"Well? That is my story. Do you want to hear more? I think I actually have a tiny bit left. But it is related to the Guardian Realm and my cursed sword Spectrum. Oh wait! I also happened to meet a close friend of mine." I snapped while straightening. As I swept my gaze towards Cedric, I was left wondering if he was able to catch all that I had just said.
"Wow... That was a rather... Harsh lifestyle." He finally added with shocked eyes looking at me. "You have been through quite a lot, and you still have a strong mentality to walk around. But more of all, you are pretty good at hiding yourself and about your life. I am still in greed to hear more."
"If you want, I can tell you about it. But more importantly, I think you should come across a more important fact." I interrupted in time, since I was pretty thirsty from saying all that. "I will continue the remaining do the story another time, after you tell your story."
"No wait! I have questions!"
"What?!"
"Your hand! It's bandaged. You haven't told me about the story behind your hand." He spoke while pointing at my left hand, which Helio had stitched up.
"Oh... Now that you mention it, the cursed sword that I carry needs to be fed my blood and I need to take it out for a kill. Otherwise, it would possess me and take over my mind without my willingness."
"But how is it related to your hand?"
"Because when my friend tried to heal it, the wound didn't close. I have to feed the sword for an entire month to restore my connection with it. So he stitched it up for me. Now since it was a stab, it kind of hurts when I try to use it." I answered while trying to pull my fingers. "I kind of lost some of my sensory nerves on the way."
Beside me, Cedric let out a sigh and crossed his arms, while giving me a dissapointed look.
"What?! What did I do wrong?! I had to do it in order to protect Lewis and his family alright!"
Cedric frowned before clasping both my shoulders and rattling me like a mannequin.
"Then what about protecting yourself?! If you don't stay alive and well then who will help me get back to my family?!"
He only let go after finishing his sentence. My head was too dizzy to think properly around that time, until I finally managed to utter words again, I was completely silent.
"Even if I am unwell, I will still be able to send you back to your family. So don't worry about me and my trivial matters." I smiled at him, not because I was actually trying to comfort him, but because he was concerned for me. "Anyway, so I was meaning to say something for quite some time, and it may interest you a little. Mind if you give me a proper ear?"
"Is it about my siblings?"
"Partially? I don't know yet if they are involved too."
"Then I can't guarantee that I will be interested in this matter too."
Finally, due to frustration, I slammed a pillow into his face. "Well many people's lives depend on it! So do you want to hear about it now?! Even the Empress' life!"
While moving the pillow away, he huffed a deep breathe before looking at me with a pair of furrowed eyebrows and eyes which said that he wanted to say something more important before that.
"That Empress is a duchess with a territory! You think she was easily made the Empress to be called one?!"
"What?" By the time, I was already standing on my knees while still on the sofa and holding another pillow above my head, ready to hit him with it. I was a bit of a short-tempered person, so he should have known better then to have bruttally wasted my time. However, it seemed that he had something of his own to tell that needed a bit of an attention. At least for me, it seemed interesting to the point that it made me calm down within a second.
Finally, I settled back down on the sofa while sitting crossed leg and facing his direction. "Say it. What is it about her?"
Cedric let out a surprised 'huh', before sitting cross-legged while facing me this time. Finally, he smriked while connecting all of his ten fingers to their respectives on the other hand.
"So for short... Although the duchess continuously claimed that she is the connective heir of the throne and that her husband's family were the ones who took it away from her a long time ago..."
"Let me guess. She made up a story so that people were going to believe her that she is the only right owner of the throne."
"Let me speak Aefia!" He slammed his palms onto his knees and leaned forward while staring at me with an annoyed look on his face.
"Alright. Sorry." I held out my hands in the air as a way to surrender.
Before he continued to speak, he eyed me once and then opened his mouth again.
"So yes. She made up a story in the form of rumors and spread it to the entire noble society so that people would be forced to believe she was the right heir and see her that way. But the funnier part is, she had accidentally created a much renounced real story regarding her brother and their siblings. She was pretty greedy, you see? So she somehow managed to silently eliminate anymore candidates for the throne while she was the crown prince's fiancée."
"Damn! She made a way first for Lewis' father to take the throne, so that she had a clear way to get the throne next!" I spoke in astonishment.
"Exactly right?! The weird part is–"
"Wait! Can we add more people before we continue speaking about this?" I asked while interrupting him.
"Ugh! Who is it?"
"Countess Elanor and Nada. I feel like it will become a funny topic for discussion." I snickered while pointing at the door. "Don't worry... I will go get them right now!" I spoke while running outside. I honestly wanted the others to hear it too... Since they were also concerned about the duchess at some points.
And more than that... I wanted to have a gossip session. Since I had made it a mission to regain my happiness at one point, this had been in my bucket list for quite some time now. More then that, I just wanted to spend time with people who actually care for me.
Although this group of people were missing a few more, but I guess maybe someday in my life I will be able to have a gossip session with them too. However, I just hope that someone in particular will be able to make it whenever the time arrives.
The red brooch at my collar suddenly felt more familiar and I grabbed onto it while I ran to get Nada and Countess Elanor. However, sometimes my steps would slow down and I would stop to think about my current life.
Was it even worth living like this? Without a few people?
***
"So what? Continue it already!" I nagged from beside him. The four of us were sitting on the floor on top of a blanket while the room was dimly lit. In a small circle, that was only consisting of the people who would enjoy this as much as I would. Nada was beside me and I was beside Cedric. And on my opposite was Elanor. It felt pretty comfortable and as if I was just an eight-year old girl again. I remember doing this with my maid in the middle of the night when my parents were asleep.
"So the duchess, who currently claims about herslef being the true heir, was once just a daughter from a humble family."
"We know that part. What happens with the real story that wasn't a rumor?" Nada asked for the first time in a long while.
"Because what the imperial family says eventually becomes a truth to the other noble families' eyes, her youngest sibling became arrogant and jealous. So he insisted on her giving him the throne or he was going to commit a massacre. Even though the duchess told him the truth that she was making it up, he eventually thought of it in a way that would be seen as betrayal to many."
"Her brother went around killing his own family and when he came face to face with the actual truth, he went into hiding. And around that time, the duchess took the advance and killed the emperor and seized the throne. It hasn't been long since that incident occured, and Prince Lewis changed completely after that incident."
"The reason as to why the Empress continued to call herself duchess, was because right after the next Emperor takes over, she plans on returning to her own domain and continuing that title. Since wanting to be an Empress led her to losing her entire family, she doesn't wish to stay here for longer."
Finally, silence fell in.
"So... That's the end?" Elanor asked while looking at Cedric with a face that spoke of a little dissapointment.
"What? That is the story up until what I know... Or maybe what I remember."
Both Elanor and Nada looked a bit dissapointed and pleased at the same time. Finally, Elanor looked at my direction, all while I was in a bit of thought at that exact time that I didn't like to be interrupted.
"Aefia. So what are you going to say about it?" She finally asked with a smile and clasping her hands in front of her.
"Me? Then I guess... I can say that the duchess's brother is actually still alive and I met him. It seems as if Lewis and Henry knows his identity too. And they seem to have a hate-love relationship." I muttered while looking down and tapping my chin.
"So who is it?" Someone asked, and I couldn't tell who exactly. But it was definitely not Cedric.
"Viscount Abel." I answered while lifting my gaze at them, who were confused.
"That isn't the same name." It was Elanor who had been asking. I know it is considered a bit rude, but I hate her for her curiosity. I hate everyone who has something called curiousity of an aunt!
"It isn't. However... Ever considered the possibility of an identity change? To stay hidden and out of sight?"
"How? Do you mind showing us?"
I could tell that both Nada and Cedric were annoyed too, just as much as me. Nevertheless, I still made it a choice to let them know about my fake identity too. So I changed to my red eyes and longer hair. But then, I happened to realize that Elanor of all people were supposed to have known about my identity.
"Are you seriously asking me not knowing, Elanor? You met me in that forest before... Or was it not you?" I slightly tilted my head to look at her with sharp eyes to keep her silent for a bit longer.
Following that, as if a clock inside my head had ticked, I recalled another fact. Then another and another. So I stayed silent for a little bit more time as the others discussed about the Imperial family. I didn't care to give much ear, until I heard about Lewis.
"To think, he of all people changed immensely as soon as Aefia became a member in their family. But I won't actually lie, I heard that most elder brothers always needed a younger sister who would comfort them during times. I don't really know how close Lewis and Aefia were, but as siblings, they were inseparable whenever I saw it." Cedric continued speaking.
Huh?
"True. Afterall, both Aefia and Lewis seemed to have gone through the same thing. Being abused and left out by their parents." Nada added into eh conversation.
Only Elanor was silently staring at me with furrowed eyebrows and a squinted eyes. So I nodded back, while keeping an expressionless face. It was just to reassure her that I didn't mind.
"From what I heard, the Imperial family was actually on the brink of falling due to a certain other family. So I wanted to ask about that anyways."
Then, all eyes turned towards me. And I frowned a bit.
"It's actually... Something I didn't want to bring it up since it is connected to the Mides family." I spoke while looking down instead of at Cedric, since then, people would understand about his real identity.
"What did they do?" Cedric asked in curiosity. Then only did I lift back my gaze. That way, no one would be able to quesiton who or what was there to do with one person's stare and the Mides family.
"They hired my father as a proxy. And planned on occupying the Smod empire for themselves. Since they are a kingdom, it is expected of them." Elanor spoke up.
Before anyone else could say anything, I interrupted again.
"But most importantly, based on current informations from the borders and the palace. I have something to say to keep the rest of you assured. That on particular is the reason as to why I had to gather the two of you here as well." I muttered while glancing at them.
"I just visited the palace this morning before coming here, and the duchess was injected with a small amount of a toxic chemical that eats away the brain slowly. Although it is not anything of a parasite and stuff like that, it is however something that can kill parasites along with it."
"On my way here, two days or so ago, I had interrogated another proxy. And he had told me that the Mides family was behind it all. He was asked to kill Lewis, so I had to eventually kill him too. Otherwise, I would have asked you to imprison and question him further. But up to now, I don't think that would be necessary anymore. However, please be wary of anyone who wears magic embedded gloves. It just means they have something that is toxic just by touching it wrongly."
All of them looked pretty concerned, so I told them the name of the chemical too. I know for short that Nada knows of it, but she was acting to not expose me.