Requiem

future |6- Dhalia Arseni

"I'm Dhalia Arseni."

The woman in front of him introduced herself confidently.

"Everyone else said that before," The interrogator merely wrote her select words in his clipboard, not even sparing her a glance. "Tell me something I don't know before ....."

"Look, I was resting in pieces dammit," She said, while slamming her hands on the metal bars. "You think I'm not pissed at being revived? The cult seems to think that they can use me to mindfuck him." She ranted acidly at the unflinching interrogator.

"Look, I told them not to use me as bait, since dearest husband would just send me back to the underworld real quick, but they seemed convinced that I, I can somehow affect him!" She said exaggeratedly, with flamboyant hand gestures. "What a joke. See we never really get along very well. It was a political marriage between our families. And look, our families hate each other. Father and Tristan really hate each other. It wasn't funny."

The interrogator was sweat dropping at her outburst. There were many women after their keeper. And, most of them imitated her likeness. They had all spurned a regaled tale of love and longing, even shedding a few tears. After a thorough interrogation, they were all killed swiftly. Without mercy.

But this one....

Although he never met Dhalia Arseni nee di Carita before...

Everyone in their base operated with the fact that the keeper loved his diseased wife, dearly.

"Look, he never comes home early. And he leaves before the sun rises. We don't even sleep in the same room. I send him lunch boxes in his office back then when I make lunch for our son, doubt that he even eats those. And back then, during Naoto's graduation ceremony, I had to blackmail him hardcore just so that he would show his face even a little bit," She ranted in succession, which shocked even the interrogator. For sure all the women before had dreamt up a fairytale akin to a movie, but this one was ranting spitefully.

The keeper, kept their family picture in his office. Nestled between bookshelves, surrounded by trophies and priceless books. Now that she mentioned graduation, the picture did look like something snapped in a child's graduation ceremony.

That was the only sign of humanity left in their general who seemingly had ice running through his veins. The keeper who hauled all stray souls back to the realm of the dead. The same keeper held his wife and son dear.

"And he never listens to me whenever I try to talk to him. Ten years ago. At Scarlet Bay. I was trying to tell him that father was trying to kill him..... but he turned his back on me."

Now this time, there was no anger on her voice, face expressionless and tone level. When a woman was no longer angry and her anger frosted over to indifference, that is a whole other level of frightening.

To be hearing the general's private affairs, was rather awkward. Everyone in the base believed that the general never truly got over the death of his family. He wasn't just hearing his boss' dirty laundry— he was hearing the behind the scenes of history and the error in modern romance portrayals of the Arseni couple.

The Battle of Scarlet Bay was a deciding factor in the revolution. That was when Duke Arseni and Duke Alarie crushed all oppositions and the rot of the di Carita line. King Auguste was slain there, a turning point in history before Marco di Carita was crowned king and the masses rejoiced.

Before King Auguste headed for Scarlet Bay, he raided Cobalt Castle first— Duke Tristan Arseni's Domain. It was recorded in modern history books that Duchess Dhalia Arseni, his only daughter who had magic almost on par with him, engaged him in a final battle. This fatally wounded King Auguste but the Duchess lost her life in the process. Even in her deathbed, Duchess Arseni managed to steal half of King Auguste's magic with her.

Duchess Dhalia Arseni was recorded in history as the one who greatly weakened King Auguste, right before Marco di Carita finally drove a spear through the vile tyrant's head.

Although the Battle of Scarlet Bay was a shining victory for Seoris, it was a great tragedy for Duke Tristan Arseni who lost both his wife and son the same day.

The Bloodbath of Cobalt Castle had been an arc of Scarlet Bay. Duke Arseni, rushed back to Cobalt Castle from Scarlet Bay— only to find everything .... gone. He returned home to a corpse of his wife, and a son that was barely hanging on to life.

Whenever there were plays and reenactments of the Bloodbath of Cobalt Castle, it had always been a tearjerker, dramatizing the love of the late Ducal couple.

Only now the interrogator wondered about the love part, when the one who claimed to be Duchess Dhalia Arseni was full of anger and spite, instead of being a heroic and self-sacrificing lover.

"I'm pretty sure he threw a feast when we died," Daisy crossed her arms over her chest.  "Hey, Is he listening on this in another room or something?"

The interrogator had once again sweatdropped.

"Oi Tristan Arseni!" She called out, while looking up at a corner of the holding room, where she believes a camera would strategically be placed. "I hope you found the divorce papers I left. Frankly, you're a really really shitty hu—"

"That's enough." The interrogator immediately sat ramrod straight, at the sight of the famed Keeper  suddenly walked in to the room. He was behind Dhalia, with the same infallible expression on his face.

And in came the general's deranged mutt as well. It promptly tackled the woman who claims to be Dhalia Arseni.

"Coco!" The woman squealed happily, while wrapping her arms around the mass of white fluff. Coco was the keeper's familiar, who stood with him with every battle.

The mutt growled, assessing her with its beady black eyes.

There was a standstill in the room, everyone waiting for the ferocious mutt to attack her, or rip her throat off once and for all.

That was before the dog leap away, running around her in circles, tail wagging.

"Awie Coco I missed you!" Dhalia Arseni scratched the dog behind its ears. That was the same dog that rips out the throats of enemies in the battlefield and bathed in their blood.

"Dhalia, follow me." The keeper commanded with the same chilling voice. Dhalia promptly stood up with practiced grace, dusting her skirt off.

"Ah, we'll be going then. See you around Mr. Interrogator!"