III. The Impact of Her

~ Twenty-Six ~

"Good morning, Grandpa Ben," we greeted with our heads low, avoiding his stare.

"It seems like the two of you enjoyed your rendezvous last night. A bit too much, if I may add," Grandpa Ben remarked.

Slowly, I looked up and Grandpa Ben wasn't in a forgiving mood today.

He continued as he turned to Laura, "Young lady, you know very well that you are not allowed to go outside at night. Especially at midnight."

"It was indeed wrong of me to do, Grandpa Ben. I am truly sorry," Laura spoke softly as she tried to hide her shaking voice.

"If I may, Grandpa Ben," I carefully intervened, "Laura has no fault in this. It was my idea to have a picnic last night and invited her to come along. She told me she was forbidden to do so but I insisted. I beg of you, please do not punish her for my wrongdoing."

Now was not the right time to act all noble. But I had to say something because this debacle was the consequence of my impulse. I was the one responsible as to why Laura was in such a predicament. It was my mistake and I had to take responsibility for it.

Grandpa Ben stared at me for a long time before he sighed. He returned to Laura and said, "Go back inside and get to work."

Laura nodded. Without looking back, she rushed into the bakery.

Grandpa Ben moved closer to me. "There is no need to worry, Robert," he said as he put a hand on my shoulder, "I will not gravely punish her for what happened. However, I needed to be firm to the two of you."

I nodded. Inside, I was relieved. I was comforted by the fact that Laura wouldn't be punished for something that I did.

"You and Laura shouldn't do that again. I understand that you are an Immortal and by all means, you are capable of protecting her," Grandpa Ben continued as he lowered his voice, "But there are still some things in this world that you are not aware of. Anything can happen. And the very last thing that I want to see is both of you killed because of recklessness."

I nodded again. "I have nothing against your thoughts, Grandpa Ben. You are simply looking after us. As a father, I know that you are very protective of Laura. I know how much she means to you," I replied with an assuring smile. I added, "However, I still want to apologise for sneaking out at that time of the night. I didn't mean to cause any arguments between the two of you."

"I accept your apology, young one," Grandpa Ben smiled faintly as he tapped my shoulder. "You must head home now. Your family may notice your absence. And I am certain that they will be harder to convince."

"I will take my leave," I replied. "Again, my deepest apologies."

Grandpa Ben smirked as he looked at me teasingly. "Robert, I understand how it feels like to be in love. It is something that not everyone can fight against. But, that does not mean that we have to throw away our common sense in order to fulfil our longing towards someone," he explained.

"Thank you very much, Grandpa Ben. I shall remember your wisdom. I hope your day goes well," I replied before I walked away.

I walked further into the marketplace in search of a place to hide. As soon as I found a narrow alley, I quickly hid in it and joined the wind. As I danced through the air, I prayed that my family had not noticed my silent chambers or unmade bed.

~*~*~*~

I walked through the halls cautiously as soon as I arrived back home.

I also returned the basket in the kitchen without anyone questioning me. At the same time, I didn't take so much time with it as I didn't want any attention on me, especially from Nana Olsa.