Chapter 169 - I Saw Her

Episode 162- I saw her

To summarize everything again. The letter Aernest was referring to was one sent to announce Aernest, Eugene, and Euria's affirmation into the Xenperia Academy.

When Emperor Zen took the throne, he made attending school mandatory for every child. So as of the present, it is obligatory for all citizens of Xenperia, nobles or commoners, males or females, to have a basic education. It is possible to delay attending school however, the maximum age you can delay it too was 10. If you are 10 and you are not yet attending school, knights would make rounds to your house and forcefully bring you to school.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Eugene didn't say anything yet when Aernest raised his voice. "Before choosing subjects! Where will you be living sister?" His face was filled with expectations as he looked at her. 

Eugene pursed her lips, '... accommodation.' She had forgotten about this matter. She had promised Aernest years ago to think carefully about where she was going to live. There are two choices she could take and that is to stay in the dorm with a stranger or live with Louis and Aedelak in a house. 

The house was constructed as a gift by the academy to the Veria family. And in this house, only two people were currently residing. Well, technically three people are residing in the house, but Ramon's place of living was unclear as he would go back and forth between the dorm and the house depending on what he was feeling that day. 

Everyone expects all the Veria siblings to reside together however Eugene doesn't know… If someone asks what she prefers, then it would be...

"... I'd rather live in a dorm." Her voice wasn't loud, but it was quiet either as she replied to Aernest. 

The room was turned very silent until Aernest stood up and shouted, "WHAAT!!" There was only surprise in his voice as he stared at Eugene in shock! He had expectations and thought that Eugene would live with him… but… but… She was going to live in a dorm?!?! Why?! And for what reasons?!

"BUT WHY?!" His face was plastered with shock as he looked at Eugene with teary eyes. His eyes surprised Eugene so much that she grew hesitant. 

"I, Is it not time to… grow up?" 

Aernest rejected her statement with his whole body and refuted, "NO! We are forever young! It is not the time to grow!!" 

"Ah…" At this point, there was nothing else she could say. However, she was adamant about her decision, and will not change it. Aernest also knew that Eugene wouldn't change her mind however he insisted. 

"Sister! You can't do this!" Aernest begged. If she wanted him to beg on his knees, he was very much willing!

Eugene shrugged, "I want to live alone." She wants to be independent after all she is a grown 35-years-old adult. Even though she no longer minded living with other people, she would still much prefer it if she could live alone... Well, she would much prefer it if she only had to live with one person than living with many people. 

Aernest was unwilling, hence began to bicker back and forth with Eugene. Just as Aernest ran out of words to try to convince Eugene, he brought his hands out. Rock, paper, scissors. All of this pointless bickering will come to an end after just one round. Eugene agreed to the match and began preparing for it. If Aernest wins, Eugene will have to live with them in the house; if Aernest loses, Eugene will be free to live her own life. Unfortunately for Aernest, and fortunately for Eugene, Eugene won. Hence, it was decided from this day forward that she will be living in a dorm!

"Hmph." An unhappy Aernest sulked for a while. He sulked until he realized that Eugene had given up on him and went back to normal.  Because he was so traumatized in regards to the housing situation, he decided not to continue asking Eugene what subject she wanted to study. He didn't want to go to the academy anymore!

The atmosphere around them relaxed once Aernest stopped sulking and Eugene offered Aernest a cup of tea. They flushed the heat out of their body and replaced it with a comforting warmth. As they put the teacup down, Aernest looked at Eugene with seriousness. There was something he had been meaning to ask her but had been keeping to himself for the past two weeks. After many hours of thinking to himself and pondering upon it, he thinks that today is the best day to consult with Eugene hence he began speaking nervously. 

"Sister… I" He paused and glanced at the table. After a good five seconds, he glanced back up and stared straight into Eugene's eyes. "I saw her."

The moment the last three words rolled out of his throat, he began to sweat nervously. His entire back was covered in sweat in one single minute and he inhaled and exhaled hard. 

"Saw her?" Eugene repeated with a confused face. Aernest's back was completely straightened and though his eyes were very nervously, it was mostly filled with determination. 

'But saw what? Something serious relating to the academy?'

Aernest gulped his dry throat as his heart began to thump loudly. It was loud enough for Eugene's trained ears to hear. Though he was slow at speaking, he confessed, 

"I saw Euria... with grey eyes as she pushed our grandmother off the window." After he finished speaking, he quickly shut his eyes. He didn't know whether Eugene would blame him for not telling her sooner, or blame him for keeping it to himself. But it was because he was confused. He was confused when Eugene suddenly confessed that she was the one who pushed their grandmother. And confused that Euria of all people, looked that… scary as she pushed their grandmother off the fourth floor. He was broken mentally, and it took him two weeks to recover okay?!

Eugene's eyes widened as she stared at Aernest in shock. She stared at every inch of Aernest's expression as her hands on the coffee table trembled. 

In the end, Eugene closed her eyes and sighed slowly, 'As I expected. Euria can also change her eye colors.' 

Aernest slowly opened his eyes and noticed Eugene's eyes were closed at the time, so he took advantage of the opportunity to fully open his eyes. He took another breath of oxygen before saying, "She looked angry." 

He didn't know exactly how to explain the look on Euria's face at that moment, however, to describe it plainly, it was scary. She looked incredibly scary and there was also no hesitation when she pushed their grandmother off the fourth floor. 

"Just like you, she can change her eye colors. Don't you think this is a bit… weird?" He asked her hesitantly. One of the things that broke him mentally was this. He was old enough to know that changing your eye colors is not normal at all, so when he witnessed it and thought about it, he felt as if his view of the world was wrong.

"...." Eugene didn't reply. But yes, she thinks that it was weird. Why wouldn't it be weird? Was it normal for humans to be able to change their eye colors? The answer was no, it was impossible. But some things are impossible in this world that she doesn't even know anymore. 

There were so many things that she didn't know. Eugene couldn't help but bury her face into her palm. First, Moniqua cried because of her. She was already feeling terrible enough, and now someone saw Euria pushing off their grandmother? What's lucky was that it was Aernest who witnessed it. But, in its way, that was also terrible. Imagine seeing your blood sister push your relative, killing her in the process. The resulting trauma would be enormous.

Her action of burying her face inside her palm shocked Aernest so much that he shot out of his chair and came running to her side. 

"Sister... Sister? Are you crying?" Aernest shook Eugene's shoulders gently when she tilted her head to the hide with her usual blank face. She looked at him with a 'What do you think?' expression, rendering Aernest speechless.

"....."

Eugene stood up and stared at Aernest who was on his knees. 

l"If we don't know. We just need to ask." That's right. There were so many things they didn't know and with the way Euria has been acting for the past few years, there was no way she didn't know anything. So why not try asking and finding out what she has been hiding all these years!

She headed to her door when she suddenly turned around. She looked at Aernest from his head to his toe, before returning her eyes to his face, 

"Was there anyone else there?" 

"Anyone else?" Aernest was confused. 

"Was there anyone else there when you saw Euria push her?"