Chapter 382 - Theory

Terros looked at Luke's face.

They both grinned at each other in happiness.

"Welcome back, son! How are you feeling now that you're finally back in your original body?" Terros asked.

Luke's face broke into a dazzling smile. "All I can say now is that it's nice to be back in my original body! I'm so happy right now. I thought I'm not be able to return to my body. Thank you so much for taking good care of my body while I'm held as prisoner by the curse King, Grandpa!" he said feeling grateful for the old man's help.

"Don't mention it. But the ones you have to thank are the ladies. I bring your body here because it's starting to rot and I'm not capable enough to stop it. From that day onward, the deity Elva and Veronica are the ones who are taking good care of your body, preserving it with care, day in and day out. I don't deserve all the credits," Terros replied.

"Ah, of course, where are the ladies? I want to thank them for saving my body and my spirit," Luke said.

"They will be here any moment. Veronica is busy preparing a feast in the kitchen while the deity is resting in her room," Terros spoke.

"Okay, I'll just wait here then..." Luke said and glanced at his brother still lying in a comatose state at the next table. He slowly get up from the bed and went to his side. He examined his brother's face closely. "Bro, why are you not waking up yet? What's wrong with you?" he asked and touched his brother's hands, giving him some of his heat and his brotherly love.

Terros released a deep sigh. "He's been like that ever since he arrived to the vampire couple's manor, right?"

Luke nodded his head. "Yup! That was also the time when one of the servant washed the jar in the toilet and accidentally open the lid. So I get out of the jar and explore the surroundings area. I discovered a sleeping body inside the coffin, so I occupied it right away. And from that moment onward I become Mother Sylvia's son, resurrected from a long time of slumber. That's how it happens..." he ended his narration.

"You did a brilliant thing, son!" Terros applauded Luke's action by taking over the comatose body of the vampire woman's youngest son.

Luke agreed that it was the right thing to do at the moment. "I was thinking that if my original body have already rotted, I will just use that young lord's body. I'm so lucky that my original body is still intact and I can now return to my old life," he said cheerfully. "I'm looking forward to going home!" he raved excitedly.

"So... how long you are going to stay here?" Terros asked. The reason for his question is because Laura will visit her husband soon and they will see each other, there's no avoiding it. That's why he asked first so that he can find a way to make sure that Laura and Luke's paths will not cross to avoid conflict.

"I will stay for a few hours. Before I leave, I want to thank the ladies for saving my life and for taking good care of my body before I'll disappear. After that, I'll go home because I've been gone for so long, my men and my servant have gone crazy already thinking about my whereabouts. So, I really need to go home the soonest possible time," Luke explained.

"Ah, okay. I got it, son. You might as will stay for dinner because Veronica is cooking delicious dishes to celebrate this momentous occasion," Terros suggested.

"Sure! I would love to stay here for a few more hours and thank the ladies before I'll take my leave," Luke spoke.

"That's good!" Terros said with a smile. Problem solved!

Luke shifted his attention to his twin brother. "Why Graven can't wake up yet? What's wrong with him?" he asked, deeply bothered by his strange brother's condition.

Terros heaved a sigh. "The goddess already fed him a medicine earlier. It will take a few hours before a result can be seen. A lot of waiting and observation is needed at this time. Your brother's perplexing condition might take a whole month of constant trial and error of applying medication since we don't have any idea what his problem is..." he replied.

Luke released a deep sigh. "Get well soon, brother! I can't wait to spend some time with you just like old times," he said in an emotional tone.

Terros patted Luke's shoulder to comfort him, he said, "Graven will surely recover soon! Let's hope for the best!"

The men were enveloped with silence for a moment.

Then Terros remembered that Luke wants to marry Veronica while they were still in the enemy's territory. He cleared his throat. "Um... son... I want to ask you a question. It's been bothering me for a while..." he said.

"Go on, what is it, Grandpa?" Luke asked.

"Are you attracted to my adoptive daughter? Do you really have intention to marry Veronica? I just want to clarify that," Terros asked.

Luke smiled. "Not really. I only did it to save Veronica. That was a spur of the moment decision, the only thing I can think of during that time. Sadly, I can only save you and Veronica but I can't save Horace because I feared that Mother Sylvia might suspect my motive. At one point, she did ask me why I want to save all the prisoners," he elaborated.

Terros's smiled. "Ah, that's good to hear. I'm glad it's all behind us now. For your information, Horace is kind of attracted to Veronica... just so you know..."

Luke smiled and said, "No problem. I wish them love and happiness!"

"Son, do you want water or anything?" Terros offered.

"Just water, Grandpa," Luke replied.

"Okay, I'll get you one from the kitchen. Just wait here and watched over your brother for me," Terros said.

Luke nods his head and said, "Okay... thanks!"

Terros exited the healing room to get water from the kitchen. When he arrived in the kitchen, Veronica was in the process of cooking the last dish.

"Did Luke wake up already?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah!"

"That's nice!"

"He can't wait to say thanks to you and Elva. I left him there in the healing room to watch over his brother. I'll get water for him," Terros said.

Veronica handed him the glass.

After filling the glass with drinking water, Terros left the kitchen and return to the healing room.

...

Meanwhile...

At the vampire couple's manor.

Zalvo and Corbin were checking the security of the property outside the manor when one of their men rushed to their side.

"My lord, the prisoners body were gone!"

Zalvo and Corbin looked at each other in shock.

"How did it happen? After the breach, I already assigned men to guard the door of the prisoners room. How could they escape?" Zalvo asked.

"My lord, the men didn't see anyone leaving the room. The prisoners simply vanished after the guards went inside to check them," the man explained.

"Even the guy who is unconscious all the time? How could it happen? Did he suddenly wake up and save his butler?" Corbin expressed his thoughts.

"Probably, because if there is still intruder inside the property the alarm will start blasting again right at this very moment. But the alarm is quiet, which means the guy woke up from his comatose state and rescued his butler and they escape this place while we're busy strengthening the security around the property," Zalvo explained.

Corbin sighed deeply and looked at his father. "I'll visit the prisoners room to look for clues," he said.

"I'll go with you!" Zalvo said.

The father and son returned to the facility underground.

First, they went to the old man's room and checked the area thoroughly.

"The room is clean, no clues left behind," Corbin observed.

"Yeah... let's go to the next room," Zalvo said.

The men proceed to the next room.

They found the room empty as well, with no clue left behind.

Zalvo and Corbin were puzzled by the incident.

"How come the prisoners escape the room without any aide from the outside forces?" Corbin asked in bewilderment.

Zalvo was rubbing his jaw, in deep thoughts, formulating different ideas in his mind. He come up with possible theories and shared them with his son. "Either the old man or the unconscious guy are responsible for their disappearance or... during the breach... they were already gone along with the intruder," he explained.

Corbin's brows knitted together. "But how come when we check the rooms the prisoners were still lying on their beds?"

"It's either the intruder used a technique called illusion. We can see the prisoners bodies lying on the bed but in close inspection it's just an illusion, the bodies are not real, just images that will disappear after a few hours..." Zalvo elaborated further.

Corbin finally understood what his father meant. "I got it! The prisoners we saw in the bed are not real, their just illusions or just clones!" he blurted.

"Absoluletely!" Zalvo confirmed.

"So... the final theory is... during the commotion the intruder rescued the prisoners. The rescuer is probably that woman who escape the fire previously, then she left clones to deceive us," Corbin said.

"That's right! That's what I've imagined that took place during that time," Zalvo declared.

"And how does Nathan's situation connected to the whole thing? Why knock out my brother? Why not me?" Corbin asked the question that's bothering him.

"Maybe because she already freeze you and Nathan was trying to fight her that's why she knocked him out," Zalvo explained.

"That's a possibility. Anyways, we don't really know what actually happened during that time. Now, what if that woman will come back and cause havoc here? We should block her entrance again and make sure that she can never return in this property ever again!" Corbin said.

"That's right, son. Let's go back to the house and discuss about this pressing issue. We need to triple the security of the whole place and the whole facility. We might be facing an attack anytime soon!" Zalvo stated grimly.

The men left the room and returned to the manor for a lengthy discussion.