ASTURIAN ISLAND
10.01.8462 - 4:45 PM
"So, what is this story about Felício?" Mila questioned as everyone returned to the library table.
"Can I start?" Vaughan questioned Marta and Nair. "I'll tell it, and if you have anything to add, interrupt me."
"The main problem is, Felício and Lélia have had a big public problem in the past, you know them both. Both have very strong tempers. The story is quite long: Lélia was younger than you are guys; when she got married, she didn't like her boyfriend very much at the time, but her parents pushed hard for her to get married. She had just finished her studies and wanted to pursue a public career. Since her youth, Lélia wanted to go to CriSPe, but her parents wanted her to take care of their company, Mottamotors, you know. The marriage would be very convenient because Alexandre's family, until then her boyfriend, was very well connected with the armed forces of Asturias and would be a way to expand Mottamotors contracts. At the time, all armed forces imported products from the Old Continent. "
Vaughan stopped to notice the astonished faces of Mila, Mário, and Scarlet.
"Yes, that's corruption, but Lélia's family has always been quite unscrupulous; that's how they built their company and kept it going even after Charlotte's Reformation. Anyway, Lélia was still young and very lost, she ended up marrying the boy. The marriage didn't go well, the boy was disturbed, possessive, and controlling, and he went so far as to attack Lélia several times. In their first year of marriage, they moved to a remote place between the borders of Tacán and Asturias, and Lélia was even more at the mercy of her husband. Lélia is one of the most powerful witches in the world, but at that age, she was still not so aware of her powers, and even tried to suppress them, as happens with many wizards with class AA powers."
"How someone with AA powers would like to suppress it?" Questioned Scarlet.
"It's complicated, Scarlet. You see, we go through this in our early twenties, the desire to be like everyone else is great, and we try not to demonstrate what we are really capable of doing," said Mila.
"Yes, this happens very often, especially in the past. The fact is, Charlotte had restricted a lot of the outside violence: on the streets, the exposed violence. But she forgot that much of the violence comes from those we trust and those we share our home with. It was still a complicated time, and we had many cases like Lélia's. She only revealed this after the marriage ended. Anyway, after a heavy fight between the two, Lélia ended up not measuring her strength and killed Alexandre. "
"She was tried on the same farm where the crime took place by a jury of Anjeamons and was found guilty, sentenced to three decades in the Ice Prisons for the murder of Alexandre. It was a huge public affair, and several women stood up to defend Lélia. Several people even appealed to Charlotte; still, she said she promptly had no power to break with the Anjeamons' expectations, that it would upset the balance of things, and that she should accept the decision. It was absurd. It was at this time that Richard and I met Lélia. She was sent to prison and spent sixteen years there. In those sixteen years, we offered support, and we ended up sincerely understanding her motives. She ended up becoming close to us, and Charlotte too, oddly enough, as well as becoming a symbol for many people. "
"In 8427, the Last War started, and the work on CriSPe became more intense, and that was when Charlotte managed to release Lélia from her sentence. She came to Asturias, and since she had a friend, Fernand, who was already working at CriSPe. Lélia came straight to Fernand and me. She wanted to join CriSPe and had some ideas to contribute to our work against the distant continent realms. I decided to accept it, and then, in the middle of a war, an internal problem arose."
"Felício Arcanjo, responsible at the time not only for the navy but for all the armed forces of Asturias, was Alexandre's uncle. The Arcanjo family has created a certain power here, and as much as Richard is the king, he can't make too arbitrary decisions. There's also the fact that Felício was taking some effective action against the Far Continent's armies, his family has always been a thorn in the side for many people and for the kingdom, as well as Lélia's family. "
"At the time of the war, Felício came all over us. He accused the kingdom of being an accomplice in the assassination of Alexandre. He is a very rude guy, and he called Lélia the worst possible names. Everything went public: if you do a simple search, you'll find everything. He's already called her a slut, a whore, a demonic witch, and so on. "
"At the end of the last war, Lélia and I got involved, and it coincided that she was promoted in CriSPe to a higher position, a position that would have direct relations with the armed forces and that had been achieved solely on her merits. When the war ended, Felício, by choice, left his position and took a smaller one, controlling only the navy. He made it clear that he wanted more free time with his family and that controlling the navy, army, and air force together was costing him dearly. "
"Even as director of the navy, Felício had access to CriSPe employee data, and he knew that Lélia and I had a relationship. Every relationship between employees is recorded so that we do not have any problems. As soon as Lélia was promoted, he went to the tabloids to inform that it was wrong and a breach of protocol. He said that Richard and I influenced Lélia's promotion since we had a friendship and a loving relationship with her."
"Suddenly, all the same tabloids that vehemently claimed that Richard and I were a couple started to declare that Lélia and I had already had an affair since she was in prison and that I was responsible for reducing her sentence, bringing her to CriSPe and promoting her. They don't understand that I followed a career in representation, and Lélia followed an operational career within CriSPe. At the same time, I took care of the Representation Department, which are different things. Moreover, who promoted her was her boss to time and not by my interference. "
"The lies and exaggerations in the newspapers lasted for weeks; until one day, a pseudo journalist managed to discover the habit patterns of Lélia, who every Sirius-day had lunch at the same restaurant in Luisia with me. This journalist went to the restaurant, taking Felício with him. It was complicated. We were having lunch, and he came into the restaurant screaming, saying that she was nobody, that she didn't deserve to occupy the position, and that one day she would fall, that he would step over her, as it should be done. He said she was filthy and incapable of anything, a freeloader, and that's when he spat in her face. "
"At that moment, I didn't hold back and punch him in the face. He fell in the middle of the restaurant, and Lélia got up, exploding with everything the guy had said to her. Lélia spoke loudly to him: 'I'll still see you burn.' Even I was scared of her. The words came out of her mouth too hard. Everyone in the restaurant was stunned, and it's obvious that the story has been retold several times in various media, each time with one more sordid detail. Fortunately, no one recorded the scene, but the sentence Lélia said ended up in the newspapers with headlines like: 'CriSPe coordinator swears director of the navy of death'"
"Holy shit, she used the word burn?" Questioned Mário.
"Yes, that was exactly the expression she used, and this is also in the newspapers," Vaughan replied with a worried face.
"Richard was somewhat angry with the situation and ordered that Lélia and Felício should never meet again. This affected Lélia's image a bit, but gradually everything returned to normal. When Lélia became the director of CriSPe, Felício no longer used offenses, and the two even attended meetings together. He never spoke another word against Lélia, but it was always obvious that he continued to hate her. Besides being Alexandre's uncle, he was the one who raised the boy after Felício's brother and his wife died. That's basically all of it."
The library was utterly silent, expressions of extreme concern. Mila was the first to break the silence.
"Well, what I'm going to say stays here, and don't get me wrong, but Felício was not one of the best people, and that makes me less sad. Do you guys think there is a rule?"
"We do not have information about Marlena. As far as we know, she was an ordinary girl," said Nair.
"And Jeannie was an excellent girl, nothing in common with Felício's," Spoke Vaughan.
"Jeannie is a wonderful girl," Scarlet spoke.
"Van, look what's going on, we have a killer throwing things in our face, and Oswaldo and Jeannie are missing. I have faith that they're okay," said Mila. "I think if this killer had murdered them, he would have exposed them already, don't you think?" Seeing the expression of Vaughan Mila, she regretted this addition.
"You got a point," said Vaughan. "You know, these two murders were in different ways and well-staged...."
"Like in a horror movie," Mila intervened.
"Or as in an evil magic ritual," Spoke Vaughan.
Everyone in the room shivered.
"Richard has a private library, and within it, some disturbing books. We can request access to it and search these books to see if we can find anything," Spoke Vaughan.
"Seems a kind of invasive idea," said Mário.
"I agree, but it would be invasive only if the books were there for him to consult, but they are actually for safety. It is not wise to leave books of ancient evil magic in a library of a royal residence where several meetings with representatives and other heads of state take place. That's why these books are in his bedroom," said Vaughan. "I'll send a message to Richard, as soon as he gives a green light, we go there, he should probably already be asleep, so I think we'll only do that tomorrow.