If I Could Live Again

CHAPTER 31

A continuous tapping sound echoed throughout a silent room. The man’s silhouette was seen sitting near the window with his hand still holding a pen. His mind was seem to be in deep thought as if he was about to make a decision that will change his life for good.

“Seth, has everything been prepared?”, Ansel didn’t even try to look at his aide.

“Yes, Your Highness!”, Seth still bowed at him.

“This will be the last one. I need you to go to that place and offer a trade. Bring this letter to them so that you’ll be able to enter”, Ansel handed him over a confidential letter with a seal.

“Understood”, Seth departed immediately after he received the envelope.

The man exited at the back of the palace and swiftly moved by feet. He was instructed by the prince to take a shabby carriage secretly. However, he decided not to, as going to the neighboring kingdom will be a piece of cake

Seth arrived at the Kingdom of Cecilia for just a few hours despite the traveling time is worth one day by carriage. He bypassed security efficiently and didn’t undergo the normal process of meeting the royalties. He arrived at a room that seemed to be the office of the King.

“Who goes there?”, said the King of Cecilia.

“Greetings, Your Excellency! I am Seth, the trusted Aide of Prince Ansel of the Fraus Kingdom. I have delivered a letter from the prince and would like to negotiate with you”, Seth slightly bowed to him.

“Who would in their right mind agree with anything you say? You just appeared out of nowhere! Even if you have an official letter, I don’t have a brutish lack of understanding to actually agree with you”, the King being infuriated, was about to call the royal guards when Seth suddenly appeared right infront of him and sealed his mouth.

“I was being nice to you, you know, O’ great King of Cecilia”, Seth remarked sarcastically.

“But to think that you are making this more complicated, it irks me”, he stared at the King directly into the eyes.

“We were supposed to talk this out and you, in return, would immediately agree to our plan. But you didn’t EVEN hear me out”, Seth’s stare felt like a blackhole that was about to devour an entire being. The King’s soul was beginning to get crushed by Seth’s condensed mana rapidly pouring unto him through his hand. The King of Cecilia was choking on his own saliva. He couldn’t handle this intense pressure.

‘Just where on earth did this monster been hiding all this time?’, the King thought to himself. He was already afraid of another monster residing in the Kingdom of Caris that sits atop of the hierarchy. And now, another monster had appeared out of the blue.

“Well, even if you didn’t agree, I still planned on forcing you. Soooo---”, Seth smiled eerily and soon the King lost his consciousness.

***

Elin has been wandering around the castle trying to familiarize every faces she happens to meet while roaming around. She has been doing this for over a week now and still can’t believe that the people she met in the village near the forest of Rever were the same people working here in the palace.

“Good morning, Princess!”, said a woman who was busy preparing for the breakfast.

“Good morning. Uhhh--- I’m sorry but may I ask for your name, ma’am?”, Elin akwardly asked the woman.

“You don’t need to use honorifics on me, princess. I’m Jenna. You can call me Jen if you like”, Jen was a bit shock at first with the way the princess talks.

“Are you perhaps the same person who always brings us snacks back in the village?”, Elin was quite sure with her guess.

“Yes, Your Highness! I’m the same person you met a long time ago. I’m in-charge with the food for the people of the palace”, Jen brightly answered her.

“So every village people that I met before are working here?”, Elin continued their conversation.

“Yes, absolutely!”, Jen said enthusiastically.

“Why would you do that to such extent? I mean, were you forced because it is your job?”, Elin slightly doubted their sincerity.

“Well, aside from being a worker here, your family is our savior. It was a few years ago when you were still a baby that they saved us from---”, Jen paused for awhile.

“From?”, the princess was waiting for her to continue her sentence.

“Well, I think it is better for you to know exactly everything directly from His Majesty and not from any of us, don’t you think so, princess?”, Jen called a guard to accompany Elin.

“Princess?”, Jen seeked Elin’s attention before leaving.

“What I wanted to say is ----

We always wanted to see you. All of us deeply regretted for being incompetent. So now, it is our greatest honor in serving you once again, Your highness!”, Elin was quite astonished by what Jen said.

“Welcome home, our dearest princess!”, Jen bowed to her. For someone who was like a ghost in the duke’s mansion before, hearing simple words like that makes Elin’s heart flutter.

“I’m home”, Elin mumbled while looking down. She was eminently blushing while shyly smiled as she waved Jen goodbye.

Before entering the conference room, Elin sensed a heavy aura leaking. As she entered, the atmosphere was dense that it was harder for anyone to breath. All of her family was present in the room, including Nero and Leo. Their faces were awfully serious that no one dared to utter a single word.

“May I perhaps ask what is going on here?”, Elin mustered her courage to speak.

“Oh, hello, muffin. We’re sorry for not noticing you right away”, Callahan looked worried.

“Ohhh! No! It’s okay. I’m used to it”, Elin slightly smiled.

“No. No. No. You should not get used to it, dear. You’re our daughter. A princess at that. Be a little more selfish”, Nera stood up and hugged her daughter. They both sat down after everyone loosened up a bit but Callahan could not contain it any longer. He glared at Leo and ordered him to stand right next to the sofa he’s sitting.

“Pops, is there perhaps a war? maybe? since Leo is here? You look like you’re about to kill someone”, Elin sensed that Callahan was too serious if this meeting was not something too important. Nera just chuckled at the sight of his husband.

“Yes. It’s seems that I really might kill someone right now. But before that, let me ask you, muffin”, Callahan let us his breath to calm himself down.

“Is HE your fated one?”, Callahan asked Elin while pointing at Leo.

PS.
Hello everyone. I'm back!! I was kinda busy for the past few weeks.
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Sorry for leaving you my dereast readers. (｡╯︵╰｡)