En put on his black shoes and gazed at his surroundings as he tied them by his bed. The warm breeze swayed the delicate light green curtains that partially covered the glass door that gave access to the balcony. The large vases placed by the light yellow walls exhibited plants and flowers of various shapes and sizes.
Seeing the only painting stuck on the wall, En exhaled. It seemed as if it was yesterday he woke up in this room all confused. Noticing how much time had passed since then, he was surprised that in the end, he stayed in that residence for far longer than he had planned. He never would have thought he would feel at home in a place he grew up knowing he wasn't welcome.
Now that he would spend some final hours with his maternal family before he destroyed what was left that was good in him and kill that man, part of him couldn't help but feel sad.
He didn't know what would be his fate or who he would become after killing the man who tortured him ever since he was a small child. One thing he was sure, he wouldn't be the same En after that challenge and before he could go there, he wanted to create good memories as a good cousin, nephew, and grandson.
If he had a chance to see his friends again, he wanted to apologize for everything he had done to them, perhaps, tell Arisa how he always felt about her.
He thought it would be okay if he received a rejection from her. At least he wouldn't die regretting not expressing his feelings, as Mei had told him. But with him not knowing where Arisa and Kazuya were and Kraden coming to pick him up, he was sure he wouldn't have time to look for them. In the end, he would have to guess what would have happened if he had talked to her.
The sound of someone knocking on the door brought him back to reality.
"Come in," he said, sitting properly on his bed.
He didn't take long to hear someone opening and closing the door. He soon heard sounds of shoes tapping the floor as someone approached his area. En saw a black-haired young man in a long-sleeved light blue shirt and black pants standing in front of him.
"I didn't expect you to wear formal clothing in a family gathering, Chen," teased En.
Chen chuckled, touching his shirt. "Grandmother told us to come here as if it would be the last day we would see you. So I thought I should wear proper clothing for once. I'm sure my grandkids will ask me why I look left out when they find old family photos in the future."
"Is that so?" asked En, trying not to laugh. "But why did grandmother say that? It's not as if I'll never return to visit you again unless she's predicting my death."
Chen shrugged. "I don't know. You should ask her. Sometimes she has these weird feelings that go on her head and thinks it will actually happen."
En blinked at that revelation, wondering what was worrying his grandmother. After Kraden left the residence the previous day, En spoke to his grandmother after spending an hour by himself to reflect and calm down.
He had told her that Kraden found a way for him to reclaim his throne and that he would have to return to his world on the next day after sunset. He didn't remember telling her about the challenge. Though, he noticed that although she told him that she was very happy to see that he would reclaim what was his, she looked kind of sad.
"Yesterday I asked grandma if she scared you to run away from us so soon," said Chen, having a seat by En's side. "She told me that you're returning to your world to become a King. I confess that I was a bit jealous. You're like what? Eighteen? How can a kid like you become a King, while I have to get married first and even if I get married, people still think I'm not ready."
A quiet laugh escaped En's lips. "Our worlds are different. My family doesn't need a wife to be crowned."
"I guess there's good trust in there," teased Chen, folding his arms, "and your family and people aren't scared of you becoming a playboy King. I thought becoming a King sucked since you have to be a good example and leader. You have to forget the normal life and freedom you wished you could have. I guess in some worlds it's different."
En looked sideways, wishing to tell Chen what was the reality of being an Eterian King. Forgetting your emotions and not being allowed to have a relationship with the person you were in love with made having that title a nightmare.
"But in the end, it's what we have to do," said Chen, sighing. "It's the reason I was born. If big sis Lili or big sis Ju were born male, maybe I wouldn't be here."
En raised a brow as he glanced at him. "What do you mean?"
"As many countries and worlds, having a son to continue the reign is preferred," said Chen. "I'm sure mother and father wanted two kids, but one of their children wasn't born a male to rule the country, so they tried again and here I am."
En's brows rose. "I see. So in this country, a King is preferred to lead the country too."
"It's the same in your world too?" wondered Chen, looking at him.
En replied with a quick nod, remembering how women wouldn't be involved in politics in Eteria. It wasn't until Regina, his aunt, complained to her father that things started to progress. She told him that as his daughter, she should be involved in that area, and ever since then, things changed. In the end, his grandfather allowed her to lead the Dragon Clan.
"Once I'm crowned," said Chen, his tone quiet, "I'll change that law and let whoever is born first become a leader. Not all sons want to become Kings and not all daughters are weak to become Queens."
En smiled. "I like that idea."
The sound of someone knocking on the door filled the air before Chen could say anything else. En told the person behind the door to come in. Several seconds later, he saw a young woman in a bright green hanfu join their area. The lady who had her long dark hair tied in a lateral bun that had several wavy strands of hair escaping from it placed her arms on her hips and glared at them.
"Oh," said Chen. "Hi, big sis Lili."
Lili crossed her arms. "What do you mean hi? Grandmother asked you to call En, not for you to sit and chat with him."
'Oops." Chen laughed. "I forgot."
As Lili glared at her brother and scolded him, En laughed, seeing that this would be one of the moments he would miss.
"Anyway, we should go," said Lili, taking the lead. "Everyone has already gathered."
Chen nodded. "Let's go."
En stood up and followed his cousins.
--♈♌♎--
En blinked two times as he saw the scenery not far from him. Under the bright sun, on the spacious garden, a family had gathered. As some of the members chatted with each other, sitting on the many available chairs, some members saw the trio approaching them. They waved and smiled at them upon seeing them.
"What's this?" En asked in disbelief. "My birthday is in two months."
"It's a family lunch," said Lili with a smile. "That's all."
En focused back on the scenery, still feeling as if he was thrown into a surprise party with the many people that were gathered there and the various delicacies he could see on the table. As they finally reached the area, En's brows rose, surprised to see his four uncles in the crowd.
The whole family indeed had gathered, excluding the cousins who were studying overseas. Looking around, En saw his cousins, with some sitting by their partners' side. He saw that some of them had small children in their arms.
"You're finally here," said his grandmother, her tone cheerful. "We were waiting for you. I was running out of excuses to stop people from eating."
"Grandmother," said En, his tone surprised, "what's this?"
His grandmother held his hand. "A farewell party mixed with the celebration of you becoming a King. We're not sure when you'll visit us again, so we wanted to make this farewell as memorable as possible."
Before En could tell her that there was no need to make such a big event, his grandmother pulled him to walk along with her. As they reached the long table that displayed various types of food, En looked away, seeing that everyone was looking at him.
The grandmother started to talk, saying that the star of the day had arrived, so everyone would be free to eat now. But before anyone could grab their plates and start to attack the table, his grandmother spoke for a little more.
"I am grateful that the heavens gave me a chance to spend time with him," she said, her voice cracking. "For years, I have been wondering what if I had interfered in that fight between my sons and my son-in-law. Maybe our situation wouldn't have been bad and I would see my grandson every year."
En gazed at his grandmother, understanding what she was talking about. Back then, he was a small child to remember anything, but his father had told him what happened. A month after his mother passed away, his father had taken En to visit her grave as a form to comfort him since En couldn't stop calling her name for days.
That day, they crossed paths with his mother's family and things didn't go well as her brothers threatened him and En. It was at that point that his father told them they wouldn't ever see him or En again. When En was old enough, his father allowed him to visit his mother's grave, but with caution.
"I would spend my days wondering how my grandson was doing and if he was growing well without his mother by his side," continued his grandmother. "For years I blamed myself for being a bad grandmother. In that moment of sorrow and sadness, my grandson needed his family to comfort him, yet I wasn't there for him."
"It's not your fault, Mother," said a calm voice from the crowd.
En saw a tall, slim man, standing up close to one of the medium-sized roundtables filling the garden.
As the man walked a few steps forward, En noticed a girl in pink hanfu, sitting in a wheelchair at the same table the man had stood up from. En recognized Mei, who was sitting by the side of a woman in a dark blue hanfu and glasses. Mei and her mother gazed at her father as he stood a few steps in front of them.
"Shen is right, mother." Another voice joined the atmosphere. "We started the fight that day. We were so consumed by our loss that we couldn't help but express our anger as soon as we saw Reiji. I'm sure Yueli would be disappointed with us if she saw us at that moment."
En saw a slightly strong man with short black hair that had strands of white, approach Shen. He recognized Xun, the third son of the royal family.
"I still blame him for having ruined the harmony in our family," said a lean man that had strands of black hair on his mostly gray head. "But I admit, we were wrong to pick on him that day."
En recognized Jian, the current King of the Yue Kingdom. He was sitting at a table not far from Mei's. There, En saw his wife holding a toddler. En recognized Ju's daughter, who looked around as if nothing important was going on.
"It's understandable, though," said a bearded man, sitting opposite Jian, "we were hurt there."
"But we were still wrong," said Shen, walking a few steps forward. "Mother, it saddens me to see that you have suffered in silence like that, I apologize. If we were good sons, we would have noticed that and have done something."
En's grandmother shook her head. "You don't have to apologize, Shen. Besides, my grandson is here, so I'm fine now."
En looked at the green ground as he noticed Shen's gaze on him.
"There's nothing we can do to correct what we did that day," said Shen, his tone calm. "But we can learn from it and become better uncles. I've always felt guilty for acting that way with my sister's son and husband and wondered if one day I would have a chance to apologize. Now that you're here, I can't lose that opportunity. On behalf of my brothers, I apologize."
En's eyes widened as he saw Shen bow. As he remained speechless, he saw the other brothers do the same.
"The-there's no need to go that far," said En, his tone embarrassed. "What happened in the past stays in the past. You allowing me to stay here in the last week was enough. Everything is fine. There's no need to apologize."
The brothers regained their posture as they gazed at him with a smile. En exhaled. He was glad to have returned to this country and interact with his family. If he hadn't, he would have died knowing that his maternal family never cared about him.
"Okay," said Chen, breaking the silence. "Now that the drama is over, can we eat now?"
As everyone laughed, En heard Chen's mother scolding him, telling him to have some manners. Soon, the family members grabbed their plates and gathered around the table that displayed food ready to consume. As he didn't have much appetite, En let the others serve. As he waited for his turn, he chatted with some of his cousins, cousins-in-law, and their small children.
When he served his food, he sat by Mei's side and asked her why she was sitting alone. She told him her parents, aunts, and uncles were talking about things she couldn't relate to, so she moved to a different table as she was getting bored. En chuckled.
"I never expected you to leave us so soon," she said, grabbing a glass of juice.
"I don't live here," said En. "It was a matter of time until I decided to return to my world."
En heard Mei exhale. When he looked at her, he saw that she didn't look so happy.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm sad," she replied. "We were just starting to know each other and have fun, it's sad that you have to leave. I was hoping you would stay here long enough to meet my big brother, Yu. I'm sure you two would have gotten super along if you met each other."
En had another spoon of his meal, remembering that he still had to meet three more cousins, who were studying overseas.
"Now I can't wait to meet Yu," said En. "But I'm sure I'll meet him and the other two when I visit the Yue Kingdom again. As for us two, we can still exchange messages while I'm away. We'll see each other again, don't be sad. Meanwhile, focus on defeating me as an artist."
A quick laugh escaped Mei's lips. "You'd better prepare yourself because you'll lose motivation once you see how my drawing skills have improved and are better than yours."
"We shall see that," said En, raising a brow. "It's not like I'll relax at home. I'll do my best so you won't surpass me."
Mei laughed cheerfully. As En had his drink, he was glad to see that her mood had brightened. He surely didn't want to leave the country seeing her all sad.
"When you return to visit us," said Mei, "I'm hoping that you will bring good news about your friend. I want to hear that you spoke to her no matter what the outcome will be."
"I'll be sure to accomplish that at least," said En with a smile, "or else I'll be embarrassed to visit you."
As Mei smiled at him, En wished he had a chance to talk to Arisa and Kazuya before challenging Belinsk.
Chen and his sisters joined their table as Mei and En chatted. Not long after that, other cousins joined them.
For an hour, the cousins enjoyed their time chatting and playing with each other. As laughter brightened the atmosphere, En wished time would stop so this fun moment would never end. After all, once he returned to his world, he wouldn't be able to express such positive emotions.
En enjoyed his time with his cousins for several minutes more until Hui Yin joined the area and told him his grandmother was calling him. En excused himself and followed Hui Yin to the place where his grandmother was waiting. They walked away from the festive area for a few minutes until they reached a spot where a black car was waiting for them.
En was told that his grandmother was waiting in the car. When he entered the vehicle, he saw that his grandmother was holding a bouquet of colorful flowers.
As the driver started the car and started driving, his grandmother told him those flowers were for his mother. Since this was the last day he was spending with the family, she thought that paying a little visit to his mother wouldn't be bad. En smiled, agreeing with her.
They didn't take long to reach the cemetery and as they walked into it, looking for his mother's grave, En thought the atmosphere around the place wasn't heavy. As he examined the area, he saw several statues and structured boulders spread across the land that had a bit of vegetation giving it more color.
They finally reached the grave they were looking for, which had a round white boulder with a photo of a woman in red hanfu and long obsidian hair tied with a few jewels. The woman's dark eyes seemed as though she was looking beyond the horizon.
"Here we are," said En's grandmother as they stood in front of the grave. "We can now start our visit."
En's grandmother made a gesture for him to place the flowers. En nodded and bent over a little to deposit the colorful flowers on the grave. He gazed at the boulder and saw the photo stuck on it.
She was so young.
En clenched his fist as anger spread in his veins. He still couldn't believe that her life was prematurely taken away because of greed. He exhaled, trying to calm down. He slowly stood up and as he regained his posture, he saw that his grandmother had closed her eyes and started a silent prayer.
A warm breeze blew past them as En gazed at the grave in silence. He lost himself in his thoughts, telling his mother how every problem between him and her family was now over. He was happy that something positive had come after what happened in Celestia. Despite not being sure what would be the outcome of the challenge, En told her he was a step closer to making her dream come true.
His grandmother clapped once, breaking the silence.
"And we are done," she said. "Wherever Yueli is, I'm sure she's happy to see us getting along after so many years."
En agreed with her and gazed at the sky that was slowly gaining an orange tone.
"It's almost time for you to go," said his grandmother, her voice quiet.
"Yeah," said En. "Uncle Kraden said he would be here after sunset."
En heard his grandmother release a deep sigh. When he gazed at her, he saw that she was looking at the ground with sadness.
"Grandmother," called En, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing." His grandmother shook her head. "It's just that I wanted to spend more time with you. I have a feeling that I won't see you again."
En blinked two times, remembering what Chen had told him earlier. Could it be that his grandmother was feeling that way because of her age?
"What are you saying?" En curled his arm around her shoulder. "After I'm crowned, I'll be sure to visit you as many times as I can."
His grandmother gazed at him, smiling through her tears. "I really hope you'll have a chance. I can't help but feel something won't allow us to see each other again."
"Grandmother, stop filling your mind with negative thoughts." En wrapped his arms around her. "We'll definitely see each other again."
His grandmother hugged him back, nodding. As silence fell, En exhaled. He didn't understand why his grandmother was feeling that way. Although he still wasn't sure what person he would become after that challenge, if he survived and became a King, he would make sure to see his maternal family again.
"Let's go back to the residence," said his grandmother, dropping her arms. "Everyone must be wondering where we disappeared to."
En nodded and followed his grandmother, realizing that he had a bit more time to spend with them.