After the break, they sat patiently back in their seats waiting for Leo to return. Tcf2 leaders stared at the group at the very back of the middle row.
Watching the bluenette and golden-haired elf who seemed to be having a serious conversation, both of them looked tired, maybe a bit betrayed as well.
"What do you think is their connection to the Rose?" Alberu asks
"They both have the guide's emblem so they're most likely one of them." Queen Litana replies
"I think he's asking what their relationship is with Rose, the bluehead seems to be close to him." A voice says, making everyone turn their heads, looking at the man in shock.
"Toonka...I've been meaning to ask you this for a while why...why are you so calm about this?" Harold asks, narrowing his eyes.
He knows that Toonka's barbaric side toned down a bit since he met the Rose or as they now know Cale Henituse.
Now thinking first before rushing into a fight but even with that in mind, this was way out of character for the brute.
"I don't know, since we were teleported here, I feel calm and don't want to fight for some odd reason."
They were about to ask him more questions when the system spoke.
Well, that's because I don't want my cinema to be destroyed by the end of this. So I numbed your emotions not to the point that you don't feel but just enough that you don't do anything irrational.
I also decided to do the same to the rest of you, so I don't have to deal with one of you dying of a heart attack or something.
Anyways, your break is over.
Ready to watch the next episode?
Leo says in a monotone voice before switching to an upbeat one. They nod their heads in confirmation even though they aren't too happy with the idea of the system numbing their emotions.
Well then let's get started
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He heard the door open and close but he didn't make any move to acknowledge the newcomer, busy with the piles of paperwork on his desk while also going through his record.
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The screen turned on showing the young boy sitting at a desk. Busy attending to the truly horrific stack of paperwork on his desk.
Alberu looked at the screen wide-eyed as he restrained himself from letting his jaw drop. Never in his life has ever imagined his mischievous dongsaeng ever doing a single page of paperwork, let alone stacks of it.
Taking a closer look at the desk they could see 8 chibified individuals that were the size of a pen. On the far left side of the table was a woman with silver hair and green eyes talking to two other women.
A green-haired woman dressed as a priestess who seemed to be eating the food on the tray that Cale was occasionally nibbling on. Next to her was a woman with blue hair who was engrossed in whatever they were talking about.
On the other side of the table were three men who were playing a card game. One of them had fiery red hair, another with jet black, and the last one with curly brown hair.
The last two were sitting on top of Cale's head. The man with strawberry blond hair was braiding the hair of a woman who looked similar to the gentle redheaded women in the previous episode although a bit young.
Deruth stares wide-eyed at the two redheads, she looks exactly like Cale. He wanted to ask Leo about it but decided to wait for their break to do so.
The group watched as Ron entered the room, closing the door behind him. They found it odd that he didn't say anything about the little people on the young master's desk.
The heroes looked at the assassin for answers but the frown on his face told them that he himself was confused, this being the first time seeing them.
"Who are they?"
"Yeah, and why does the butler act if this is normal, is it normal?"
Well to answer your question those are his ancient powers, well their spirit form. Only Cale can see them as he holds their power.
Though it is possible for others to see and interact with them if given permission by their host...
"What do you mean by that?"
As much as I love answering your questions I'll have to stop you as we barely even started the episode.
The system says before changing the screen showing a close-up of Cale making their questions die in their throat.
The young master was leaning on his hand as he read the report in his hands.
The breeze from the open window, his hair gently swaying.
Taking in his appearance they found it hard to believe he was a male when he had such feminine features.
The more observant ones noticed a small ring of gold around his iris but before they could ask the video continued.
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He remembered how he got to this point...
Eight years old.
He was eight years old when he was informed that his mother was involved in an accident when returning from Harris village.
He was eight years old when he was told his mother was dead, and rather than crying or even mourning her, he was left trying to comfort his father.
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Choi Han* stared at the screen in shock before looking down feeling more conflicted than before,' So that's why he hates...'
Don't get him wrong, he was still angry at the redhead for what he said but now he could see where the other male was coming from also given the fact he only did what did because the God of Death told him to.
He didn't know what to feel.
The cinema turned dead silent feeling pity and confusion as the screen changed now watching the young boy as he comforts his father.
Deruth* stared at the screen with a sad look on his face. He remembered how her death had broken him.
Seeing his distress Violan* put a comforting hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze before returning her gaze back to the screen.
The majority of the audience was confused, Countress/Duchess Violan was very much alive and well in all 3 worlds so what does he mean?
"What does he mean his mother's dead, the countress is right here?"
Deruth and Violan were shocked by this question. Did they not know that Cale wasn't Violan's biological child?
They were about to answer when the system interrupted them.
Just watch, the questions you have will eventually be answered.
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Lost in his grief, his father doesn't even notice him as his son but as some random person helping him.
Perhaps if he had actually looked at him then he would have known that it was Cale by his side, even hours after he cried himself to sleep.
He didn't say a word as Ron came to collect him and helped him get ready for bed.
Nodding wordlessly as Ron bid him good night, Cale laid in bed, wide awake. Sleep was evading him, no matter what he tried he couldn't seem to fall asleep even though keeping his eyes open hurt.
He wanted to cry, he wanted to cry earlier too but despite how much his eyes stung, no tears fell.
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The screen zoomed in as they watched Deruth cry his heart out, hugging Cale-who had a blank look on his face- as if he was his lifeline.
The little boy rubbed the other's back in a comforting motion whispering little nothing.
The dragons stared at the screen, a bit of anger blooming in their chest. A child shouldn't be the one comforting the parent over the other parent's death.
Eurhaben didn't even try to hide his displeasure. He knew Cale didn't have a good relationship with his father, often going as far as avoiding the man.
He didn't say anything though, knowing that the older man must have been in a lot of pain. Blinded by his sorrow that he couldn't see what was in front of him.
The audience stares at the child with pity. This is probably too much for him to take in.
Wistra stared at the screen with a knowing look on her face. She remembered how her emotions just shut off when her mother died.
She didn't cry or feel anything. Consumed by this overwhelming feeling of numbness.
Nothing mattered anymore, and she knew wrong so she did anything she could to feel something.
She was lucky that her father and brother snapped her out of it before she did something.
"..."
Seeing her friend like this made her feel dread. 'He must have had someone to snap him out of it like I did...'
The feeling got worse the more she thought about it. 'He must have...right?'
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The next day he had taken the initiative to start the arrangements for the funeral since his father wasn't really present at the moment.
Clearly out of it as he didn't bother to answer any of the family inquiries on what to do next.
Cale worked hard to keep them from seeing the way his father broke down in tears at any memory of his mother.
His father seemed to be in a daze throughout the entire funeral so Cale ended up thanking those who attended.
He was the last one to leave the grave, standing there for hours before Ron showed back up, told him that his father was resting, and escorted him back to the estate.
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Images of the funeral flashed on the screen before settling on a scene of Cale standing in front of a tombstone that read
~Beloved mother and wife~
~Drew Henituse~
They watched as the young boy stared blankly at the tombstone as he was drenched in rain.
There was a terrible storm yet he remained rooted in place. It seemed like the whole world was crying at the loss of his mother.
"Wait so the current Countress isn't young master Cale's mother"
Nope, never was.
A few seconds later they see Ron approaching him with an umbrella. Informing the redhead that his father is resting.
The redhead slowly turned around and walked with Ron back to the carriage.
Ron stared at the screen with a blank face but if you knew him well enough you would see the guilt and sadness in his eyes.
He remembered how drastically his young ward changed after that day. The once lively and expressive child replaced by a cold emotionless husk of who he once was.
And he did nothing to stop it...
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He didn't cry. Not when he found out, or throughout everything leading up to the funeral nor afterward either, he knew others noticed.
He should have felt grief, sadness, heartbreak...something...anything...but he didn't, he didn't feel a single thing.
Numb... that's what he was, more so than usual and he hated himself for it.
A few of the vassals' maids saw this and whispered about how cold-hearted he was.
"He didn't cry even once!"
"Is he not sad?"
"How could he be so insensitive?"
"I pity the late countress to have such a heartless child!"
Gossip spread pretty quickly among the hired help, he'd overheard nearly all of them talking about how heartless he supposedly was...
He ignored them...
He had more important things to deal with.
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Most of them felt sad for the poor boy, he must have been too emotionally drained from all of this.
While others felt disgusted, how do you not feel anything after your mother died? Did he not care about her?
Their thoughts were put on halt as the video progressed. Hearing that the boy hated himself for that was...
All those negative thoughts faded into pity, the disgust and anger they felt earlier now redirected to themselves.
How could they think such terrible things about a child? He was clearly going through so much and here they are berating him for it.
He must have been very physically and emotionally exhausted from it all.
The dragons and Cale's group's anger grew, wanting to know who those servants were.
'How dare they say such things about the young master/a child!?'
"How dare they say such things about my son!?!" Deruth shouts standing up from his seat clenching his fists.
It was the first time they saw him this angry. If you looked around you would see that the other Deruths were seething in their seats.
Duke Henituse please sit back down
"No! Who do these servants think they are to bad talk my son"
Duke Henituse please calm down-
"How dare they eve-"
Sit your ass down, you deadbeat father!
The system shouted, anger clear in his voice. They all stilled, fearing what the system would do.
Deruth sat down almost immediately as Leo spoke trying to stop his body from shaking.
"..."
Now then, let's continue.
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A few months after the funeral his father started to close himself off. It was clear to Cale that his father was not able to cope with the grief of losing her.
Locking himself in his room not coming out no matter how many times Cale tried to coax him to come out.
The little redhead often used to sneak in just to check if he was still breathing. It was a concern that developed shortly after his mother's passing.
It was quite common to find the older man on the floor absolutely wasted with a bunch of bottles of liquor spread around him.
He 'used to' being the key words, he wasn't about to go in there again, not after what happened the last time...
He asks Ron to check up on him after that, often walking to the kitchen to ask Beacrox to make sure his father ate until he eventually just stopped asking -caring- anymore.
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The scene changed showing Cale peeking out from behind a wall watching as his father closed the door of his office. A click was heard indicating that the door was locked.
The little redhead came out of his hiding spot with a sigh as he stared at the door. He walked towards the door, hand raised ready to knock the door. Before he suddenly changed his mind and walked away.
The screen then showed many different instances of the Count avoiding the little boy.
Seeing this Akuma clenched his fist, he knew it was bad but not this bad. It seemed that his canine friend seemed to downplay how bad it actually was.
The scene panned out showing Cale as he asked his father to leave the office. The scene now on the older Henituse who looked like he hadn't slept or eaten in a while clearly drowning himself in work.
Gasps filled the cinema as the screen changed once again. Never in their life have they ever imagined seeing the renowned leader of the Henituse territory knocked out cold with bottles everywhere.
They never expected this from the Count/Duke.
Whispers and murmurs were heard across the whole room as nobles and citizens alike gossiped about this newly acquired information.
"Is this where the young master got his drinking problem from?"
The Henituse(-Deruth) stared at the screen in shock. They have never ever seen him like this before, to say they were shocked was an understatement.
"Oppa, what's wrong with Dad?" Lily* asks worry visible in her eyes as she shakes the equally worried Basen*.
Deruth stared at the screen, appalled at the sight. He doesn't remember doing that- having always woken up on the blue couch in the corner of the room with no bottle in sight.
As he questioned himself how that could be possible the screen changed showing him the answer
The next scene shows Cale picking up the glass bottles that were covering the floor. Putting them in a bag -most likely to throw them away.
As the video progressed they couldn't help but wonder what made him stop visiting only for the screen to change once again leaving them horrified.
The video showed the young redhead being held by the neck, his hair roughly being pulled as he stared wide-eyed at his father as he crawled at the hands around his neck.
The man shouting at him was clearly drunk and very very angry. He continued to squeeze his neck making it hard to breathe. His pupils contracted as a gold ring appeared around his amber eyes.
Black and White images flashed on the screen, they all had different people but had one thing in common.
Someone being drunk out of their mind while harming the person whose point of view they were watching.
Swear and cursing them for their problems. Having no regard for the person's well-being whatsoever.
The screen shows the redhead snapping out of his daze before twisting the Count's arm, breaking free of his hold before kicking him. Decking the older in the face knocking him out ice cold.
The boy just stood there looking down at the man before touching his bruised neck with a frown on his face. He turned around walking out of the door and made a beeline to his room.
The audience stared quietly at the screen before turning to look at the Deruth of their respective worlds with disgust and hatred.
The dragons, Cale's group, and the Rose guide looked like they were about to murder a certain Count/ Duke.
The bloodlust that filled the room was unimaginable maybe even matching a Dragon's Fears or Dominating Aura
The Henituse(-Deruth) stared at their father/husband with a baffled and angered expression on their face.
The citizens didn't know what to think, they never expected something like this from their leader.
The nobles didn't know what to say. Out of all of them, they knew the Count wasn't corrupt. Being neutral to all political views, thinking about his family and citizen's well-being before himself. Was that all an act?
If so, what else was he doing behind closed doors?
Then again they all suppose that it was the alcohol that made him act that way but even with this knowledge, they would never look at him the same way again...
Deruth looked devastated and disgusted in himself. His eyes were wide open as he covered his mouth with his hand. How could he do that to his son? Why? What the hell was wrong with him?
The system however didn't care what the old man felt. He had done this in all three timelines.
The first time it happened was when Cale got caught when he brought back the paperwork he had finished.
The second time Cale didn't even visit him yet somehow ended up in the same situation. The third time was similar to the first time.
Leo continued the video making them all turn their attention back to the screen not giving them a chance to say anything.
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To be continued
Hey Guys
I know it's been a while I got caught up with a lot of stuff and I was writing my exams so I didn't have any time for this.
Along with the fact that Wattpad decided to delete half of my story and I didn't save it on any other documents so I have to rewrite everything again.
I may edit some of the previous chapters so don't be surprised if something changed.
Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay and I hope you have a great day.
ᕙ(^▿^-ᕙ)
Thanks for reading.