Morticia

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

... I forgot to ask his name. I was completely immersed in making sense of this strange emotion bubbling up in my heart that I completely forgot to ask where I am and who he is... AAAAHHH! How stupid of you, Morticia!!! That's the single thing I should've done first! That's just common sense! I wanted to slap myself... What is that anyway..? He just made my worries vanish with a single sentence! Plus there's this emotion... I sighed, burying my face in my knees and contemplating about my decisions.

I spent a good few minutes reasoning with myself. Well, until I notice the two small heads peeking at the doorway. I raised my head and looked at the children dressed in matching outfits. They look alike, are they twins? I shifted my body and looked at them.

"Hello! Can I help you?" I asked carefully. They looked surprised and turned to each other as if having a secret talk though they don't conceal much. How cute...  after a minute they seem to decide to talk to me as they inched closer to the bed.

" Umm, we came to check up on you," A boy with short black hair and the same red eyes as the man earlier shyly answered. "We visited these past few days and--"

"You're really pretty, Big sister!" A girl who looks like the boy exclaimed in awe and a bit straightforwardly, cutting in what the boy said. The boy seemed shocked as he reprimanded his sister. " What I said is true..." The girl grumbled indignantly. I laughed at how cute they are. 

"Well, thank you for the compliment but may I ask what your names are? You are twins, right?" I asked as they nodded. 

"I am Ren," The boy said as he leaned on the bed and looked at me. " You can call me Renny! And she's my sister, Rose" He continued as he pointed at the little girl, now sitting at the side of the bed and swinging her feet back and forth. 

"You can call me Rosy!" The girl said as I nodded and remembered their names. Ren and Rose... What cute names. I smiled and complimented their names and they giggled as they chattered on about random things. They somehow climbed up the bed and are now enthusiastically playing with my hands and hair telling me their day. 

"Big sister Ticia, you have amazing hair!" Rosy said (They asked me my name earlier) as she played with my hair. " White hair is rare in here." She continued and Renny nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! All we see are black and browns here... No light-color-haired people at all! Even our hair's black..." The boy complained as he lay in the bed looking at the ceiling. "Our uncle has black hair too." Uncle? is their uncle that man? 

"Really? Does your uncle have black hair?" I asked amusedly. Kids do talk about the most random things...

"Mhmm! Uncle Draegan has black hair like ours! His hair is very long! Like this long!" he said as he gestured how long his uncle's hair is. "I wonder why he doesn't want to cut it..." Renny continued talking, never getting tired and never losing topics.

Draegan as in Draegan Steros..? The infamous villain, Archduke Draegan Steros??? Just as I was on the verge of getting lost in my thoughts again, a woman in her fifties walked inside and greeted me and the kids. 

"Your awake dear," She said as she smiled and ushered the kids out of the bed. The kids were unwilling but still went to the sofas in the room. "Here, eat this. You just woke up you should rest more." She continued telling me as she put the food onto the bed. I smiled and thanked her. Her eyes brightened and she enthusiastically told me to eat. 

It's just a simple meal of bread and porridge but I feel warm... I don't feel the usual cold aura amidst the smiles, my servants, back in Mortem give. I don't feel like they're bad people at all. It's so different than what the rumors tell.

They usually warn me of the Steros duchy, saying this land is ruled by a tyrant and that people here are savages. Well, I can't say they aren't since I only met a handful of people as of the moment but I feel like the rumors are wrong.

"I was scared when the Archduke first carried you inside. You look ghastly pale at the time. I feared you're on the verge of dying," The Nanny said as I ate the meal. I smiled apologetically, feeling sorry for the trouble I caused. " I'm glad you look better now. The Duke took much care of you this past few days." She chuckled as she mused. "He could've handed the job of taking care of you and just occasionally visit to handle your raging mana. Still, he stayed."

" Really?" That's strange... He doesn't have to. 

"Mhmm," She affirmed with a curious look on her face." That's very strange, considering he usually doesn't mind much but... I wonder what made him so agitated when he saw you?" Putting a hand under her chin, she continued. Aha... That's probably because he knew I'm a Princess... I inwardly sighed and finished my food.

" Well, enough of that, rest well lady..?" She asked while cleaning up my dishes. I paused for a minute thinking of what to tell her. Should I say my real name or make one up..?

"uh... Ticia... Please call me Ticia." I decided to give them my nickname. I smiled sincerely at her and she smiled back. Nanny Caroline then turned towards the two kids.

" Renny, Rosy, come and let Lady Ticia rest." The kids nodded at Nanny Caroline's words and said their goodbyes to me. They said they'll come back tomorrow. I smiled and waved goodbye at them too as I watched the door close. Silence overcame the room and I sat listlessly on the bed, feeling this strange emotion in my heart.

" Again with this warmth..."

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Cold eyes lingered at the ten heads kneeling and bowing guiltily as he sat high on his throne. Irritation filled his eyes as he stared silently at the people who couldn't do as he say. The knights could feel their impending doom slowly approaching as they begged for mercy. Knights who were too blinded by the magic cast upon them to even blame the Emperor who ordered them. They could only abhor themselves for not doing things as their beloved Emperor wished!

"... You lost her?" The Emperor coldly spat and looked at the knights as if they were pathetic worms. No one answered for they knew they were doomed from the start. Even if they tried reasoning, their most righteous Emperor wouldn't even bat an eyelid and behead them. 

"I PREPARED EVERYTHING AND YOU STILL FAILED?! DID I TRAIN YOU ALL FOR NOTHING?!!!" The Emperor bellowed. "I WASTED MY TIME TRAINING YOU IDIOTS!!! YOU'RE BETTER OFF DEAD!!!" The Emperor angrily shouted and motioned for the knights by his side to drag the kneeling people away. Oh, what poor fate those knights have! I thought mockingly. My father's ridiculous, those knights are ridiculous, Every one of them is ridiculous!

I entered the throne room and tried to dissuade my father. "Calm down, Father. That girl's carriage was attacked. By rouge monsters. They couldn't have prepared for it right? Let them go." My father's expression calmed visibly and he stopped the knights execution.

"Vesh. What brings you here?" He looked at me with the usual cold eyes and I bowed at him.

"There was dark magic," I stated as my father's face distorted, urging me to tell him more. "The carriage she was in. It's attacked and there are signs of dark magic used. it doesn't seem to be from the rouge monsters." I said expressionlessly. My father scoffed at the discovery. 

"That little bastard." The Emperor said with greeted teeth. " She hid it well."