Chapter 71 - Waking Up

Gently with a careful attempt, Zeus raised his head a bit up from his head-pillow while taking a glance at the gigantic door of his room, which was left partly open.

"Ahh, why did she run away from my room like that? I...I just asked for a glass of water from her... Why did she flee away as if she was summoned by a ghost? Damn, it surprised me..."

Wondering inside with a frown face, he averted his gaze away from the door and glanced at the glass vessel placed on the corner table placed beside his sumptuous bed. Slowly he tried to get up from the bed on his own but his deep wound near the abdomen started to pain immensely, which caused him to withdraw his attempt.

"ZEUS! MY SON!"

All of a sudden, a crowd of people consisting of the mansion royal guards looking extremely fretted dashed inside his room through the door, including both of his terrified parents along with Ivory on the first row. Aelia shrieked out so loud in anticipation that her voice reverberated in the whole room as an echo.

"Zeus! You are awake! Thank goodness! I was so scared!" She mumbled clamorously rushing closer to his bedside. She almost stumbled near him in turmoil while attempting to caress his head and shoulders. 

"Mom! Why...Why are you panicking so much? Relax, slow down a bit... I am all awake, don't fret." Frowning his eye-brow ridge, he softly tapped her arm while she was holding onto his grimace.

"How...How can I calm down? Do...Do you even have the slightest idea how scared we were all this time? We...We thought...we will lose you forever... Hic...You will never understand our inner turmoil..." Wailing into tears of grief, she gripped his arm tightly while directing her whining at him.

Beside Aelia, Ivory and Antonio stood still gazing at Zeus fixedly while skipping to blink. Antonio was trying to maintain a composed posture in front of their royal guards who were standing in the back row behind them. However, Ivory was unable to control her emotional outburst and broke down in tears of anguish. Her heart was terribly scared and petrified from losing her beloved, which was clearly depicted from the helpless tears that were rolling down her puffy pale cheeks. 

Slowly Zeus averted his gaze towards his father, Ivory, and the royal guards existing in the room as he continued watching their gesticulations for a few seconds. Exhaling a deep sigh out, he softly murmured, "I...I must have scared you all so bad... I am...sorry...." 

"Are you doing a little better now?" Grimacing his face harder, Antonio tossed a straight question at him.

"Yes...but...I really feel so damn weak... Can you fetch me a glass of water, Ivory? I asked the maid but she ran away from the room looking all startled... I don't know why... Umm, dad, can you help me sit up on the bed? I can't believe I am asking you such a trivial thing." He responded to them in a perplexed tone.

Abruptly, she followed his command and quickly fetched a glass of water for him while wiping her tears out. Antonio walked closer to his bedside and grabbed him by the shoulder while helping him to sit on the bed, leaning his back against the large cushion. His whole upper part of the body was wrapped up in bandages and bruises which started throbbing deeply even with the slightest voluntary movement of his body. Quivering in pain, he was panting quite hard while Ivory handed him a glass of water to gulp it all down.

"Of course, anyone would be startled if they watch you wake up all of a sudden! Do you know how much the whole mansion was deadly uptight for you? And why wouldn't we be... You are our alpha, Zeus! We, the Romanos, only have you as our ultimate strength!" Holding a grimacing expression on her face, she snarled at him.

Zeus stayed still gulping the water and kept his quiet momentarily. Their extreme anxiety was quite evident before him and somehow he was being a bit guilt-stricken for causing them so much apprehension.

"How do you feel for causing us so much angst and trepidation? Your mother has been wailing out continuously from the moment you fell asleep! We didn't even get a brink of rest!" Antonio sounded a bid hoarse as he grumbled his objection towards him, moving a few steps away from the sumptuous bedside.

"I know...I...am sorry for scaring you all... But...I don't even remember vividly what had happened--"

"You were attacked with wolfsbane, my son!" With her quivering chin, Aelia promptly answered him in a glum voice, staring straight at his troubled grimace. "It's itself a miracle that you are still breathing after suffering such a dreadful attack! Your...Your gut was pierced with wolfsbane dust! You were bleeding profusely when you got home--"

"Indeed, I am grateful to be still alive, mom. But... who brought me back to home in that state--" 

"Czar." 

All of a sudden, Ivory responded to him in a dubious pitch while swirling her eyeballs mystically. With her unexpected response, Aelia seemed a bit agitated while Zeus was speechless instantly. 

"What? Czar? He... brought me home?" His voice sounded very bewildered.

"He may not show it to you...but...I think he really cares about you. In fact, he is your own brother. By bringing you back here at the relevant time, he has saved your life, or else--"

"He is his half-brother, darn it! Have you forgotten it?" All of a sudden, Aelia sprang up from the bed and snarled at her, rolling out her wrath-filled eyes in rage. Her immediate reaction was quite unexpected for everyone, especially for Ivory as it was the very first time, she raised her voice at her in front of everyone. 

Gulping her saliva anxiously, she tried to explain her, "Aunt Aelia, I didn't mean to say--"

"I didn't give birth to that brat and...I will never consider him as my own son! Never ever! He is and he will always be an outsider brat for me! Don't even try to include him in our family and keep this in your mind forever. I hope, you will never commit such a mistake again!" Grumbling aloud at her, she stomped her feet on the ground quite hard and took a small peek at Zeus who was seated being all confused. 

"Zeus, you must need some rest right now. We won't bother you now anymore. Ivory, if you wanna stay beside him you can, and rest of the others, you can leave them alone." Commanding her words in a hoarse tone, quickly she walked out of the room in a few giant steps. Antonio seemed much displeased with her sudden infuriated reaction and followed her outside, along with the royal guards. 

Ivory took a deep sigh out and lowered her gaze downwards, fidgeting nonchalantly. "She hates Czar way too much... Sometimes...I feel a bit pity for him..." She wondered on her own.

Zeus resembled much puzzled with the situation as he lowered his glance down with several thoughts crowding his mind. "If...If Czar has brought me home, then...he must have met Eva too at that moment... Damn it! I hope...I hope he didn't cause any harm to her... I really don't want to...hate my brother..." He clenched his fist hard, exhaling a deep breath. 

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