My Wonderful Second Life

Chapter 16- Late talks

For days I practised the protection Emmanuel so eagerly wanted me to learn. My will to avoid being crazy and his undying enthusiasm succeed over my initial step back. Life returned to its usual routine. I had classes with lady Sargosa, trained the bow and arrow with Eloise, did my alchemy with Jenni and Fanny, and ended up my day with Emmanuel's teachings (that were oddly familiar to a book about meditation).

Days were fun and busy. Nights not so much. Whenever I closed my eyes to sleep, those scarlet eyes tormented me. I tossed around in my bed for hours until my body was too tired to focus on my troubling thoughts and just gave in to the sweet nothing. However, after many restless nights, I decided this one would be different. I wouldn't wait for tiredness to overpower me. Instead, I would make myself busy. A busy mind always kept bad thoughts away.

Putting on a robe, I left my room, prepared to face the empty and dimly lit corridors of Rosalinda Manor. While I walked, my mind worked, as it always did every night. The wheels in my head turned, trying to understand what happened on my first attempt at a blessed protection. I had asked Emmanuel before if it was possible to see the future through these. His eyes gleamed with some understanding, though he did not speak his mind, choosing to answer my question instead.

"Normally not. When you are in contact with the energy of someone else, you can only see a past you both shared."

My feet wandered aimlessly. Their tapping sounds a melody to the shadows that formed as a red light crossed the windows. It was a Blood Moon night, rare and beautiful. The night of the beasts. Unlucky in the Sun Empire folklore. Many elders told stories of evil creatures, born on this night, that filled the mind of the pure, eating their life away and corrupting them. To protect the house, people would hang white flowers on all doors to shield the family from the unseen evil. It was the reason why Rosalinda Manor smelled of flowers, more than usual, as if the servants had soaked the walls in cheap perfume. Intense and nauseatingly sweet.

They said it was a horrible night, but with my eyes focused on the full blood moon, I thought it was beautiful, in a different and frightening way. The world was much more silent than any other night, yet life outside the manor seemed thriving under the darkness. Almost too alive and wicked.

I lingered on its frosty light before returning to my walk and my thoughts.

Past... I thought of Emmanuel's words every day. They made no sense. Cedric was older... he was taller... his voice was deeper... he was no longer the troublemaking child I first met in the Royal Gardens of the Sun Palace.

It couldn't be the past... Unless... It was a vision from the real Lucreatia. Her book reality. In there, Cedric loathed her, albeit I was not aware of such severity in his feelings. From the story presented, I assumed his hate developed because of the Duke's favouritism in Lucreatia. However, the more I thought, the less sense it made... The duke indeed behaved differently with his two daughters, but I felt it was more because we were different people with unique personalities. Not because he loved one more than another. And if I saw it myself, even with my dislike over Gobbie, others would do too. No, it was not it.

But then, what could it be? I knew Cedric for some time already, and he was a kind and righteous child, incapable of blaming a girl for something out of her reach. He was not one to believe in rumours or whispered words from ladies of the court. If he had problems with someone, he would face them. He would have told Lucreatia. But he didn't. Then, it could only mean something had happened. Something bad, horrible and crushing caused those mischievous and lively eyes to darken and fill themselves with hate. Something that left his enthusiastic voice malevolent enough to cause chills.

A shudder ran through my body, and a vile taste formed in my mouth.

What could have happened?