Aefia bumped into a person on her way to the food table as Lewis was forced to stop. Her hat dropped from her grip as she crouched to pick it up. Going through crowds wasn't easy and if it was, then something must happen in between that would cause a mess. While standing up, she noticed the person had already turned around and looked down at her.
"I am sorry sir." She bowed as an apology. No answer came back as she looked up and moved back multiple steps. Not knowing what to reply, she glanced at her brothers to get a hint on what will happen next, but he had already locked eyes with the man standing in front of them. Henry took her hand, and his face too seemed mad at the person standing in front.
"Are you going to stay silent like that, Viscount?" Lewis angry questioned the man. The man didn't reply, but smiled as if mocking. So this family has some sort of feud with this man? Who is supposedly a viscount? Then I guess the better was for me to have not gotten along with them. I was only here for Henry...and obviously food. She glanced at the buffet. Everyone was taking a plate and running around from place to place, leveling them up with different items which made her mouth savour.
"If you have any business with that man, I will head over to the food section. I won't accept my plate remaining empty while the others finish it until the last piece." She placed the hat properly on her head while walking with Henry towards the bustling area filled with food. "Honestly, I believe it's my fault for not having it pinned in the first place." She spoke without a backward glance. Just when she was about to leave, the man finally spoke which jumpscared both her and their little brother.
"Is she the sister your mother was talking about?" The man smiled as he moved into a bowing position. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Although, I didn't expect your sister to be more respectful and hostile towards a very lowly leveled man." There was greed and arrogance the way he spoke, and Lewis stared at her direction as if to ask for the case to be solved since she had started this.
Her eyes were calm and her smile remained as her eye lids went into a resting position, narrowing her pupils. "And was there a reason to be rude to you until now? I am not as disrespectful to people who I meet for the first time, but that changes when the person responds to it as a bad thing. It was...not nice...to meet you." Her cold voice shocked the man as she completely turned herself to face him and their little brother secretly smiled.
"Everyone of the royal kids are spoilt, and terribly rude. No wonder their mother has a will to murder everyone of them." The viscount forced a bitter smile after the shocked face as he turned away in a hurry to run from their sight. "Did we give a permission to walk away? I am not done talking." Aefia spoke as she came to stand beside Lewis. He smiled noticing that their sister was as savage as she could be when someone gets her last nerves.
The man huffed a breath and turned around, but was greeted with a punch to his gut instead. Both of the brothers stared with disbelieve and laughter as she stepped back. "You are lucky I didn't get your land removed from the maps. Because I was already thinking about it, maybe you could learn some respect from the higher ups the next time. Our family isn't as peaceful as we seem." She spoke as the man stumbled to his knees while holding his stomach.
"And one more thing." Just before turning around, she added. "May you have a terrible time in this palace for as long as you are able to live. With the amount of pressure I had applied, I may have ruptured your intestines, but I just can't prove it." An evil grin illuminated on her face as she turned towards the food items lined up.
"For a small word or sentence, she went as far as to hit me?" The man's nose bleeded as he whispered to himself. "She isn't what we all think she is, another monster from the bloodline of royalties who we can easily fool. But I am not giving up on my goal, even with this. Once I get her at the weakest point, I will beat her to a pulp." His fist slammed the marble floor as he stood up and wiped the sides of his mouth while glancing at her walking away.
***
"Who was that? The man back there." Aefia asked while going through the empty dishes lined up, with her plate still empty. That man had no other thing to do but to wait for the food to end, then finally fall silent and let us walk by. But I didn't actually want to hit him that hard. Truely, I didn't know I had gotten that strong over the time. She slowly retracted her hand while her knuckles stayed pale and then turned invisible when her fingers stretched upward, and this was due to her hyperbolic hands.
"I don't think you had done it right when you punched him. To think he is actually our lost uncle, and this was the first time he had attended the invitation. I am persuming he came to see you, but didn't expect to meet you like that. Although, yes, he was really rude." Lewis spoke while putting back the plate he was holding and so did Henry. "But if you can meet him next, try to apologize. He isn't an easy man."
In the meantime, she had been busy with the last piece of chicken barbequed, and picked it onto her plate. With that, the food had officially ran out and with excitement, she held it out in front of her brothers as a way to tease them. "Finders keepers." She smiled while pointing at the large size. "I am off to a table now. Catch you both later."
Knowing how they would chase behind her anytime sooner, she teleported herself to an empty table in the far corner and shoved it under. By the time they had both caught up, she held out her hand and spoke. "Don't blame me, an old lady was hungry too."
Lewis and Henry both shared an annoyed face and smacked their foreheads. "We have gotten a dumb sister." They both had no other choice but to sit at the table and placed their heads on top of their crossed hands and hid their face. Out of the contrary, Aefia pushed the plate in front of them and stayed expressionless as the smell of food reached their noses and they looked up. It was just the way it had been.
"I didn't think you would take it seriously, it was just a prank. I thought every siblings did it." She watched as they both fought over the plate. Seeing this, she snapped her finger and a basket of snacks appeared in the centre of the table. They both stared at her face as if demanding explaination. "What? I do whatever I want to. Is that a huge mistake too?" She slightly tilted her head to the right as she picked up a packet of savoury biscuits. They were her favourites from the day she had tasted them from the first day at Nikoan.
While tearing the packet, she glanced down at where her hands had been cut with the broke glass of the watch. I wish that tick tock was still echoing at my hand. It feels empty around like this, intimidating enough to make me rip a soul into half. She tried to keep her anger in control, but only if it wasn't for the man and her hat. Although it was a smaller size, she wasn't used to these sort of things and preferred her head being left the way it was. For today, her maid servants tied her hair tightly and lowly at the back while only leaving her front hair to cover her eyebrows.
Annoyingly, she slammed her hat down, on the floor and out of sight. It was no difference whether to have it or not, and it was already troublesome, so it was best not to have it. She used her shoes to kick them under the table and left it there while forgetting about it completely. Her mind was still in its usual sleepy state despite the loud noises and the crowd of people which would usually cause her to run away. And now that no one was placing their attention at them, she could get off in a run any second.
"By the way, you were saying that the man I had earlier bumped into was our uncle. I have a question in my mind, how did you find it out?" She asked out of the contrary while they were both tearing the last piece of meat into pieces. Noticing this, she added shortly afterwards. "Nevermind, I will just ask later on." But they didn't seem to hear.
Standing up, she had intention to head towards the library, and if she could, to her room to get some sleep. But to think, something needed to be done about the Guardian who was seen at the office just today. It was odd enough to believe they would be present, but even more odder that they were following her around. What was it? They seemed to notice I had escaped their grasp, but they were also eager to bind me back.
"Where are you going? The guests just started to arrive." Lewis asked while lifting his head after a long time. At her viewpoint, they looked like beggars who just saw the sight of food. But I also had forgotten about that weirdo. She thought while turning expressionless. She didn't eat, but the biscuit packet stayed at her hand as she looked for a way to answer.
"I am bored, so I might just head to the library or my room. I am also pretty tired, so I might just fall asleep. Either ways, I might come back from time to time to check in on what is happening here." She pushed the chair and walked away through the dark areas of the palace. Placing her free hand on her head, she realized the hat was still under the table. Leave it. It is troublesome if it stays on.
She walked towards the library, with the stray idea in mind that a next big disaster is about to happen if she neglects the issue as it is. The hallway was seemingly silent, a little too silent as the sun went down and casted long shadows. She found it surprising that while wandering around the entire crowd, there was no sight of the duchess or George. And if they were busy dealing with something, it was a perfect chance to create an illusion and send off towards the event.
Regardless, her magic energy seemed used up as she tried to cast her shadow as her duplicate self. It was immediate prove she had been sealed, and to break it was going to be hard. Because in short, she didn't know how to do so. And that was also something she wanted to go to the library for. Every single day, it's being a troublesome day at this palace and also the office. Why can't I get a break? I had enough plot twist, now can't the storyline change a little bit?
But what was written on her forehead couldn't be reversed. As I knew, this was a common thing now. She pushed open the library door and entered into the brightly lit room. Her eyes burned, and she used the back of her left hand to cover over them. Walking to the seating area, the biscuit packet was placed on the table and she reached out to flip open a book. The same she had been reading earlier this morning.
Her senses told her something was off about the environment. She turned a hundred eighty and held the book hanging from her fingers, as if they were hooked to them or rather, glued. "I know you are in there. Why do you keep following me?"
Cedric stepped out from behind a shelve while bowing. "I was worried about the problem with the prisoners and realized you won't be free. So I ceased the opportunity to quickly speak it to you, that is if you don't mind." He lifted his head at the last word and held a guilty face.
"If it will be within ten minutes, go ahead. I am also curious what is so important that you are forced to move behind me and practically 'stalk' someone. You were lucky I didn't see you as a threat." Aefia placed the book on the table behind her as she sat down. "It better be something worth speaking about. Otherwise I might have you removed." She picked out a thin piece of biscuit and put it in her mouth while opening the cover of the book.
"The problem is, they are in a situation where they can't seem to find a proper life for themselves and they were asking me that day, whether I could talk you into this decision where they can all work at the palace besides me." He spoke with a short pause.
Aefia choked on her piece of biscuit as she bent over and held her nose. "What are they?! By the looks they are full grown adults! Tell them to work harder! I am here standing between life and death with the duchess, it's a miracle I am still alive!" She spoke while lifting her head.
"Exactly, that's what I keep telling them but they don't seem to believe me." He spoke while continuing. "They are saying to ask again and properly. I already know that you are stressed with your own work, why would I need to ask it seriously if it weren't this intense. That's the problem I wanted to speak about."
Aefia held her finger against her nose while breathing through her mouth. "Then tell them to continue working at community service, that should help them 'get a life'. Add in the fact with the small pause, mostly when they laugh, say, 'otherwise she said she will have to send you back to your prison '. If it still doesn't work, I will see what to do next." She added with a serious face.