The dinner ends a little abruptly because Amanda decides to pull her husband Neil aside into their bedchamber, leaving their second son Adonis in the care of Zachary, as she saw Neil acting a little out of place at the dinner table.
What worried her was the fact that Neil was showing the long-gone symptoms of CTE, which he had suffered a few years back. It was fleeting, but that didn't escape Amanda's intuition, and she immediately acted upon it without hesitation.
It could have been just her imagination, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.
"Dear. You look a little off. Are you hallucinating again?" Amanda asked as she sat beside her husband on the bed, her hand wrapping Neil's.
"That's… a little sudden, don't you think?" Neil said, his confusion masked under amusement.
"Honey, tell me the truth." Amanda narrowed her eyes.
"No? Why do you think I'm hallucinating in the first place?" Neil inquired softly as he chuckled.
"…." Amanda didn't speak, but she looked straight into Neil's eyes, searching for something.
Neil felt a little tense under his wife's scrutinizing gaze, and he couldn't help but look away, avoiding her gaze even though he didn't know why in the first place.
"Tell. Me. The Truth." Amanda said each word clearly. Her tone was calm and low, but the threat of something bad might happen if he didn't spill the beans was there.
Neil scratched his chin awkwardly and was about to speak when Amanda cut him off, "Don't you dare lie to me, Neil Bohrson."
A chill ran down his back the moment Amanda called him by his full name, as he felt like he had done something bad and got caught. Even though he hadn't done anything wrong in the first place.
Naturally, Neil hesitated at first, but he knew that Amanda wouldn't relent until he told her what was on his mind.
"Actually…," Neil paused, his eyes momentarily clouded with a mix of fear and resignation, as he looked into Amanda's eyes again, before continuing, "There's something you need to know about our son…" Neil let out a troubled breath. The weight of the secret, burdened with years of silent turmoil, was now ready to be unveiled—a secret that only he and Doctor Alex Dwargo fully understood. Amanda could feel the intensity of the moment as if the very air around them had thickened, bracing for a revelation that might change everything.
While the two were having a lengthy conversation in the bedchamber, Zachary was downstairs with his baby brother, Adonis.
Zachary accompanied his brother, playing with the toy blocks, all while casually sifting through Adonis Life Code. It was like flipping pages of a book he had already memorized at first, but when he was done with the Material and Mind Edicts and started going through Adonis's Soul Edict, somewhere in the middle, he felt like he had accidentally flipped through multiple pages at once.
The sensation didn't trigger any curiosity as he merely backtracked to confirm if he had really skipped a few parts or if it was just his imagination.
When he did so, he found that he had not actually skipped anything as the runes appeared smoothly lined. When he proceeded again, the feeling returned, and that got him curious.
'Something's weird…' Zachary narrowed his eyes as he suddenly stopped playing blocks with the boy.
Zachary focused his mind's eye on Adonis's Soul Code at the section where he felt the glitch. He utilized his Soul Energy and properly inspected the structure of Adonis's Soul Edict.
As much as he knew there was something amiss, he still couldn't find the source, and that makes him a little more curious but also annoyed.
Before, Zachary had never come across this ambiguous situation when he inspected the Life Code of anyone. As he was a little uncertain, Zachary decided to stop trying to find out what he missed after a while.
It's best if he looks through his memories to find some clues first, before he does anything more, to avoid slipping up. A slip-up while dealing with the blueprint of existence could very well cause a disaster if it weren't handled with care.
The young Adonis was still playing with the blocks and didn't mind when the big guy beside him suddenly stopped playing.
"Ria. Can you look after lil' bro? I'm going to my room." Zachary called the maid standing at the side.
"Yes, Young Master Zachary." Ria bowed politely toward Zachary as she walked to Adonis's side.
"You see… If you wanna come to my room with me, I wouldn't mind. You can find another maid to take care of him." Zachary snickered as he teased. He knew that the maid would undoubtedly reject it, which is why this would pass as harmless, horny humor of a young adult. He wasn't even serious when he said that, but Ria suddenly paused.
She turns around and exits the place, leaving Zachary dumbfounded. Not long later, Ria returned with another maid in tow.
"I'll leave young master Adonis to you, Maya," Ria said with a smile, and Maya returned the gesture before she bowed curtly toward Zachary and stepped to Adonis's side.
Zachary's gaze fell on Ria, and he couldn't even mask the surprise he felt. The maid, however, met his gaze and smiled invitingly before mouthing, "I'll wait upstairs." And then walking off on her own.
'Finally made a move, huh…' Zachary mused internally as he watched Ria's back with a knowing look.
Ria is not who she appears to be, and Zachary has known about it for quite some time. Beginning after the very first time he inspected her Life Code. Back then, he just thought her presence would only make the situationship more interesting later on and didn't even think for a second that her presence would cause even the slightest danger to other people around him.
Not to say he suddenly wants to become a hero, or that his personality has changed, but he definitely likes how emotions influenced his behavior.
By the time Zachary walked into his room, Ria was already on his bed, and all her clothes were already taken off. Only the blanket was the thing hiding her full view from Zachary's eyes.
Zachary laughed mischievously to himself in his mind as he saw what Ria had done. While he certainly feels quite aroused from the sight and from his own wild imagination, Zachary knew for certain that tonight wouldn't unfold as it appeared to be. Well, not entirely.
Zachary might find some entertainment in the mansion tonight, but the situation at the northern border of the El Malais Kingdom was on the exact opposite.
In fact, the kingdom was being besieged by multiple factions at all three points. The land, the seas, and the air. The Kingdom had barely a handful of allies in this continental-scale war, but together, they are strong enough to handle the initial probing assaults that had been going on for months.
The Kingdom and its allies possess potent military might, though they lack the sheer numbers of soldiers compared to the enemies they currently face.
The Teuton Federal State, located in the north of the El Malais peninsula, which is one of the Kingdom's allies, had defected to the other side and allowed passage for the invading soldiers to pass through their land to reach the border of the El Malais Kingdom.
However, the soldiers of Teuton don't participate in this border siege. Instead, it was the coalition army, consisting of soldiers from several nations like the Enbrits, the Tartar, and the Afrar, that came. They brought with them a vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
The plan was simple. They have the upper hand in a drawn-out battle, so dragging things out will only make it easier to infiltrate the border later on.
On the El Malais Kingdom's side, the soldiers were aware of the situation. The commander had already spread information about the enemy's plan to drag things out and exhaust them, which allowed for good preparation. They're not at a complete disadvantage as they're the defending side fighting on their home ground.
Despite the ongoing wars and the fast escalating tension and bloodshed, the lives of the commoners continue. The fear and panic weren't absent, and they knew the leftover peace wouldn't last long.
The women, children, and the elderly in exposed regions were long since evacuated, and the men were drafted into the military to defend their country. The Kingdom had promised them that they would take care of their family, which eased the men's worries about their safety.
This only left them to worry about how they would face the uncertainties of the war.
So far, there had been a few casualties on several battlefronts. The betrayal of the Teuton Federal State had fueled them with bitterness and anger, but they were ultimately unable to exact punishment on the deserters as their hands were tied with handling the conflicts occurring near-daily on the borders.
Earlier today, the northern battlefield had suffered a record casualty count, the highest so far ever since the war broke out, as more than a hundred personnel had been slain.
The northern camp had been infiltrated, and the commander was nearly killed by a group of four people possessing strength and speed beyond normal human capabilities.
Following the infiltration, the El Malais army was confronted by rounds and rounds of artillery fire, killing many more as they scrambled to address the double threat.
The commander managed to kill two of the four assassins, and the other two retreated after leaving severe wounds on the commander. Both were injured as well, but they still managed to kill a few more El Malais soldiers on their retreat.
With the assassins gone, the chain of command returns, which helps the camp to regain its footing and answers the enemy's artillery fires with salvos of its own.
From that point on, the tension only escalates. The commander had reported the gravity of the northern battlefield to the high command, and reinforcements would arrive in approximately one day.
Until then, the commander was expected to hold out. In a critical case, the high command had allowed the commander to take his men and retreat.