Chapter 199 - Finding Out The Truth From The Letters

Episode 192- Finding out the truth from the letters

There was silence in the room again. And after a while, someone spoke. 

"Because I would have forbidden her to leave," said Levis with complex emotions in his voice. As soon as he said that the room dimmed down and a realization hit everyone, "She left because I would have not allowed her to leave. Which was why she left before security was back."

"But why would she need to leave?"

"Because there was something she had to do and it was something she had to do?" Duke Graeme glanced at Levis from the corner of his eyes and half answered half asked in his stead. 

"Yes."

Just before the room could face another silence, a knock could be heard by the door. The knock brought everyone out of this oppressive atmosphere and some turned to the door. 

"Come in." was all Levis said. He didn't take a single glance towards the door opening and only looked at the big map of Xenperia when all of a sudden gasps could be heard going off one after the other. It was then that Levis' looked up to see what the commotion was about and his eyes landed on a figure. An unexpected figure whom he didn't expect to see standing. His eyes couldn't leave the figure at all as his heart shook violently. 

Like father, like son, the two moved automatically towards the person standing in front of them and hugged the person tightly. 

"Mother!" Aernest was overwhelmed with emotions as his eyes began to water up.

Levis' eyes also almost stung however he held it in and hugged her tighter. His embrace was tight as if he was never going to let go.

"Haha, I am alright. I am alright. No need to choke me to death just yet." Moniqua patted Aernest's head and Levis' back as she chuckled.

Duke Graeme's eyebrows were furrowed as he walked towards Moniqua. It was the first time he stood up in the many hours he had been in here,  "You're fine now?" His three words woke Levis and Aernest up from their happiness immediately. They stepped back and glanced at her from head to toe, in shock. 

Moniqua glanced at them with a knowing look. She didn't say anything for a minute before responding, "... Completely healed." Her voice was incredibly heavy as she said these two words. Many emotions were showing on her face, however, no one could tell what she was feeling or what she was thinking about. 

Duke Graeme furrowed his brow. He was the only one in the room who took Moniqua's words seriously and pondered upon them, "Com...pletely healed?" He repeated hesitantly. 

Moniqua gave him a small smile and replied a few seconds later, "Completely healed. Both new injuries and… old."

Once she said that another round of gasps could be heard. Levis grabbed her shoulders as his face was ridden with confusion. He did a complete scan of her body and his eyes gazed deep into her eyes.

"How is that possible?" he asked, perplexity could be heard in his voice. 

Moniqua didn't say anything but walked ahead. No one noticed that she was holding bundles of paper until she put them down on the big table in Levis's study room. 

"...Eugeneia healed me."

As soon as she said this, the room turned quiet. They didn't know if they heard Moniqua right or if they heard it wrong. No one could comprehend what she said and stared at her blankly. 

"Eugeneia healed… Mother?" Aernest broke the silence. Incredulous, Aernest's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Moniqua nodded slowly and she picked up a paper and handed it to Aernest, "This is yours." She said quietly as Aernest reached for the paper. 

Moniqua looked around and scanned everyone who was scattered across the room. She knew what they were feeling because she also felt the same way. They were flabbergasted and she was as well when she woke up without feeling pain for the first time in close to two decades. At first, she thought she was dreaming because she felt no pain but no matter how much she pinched or hit herself hard, she never woke up. Of course, she knew that she had yet to pass away because she knew that the arrow did not hit her anywhere critically which led her to the conclusion that all her injuries had healed for some reason. 

Her theory was confirmed when she got up on her feet. For the first time in a long time, she felt as light as a feather. She felt her body brimming with healthiness and also felt that her strength was slowly coming back.

The first thing she did was go to Eugeneia's room to check on her because she knew that out of everyone in this house, Eugene would have had it the hardest. Just that, when she got to Eugene's room she saw no one. Upon walking further to the room, she found these stacks of papers which led her to confirm once again that she had most likely been healed and that Eugene… had left.

Moniqua read Eugene's letter first and immediately upon the first 7 words she was hit with a dreadful emotion. She was left feeling confused reading the first half of the letter and couldn't comprehend what the letter meant. 

'Taking your real daughter's place.' Before she had the time to even question it, she was bombarded with Eugene's emotional apology and gratitude. It was this that made her sobbed hard.

She reached the next letter and was just about to read it when she saw that it was for Aernest and set it down. 

Finally, she picked up Euria's letter and was once again left feeling completely confused by the first letter. However, the more she read through each and every letter, the less confused she got and the more shocked she became. 

Both her daughters remembered their former lives and she was a part of it as well. Before long, she understood what Eugene meant by saying that she was afraid she took her 'real' daughter's place.

Many emotions were going through her as she felt incredibly overwhelmed by the letters. When she got to the last letter, she was unable to cry because of how informative and heavy the letter felt in her hand. She could not imagine what Eugene, especially Euria, dealt with to come this far and felt pressured for them in their stead. 

When she was completely done, all she could do was face down and feel embarrassed. She was embarrassed that she did not remember anything, and that she hadn't known that one of her daughters had been protecting everyone all this time in secrecy. That she had been feeling guilty towards her all this time. When they reunite, all she wanted to tell Euria was that nothing was her fault and that everything would be okay because they were family. People make mistakes, and people can be forgiven. She wanted to tell Euria that she would have forgiven her when she came back home in her first life. That both herself, Levis, and her siblings would have forgiven her. 

When she was able to better control her emotions, that was when she left holding the letters to Levis's study room which brought them to this situation right now. 

At this moment, the room was silent and only the sound of paper being set down could be heard. Everyone watched as Levis's read one letter after the other, and watched in shock at the many facial expressions they could see on Levis's face. Only Euria's letters got passed around for everyone to read and one by one, everyone's expression could be seen looking incredibly heavy. And once everyone was done, the room was ridden in silence once again. 

Everything felt like a book. Like a fictional and unreal story. No one was able to snap out of the emotions they were going through as they stared at the air in silence. 

Duke Marleigh was first to make a move and when he did, everyone turned towards him, "You need time to process things, I will take my leave." 

Duke Graeme stood up and agreed with Duke Marleigh's move to leave, "Anyway with what we know right now, it is safe to assume that Euria has a plan of her own and knows what she is doing. Eugeneia will also be okay as well."

"We will come back tomorrow and strategize then." Said Duke Akler as he stood up. 

One by one, the Dukes left. Duke Graeme did not realize that his son had disappeared in the midst of this, and only realized when he arrived at the estate and was questioned by his wife, Adele Graeme. 

"Mother… Father…" Ever since Aernest finished reading, all he could do was glance at the ground in silence.. The room took on another silence and when the three finished speaking, it was already late into the night.