Juan Ramon Sereno: The Wise Slave

Chapter 30: From Bad to Worse

"This isn't good, Your Majesty," Joseph told Adeaez worriedly. "What's even more frightening is that it happened right under our noses."

Joseph and I didn't wait for the morning to come for us to go to Adeaez' palace to inform him of what happened. In fact, it wasn't only our room which was ransacked. Even Joseph's room wasn't safe; they also destroyed everything and left a scimitar stabbed on their bed, but instead of a human skull placed on top of it, a rotting corpse of a goat was stabbed along with the bed.

"I'm taking the responsibility for this event, Your Majesty," I told Adeaez. "I was distracted last night and I was unable to give word to my right-hand man to keep a lookout with his soldiers." I just refrained from saying the reason why I disappeared that time.

"That would be unnecessary, Lord Eiri-Nephthis," Adeaez immediately answered. "You two kindly follow me."

We did as we were told. We followed him until we reached a large door on the fourth floor of his palace. As he pushed the door open, I backed away several steps when the smell of congealed blood coming from the room entered my nose. When the door was fully opened, Joseph couldn't help but yelp in shock because we saw the exact same scimitar planted squarely on Adeaez' bed, but the intruders did something else: they have poured some animal's blood all over his possessions and left it there to rot.

"Last night, I accidentally fell asleep in my personal library so I was unable to reach my bedroom," Adeaez explained. "Just a while ago, I heard a loud noise coming from my room. When I arrived, this is what I saw."

Adeaez closed his bedroom once again. "Lord Eiri-Nephthis, we shall need all your soldiers to tighten Egypt's security even further. Lord Zaphenath-Panea, I'm counting on you to help him in any way you can."

Joseph immediately answered. "You can count on that, Your Majesty," he said, glancing at me.

We were about to be dismissed when Adeaez changed his mind. "One moment, gentlemen. Before I forget, I would want to invite you to a feast for my day of birth tomorrow. I am expecting all of you to come. You may go now, gentlemen."

There wasn't a single time we have spoken with Adeaez for more than ten minutes because if he wants to tell us something, he would say it straight to the point. That's why we already expected the sun to still have partially risen when we got out of his palace.

As soon as we entered Joseph's carriage, Joseph asked me, "What happened to you and Alana last night, if I may ask?"

"Oh, that?" I answered him with a question. "Long story short, I'm stuck here forever."

It would be pointless for me to lengthen the story. Nothing would change if I don't tell him the truth. The last time I kept something from him, things didn't turn out good, so I chose to say it to him straight. As expected, Joseph was shocked.

"What!? That means you would never see your brother again?" he asked worriedly.

I sighed and said, "Yes, even my parents and friends that I left there. Besides, unlike before, there's no way for me to return to my own world. But it's okay, I think. Anyway... any... way..."

I couldn't continue speaking because tears started flowing from my eyes. I don't know why it only occurred to me now, but the reality that I'm unable to return to my own dimension was the reason finally I succumbed to my emotions. I may have stayed in this dimension for several years, but the hopes of returning to my own dimension made me hold on. But now, it's only now that I realized that I would never see Mom, Dad, and Chuck ever again. If I only refused the necklace from Granddad... If it only occurred to me why Chuck refused it back then... If I have taken the necklace off and just chucked it in a corner of my room and let it stay there until it gets buried in my memories...