When Antuan, the lover of the arena, died, the City Lord, losing interest in the fights, started walking down the stairs.
The three noble families bowed their heads in greeting, but Astute’s eye momentarily shifted to one person. Even though he thought no one noticed the gaze he immediately took back, the all-seeing one was fully aware of what was going on.
After the city lord, those in the House of Augustus left the arena even though they were the hosts. The reason for their rush was a large amount of gold and prestige they had lost.
“Daddy, I’m feeling a little tired. Can we go home before the fights are over?”
“Of course, we can get up whenever you want!”
Her father, who did not refuse any of the requests of the young girl who called out to her with her charming voice, would not act differently this time. The members of the Partheni household, who stood up with a wave of his hand, hurried towards the exit.
“Uncle Niko, I ordered some medicinal herbs for my cousin to the traveling merchants. They arrived yesterday; I am sending them to your mansion with my assistant!”
While Eftelya was leaving the arena, Marcos, who remained behind, whispered to the young girl’s father.
“Thank you, Marcos. Even though you don’t show it to people, your heart is gold like your mother’s!”
Blushing at the praise he heard, the young man bowed his head slightly and was stunned by a hard blow to the head.
“I hope your mother doesn’t know we’re here. Unless we want to get scolding from the heart of gold all night, keep your mouth shut!”
Fernandez said goodbye to his old friend Niko with a wink after hitting his son on the head.
The city of Parthenia was opening its arms to the night where silence reigned with the sunset, which surrendered to the day’s tiredness. Unlike the morning, the air was hostile, and occasional lightning strikes accompanied the heavy rain.
As the time passed and the lights began to go out one by one, the number of houses with life in them was as many as the fingers of a hand. It was in one of these houses that Niko was busy examining the accounts.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the dim darkness of the room. Niko jumped to his feet in panic as the ensuing thunder shook the windows. Such rains would necessarily come with fierce winds, and as a result, ships anchored in the harbor could not escape damage.
Despite knowing that he could do nothing, Niko, returning to his work after seeing his business and comforting himself, would jump in fear with a foreign voice.
“Contrary to what we seem, I guess we are not very brave!”
The grey-haired man stammered in reply, ruffled by the call of someone hiding in the shadows.
”Who are you? What are you looking for here?”
The words almost caught in his throat with fear. Niko knocked over everything on the table as he took steps backward.
“I’m only going to ask one question. According to your answer, your whole life can change!”
The common question came when Niko’s eyes, drifting to the edge of the window in panic, could make out the figure from the shadows.
‘Head of the Partheni family, the former owner of the city, how far would you go for your daughter?’
Niko was shocked when he saw the female orc that his daughter had brought to the mansion recently but only thought about the question put to him.
“I wouldn’t hesitate to take the world against me for her sake!”
A few tens of breaths ago, the blue-eyed man, trembling with fear, answered in one breath when his daughter’s name was brought up.
“As I guessed, you are a good father, and good fathers never leave their daughters alone!”
His father occupied a great place in the memories of his master. Niko was also a brave man who would risk many things for his daughter.
“You are the orc, my daughter’s servant. I felt that you were different after what happened, but what do you want from me?”
When Nafız saw that the man in front of him was starting to calm down, she sat down on one of the chairs in front of his desk and gestured for Niko for him to take his place.
“Your wife died while giving birth, and your daughter has been battling an illness ever since. I can’t get your wife back, but would you believe me if I told you I could cure your daughter?
Enraged by what he heard, Niko shouted before he could control his voice.
“Do you know what you said? If you can do that, I will even give my life in return!”
”Very well. I will ask for many lives from you, but none of them will be from your family or loved ones. By the way, Niko, have you ever thought that your wife might have been killed?”
As soon as Nafız finished her words, she disappeared as if she did not exist, and the mansion guards came in, out of breath.
“Sir, are you okay?”
While the guards swarming the room looked around in wonder. Niko, who was slumped on his desk, lifted his head slightly and said, “It’s okay, guys. I shouted because I was angry with a mistake in an account; you can return to your posts!”
Who was her friend who worked miracles in the arena in the morning, and who was the orc who came out of nowhere at night to visit her? Can my daughter, who has been growing in pain since the day she was born and incapable of walking, recover? Have you ever thought that your wife might have been killed?”
Niko, who had a difficult morning with three questions resounding in his mind, would have his daughter with him as soon as he woke up.
“Good morning, daddy. What’s wrong with you? Or did you not sleep at all last night?”
Seeing her father like this for the first time with his chalky face, sunken eye bags, and sloppy head, the young girl asked, rising from where she was lying in a rage.
“Good morning, young lady. Your breakfast is being prepared. I will serve it shortly!”
Nafız bowed respectfully in front of Eftelya and spoke, avoiding Niko’s gaze.
“Let Nafız open up to my father in a service. I haven’t had the opportunity to have breakfast with him for a long time.”
“Of course, young lady, I’m sending your request to the kitchen right away!”
Nafız, who turned her back to Eftelya with a smile, did not look at Niko again and quietly left the room. Despite what he had experienced at night when it came to his daughter, the charismatic gray-haired man forgot everything and started to have breakfast with all his joy.
“My beautiful girl, I have to go back to my work now. Marcos has brought some food for you. I hope you like it!”
As Niko left her daughter’s room and reached the end of the hall, a voice came to his ears.
“I’m waiting for you in the abandoned stone house in the south garden. Make sure you are not being followed! You will get the answers to all the questions that are bothering you!”
His guards at the gate and his business at the port were now erased from Niko’s mind. He should have been where he was told as soon as possible. Unseen, he set off for the house the female orc had described.
“This is the house where my wife and I had our happiest moments. Why are you defiling a sacred place for us with your presence?”
“Your wife was delightful. Contrary to that huge cold mansion, the warmth radiated here warms one’s heart!”
In a short time, when the man, whose eyes were full of tears, knelt in pain, even Nafız would fell to mercy and soften her style.
“Your daughter was born in this house, wasn’t she? Take me to that room, and I will answer your question!”
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If we do not take death in small doses every day, are we in a structure that cannot manage to live?
Virginia Woolf
