The beat of the still heart[Completed]

38: Arrival

Taking a sniff of the fresh flowers that reminded her of the garden near her dorm, Hana replaced the old bundle with the new ones and proceeded to do the same for all the flower vases in her small two-story house. She then began to wipe all the glass table that was already spotless with a damp cloth just to make her clean-freak mother content.

"Honey, the guest will be arriving at any moment, can you put the cat inside your room. You know how much our relatives hate her." Hana's mother requested in a loud voice from the kitchen and as if the cat understood what she was referring to, it immediately hid under the table in the living room in protest.

"Sorry lulu, we don't want the last incident to repeat" Saying that Hana pulled out her reluctant cat from under the table and took it upstairs, inside her room ignoring its loud desperate meow.

"Well, you should have behaved properly then," The cat hissed back looking mad and Hana simply giggled at her daughter's dramatic behavior. Her introverted cat didn't like any human interaction. The last time one of her relatives tried to pet her without her permission, Lulu had scratched the shit out of the woman and made sure the scar would last for the rest of her life.

"I promise I will bring you treats if you agree to behave and stay in the room" As soon as lulu heard the word treat, the cat climbed up on Hana's bed and laid down flat in silence showing her big twinkling eyes. Giving her dearest cat a pat on her head and praising her for being the best daughter in the world, Hana locked her room and ran downstairs to help her mother with the preparation.

It had been exactly a week since she was acquitted by the council after her innocence was proven. Right after she was released, her mother had flown her back to their country; Venesia as the entire experience had made her mother go fearful and paranoid. She was no longer fine with her daughter staying in the supernatural world, and understanding her mother's concerns, Hana had quietly abided by her decision for the time being.

Unfortunately, she couldn't bide bye to any of her friends and people who saved her from her predicament except for her attorney, Veronica Nova. Due to the lengthy procedures and formalities, Hana had to go through after her trial by the time she was out, the Lady Light had already left the council to attend another meeting, after all, she was a very busy person. On top of that, all of her friends were serving their punishments in another dimension and Daniel had been taken away by his family making her unable to reach anyone of them.

Caressing the bracelets Veronica had gifted her on behalf of her and Lady light, Hana recalled her final words before she left Death valley.

"Don't be disheartened, we will meet soon. Till then take care of yourself and your mother."

Taking a long breath in, she prayed for the soon to arrive sooner as she could no longer contain herself. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy spending time with her mother but the circumstance they were in while they had to leave abruptly had left an emptiness inside Hana's heart. Without seeing all the people she loved in one place, her freedom didn't feel like what she had imagined it to be.

To cheer her up, Her mother had invited all of her relatives and cousins for a small house party in the name of celebrating her return. Since the media and newspapers had kept her identity a secret, her relatives were oblivious that the girl who had been all over the news for being the mate to the heir to the Emperor's throne was actually Hana. All they knew was that Hana was visiting her home for the holidays. However, that wasn't the point. The real issue was that Hana despised her relatives as they were fake as plastics and as toxic as a snake.

Her mother had a heart of gold so even though she was aware of their relative's true nature in the name of blood, relation, and family values, she would continue maintaining association with them regardless of the disrespect and taunt they would shower upon her.