Episode 136- Familiar warmth and smell

.

.

.

“DI-”

‘Prohibere.’

Euria’s eyes flashed red as her nails into her fist.“AEDELAK!” Eugene and Aernest shouted for Aedelak as they watched Ario thrust his knife at Aedelak. Everyone watched as the knife reached Aedelak in slow motion.

But just as the knife was 1mm away from piercing through Aedelak, it stopped as if it couldn’t go any further. Everyone sucked in their breath as they watched the knife freeze, no- as Ario froze in his spot. His frightening witch-like expression was still plastered to his face as he froze with one foot on the floor and the other slightly off the floor.

No one was able to grasp what was happening. This included Eugene whose brain wasn’t totally functioning but all she knew was that this was the moment! “AEDELAK MOVE AWAY!!” She shouted with all her might, starting Aedelak who instinctively moved to the side!

“-IE” Ario moved again a second later and the knife pierced through the air at a frightening speed.

“....” Ario’s eyes widened and he paused for 2 seconds. After two seconds his head slowly moved in Aedelak’s direction and found that she also had the same reaction. Everything happened in a span of a second, a mere blink.

But just as everyone was shocked by what happened, Eugene’s brain was now able to function. Her expression was terrible and it was because if Ario attacked again, she didn’t know if Aedelak would be lucky enough to dodge the second time! This was exactly the time to launch a surprise attack but either the fighters were out of commission or the rest was useless!

‘Why am I so useless.’ Then came the self-blame. Why was she so useless every time an incident happened? Why?! Didn’t she promise that she would become strong enough to protect herself? But what was this? It has been three years but she was still the one being protected!

‘This can’t do!’ Eugene shook her head to clear her mind as her eyes darted left and right. She wanted to find or do something that might be of help when suddenly the wall behind her moved.

“Ah!” Aernest was pressing so hard on her that she lost her balance when the wall behind her vanished. Eugene instinctively hugged Aernest closer to protect him and just when they thought they were done for, they fell on something warm.

A familiar warmth and a familiar smell wafted through their nose and immediately Eugene’s eyes began to sting. Just a bit.

They didn’t have to turn back to know whose scents these belonged to. Like the world says, a baby knows its parents upon their first meeting and that it was something instinctual. It was something you build up from the moment you were cells to when your body forms.

They are the people you put your guard down there they are within your vicinity. And that was why Eugene and Aernest didn’t turn around nor have to hear who was behind them; it was because their bodies were already instinctively relaxed.

Home. Moniqua and Levis’s warmth and smell were their home.

A big pair of arms enveloped the two small pees and without turning back, with his deep voice, he said to the person behind him, “Take care of them.”

“Yes.” A refreshing voice belonging to a female replied as she took over the hug.

Really, Eugene’s eyes only stung a bit.

Everything happened so soon and so quickly that still, no one was reacting. Aedelak almost leaving this world happened in 2 eye blinks, and two people arriving to help happened in 3 blinks.

By the 6th second a man was already looming over Ario. The pressure he gave off was insane; no one dared to breathe. Especially Ario who had to face this pressure alone. His body instinctively knew that death was looming over him and before he could think of how to escape, his knees weakened, kneeling to the person behind him.

“Who did you say to ‘die’?” A bass voice spoke up. His voice reached everyone in the room, making them flinch because it seemed as if he was standing behind them. It wasn’t just Ario who was scared, everyone had goosebumps crawling up their backs from this voice alone.

Before Ario could say anything, the man struck Ario on his neck which made him fall to the ground, face first.

The fight was over so quickly that it seemed as if Dea, Con, Aedelak, and Musician Hal’s effort on bringing Ario down was a joke.

Everyone's mouth widened, not in horror, but in surprise at how quickly the situation had changed. A guy with exquisite looks and beautiful white-grey hair suddenly appeared and flipped the situation over! They were stunned and were struck frozen.

“...” Aernest's headphones were slightly off his ears, allowing him to hear some of the frantic heartbeats that sped up like a rollercoaster. With a smirk he couldn’t help but brag inside his mind, ‘This is my Dad!’

“Are you alright, babies?” Moniqua’s voice drifted over. In unison, Eugene and Aernest raised their heads at the same time. It was a stunning sight, a goddess with bright red hair was watching over them. Her gaze was gentle like spring and was examining them from head to toe.

In unison again, Aernest and Eugene nodded.

“Haa…” Moniqua exhaled and she hugged the two closer to her.

Duke Marleigh and his reinforcements dashed over after they finished cleaning up the opponents who kept popping out of nowhere; stalling them from picking up the children. He was surprised when he saw the gloom in the air and turned to Eugene to ask her what had happened.

But Eugene paid no heed to him. She blinked as if she remembered something, and escaped out of Moniqua’s clutches with an “Oh!”. She ran away but as she was midway to her destination she motioned for Duke Marleigh and his subordinates to follow her.

Duke Marleigh's voice shook, “What happened!?” He motioned for his subordinates to come quickly when he saw Dea and Con sitting on a pool of blood. He had thought he smelled blood akin to a murder scene but thought that it was because of the fight that transpired in the room he was in; never thinking that the smell was coming from the secret room the children went to hide less than 10 minutes ago!

He was very sure that there were no hidden experts in this room but...

“Euria!” Eugene ran over to Euria, who is by Dea and Con's side since who knows when.

Duke Marleigh’s subordinate kneeled by Dea’s side and carefully inspected him. “General…” He glanced at Duke Marleigh and shook his head hopelessly.

Eugene stared at the soldier blankly before slowly moving her eyes to the unconscious Dea. ‘What. What does he mean?’ She then turned to Duke Marleigh's, whose facial expression was dark. ‘Why… Why does everyone look like this?’

“No way…” She mumbled as she stared at the pool of blood.

Con’s head was hung low whilst his left arm was in the process of being wrapped up. He was strangely calm even though he heard the hopelessness in the soldier’s voice.

Duke Marleigh sighed when he saw how quiet Con was before taking Dea away with his subordinates.

“Please come with us...” The soldier who wrapped Con’s arm up with cloth ushered for Con to get up. He felt bad for the teen but the ones left alive, especially ones that can still be saved should continue to live.

“...” Con said nothing and hung his head low. The strange silence made Eugene pursed her lips. She stared at Con before turning to the soldier, “We will take him later.” she said quietly. She felt that Con needed silence and some time alone hence the intervention.

“... Alright Miss.” The soldier hesitated for a brief second but gave her the okay. “Please hurry so that the physicians can reattach his arm back.” The soldier backed off, bowed, and quickly left.

Euria, who was silent this whole time, spoke very suddenly, “So, what will you do?” she asked. Her question obviously addressed to Con and not to Eugene.

Con raised his head and stared at Euria’s red eyes. Even with his quiet personality, there were still many things he wanted to convey to Dea. There were still many things they had to do together. They still had a life ahead of them! He couldn't possibly give up on Dea’s life!

With serious conviction in his eyes, he begged, “Please. I want him to live.” His voice was filled with seriousness and the willingness to do anything it takes to keep Dea alive.

“.....” Eugene could only watch Euria and Con in silence. Of course, Con wouldn’t give up! Though she thought that the conversation was a bit odd and off, she wasn’t feeling too well so she threw the weird feeling to the back of her head.

.

.

.

The Crown Prince sighed in relief when he saw Dea being transported out of the room by a group of soldiers. Though he was apprehensive of the beautiful man who appeared suddenly, he was reassured when he noticed that Eugene, Aernest, Aedelak, and Euria were at ease.

He took a deep breath in and bowed to the man with white hair who seemed to have descended from heaven, “I express my deepest gratitude to you, Sir. Without Sir, the situation may have gone more haywire.”

Levis turned to the Crown Prince and returned a bow, “Greetings, Your highness, Crown Prince. I am the Duke of Veria, Levis Veria. I express my gratitude for protecting my children from danger. Thank you, we Veria of Xenperia owe you one.”

When he first arrived, he saw the Crown Prince standing in front of his children and felt incredibly grateful. Though he could have excused himself from protecting the children, he did so anyway. For this, Levis could only express his thanks and owe him a favor.

Crown Prince Nexiel denied with his head, “No, no. I didn’t do anything grand to have Duke Veria owe me anything. In fact, I didn’t even do anything.”

Levis rejected his rejection, “If Crown Prince needs anything or needs any help, please send the Veria family a letter and we will come to you right away.”

“... Alright.” Crown Prince Nexiel knew he couldn’t refuse anymore and hesitantly accepted.

The same thing happened to Musician Hal. Like the Crown Prince, Levis expressed his gratitude and told him to send the Veria family a letter if he needed anything or if he needed any help. Unable to refuse, all Musician Hal could do was kneel and give Levis a deep bow of gratitude. Unlike the Crown Prince, he couldn’t receive this massive gift whilst standing up!

Following the bow, Musician Hal and Crown Prince Nexiel were escorted out of the room.

Just as Levis glanced around to observe the situation some more, his gaze couldn’t help but darken. It wasn’t that he wasn’t aware of how many people were in the room from the start, but that he had to focus on more important matters at hand. And now that the culprit was apprehended, one full glance of the room is enough for him to understand the hidden intention behind this room. There were roughly 30 women, with similar appearances and vibe put together in one room. One would know at a glance that this was nothing but a cage. The more Levis observed the women, the more confused Levis got. The women in the room seemed suspiciously calm to him, not to mention very familiar.

Later, Levis and everyone would come to know that the women’s temper and personalities were tampered with by Commander Kal. It wasn’t that they were not horrified at Commander Kal’s deeds, but that they were made to stay calm even under stressful conditions. Because being calm was one of Lea’s greatest aptitudes.

Moniqua walked to Levis and stared at Levis blankly. “Husband,” she called out using a plain tone.

When Aedelak and Aernest heard this tone, they immediately got shivers.

And if they got shivers, there was no way Levis wouldn’t react. Levis’s body jumped instinctively and he moved his eyes away from the room to Moniqua. He gulped when he saw that her eyes were blank. Plain. Rid of any light as her eyes stared into his.

It was really scary. Really scary.

“Y, yes?” There was hesitation in his voice as he belatedly answered to his goddess.

Moniqua’s lips tugged 0,01 cm. Her face was still blank and though she was staring at Levis, it seemed more as if she was looking at what’s beyond Levis. Specifically, the beautiful people behind Levis.

“Stop looking.” She said plainly. ‘Do you want to die? Hm?’ she was unsatisfied!!

Levis did not take a second to react. No, not even half a second.

He reached for Moniqua and quickly scooped Moniqua into his arms. In an instant, his eyes showed hearts for Moniqua and stared at her dearly as if portraying that she was the only one in his eyes, heart, and soul.

Again, Aedelak who was close by got shivers. Eugene and Euria who were now standing in front of Levis and Moniqua also got shivers.

“I love you.” His cool, spring-like voice attacked Moniqua, Eugene, Euria, Aernest, and Aedelak’s ears. His confession sent down another batch of shivers down their spines.

“Hmph.” Moniqua turned away. At this moment, she realized that Eugene and Euria were standing in front of her with faces that looked so distant and blank; their eyes were shaking a little.

“....” She turned red. But just when she thought it was over, she found another pair of eyes staring at her, this time filled with stars and admiration. Again, her entire face blushed to a deeper shade of red.

Unlike Moniqua, not an ounce of embarrassment could be seen on Levis’s thick face. He only hugged Moniqua closer to himself for another minute and let her go when she couldn’t handle the attention on her anymore. To save his wife from this predicament, Levis shifted everyone’s focus.

The focus was to dismiss everyone from the room and head to safety. The women were led out of the room first by the soldiers. Finally, Moniqua and Levis followed Eugene, Aernest, and Aedelak, while Con trailed behind with a soldier accompanying him.