Episode 138- Was it really a coincidence?
Previous ep: Aernest told Moniqua and Levis that he misses home and confesses that he knew the real reason why they send them to Zene. Zene summary.
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Levis and Moniqua were frowning the whole time they listened to Aernest’s recollection of their trip. Obviously, they knew Amos and Earnest would have to fill in the blanks, but what they didn’t expect was for the kids to encounter incidents every single day that they’ve been here. This was not what they had in mind when they sent the children to Zene.
Moniqua’s face gave all her feelings away. But before she could look even guiltier, Aernest used his huge eyes to stare at her. His eyes laser stared as if saying ‘Don’t-feel-guilty!-You-sent-us-here-because-home-wasn’t-safe!’.
Moniqua’s heart clenched upon seeing Aernest attempts at comforting her. It was an unexplainable feeling seeing your child become very mature. She managed to squeeze out a tight smile before glancing down and accidentally meeting eyes with Eugene.
Likewise, Eugene was giving her the same look Aernest gave her.
‘Ha…’’ She exhaled gently as she shook her head. “How they’ve grown.” She whispered as she lovingly stared at her children.
Levis felt the same way Moniqua did when an image suddenly flashed by his thoughts. With eyes furrowed, he muttered, “Stone figures. Real-life women.” he paused for 3 full seconds before stating, “If I remember correctly, Emperor Zen has one statue sent by the King of Zene…”
His words made Eugene and Aernest stare at him with widened eyes! ‘The Emperor got sent one?!’ They thought in unison as goosebumps crept up to their arms!
‘That Kal really is a psychopath! Thank god he is out of commission!’ Eugene felt relieved as soon as she remembered that Kal was no longer in this world. ‘Talking about out of commission though…’ She glanced at her bandaged hands and sighed.
She still didn’t know how to come around regarding her hand and Commander Kal. She didn’t even know where to begin to think, theorize, or know whom to ask questions to! Now that she thinks about it… her body is creepier than Emperor Zen being sent stone figures!
The hall was quiet, confusing Aernest who was ignorant of why everyone was suddenly in their world and in deep thoughts. Disregarding everyone’s personal time, he asked, “Is the King of Zene currently being treated, mother, father?”
To him, the King of Zene was one of the most pitiful people he’s met in his 3 years of living. And he was genuinely concerned for him.
Levis smiled at Aernest gently before replying with his deep voice, “The King’s health is being taken care of by his Royal physicians.” He had met Louis and his group when they arrived at the main palace. They were also briefed about the incident that occurred inside the audience hall. According to Amos, the Royal physicians came as fast as lightning to take care of their King.
“What of the King’s safety?” asked Eugene who was distracted from her ‘personal’ matters.
“Our soldiers are guarding the King together with Zene’s knights.” Levis smiled as he answered Eugene’s smart question.
‘So a temporary truce…’ Eugene nodded at Levis’s answer.
Levis gave her a half-smile and didn’t continue. There were still many problems they had to deal with. And the biggest problem of all was the loss of two very important positions. The position that commands all of Zene’s knights; dealing with the country’s security and safety. And the position of the King’s aide; personally assisting the King as well as commanding the Royal staff.
Though it was none of Levis’s problem, leaving things to be will eventually become a problem to Xenperia. Xenperia couldn’t allow Zene as a country to fall, which means he, the Duke of Veria, couldn’t allow such a thing to happen.
The reason why everything was so complicated was that Levis did not know if the aristocrats in Zene were trustworthy or not. It was also because he was not 100 percent familiar with the aristocrats here. There was a huge possibility that if a noble from Zene was to know of this incident, that he would overthrow the King, especially since he was weak now. Another complicated part was Kal’s manipulation in the aristocrat circle. There was no doubt in Levis’s mind that Kal had controlled the nobles here, which allowed him to become him from today; the Commander of Zene’s knights.
For now, everything concerning this incident will be kept a secret until the King takes charge again. Not to mention, help would arrive tomorrow.
Aernest sighed, “If Eldest sister didn’t discover the hand, no one would have known about the stone figures and no one would be suspicious of Zene.” he paused for a second before continuing, “Probably no one would have thought that Commander Kal’s music was suspicious as well…” his mood dimmed when he finished.
“…..” Eugene looked up at Aernest as surprise filled her eyes. She had never known that Aernest was someone who could think through problems deeply. Since when has he become so mature?
Like Eugene, Moniqua and Levis were also plenty surprised. But before one of them could say anything, a soft voice spoke out,
“But was it all really a coincidence?”
Immediately everyone turned to Euria as words got stuck in their throats.
The dark hall dimmed even more as the atmosphere became suffocating.
‘If Eldest sister didn’t discover the hands.’ Aernest’s words kept repeating in her mind after what Euria said. Her stomach felt itchy and uncomfortable as her heart skipped a beat.
‘Was it… really a coincidence?’ Suddenly she could feel cold sweat trickling down from her neck to her collarbone.
What was the probability that a hand would be discovered by her? What was the possibility of concrete breaking cleanly? Just as she began to question the hand she found, images flashed through her mind one by one.
The huge fountain by the entrance of the Veria mansion.The small fountain in the pavilion. Those were made from concrete which meant that concrete is inherently water-proof. Which also meant that the hand was… water-proof…
Levis’s darkened gaze moved to Euria for one second before pulling away. Even though Commander Kal was a vicious villain, he was the Commander of Zene’s knights and was a perfectionist. He was not the kind to make such a blunder, much less to tolerate a missing limb from one of his figures, even if it was one he had discarded.
A woman who was walking with the group in front of them abruptly stopped. She moved to the side and waited patiently for Levis and his group. This woman was beautiful and was slightly more distinctive than the group in front of her because of her wavy red hair.
According to Dea and Con, she was most similar to the famous ‘Lea’ in terms of overall appearance.
When Levis’s group reached her, she bowed and introduced herself, “Greetings esteemed sir and ma’am, I am-”
Before she could finish her words, Moniqua gasped loudly whilst grabbing Levis’s arms, “LEA?!”
Levis’s eyes widened as he stared at the woman in front of him.
The woman was surprised by Moniqua’s outburst but quickly shook her head. “My name is Lise…”
Moniqua blinked for a second before calming down. Sadness flashed her eyes as she thought back to Aernest’s words, ‘Don’t tell me the pitiful Lady Lea Aernest mentioned was ‘that’ Lea. But wasn’t her partner called Hal?’ Moniqua was confused but she was sadder. There was no doubt in her mind that her friend Lea was the same Lea Aernest mentioned, especially because the woman in front of her was extremely similar to her friend.
Levis’s eyebrows were scrunched up. He had felt that the group of women seemed familiar, which was why he had stared at them for more than 3 seconds and got into trouble with Moniqua. It was no wonder he found them very familiar…
Lea. Lea was a woman he encountered with Moniqua when they -cough- eloped -cough- back when they were 15. He remembered her because of how fond Moniqua was of her and because her hair was red like Moniqua. Back then, she had called her companion Hal which was why he did not associate Aernest’s mention of another Lea with the Lea he knew. But now he knows. The man he had met back when he was 15, was the late Commander, Kal.
He sighed to express his frustration and freed one of his hands that were holding Aernest and squeezed Moniqua’s shoulders to comfort her.
“Lady Lise…” Moniqua squeezed Levis’s hands on her shoulder and smiled half-heartedly at the lady in front of her, “How can we help you?”
Before Lise could reply, Levis interrupted, “Did Lady say your name is Lise?” his voice was filled with surprise as he asked.
Lise nodded hesitantly, “Yes, My name is Lise…”
Moniqua turned to Levis and looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face when she suddenly remembered the old grandmother from the previous day! Moniqua’s and Levis’s eyes widened as they stared at each other in shock!
Moniqua was first to break out from the shock. She sighed in relief as she turned to Lise, “Thank goodness you are safe and alive. Your parents have been looking for you for five years!”
Lise’s mouth moved as if she wanted to say something however she stopped herself. After a few seconds, she repeated Moniqua’s words,
“Parents?”
One word from Lise made everyone grow quiet. Everyone understood one thing and it was that her memories had been tampered with by Kal.
Lise also said nothing. Her hand reached for her heart as she stared at the floor. When she was brave enough to look into Moniqua’s eyes she asked, “Are my memories… wrong?”
Moniqua said nothing but belatedly nodded.
Lise’s eyes fluttered in confusion, “Have they… have they been looking for me all this time?”
“Yes…”
Lise’s hands were clenched tight, “Are they doing… well. I.. I.. feel so sorry.” One of her hands reached to her head as she apologized.
She felt apologetic because she didn’t know her parents were alive. She didn’t even know she had parents until now. Her earliest recollections were of meeting her late husband and nothing else.
“I… I feel so sorry,” she repeated as she held her chest that was aching terribly. Her heart ached more than when she heard her husband had passed away. It was so incredibly painful.
“But…” suddenly a voice interjected. “I thought the tribal people all had white eyes.” The voice belonged to Eugene who raised a very good question.
Moniqua’s eyes were widened, “Your eyes…” Did… did they get the wrong person?
“Hus-… I mean Sir Kal prefers dark eyes and gave me colored lenses. My eyes are… white.” She explained.
Eugene’s eyes widened when she heard the word ‘colored lenses’. Moniqua saw her confusion and explained, “Colored lenses are small films made to fit your eyes and change one’s eye color temporarily. What Lady Lise is wearing right now is black lenses.”
Eugene blinked at Moniqua, ‘I know what lenses are! What I was shocked about was someone inventing such an intricate thing in this time and age!’ Of course, she couldn’t explode in front of Moniqua so she simplified her thoughts and in a softer tone, she asked,
“Are they not… hard to make?”
Moniqua chuckled at Eugene’s question, “They are. Which is why they are rare.”
‘Oh…’
“Um!” A soft voice interjected. This voice belonged to Lea.
Moniqua turned away from Eugene, “Yes?”
Lise’s hands fumbled around and she stared at Moniqua nervously, “Where… Where are my parents? How do I… meet them?” She knew that she was taking up their time, but she had to ask this important question no matter what.
“….” Levis and Moniqua glanced at each other in silence. Her mother, Lin, was severely injured and this was not the time to break it to her.
“We can take you there tomorrow.” Levis proposed after a full minute of silence.
Lise’s eyes were widened but she quickly nodded. She quickly expressed her gratitude and ran away to catch up with the group who was long gone from sight.
Eugene sighed as she stared forward. She turned to Moniqua and asked, “How will you deal with… ‘them’?” By them, Eugene was talking about the group of women; Kal’s wives. There was also this matter about 20 of Kal’s children being slaughtered overnight. There was no doubt that some of these children were born from the group of women.
‘There are still so many questions left unanswered…’ And it was going to be hard finding these answers because Kal had died from his brain … disintegrating.
Moniqua rubbed Eugene’s head and answered, “You will know tomorrow.”
‘Tomorrow?’ Eugene’s brow was raised but she didn’t continue to pester Moniqua, ‘No matter, I can wait a day.’
Aernest’s ears twitched, “….” And he moved up suddenly. This was seen by Eugene who mouthed to him,
‘What’s wrong?’ she turned around to where Aernest was staring but didn’t see anything.
When Eugene turned back, Aernest shook his head and mouthed, ‘Nothing.’
He ignored the erratic heartbeat from behind and moved back into Levis’ embrace, ‘We must respect his privacy.’
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“What’s wrong? Do you feel dizzy?” The soldier was alarmed when he saw Con suddenly crouching over with his forehead leaning against the wall.
Con didn’t answer but his hands clutched his heart tightly. The soldier kneeled and was about to pick Con up when he froze.
There was only despair and sadness on Con’s face. The more the soldier watched, the more his back trickled with goosebumps.
Con was screaming with misery, despair, desolation, but his screams were deadly silent.
