Quote: 'You're off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.'
Dr. Seuss
Author/Poet
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Eroka:
Charlos's Mansion: Nighttime:
Third person pov:
"Thanks for today." Diana said as she and Augustine entered the mansion.
"You're welcome, I guess. I take that the emperor of Obelia took a liking to you?" asked Augustine as he asked an obvious point.
"I guess. Honestly, I do not know. I have only ever met him once, then too when I danced in Sodiana. And then never saw him again, until I heard about the proposal that the bastard had made. Though I was quite relieved when I got informed that the proposal was declined. When I saw him today, he was pretty but-" Diana said as she closed her eyes as she took a moment to sort her thoughts out.
"But?" Augustine asked casually, as he waited patiently for her answer.
"Hm. Something in his eyes took me off guard. They held possessiveness. It was as if he wanted to lock me up in a cage and cut off my wings. Like a trapped helpless bird." Diana said as she explained herself. It felt light now as she had talked with someone, it seemed as if her burden had been lifted.
"Oh wow, so by making me pretend that we were lovers, you indirectly declined the proposal that the emperor, indirectly, made. So you lost the opportunity to become an empress. How sad. Tsk. Tsk." Augustine said in a monotone. He was making the best of the situation to annoy Diana.
"I fucken swear!!! You fucken bastard, I will kill you!" Diana said as nerves pooped out on her forehead. Diana proceeded to punch Augustine, but he caught her hand.
"Now, now. If people saw us fighting and the word got to the emperor, he would arrange your marriage with Emperor claude." Augustine said with a smirk.
"You think this is funny, huh?" Diana questioned as she kicked Augustine in his balls.
"Oof! Ouch ouch princess, please spare this lowly creature, who is soon going to be your fiance!!!" Augustine pleaded, smirking, as he ran around the mansion with an angry and annoyed Diana shooting arrows at him.
The next morning:
Third person pov:
Whitlock mansion:
Arrival of Lucas:
"I am back!" Lucas yelled as he entered the mansion. He hadn't informed anyone as he planned on staying longer but couldn't due to reasons. He even tried to convince Adriana to come back with him but she said she had business to handle there, with her family.
"Brother!!!!" Penelope yelled from up the first floor. She was the only one at home right now, Austin had to make a visit to the palace and Augustine was in Eroka. Our penelope was alone at breakfast, she didn't mind and let the maids and knights join her.
"WAAAH!" Lucas yelped as he noticed his cat instinct go off. "Bunny, why is there...WHY IS THERE A CAT IN THE MANSION?" Lucas yelled as he ran off and hid behind the pillar.
"Hmm?" Penelope, who was holding Tora while walking down the stairs, paused as she tilted her head confused. She then glanced at Tora who seemed too lazy to care about anything and went back to sleep.
"Is my brother scared of cats?" Penelope asked as she deliberately went near Lucas who was trembling like an ant.
"No it's just...i-I that thing...it's cursed! Ya, cats are cursed!" Lucas said as he made up an excuse.
"Pfft-Brother you are definitely scared of cats." Penelope said as she moved even more closer to Lucas who now moved automatically ten feet away from Penelope. Seeing how scared her brother looked, Penelope decided to tease him a little.
"Does brother not like me anymore? I thought you loved me...what happened??" Penelope said with a pout.
"No...Bunny, I love you. But it's just the...that...cat.. I do not like cats...Penny...." Lucas explained himself as he whined like a little kid.
"Pfft-Hahahahahaha." Laughter filled the hallway as Penelope laughed to her heart content.
"Oh, young master is home? How come you didn't inform me?" Liam said as he and Noah made their way towards Penelope.
"Oh, the young master is scared of cats." Noah said in a monotone. "I know, we all know. So no need to say it every time you see a cat! Goddammit!" Lucas cursed as he muttered. By now, tora had left the hallway because of the loud noise and had found herself a comfortable and peaceful place to sleep.
"Hahahaha...brother i missed you!" Penelope said, still laughing, as she hugged lucas.
"Ya ya i am sure you did." Lucas commented, as he hugged her back.
"Where did you even get that stupid creature from, anyway?" Lucas asked, breaking the hug.
"She has a name, it's tora. And she is not stupid. I found her when I went- visited the garden." Penelope said as she was nearly exposed that she went to the forest to explore. Luckily Lucas was too focused on where the cat went that he didn't hear the last part clearly.
"Great! She has a name too? And it's a she? Bunny, did you know that female cats are grumpy and lazy?" Lucas asked as he stared at Penelope. He was damn serious about it too.
"Uhhh, no I didn't. But thanks for telling me, brother." Penelope replied with a smile.
"Luwas!" Lucifer yelled as he ran towards Lucas. Lucifer just woke up and was on a mission to find.
"Careful." Lucas muttered as he carried Lucifer. "What do you want, brat?" he asked. Penelope slapped his arm. 'Language, bother.' she muttered.
"Mama?" Lucifer asked as he ignored what Lucas said.
"She is not your mother, and she is back at her house." Lucas explained. Lucifer nodded aggressively, now that was new. He should be crying, not agreeing.
"Not gonna cry?" Penelope asked.
"Luwas said to be a big boy! Big bows don't cry!" Lucifer said with a serious face and with much determination.
"Now you're talking about something! Let's go penelope. To the training grounds!" Lucas said with a smile brighter than ever.
"Sure thing! I will change! No.one.starts.before.that." Penelope warned with a tight smile.
"Yes mam." Lucas said, a bit terrified of the scary aura that his sister had.
At the palace:
Austin's office: (be mindful, Austin grew up in the palace and gave up his rights to throne since he didn't wish to become an emperor but he is still respected and is kinda a part of the royal family.)
(Just accept the fact that he has an office in the palace.)
Third person pov:
"Is the preparation done?" Austin asked as he leaned back on his chair. "Yep! The plan can commerce tonight." Augustine answered with a bored tone but his eyes showed great excitement.
"Good. They will have to suffer for what they did. We can't let them go. Also make sure that the lady is not there." Austin said as Augustine nodded.
"She won't be, she is staying at the palace anyway." he answered.
"Also how was the banquet?" Austin asked as he leaned forward in interest. He was curious as to whether Diana's and Augustine's relationship had progressed yet or not.
"Oh yeah, uhh well I guess I now have a fiance(?)" Augustine said, still unsure how to intercept their relationship yet.
"WHAT? HOW? WHEN? WHERE?" Adiel said as he popped up out of nowhere.
"Don't you have work?" Austin asked as he looked straight at Adiel's soul.
"I was bored~" Adiel whined.
"Augustine I need every single detail about that damn Baquet. For now, see ya. I trust you can handle it. Take all your anger out." Austin said as Augustine nodded and left the call.
"How's Mia?" Austin asked as he turned to his younger brother who was eating grapes.
"Haa...no cure. The baby...it's slowly killing...." Adiel spoke shuttering.
"She won't be fine, will she?" asked Austin. "I...I am not ready for this....brother I...I-I feel useless. So fucking useless." Adiel said as he leaned on the sofa.
"Spend time with her. I will take over. You are not useless. I will contact obelia and ask for magicians or healers." Austine said as he got up and walked up to the sofa.
"Fuck..." Adiel muttered as he rested his arm over his eyes. Austie patted his brother's head before telling him everything will be fine and leaving to give Adiel some space.
It's not easy to know that someone precious is going to die and there is nothing...absolutely nothing you can do about it. It can make one feel powerless, even though they rule the world. Useless even though they had achieved many things. Pathetic. It can make you feel pathetic and useless.
Night:
Third person pov:
Eckart mansion:
Dining hall:
Buzz buzz, one can hear the voice of a fly. It was that quiet, they had been told nah, rather were shocked when they saw Callisto was the one who would escort Yvonne. And that Yvonne and Callisto announced their engagement that neither of them had an slightest clue about.
"F-father?!" Derrick called out as he noticed the duke's wet face. He was crying.
"Father? Are you alright??!!!!" Reynold said, panicking. This was the first time their father had broken down like this.
"Haa...I am alright. Continue with your dinner." the duke said, more like muttering slowly as he quietly got up and left the dining room.
*Clash* *Bang*
"Fuck!" Derrick swore as he threw the food down. He was behaving more and more out of character these days. His feelings of guilt, sadness and loss were locked up and the only way he found it easier to express was to destroy things. For him, no one told him a thing, the duke didn't say anything, Reynold didn't mock him or the servants didn't give him dirty glares. He was still the respected young master, people excused his behavior saying 'the young master is in pain, give him some space. And he will be fine.'
"Brother, calm down." Reynold muttered as he rested his head on his arms. Everything is going wrong after Penelope left. Everything, even Yvonne became distinct to them. If only, if only she hadn't left and instead told them her worries. She was wrong to take her anger out by running away instead of talking it out with them.
Duke Eckart's pov:
Outside the Dining hall:
In the hallway: (in front of the family picture)
Sweetheart, I messed up. I messed up real bad. What should I do now? She left. Our little girl left us, I led her to leave. I couldn't even make her stay. I...what should I do? Both our daughters left. I wasn't good enough. I couldn't educate our sons properly in terms of EQ nor lead them in the right way. It's all my fault. If only, If only I had treated Penelope right and searched for Yvonne longer and harder. If only, I praised Penelope everytime she came with her tests. If only I had not compared her and Yvonne.
I forgot that they were both different people. They had their own personality and life. How could I-
*Crash*
Third person pov:
In the hallway:
'I forgot that they were both different people. They had their own personality and life. How could i-' the duke thought.
*Crash*
A noise averted his attention and took him out of his deep thought.
"My Lord! Hurry! Assassins!!!" Pennel the butler, called as he dashed towards the DUke and tackled him down to protect him from the shot.
"Where are the guards?! GO AND ALERT DERRICK AND REYNOLD!" the Duke called as he dodged the arrows coming his way.
"Yes my lord." Pennel said as he dashed towards the dining hall. The servants were running everywhere to hide and protect themselves from the assassins. Strangely enough there were no guards, like they had all disappeared into thin air. Or that's what the duke seemed to have thought.
His guards were kept busy by the other assassins. This was not any ordinary attack. It was a raid. Someone had raided the Eckart's. And Reynold figured it out in one glance. But failed to figure out who would raid them, as every assassin seemed like a puppet, they all looked the same, no emotion. And when killed they would disappear with no blood. He couldn't figure out what was happening, it was like he was trapped into an illusion.
"This...this is hallucinations!" Derrick said, gritting his teeth. "REYNOLD! GO TO FATHER AND PROTECT HIM!" Derrick yelled from one end of the hallway. Rynold on the other hand could not hear Derrick properly, he was surrounded with Assassins. He couldn't think right or should i say, he could think straight.
While the Eckart's were busy fighting for their lives. The mastermind of all this was sitting far away looking over everything, eating fruit.
"Young master. I think it's the right time." the knight suggested to his master.
"Ugh, let them suffer more, if you are in that much hurry why don't you and Noah do the pleasure of destroying the papers. I am sure you have hate filled inside of you." the mastermind said as he continued eating.
"Sure. Just make sure they don't die." Noah said as he and the knight, Liam, as they made their way towards the mansion, specifically towards the Duke's office.
"Haha...they can't die yet. They haven't suffered enough." the man with turquoise eyes said with narrowed eyes and a merciless smile.
"Let's join the game, shall we?" Augustine, the mastermind of all said as he climbed down the tree, to go and have fun.
In the end of everything, the Eckart's were all exhausted and hurt, their mansion was ruined, the important documents were ruined, and all the possible evidence of this raid led towards Marquis Ellen, the father of that blue bird who bullied Penelope in every social gathering.
To be continued: ~