Later that day, the investigation was over, I was led to a room to stay the night. Emperor Helios instructed his subjects to treat me like a guest; thus, I stayed in quite a luxurious court.
The place was vast and spacious. The walls were decorated with marble white wallpaper, forming a decorative pattern spiraling to the middle center of the roof, with a chandelier hanging off lighting the room with unusual flame with different shades of colors.
Each piece of furniture was made of smooth, old wood of the finest quality with cushions and covers to prevent dust from accumulating.
Getting comfortable and settled in the room wasn't hard at all. As I take off my equipment memory and change to the clothes I was given, I feel the soft mattress of the king-size bed and the carpet on the floor.
The entire floor was covered with a carpet soft to the touch, as if I walked on a cloud while the bed was puffy and light, making my body feel weightless and unconstrained, making me a slave to comfort.
Laying on the bed, I couldn't help but close my eyes and fall asleep. Before I knew it, however, a light knock on the door woke me up before I realized I lost consciousness.
After battling the vicious temptations to stay in the reposing comfort of my new bed, I approached the door and opened wide.
Before me, stands a maid in a formal uniform and glasses over her cold, unfeeling eyes. The sight throws me off, knowing she holds the same face as the rest of the king including his truly.
"Good evening, honored guest. I was instructed to take you to meet her majesty."
Overlooking the change in the address of genders, I tell the half-annoyed maiden in tired voice, fantasizing on sleep.
"The meeting with His Majesty is scheduled for tomorrow, I believe. You can come pick me up at dawn…"
"That is not His Majesty who requires your presence."
She replies coldly. Her annoyed expression is clearer. The intense glare is getting through her glasses and making my skin cold.
For a moment, I let my guard down and forgot where I was exactly. I may be a guest now, but I might as well spend my night in a cold, rotting dungeon cage if the ruler of this palace wills it.
"Y-yes, certainly."
With tide steps and stiffened posture, I follow through the halls.
After losing my track and just as I feel lost, the maid raises her voice in annoying tone, fit for a teenager, as if satisfied to end her shift.
"That is the room. She awaits you just beyond the door."
The maid says as she walks away, clearly not going above her pay-grade.
Entering the room after knocking, I find the place in a size of a penthouse. at the first floor, marble floor stretched through the entire place, clean and shining without a speck of dust can be seen.
On the walls are oil paintings of scenery. On a particular wall, there is a painting of couple of people.
'Family portraits, perhaps?'
In front of the entrance, stands a large slide door, leading to an entire garden.
The garden includes a field of greens, a river floors into a shiny lake where birds sit to wash and barks of dark wood, marking the end of the… apartment.
The second floor is led by wide spiral staircase with purple carpet and a door at the end of the stairs.
The part of the dining room has a unique design.
The table is of short height, and the seats are fancy cushions placed on the soft carpet on the floor.
The place has its own kitchen and bathroom and in the corner of the room, stands a wall of thin paper, just enough to cover the other side. While next to the thin-paper wall, stands a person, seemingly a servant, who holds folded pile of clothes.
Greeting awkwardly, the servant did not reply, or move, for that matter.
Instead, a silhouette raised from behind the paper wall.
The silhouette of a woman, with long hair reaching her lower back and graceful, slim figure moves in a special rhyme and grasps a piece of clothe to clean herself dry.
As she bends down her waist to dry her legs behind the wall, her head tilts slightly. Until finally, she drops the towel and takes the clothes from the hands of the servant while stepping out from behind the wall, revealing herself in her full glory.
Her raven smooth hair moves with elegance along side her dark onyx eyes highlighting her bright-colored smiling lips as she looks over at me.
The cloth she puts in front of me is a beautiful dark robe made of smooth, soft silk that fits her theme well, yet she was not afraid to knot the waistband loosely, revealing her proportions seducingly.
The scene left me mesmerized, flabbergasted, dumbfounded, but not because of the beauty of the woman, but because her face… is different.
She does not wear the same face as the rest of the castle.
She is the first person I've seen today who can be called an individual.
"Good evening, honored guest."
She said softly at a low pace and seducing tone.
"I'm sorry for the wait, and impropriety. I just took a hot bath; hope you didn't mind the wait."
Her teasing continues.
"I heard the emperor has met an interesting fellow."
She approached closer. Meeting my eyes in distance that could be considered intimate.
Without warning, she backed off and announced:
"I just didn't know he'd look so particular."
She turned around and said in a softer tone
"I should keep my manners in front of such an elegant guest."
The graceful young lady walked up the stairs, changing her clothes and dresses appropriately.
Once she returned to the living room where I waited, her flawless figure was covered with an elegant robe weaved and tethered by the finest threads of silk.
The crimson color in shape of flowers blooming decorating the master handicraft of her black dark cloth. Forming her slim waste tight with a cotton belt tied behind her lower back.
The cloth looks like a lost tradition of an old civilization reborn anew using foreign craftsmanship.
The woman looks different, less opposing and yet, deserves more respect.
Leading me to the dining room, she tells me to take a seat while she sits in front of me and the servant representing food for dinner.
Shortly after, the large table is filled with side dishes, meat and sauces. The meat does not look familiar, seemingly made from whatever lives around this area.
Hesitated to put anything inside my mouth, the woman can't take her eyes off me. Mischievous smile never leaves her face and a glint in the eyes as if watching her favorite tv show.
"It's not poisoned if that's what you're worried about. Neither is your drink. It's just a mean to lessen the tension between us."
As she says that, she flicks her wrist to the servant and he unquestionably leaves the living quarters, leaving only us two.
In sudden instant, the entire atmosphere felt like it had dropped to zero. The heavy air felt lighter, the pressure on the muscles lifted greatly, and the entire room fell into silence.
For once, it feels peaceful.
"That should be better. Now that we're both alone, why don't we get to know each other better."
The princess in front of me did not feel intimidating any longer, making me finally evaluate the situation in cold mind.
The woman crossed her legs, looks at me in the eyes.
"My name is Alticia. You might have noticed my… abnormality among the rest of the residents. I'm willing to share information, the kind you're certainly curious about, if we simply get to know each other."
A wide smile spread across her face, making doubts and suspicions rise in my head. However, it might also be my last chance to find a way out.
"Thank you for your hospitality. I really do appreciate it, but I assure you I won't stay here long. I intend to negotiate with The Lord tomorrow and find a-"
Alticia holds up her hand, stopping me in mid-sentence and contradicting me.
"First of all, I presented you with kindness and introduced myself. May I even add that I'm the daughter of the person you call 'The Lord'. The least you could repay me with is introduce yourself as well.
"And secondly, I said I will provide you with information you'd certainly be interested in. that includes the deal my father plans to enforce upon you. One you won't be able to run from."
With curious piqued, thoughts of anxiety and possibilities surfacing in my mind.
Will I become one of the servants?
Will I lose my freedom?
Is that why everyone else looks alike?
Taking a moment to calm my mind and lower my composure, I reply to Alticia.
"My name is… Regret. I'm just a lost wanderer. I am sorry for my rudeness, Miss, but I'd like to make partners with you."
Alticia looks pleased with a smug on her face.
"That's better. Then how about we start our little date."
She leans forward on the table, holding a glass of wine as she brings the clear glass to her soft lips.
"To start our little date, I can tell you, the deal is very simple. he'll want you to join his army. But not just that, we are planning to send you back to your 'waking world' and conquer it inside out"
She takes another sip
"Of course, if we make this date a success, I'd be glad to save this burden"
She pours more wine into her glass and brings it closer to her lips.
"so…"
After taking a sip, she pours wine into my glass straight from her own.
"Don't be shy now."
The smile in her eyes glistens with genuine joy.
Taking the glass, the red liquid flooding my taste buds. The wine is stronger than I imagine and yet, I gulp down, for the sake of the manners in front of the princess.
Alticia is giggling, amused with the face I make.
"That's the way! So, about the kingdom, you probably wonder 'why everyone looks the same'"
I sit back, listening carefully as I take another sip without thinking. Yet the bitterness breaks my daze, leaving me to wonder why I did it again.
"Well, each of them is the same person. My father and the ruler of our kingdom. King Helios."
Both of us take another sip. The liquid gushes down our throats, leaving nothing in the glass.
"Father controls each subject individually, establishing workplaces, making other families. Heck, he's even going so far as to be my loyal servant supervising me every single day!"
As the conversation dragged on, we both became careless as we drank more and more of the acquired taste.
Alticia's expression and attitude became more childish, playful and carefree. Her drunken self is like an alter ego, altering anything she represents when sober.
"That geezer rules the castle by himself? Isn't that just *hic* sad?"
Meanwhile, I left my worries and conscious behind.
The more we drank the dizzier we got, and alcohol clouding our judgement.
"He always says something about apothosis, apethestist *hic* or something. He is already not human, and for some reason his other selves don't just cover the castle but the entire goddamn city! I even saw merchants coming from more distant villages also look identical to my stupid father!"
Alticia opened up to some extent, her eyes couldn't keep focus, and head did not stop moving. She sounded more like a child than anything.
"You hate your father that much? Isn't he family or something? I wouldn't know, I don't even remember my fucking name!"
"Hate him? I never got to know anything or anyone besides him! I can't run from my home because I'm being kept under tight watch! Even if I do run from home any person I'll find is just father! Father father father father!"
Like two children throwing a tantrum, the room fills with shouts. I see the air warps as hazy blur darken and change into shape. The shape of a familiar figure.
It is the first time I have seen a Regret Spirit form. The Spirit has yet to form completely, making the regret incomplete, as if the regretful act is set in mind yet not yet complete.
"The first human I've got to see my entire life who's not my insidious father…"
She said, her desperate and beautiful voice sounded louder as she climbs on the table and touches my face. The first face she had seen her entire life.
She gets closer, the heat of her skin can be felt on my face and the hot breath with stench of wine envelopes my nose. Her lips are leaving heavy breaths that get louder by the silence of the room.
At last, taking hold of herself, Alticia backs off, looking away awkwardly and plays with her hair, thinking of a way to change the topic.
"So, what about your story?"
Suspiciously, the Regret Spirit has yet to be formed or deformed. Brushing off the tiny details, I voiced out my respond.
"I don't have a story. I'm left with no memories or past. I don't know if I had amazing life or pitiful experience worthy of a trash rat!
"I don't know if I was a bad person or was kind to anyone. I'm not even familiar with my own kind! I got betrayed twice and honestly; I'm surprised I survived half a year with only getting stabbed once.
"I thought the world was simple enough. People showed me kindness, naturally, I'd expect the same people to be loyal!
"I thought life was simple. live it while it lasts, but of course, throw me into a fucking cemetery!
"And instead of isolation or at least a better company, I got to live in the world that is apathetic simply because there's no one who felt warmth in this life."
Tears run down my face, forming endless rivers.
Some things in life are never fair. And sometimes I feel like my memories hold those things people consider fair. And what does it leave me with?
Alticia looks down in sorrow… in regret.
The Spirit has completely formed.
She walks to me and sits beside me. Watching me sobs and hearing me breath heavily. I look at nothing but sheltering between my arms and embrace my legs tight.
As she sits there, she puts her arm around my shoulder and leans close. Making sure I'll know she's there.
This "date" turned from drinking party to therapy session. But maybe that could open some new paths to watch through.
We sit quietly into the dark night. With the unfamiliar night sky glistening above and no one else to pry in.
...
The next day, I woke up and met up with the king. Sitting high in his chair, looking down at me and the entire kingdom. He looks at me everywhere in the kingdom.
"Raise your head high. I have a proposal to offer."
Doing as he says, I don't dare to make a single move out of order.
The room filled with more tension than anywhere else in the castle. Like the last time, the room was filled with soldiers wearing heavy armors.
"I will let you leave, roam freely wherever you like. But you must take one vessel of mine into your world. You've informed us well in the investigation, but we'd like to experience it firsthand.
"At first I wished for you to take a simple vessel, but I've come with a better idea."
With a signal, the guards escorted someone into the court room.
It was Alticia. She had the armor of a warrior and a look as cold as ice.
I did not recognize the girl I met yesterday but instead she looks like a spartan warrior.
"I assume you've already met my daughter. My most loyal knight and the chief of intelligence gatherings. She is the one who volunteered for the expedition. She'll be free to move back here and to your world."
'Intel gatherings? Could she be…'
"That's right mortal. Every piece of information that gets through her reaches me. Including your little backstory."
"We could ask you in the investigation, of course, but there is nothing more thorough than an intimate conversation."
Alticia joined her father. Looking down with cold demeanor. Making this all an act.
This place may not have been paradise, but I bounded myself in this nightmare for revealing my secrets to this sociopath… and his devil of a daughter. Simply because I have faint hopes that I can't abandon.
A king intimidating as a god was unleashed into the world.
A woman who I let inside, made it her own palace.
And I who got nothing left to trust.