Pandora's Box

Chapter fifty-four

It took him a long time but he is finally done!
Milo smiles proudly at the piece of parchment on the table. He has been here for hours and he can already see the faint hue of early morning sunlight diminishing the darkness of the night.

Everyone is sound asleep except for him. He finds it fitting though, since everyone has been doing something to solve the riddles and he feels as if he hasn't done anything.
Until now. Now, the solution is found solely due to his talent for code cracking.

The lettering of Lilli's and Kai's crowns is the key. By placing Lilli's crown which is noticeably smaller than Kai's inside the circumference of Kai's crown, a coding apparatus is revealed. Milo has spent hours scavenging through books for the meanings behind the letters and has finally found a solution.

He finally gets up from his chair and moves towards the balcony. He takes a deep breath of the fresh air and enjoys the feeling of being carefree even if it's only for a few moments.

Once he walks back into the warm library, his heartbeat is finally calm enough to talk to Sonii. They haven't been speaking much since they did their research on the bracelet which left Sonii doubting whether Milo's feelings were real or whether it is only the bracelet. He even doubts himself. But nonetheless, he needs to discuss something with Sonii.

After he solves the riddle, he is bitten by the curiosity bug and decides to do some research on the object since it's still too early.

The object itself it enchanting to the viewer. A blood red stone tied by ends of gold in the form of a heavenly necklace. However, his celebration is watered down with the bitter realization as he finds the hellish path to the object.

For Milo, hell is where those laced with demonic blood roam free and no other name comes to his mind than Callisto, that fiend from the ball. He is the son of Jupiter, who is a hell raiser himself. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The problem is that the necklace is kept in the royal treasury in Jupiter's kingdom. The fact that Sonii is probably the only one able to lead this expedition, makes matters one hundred times worse.

After what happened at the ball, Sonii won't feel inclined to see that family again but unfortunately, she is Milo's only hope for finding the ...

He walks slowly towards her room and finds her sprawled across the sheets. Her body completely limp as she is in deep sleep. He decides to wait outside her door until he hears a sound indicating he is awake.

Finally, after half an hour, he hears the faint sound of an awakening yawn and he pushes the doors open lightly, careful not to scare her. The conversation goes by smoothly which is probably due to the fact that she is dazed since she is still half asleep. With a tired voice, she murmurs her participation after some hesitation.

"Leave it up to me. I'll think of something." She smiles when Milo wonders aloud how to get into Jupiter's palace. A wave of relief washes over him. She always seems to have a plan. She is probably the one person that would work perfectly in any situation.

Sonii feels the exact opposite. After Milo explained everything, her mind raced at all the possibilities. She still sees many opportunities but can't think of a clever way to execute her plan. She feels as if she can see the door to the right path but the hinges are rusted and she can't force it open.

She spends the whole morning pacing up and down in her room and contemplates the different angles at which she can attack the situation. At around lunchtime, she decides the best option and it involves talking to her father about it. She has to wait until the moon is up so she spends the rest of the day practicing the exact words she'll recite in front of her dad so that her plan will fall perfectly into place.

At the crack of dusk, she makes her way across the palace, carefully dodging any distractions. She's determined and she might have to manipulate her father. She reaches the door to his study and lightly knocks. He is always in his study after he wakes up.

He smiles at the sight of her and invites her to sit beside him. They've grown quite close and every night Sonii spends quality time alone with her dad. He admires her fierce spirit and warrior attitude, especially after she nagged him to allow her to train with Hunter. His pride in his daughter tripled when he heard hunter admit that she is a brilliant warrior.

The king sees himself in his daughter. The same courageous spirit and determined attitude. She won't let anything get in her way and will always fight till the end, just like him.

"So what do you have on your mind, my child." He folds his glasses and puts away his book to show that she has his full attention. The way he treats her, their is no doubt she's a daddy's girl. The good thing is that she doesn't put herself on a pedestal. She stays humble which only makes her father more proud and her brother more jealous.

"So I was thinking. Dad, your feud with your brother has gone on long enough. And it's spreading towards us. I wanted to make peace. To stand for a united empire instead of a feuding family." She speaks confidently as if she's preaching a new revolutionary way of life. Her dad takes the bait.

"And how do you plan to do that?" His eyes glimmer with happiness at his child's insistence on strengthening the empire. The fact that she is more concerned with the fate of the kingdom instead of only the beauty of royalty, makes him thankful to Jane and James for raising her so well.

"A peace treaty between cousins. I know Jupiter has a daughter, Europa. Since the boys really don't get along, I'm hoping the girls will. If we can negotiate an agreement, we'll settle this once and for all." She states her argument without and loopholes and leaves her father speechless.

"I'll set up a team of nighthowlers to escort you and you can head off by tomorrow." He smiles and walks with his arms interlinked in hers towards the dining room for supper.