Ink: Living Life as Serena Gleis

XXXV: The Truth of Clye

His voice was full of longing as her name escaped his lips. His that resembled the snow of Clye stared lovingly the portrait of the woman infront of us. My heart ached for him as it was obvious that whoever this Selena is, he loved her. He loved her and was still waiting for her to come back.

“Where is she?” I asked, I don't mean to dig out of Az's business as it is obviously a sensitive topic for him but I am curious.

“She died long time ago.” His voice was solemn, unlike earlier. It was as if he already accepted her death.

The door creaked open, Maurice stood on the door frame. He has this hard to explain expression as his eyes darted onto the portrait of Selena. He let out a deep sigh before walking towards us, standing just beside Azrael.

“I see, she still had to do things her way.” Maurice said as he chuckled lightly. “Why don't we take this conversation over to dinner?” He asked. As much as I was curious, my stomach was also rumbling so his idea wasn't that bad.  Az, Maurice and I left the room and went on the grand dinning hall. There's not much food but it was decent. There's a soup of some kind of a loaf of bread for each of us. We sat on the designated seats.

Az started eating on an instant. He was obviously so hungry. We've been eating grilled fish and random leaves these past few days so it was understandable that he was too hungry. Maurice, on the otherhand, started eating elegantly. Years of him being a butler was obvious based on his mannerism, to his walk, on the way he eats, his posture and also the way he breathes.

“Lady Rena, I believe you have a lot of questions in your mind?” Maurice asked as he wiped his mouth carefully with a clean, white cloth.

“I—I actually don't have questions but I am curious. Who is she, exactly?” I asked, looking at the unbothered Az, on his own world with his dinner.

“Lady Selena Windsor of Clye.” Maurice's dark orbs looked down on his plate, as if he's reminiscing the old times. 

“She's the last of Clye. The grand niece of Duchess Guinevere. I was the one who raised that little kid. That same, little kid lost everything on the war. She had to grow up alone, with no one but me. I was ecstatic when I learned that she found someone who'll love her. I saw her, right infront of my eyes get wed and had a family of her own but tragedy stroke, she was accused because her bloodline of being a descendant of Clye was made public.” Maurice's paused for a bit, letting out a deep sigh. 

“...She was banished and even her lover left her behind. She came back to Clye, her homeland. She spent years on her mourning dress as a respect for the death of her life and her child. Years after, she met a young boy, lost in the forest. She took him in and treated him as her own child. That's the Az, you know now. It doesn't last long as the Curse of Clye took her life.”

“I was with her on her first steps, on her first words, her first laughter and heartbreak. I did not know that I will still be there on her last breath.” He added. His voice were deep and low, I can highly feel the sadness and mourning he was feeling.  Az also stopped eating, his focused on the conversation that we are having.

“Curse of Clye?” I asked. This is the curse that Cyn was too obsessed about. If that's Selena's cause of death, there's a high possibility that the curse is true.

“Have you perhaps, heard about it?” Maurice asked, I just nodded in response.

“The Clye bloodline were those people who was blessed with magic through their veins. They are the only clan in this whole continent that has magic and mana capabilities.  It was given to them by Goddess Astarte, the goddess of love. You know the saying that all blessings comes with equivalent suffering. Every Clye will have magic and mana within them but once they found their one great love, they should be with them for the rest of their lives or their hearts will be frozen in time, here in Clye.” I was astounded.