Aefia walked into the throne room, without the help of anyone escorting her. She walked directly in front of the dias, under the king's glare, swallowed any of her pride, and bowed without hesitation. Her forehead resting on her forearm as it rested on her knee.
"You may get up now." The king commanded while continuing to stare at her with cold blue eyes.
Cedric at one corner wondered if he should just intervene and make matters worse for himself to save her from any sort of punishments.
Aefia stood up, but didn't lift her gaze. God knew what about have happened if she did. Afterall, she was from an enemy empire. Needless to say, she was one of the unseen enemies to the King of Mides. She herself was involved in the backlash of his plans. However, if she showed that she truly was concerned in dethroning him, then it was obvious the worst was waiting for her.
"My son says you took care of you. But knowing your identity from a distance, you are someone who is enemies with the throne of Mides." He started speaking, the more he continued, the more she grew nervous and searched the a way out. "Furthermore, I won't lie seeing that you have kept him well until now. I can see you don't have any ill intentions to use him against my family. So what is your true intention?"
What else is my true intention? His entire family is out here, staring as I have to explain myself. Added to that, my mind is foggy from exhaustion. However, I do have a proper reason as to why I wanted to have Cedric returned to his family.
"Because I myself was displaced from my family... I know exactly how much someone misses what they had to leave behind. So I decided I would try and help at least one or two people return before I try to return to my own home." She answered politely, without lifting her gaze until she was commanded.
"It hasn't been long since you are marked dead. And it certainly doesn't make sense as to how Cedric has been well-fed by now." He narrowed his eyes at Aefia.
"Because I was adopted by the Imperial family about eight months ago. Where I was tortured and used as a pawn. So I fled, apparently I acted dead. That way, I managed to escape. I was displaced before the empress met me, and I was leaving with my aunt when the empress treathened me to become her 'daughter'."
The entire room fell silent. Outside, the leaves rustling was the only sound making it seem like the world was still alive and moving on. For the record, Aefia's hands were sickled from the time she reached the gates of the palace. And with the sudden silence, it felt too deafening. A ringing echoing inside Aefia's mind, and she felt like titling until she hit the ground.
"I understand it then. So when did you meet Cedric?"
"When his nanny was killed by the gang group called The Banshees."
"So when exactly did you meet the Banshees?"
"I met them before I was taken into the palace as an Imperial member. They had been captive for a while, and I managed to get him in as my personal butler and looked after him from then. While I was away, I kept him at my friend's place."
"And who is that friend of yours?"
"Countess Elanor."
The King's eyes widened with joy. It was because Aefia had already calculated that the previous Count was allied with the King of Mides, and even if Elanor was no longer allied with the king... If Aefia herself says she was allied with a family so trusted by him, the King would have no choice but to use Aefia against the Empire. The story that Aefia had told may have been true, but it was for all good reasons. It may harm the Empire, but it was also just a bait.
"Before that. I need to confirm it you are telling the truth." He flashed his gaze towards the priest holding a chalice. The man in a white room with gold trims looked up and nodded, twirling the glass around his fingers while muttering a few words. Although it was a foreign language, Aefia understood it all, thanks to her being a Guardian.
"She is telling the truth. All of them."
If it were me, I won't need some relics to tell it. I could judge it by watching the person's pupils in daylight, or by the way they speak. Whether nervous, or confident.
Aefia suddenly smirked to herself, but she didn't let it show at all. Otherwise it will just end up killing her.
"Well then. I suppose I have no reason to keep you a hostage. You are free to stay however long Cedric wants you to." The king declared with a smile. "And you may lift your gaze. After all, even if you are not a foreign delegation, we should treat you like one because of your statues before your departure from the Imperial family."
Thanks... That will do me so much respect.
Aefia lifted her crimson eyes to face the Mides king, she bowed her head and stayed stood until further orders were given.
"Since you are a guest here, you will be assigned a room in the annex that will be designed to your comfort. May you have a blessed time during your stay."
"Thank you. I highly appreciate it." She stood straight as she was given one last glance to see the king before departing with the guards towards where she would stay. As she saw his feature, he did look exactly like Cedric. Icy blue eyes and navy blue hair, but he had more aged features that gave off that he was in his fifties. No wonder, given his eldest son was the exact age as George. It may also be as if they started their reign at the same time.
She turned on her heels and walked away. Behind her, Cedric trialed behind after a glance of approval from his father.
"Hey Aefia. I am so sorry for whatever problem I have dragged you into." He apologized while walking side-by-side with her. "My father is a practical person and he doesn't leave anyone alone until he is confirmed they aren't suspicious."
"No it is understandable. And what he is doing may also be saving his kingdom in a very wise way." She nodded while gazing his way. "But why are you worried about it? It is not like I am in a position of being caused trouble."
"I know but..." He gritted his teeth while shoving his hands into his royal attire. She could tell that he too after coming back to his family, had to start dressing up like she had to back when she was first introduced to the Imperial family.
"I wanted to ask why you were so stressed out when I went to meet you at that field." He let out a deep breathe while looking down at the ground. "I was worried if something I did had maddened you."
"That isn't even leading up to the reason I was stressed about." She smiled while looking forward. They walked through the passage that lead up to the annex. She stayed silent for quite the long time, recalling her past memories that kept firing her thoughts of the time she died. She didn't care of the moments exactly, the pain keto radiating in places of her body that she couldn't prevent. Wherever she had to cover up her bruises, where she got hurt as she died.
She was trembling while she gritted her teeth to surpress the emotions. But sometimes, feelings get hard to keep inside and forget about. However, she still remembered the Orb of Life that the ghost had told her about. That if she could hand it over to the ghost, she would easily be able to send her away.
So she lifted her gaze to look at Cedric.
"Honestly? The thing that I have been stressed about was an artifact I needed to withdraw. Apparantly, its a mermaid jewelry and I have to steal it. Of course, the thing that puts more concern in me is that I don't know where I can get it." Her lips pursed into a straight line. "I tried gathering clues or looking at some guilds if they knew about it. However, I have got no clue. Not even a word. They don't even know what that is."
Cedric let out a breathless laugh, doubling over and skipping a single step before looking back up at her. "I have never seen a version of you who couldn't find what she wanted for two days straight and stressing about it."
"Haha... Yeaaah. It's a new thing for me."
"But I know something about where exactly you can find it since you mentioned it was mermaid jewelry."
"Where?"
"Lake Erie. Although the lake shares the same name as the one on Earth, trust me when I say this one is way more different than how anyone ever describes it to you. It may look shallow, but in truth, the depth is too astonishing to properly calculate. Besides that, the water is so dark, that if you ever go for a swim during the night, you will not know where you are going. Not even a speck of light goes through it during nighttime. During the day, you will feel as if you were thrown into an ocean instead."
"Are there mermaids though?" She titled her head slightly, folded her arms in front of her and fixed a confused look at his direction.
"Although it is not confirmed because a lot of people avoid going there, there are rumors that when saving one or two man from drowning, they saw some large scales that could never belong to a large fish. That strange minute glances caused people to believe there must be some sort of other creatures and based on ancient folklore, people used to claim that there must be mermaids or sirens in that lake.
"And if there certainly is, you can already tell that you can try and find the artifact there. However, if it is not there, then I suppose certain dungoens may have it at least. But given that sirens and mermaids are actually this world's mythical creatures, you may as well find it somewhere else in Nikoan."
Aefia let out a huff and turned a corner to her room. But he said there might be mermaids or sirens. I don't know if sirens have the Orb of Life jewellry, but I need to be confirmed there are mermaids.
"I see..." She muttered to herself while lifting her gaze up. The room was clean and tidy, clad with beautiful white curtains that were layered with another more silkier fabric, cut halfway down and with tassels hanging at the cut off ends. The curtain was flapping along with the breeze coming from the open windows, carrying the scent of lavender and lilies towards where they stood.
The bed was draped in velvets. The pillow cases stuffed until they were as round as a ball and the comforter looked cozy enough for Aefia to jump onto and fall asleep instantly. On top of the bed was a few gifts as she could see.
"Now although my father might be hostile at first, he loves treating his guest kindly. Added to what I have mentioned, he is also a huge fond of giving gifts, which of course he likes seeing someone cherish it or speak nicely of it to others. So... Try your best to act nice about it even if you happen to hate it sometime." Cedric said while walking over to sit at the foot of the bed and tap the boxes.
She stared in disbelieve for a while longer. "Does you father like... Have some sort of magic that wraps gifts incredibly fast? Cause within fifteen minutes, that many gifts is impossible to wrap up. I must say... I am quite surprised."
"Hahaha... We have many servants who love having guests over. So they helped along to the one or two whoever were here."
"Yeah yeah I know that part... But what about the items?"
"Oh... I guess my brother helped. I am not quite certain enough." Cedric folded his arms and crossed his legs while throwing himself deep in thought. Behind me, the door closed and the guards left.
"Given how he has been acting weird ever since knowing you are in this kingdom, he has been threathening me. He told me the day I arrived, to bring you to the palace within three days, so I didn't have a choice as you may have seen for yourself."
"No I understood that part. That is why I came. I had a doubt that it would have happened." She tapped her chin and walking over to the bed and unwrapping the first gift. As she stared at it, a smirk formed on her face. "Actually... Does my clothing look wierd or does your father and brother prefer I look wierd?"
"What do you mean? Wait... Let me see–" he stood on his feet and looked inside. "Yeah I think they expected you to be odd."
"I know right?!" Aefia laughed to herself.
It was a dress, a bright pink one. With puffy sleeves and a very thin waist. To anyone, such a tacky dress definitely meant they were trying to critize the receiver of the gifts.
"And you said I was supposed to wear it in front of... The king?"
"No don't. You will save yourself a lot of embarrassement."
"But I can't quite burn it."
"Just do it. And say you didn't receive it."
"Your family will then try to give me another dress... Don't you think?"
"Then just... Hold on–we have a seamstress here in the palace. If you want, I can have it remade."
"It might be a good thing... However. I think there is something else we need to worry about."
"Like what?" Cedric asked while lifting his gaze to Aefia's troubled face.
"Your father... Has something going on, which is strange and peculiar when I look deep into his soul..." Aefia answered while looking into the distant windows. Her red eyes narrowing into slits.
"When I looked at him for the first time... It seemed as if his body was constructed using many human souls. And he is still stacking up on more."