Watching over Obelia's Precious Jewel // WMMAP fic

Before Chapter 31

  "... Where's Athanasia?" 

  Ijekiel asked after looking around and noticing the woman he admired was nowhere to be seen. He had fallen asleep after taking a long shower as well as hanging out with the other occupants of the room who were around his age last night. Before he fell asleep, he remembered playing a card game with Jennette, Lucas and Athanasia. The adults just watched the game with interest. Except for Claude. He had already fallen asleep after taking his steamy shower.

  There was one problem during the card game though. They had no idea what they were even playing.

  Ijekiel initially thought that they were just playing regular poker. Thinking that it was going to be a normal game, he put the Ace of Spades card down on the table.

  Then, Lucas just had to set down a freaking Plus Four Uno card. "I have no idea what this card does but I'm just going to use it," he has said.

  Athanasia looked at both cards with confusion. "Wait, we're not playing pokemon?" she asked as she set down her Pikachu card. She looked at Jennette. "What are we even playing at this point?"

  Jennette was looking at the cards in her hand before picking one of them out and setting it down. If those previous cards were confusing, hers was probably the most confusing one because instead of a regular playing card, it was a photocard of Jeon Jungkook.

  Everyone stared at Jennette at once.

  She shrugged her shoulders for she was also just as confused as them. "I have no idea where we even get all these cards."

  And that was it. After that card game, they all fell asleep in their respective seats. They were all exhausted so they weren't complaining too much.

  "Oh, Sir Ijekiel. Good morning."

  Ijekiel turned around and saw Myra who was sitting on one of the many comfortable seats in the room. She was already dressed in a brown sweater, a pair of white pants and a pair of black running shoes as if she was about to go out for a walk after everybody else woke up. Closing the book she was reading, she stood up and approached the confused boy. "Lady Athanasia already left a few hours after you guys fell asleep. She'd rather not say goodbye since she's not very good with them. Oh, also, she wanted me to tell you that she loves you and hoped that you and the others would forgive her for leaving so suddenly."

  "Oh... I see..." Ijekiel would be lying if he said that he wasn't sad that Athanasia was gone but at the same time, he understood why she left quietly. Well, there was a huge chance that she was not the same Athanasia from the universe he and the others lived in but she was still the same lady angel who he fell in love with in the first place. He started looking around the room. "Is it just me or has this room gotten bigger?"

  He was definitely not hallucinating. The screening room where they had been watching Athanasia's life the entire time seemed five times larger than usual. That also meant that the room was more spacious than he had last remembered. There were also two doors he had never seen before but he guessed that either one of those doors lead to where the others were.

  Myra hummed. "I'm not caught up with the renovations of the building but to answer your question, yes. The room has gotten a lot more bigger than usual."

  "Where's Jennette and the others?" Ijekiel asked.

  "Oh, I think the others are in the dining area," Myra answered before turning around to pull the door open. She smiled at the silver-haired boy. "I'm actually on my way there so if you want to have breakfast, you can follow me."

  Ijekiel returned the smile with a slow nod. "Thank you."

  With Myra walking in front of him, Ijekiel's eyes were glued to the random decorations... or to be more specific, the posters on the wall in the long hallway they were in. When they left the screening room they were in, besides the doorway was a poster of Athanasia and Claude posing together near the palace gardens. With Athanasia holding her parasol up while the emperor ducked down so his head was able to be underneath it, they looked like an adorable father-daughter pair.

  There were also posters of people Ijekiel had never seen before. A poster of a brunette woman sitting on a chair while a light blue-haired man whose hair was tied in a low ponytail had his head on her lap and a beautiful woman with long wavy blonde hair was standing behind the chair. A poster of a brown-haired woman standing beside a dark-haired man in front of a mansion as they held hands. A poster of a gorgeous woman with long magenta hair lying down on a bed of flowers...

  For some reason, he felt as if at least one of them from each poster he'd seen was in the same reincarnation situation as Athanasia.

  "You seem a bit distracted."

  Ijekiel turned his head to look at Myra who continued to walk forward. Even though he was not facing her, he knew that she was smiling. "Ah, pardon me. I was appreciating these posters on the wall," he said as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "May I ask something? About these posters... are the people on them also reacting to one of their close one's life as we speak?"

  "Hmm... I guess you can say that." Myra proceeded to walk down a flight of stairs, Ijekiel following close behind. "Though, I'm not the one who's observing each group. I'm only in charge of looking after you guys for now. They're all characters from different manhwas. However, there is a possibility that you guys won't be able to meet any of them since they'll have their own breaks at different times. Chances of your group clashing with others are pretty slim." She then stopped in the middle of the stairs and looked at the ceiling. "... It sounds confusing but believe me, I get confused by it sometimes."

  "I see," Ijekiel muttered. So there were other people aside from them who were reacting to their own different story? Interesting, though it confused him greatly.

  After another few minutes of silence, they finally arrived at the dining area.

  Myra's smile was still intact as she motioned for Ijekiel to walk ahead of her, to which he just thanked her and thought nothing of it. He started looking around the area until he saw a group of people sitting at the same large bench. He thought he was losing it when he noticed Claude and Anastacius were sitting together, not trying to kill each other.

  "Oh. Ijekiel! Miss Myra! Over here!" Jennette exclaimed happily as she waved her hand at them, a large smile plastered on her face. She was sitting beside Lucas who gave them a peace sign. They seemed to get along swimmingly ever since they partnered up together during their time at the haunted mansion.

  "Miss Jennette, good morning," Myra greeted them before both she and Ijekiel approached the table. "I hope you're all enjoying your breakfast so far."

  Diana, Lily and Felix were still eating their really fluffy souffle pancakes. It was obvious that they were enjoying it since their eyes sparkled as they took each bite. The blonde lady wiped some of the maple syrup around her mouth with a handkerchief. "Hm, these pancakes are incredible!"

  Myra's grin grew wider. "That's not surprising since the person who made the pancakes is an excellent chef my boss employed."

  Felix let out a satisfied moan as he took the final bite of his pancakes, which weirded out the others who sat next to him, excluding Lily and Diana. The red-haired man probably did not intend to moan so... seductively. He probably didn't even think of that. However, the others whose innocence had been tainted terribly couldn't help but cringe.

  Claude glared at his trustful knight with a disgusted look on his face. "Felix, can you please stop making that sound?"

  Felix tilted his head in confusion, his grey eyes wide and his cheeks puffed out. "What sound, Your Majesty?" he asked.

  Why did the Crimson Knight have to be so cute? Claude wished he could smack some sense into Felix but since he was... He would never mention it to anyone else, but since he was one of his closest friends, he could not bring himself to be mad at him for a long time. Instead, he let out a sigh and rested his head on the palm of his hand. "Nevermind, Felix. Just continue doing whatever you're doing."

  "Oh ho? What's this?" Anastacius' voice made Claude's blood boil, unsurprisingly. "You've definitely gotten soft, my brother."

  "Stop calling me that," Claude warned the man who smirked smugly at him.

  Jennette patted an empty space beside her, ignoring the two men completely. "Ijekiel, sit here! I saved some pancakes for you before Lucas ate them all."

  Lucas snorted after he drank his fresh orange juice. "Be grateful that I'm nice, Whitey Junior."

  Ijekiel stared blankly at the young sorcerer while smiling forcefully. 'This guy... Take a deep breath, Ijekiel,' he thought. He chuckled softly and sat beside Jennette. Looking at the pancakes in front of him, was definitely pleasing to the eye. Not to mention the mouthwatering aroma. Picking up a fork, he began to dig in. "Hmm!" His eyes widened.

  Jennette laughed at her adoptive brother's reaction. Even Lucas let out a snicker. "Guess you like it," the boy commented amusedly.

  "Miss Myra, are you not eating with us?" Lily asked the girl who was still standing. As a mere maid, she felt a bit bad that she was the one sitting while having a breakfast fit for nobles even though she came from a noble family herself.

  Myra shook her head. "I already had my stack of pancakes earlier, but thank you for the offer," she told the maid. She then looked at her wristwatch and her eyebrows were raised. "I hope you don't mind if I leave you all for a while, right?"

  "Eh, you're leaving us?" Diana couldn't help but be surprised. When Myra told them all that Athanasia left when they were fast asleep, she was obviously saddened by this. But why was their observer leaving them this time? "Do you have some important business?"

  "Yeah. However, I won't be gone long. I'm pretty sure that I'll be gone for around...," she started to count inside her head, "I think I'll be returning after about ten or so chapters."

  "Isn't that a bit too long for you to be gone?" Felix asked. He glanced at the two royals who were glaring at each other. He shivered slightly. He hoped that hell would not break loose if there was ever a fight between the two brothers.

  "I guess, but since I got called by my boss, I have to follow her orders. I hope you guys will understand that." Myra smiled sadly.

  "If you're gone, then will someone else replace you for the time being?" Claude asked.

  "Nope. As a matter of fact..." Myra pulled out the remote she always used to control the projector which projected the chapters onto the large screen in the screening room. She then placed the remote in Lucas' hand. Why did he look so smug as if he knew that something like this would happen? "Lucas here will be the one in charge... unfortunately for you guys."

  "Hell yeah." Lucas smirked.

  Jennette frowned. "How about a hell no?"

  Ijekiel almost choked on his pancakes.

  Anastacius widened his eyes, surprised by what his daughter had just said.

  Lily, Felix and Diana were surprised as well. Even though they were not as close to Jennette as Anastacius, Ijekiel and perhaps Lucas, they knew for a fact that she was the type of young lady who had never cursed, even once.