The Story of Dhanvanthri

twenty-six

Inexplicable Hatred

.

His first instinct, was naturally to step forward slightly to block Athanasia. It was only out of pure will did he manage to press down the urge to take his whole family and run. Noah, who caught onto his guarded look, instantly straightened up. Dhanvanthri relaxed his fists and let a harmless smile wash over his face, atmosphere showing nothing but him being welcoming.

His mind numbed itself instantly, trying to make about with the current situation. The girl in front of him was that boring girl he had just mentioned seconds ago. His father didn't notice the coincidence but Dhanvanthri, who had been paying attention to his sister's wellbeing, noticed the instant discomfort which had intruded her atmosphere the second this brunette girl appeared.

So, who was she? His eyes narrowed, there was something about her that wasn't right. He hadn't noticed before when he caught a glimpse of her, his focus was always more on Athanasia but now that she was right in front of him— there was no doubt something was wrong about her. Something about the atmosphere, vibe surrounding her was fundamentally unstable.

"Oh, pardon me, your majesty." The brunette startled. She took a step back and dipped into a courtesy bow. "Blessings and Glory upon the Obelian empire."

Dhanvanthri's heart that had only begun to warm in recent years had started to grow cold once more. He eyed his father who looked at the girl with an inexplicable look, then his mind flashed to the words his sister had spoken to him just hours ago.

"Uhm, big brother, what if you had another sister apart from me?"

A bold speculation came to mind, but he didn't immediately jumped into conclusions. His gaze on the brunette grew more cautious. If her identity was as he suspected, her appearance in front of them today was not merely a coincidence. Was there a conspiracy after all? And how large was it.

Before he could dive deeper into the matter, Athanasia stepped forward with a flurry and smiled at the brunette with a dazzling, false charm. "I only just realised I lost it! Thank you for returning it to me."

Fake. How can Dhanvanthri, who had lived with this girl for such a long time, fail to see how forceful her smile and attitude was? She was uncomfortable. She wanted to get away from the brunette. He frowned, exactly what was going on here. A gloomy feeling took refuge in his heart, the last thing he liked was to be in ignorance.

"It's my pleasure," the girl smiled pleasantly. "I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Jeanette Magrita."

The child fostered by the Duke of Alpheus. Was the instant thought that came into his mind, Dhanvanthri stilled. Nothing good came out of that family, as they say, birds of the same feather would flock together. If this girl was raised by the Duke, her identity was not something less than purposeful— whether it is intentional or not.

A weapon may not know itself to be one .

"Magrita?" a cold voice resounded. "So, you're the child that is being taken care of by Duke Alpheus."

Dhanvanthri almost had to stare at his father in disbelief. This man was actually paying attention to something such as who was being fostered by who? There was definitely something about Jeanette's identity, there has to be a story behind this. Why was the name Magrita so familiar?

Jeanette looked delighted. "Have you heard of me before?"

Nausea aroused within him, the closer she got to them, the more Dhanvanthri wanted to booked the hell out of the place and never return. Such an avid aversion to a person he's never met was extremely uncharacteristic, something was not right. Something was truly wrong at this moment, and frustratingly, he couldn't pinpoint the exact reason why.