace." A small scroll fell onto her hand as she untied the ribbons and uncurled the paper.
Taking it from her hand, Lewis scanned the contents written on the fraying paper with shocked eyes and shaking fingers. The handwriting was a cursive with the ink colour a bright intimidating red, a colour he hated most around this time as he glanced up at her bloodshot face that warmed over the time. "How... were you being used again?" He asked, not knowing what else to say.
"I honestly don't know yet... but for short... I think when the duchess said I would be the 'heir to the throne', she wanted me to take the place without the public knowing for a short amount of time while the cases were being investigated. After which, the problems would be resolved and the real heir will take back the place. That is all I know for now, but I don't know for how long." She spoke the last words with a smile. "And after my work as a pawn had been done, I will be able to freely have reign over my life again and go back to how I was." She added to herself softly.
"And who is the real heir then?" He asked while turning the edge of the paper inwards and throwing it back to her with shadowed eyes. "There must have been something written onto the contract you were forced to sign? That you recall and you know where it is so you can find it back." He added while placing a hand under his chin.
"Unfortunately... I wasn't allowed to read the contract for long as she snatched it away from me. Nor do I know whether she has it or where she has it." Her expression turned stern as her knuckles cracked loudly under the pressure of her fingers. "But the heir to the throne... I am not sure anymore. Noticing how his name was written at the end... the public knows that Henry will take the throne when he is older... but in real... the duchess might put George for being the oldest."
"And what about me?"
"A regnant... if it really is Henry. But if you were to take the throne next... that also makes sense as to why the name George was out on the paper. Because once he is taken away as your ragnent, they still have about three years time to burn the entire empire down to ashes." The idea was sudden, but the possibilities were low. "I think based on how the Count was speaking in the letter... he might have his eyes on this empire for other reasons... like... any past actions that took the eyes of the public and the other governors."
"..." Lewis breathed out heavily. "And what are you planning on doing about this mess?"
"I don't know..." She trialed off while taking a deep breathe. "Honestly... I don't want to do anything about this thing because I am just a pawn... who is being controlled by the duchess." Her gaze shifted to the ground she was standing. "And that is also the reason I pulled you into this matter. Unlike me... you have more stronger bonds to this family I have. And for however long I am to stay here, I don't want to get myself into anymore danger."
Hearing this, his eyes contracted and her words echoed back and forth inside his mind. "Then... after your use around the palace has been done... how do you plan on living?" The words unknowingly escaped his mouth, but there was also a willingness to know illuminating against his face that added the same question into her mind.
"Honestly I haven't thought about that. Also, it won't take me time to think either." She replied while placing her index finger against her chin and lifting her gaze as her mind rummaged against concrete evidences and thoughts on what needs to be done about the Guardian.
"I know... I will just seek refuge in one of the few abandoned Islands and continue my ongoing mission trying to find out what to do with the Torture Cell, and gathering information about the Guardians, the worlds and their rulers... there are so many things I can do after my role in this Empire finishes." Using her fingers, she counted her possibilities and at the end, she looked up at Lewis, who was with a slightly upset face. "So I am taking you don't need to worry about me after I leave the palace. And until my role ends, I guess I still have plenty of time to think of what else to do with my life."
But internally, she had another thought. I want to immediately pursue my search for the Torture Cell and their reasons, find the competition owner, free the participants and finally, return to Earth to continue my life there... despite it being boring and problematic, at least it won't be as harsh as I am suffering here in Nikoan... right? And besides... because of the duchess, I had to take a different approach with things and found a long route that I am currently taking. So once I go back to Earth, I will apologize to my parents for dissapearing like nothing.
Stress hovered inside her mind as she happily thought of other things she was going to do when she went back to her home world. "Anyway, I think it's best to continue with our own works now that I have let you know about the matter. If you think you are stuck, I guess I can help around with it. Besides that, I wish you a good luck on your journey of discovery." She held her finger up as if to snap, but just when she glanced forward, it looked like he was hesitating to speak something.
Lowering her hand, she smiled and added more words to her sentences. "I know this is going to seem intimidating and hard, but it won't take long for you to understand how things work and what you need to find out. I think when I started this sort of researching and investigation, even I had a hard time adjusting, with it regularly draining my mental energy and leaving me tired at the end. But it is worth it at the end of the day when you finally understand how much of a difference you have made."
"It's not that what I am trying to say!" Lewis shouted while lifting his gaze from the ground. "It's easy for you say you have many things you would like to pursue when you leave your role as a member of the family... but you are miscalculating something that would leave us hanging at the end of a single thread." He added softly while looking directly at her shocked-still face. "Is that the reason you are slowly distancing yourself from us so that we don't feel like we are missing something important around the palace?"
Although to him, it sounded more friendly in terms, but to her, it sounded more like a mistake being held into light in front of her. "Many I haven't calculated that enough then... so I will have to be way more smarter the next time I am trying to play a game against your family." Her eyes turned shadowed as a smile lingered against her face.
"Thinking about leaving... I am also a little upset that I am having to let go of some precious people around me... but in order to take larger steps into my missions, I need to make huge sacrifices as well. Because once I tried to keep my happiness in side while pursuing my goals... and I lost someone more expensive than an entire world from my life. And when I calculated properly... I realized that...
"In order for my mission to be successful...I can't be abandoned... nor can I be left alone... but 'I' need to be the one to leave things alone the way they are while climbing higher up."
The words echoed back and forth across the silent room with the time put to a stop, that the second hand and the minute hand of the clock has to forcibly be put to a stop. "Either ways... in order for no harm to reach you guys... especially Henry... I need to make sure I leave you alone so that no one else connected to me will be able to lay a finger on the anyone of you."
The last words floated in the air as silence stretched between them with a huge intensity. One person was in a joyous state of mind, speaking out words with almost no emotion in them, while the other person stood with hesitation as to say something or to reply to anything. Both of them just stood staring at the other person with no words and waiting for a sign to speak.
"I want to ask one more question." The words finally left Lewis's mouth as soon as he found the courage to say it. "What if, after I help you solve this problem, I will help you find another way that won't need you to sacrifice anything and you don't need to leave?"
"Do you think that's possible?" Aefia asked with a more distilled face this time which caused a guilty feeling to erupt inside his mind. "It seems that you are still hesitating to understand the truth. Or maybe you understand the truth but don't want to acknowledge it. Either way, you need to know one fact... that I am just a person your mother picked up midway to fix a few situations. My presence didn't change a thing in your daily lives, and I believe it won't when I am gone."
As the time against her health ticked, she stepped back multiple times and bowed her head. "But until the last day of my stay, I will try my best to stay as a sister... and help you solve your problems." When lifting her head, she snapped her finger and the atmosphere around them dropped. The lively ticking of the clock and the faint whispers of people filled their ears as Aefia turned around in an attempt to walk away.
"But I am not done speaking!" Lewis chased behind her, but his fingers didn't even graze her hair as she dissapeared out of view, turning completely invisible.