In the afternoon.
Inside the couple's bedroom Graven bid farewell to his wife. "I'll return before dinner," he said and planted a loving kiss on his wife's cheeks.
"Okay, you take care of yourself and come back soon!" she said apprehensively.
"I will," he responded. "What are you going to do with the rest of the afternoon?" he asked.
"I will spend my time in the plant nursery and enjoy the different species of young plants there," she replied.
"Okay, that's a better choice than staying inside the room worrying about what Luke is planning nowadays... leave that to me. I shall find my brother soon and settle things with him," he said.
"Husband, please take care of yourself," she said worriedly.
"I will, I'll take my leave now," he spoke and disappeared from the room in seconds.
Laura breathed deeply. She brushed her hair and after putting her hair in a ponytail, she left the room and went to find her sister and mother in the flower garden.
Meanwhile...
Graven appeared in the forest outside the cave where Luke's coffin was located. He was shocked to find the trees and plants dying everywhere around him, animal carcasses were littering the ground in a different state of decomposition. "What the hell is going on here!?" he asked no one in particular.
He rose in the air and inspected the area up in the air. The damage was not that wide though, the area that was affected was only limited to the place surrounding the cave.
Graven's brows furrowed. He lowered himself on the ground and grabbed the bottle of oil from the pocket of his pants, he's going to rub them on his body, he can't wait to be inside the cave to see his brother's coffin and confirmed if he's fully resurrected now.
He opened the lid of the oil... suddenly... he heard a movement behind him, he spun around and his eyes widened upon seeing the guy's face who's wearing a black hooded cape. "B-brother!" he said.
"No need to rub that oil on your body, the coffin is empty. I'm fully resurrected now!" Luke announced his presence.
Graven's throat runs dry. He saw the coldness in his twin's eyes, the pain and betrayal mirrored in his soul. "Are you the one responsible for what's happening here?" he asked trying to start a conversation with him.
"Yeah," Luke shrugged. "I need all the life force I can get from this area so that my resurrection is finally completed," he explained. "Don't worry, just a few months from now everything in this area will return to normal as if nothing happens," Luke elaborated.
"By the way, I attended your wedding with Laura, I have seen the beautiful bride walking towards you, wearing a radiant smile on her face. I imagined myself to be her groom, sad to say, I'm not!" he blurted aloud his chest heaving in anger. "You come after my woman and worst you married her yesterday without thinking how I'm gonna feel after learning about it? What kind of brother are you!"
The brothers were facing each other, Luke displaying anger in his eyes. While Graven's eyes shone with compassion for his beloved sibling.
"Congratulation by the way!" Luke said, his voice hinted sarcasm. "How does it feel after marrying my woman? Are you happy now after betraying me?"
Graven sighed. "I'm so sorry brother, I got tempted. It's not Laura's fault, it's all my fault because I pursued her relentlessly, and I'll take responsibility for everything," he said.
"Laura's is not at fault? Really-? She jumped into your arms willingly!" Luke sneered.
Graven sighed. "I'll take any punishment from you after I come back. I just need to take care of something important first, until then, all I ask from you is refrain from hurting anyone. Please control your anger. We will resolve the conflict between us in a peaceful manner," he pleaded.
Luke looked at his brother, raw pain was leaping from his eyes. "What is there to talk between us? You blatantly betrayed me! Put yourself in my shoes and you'll know what I mean!" he shouted indignantly. "Thankfully, I was able to control my anger at the last minute before I unleashed death to the people attending the wedding on that farm. I know you hated it when innocent people died without a valid reason. I could have done it just to get my revenge and spite you... but then I know better... the innocent people don't have to pay for what you and Laura had done to me. It's not worth slaughtering them, to begin with..."
"Thank you brother for showing restraint," Graven said feeling grateful.
"You had willingly severed our ties being brothers in this lifetime by marrying my beloved woman, from now on you are no longer my brother. We go our separate ways, if we meet again I might not be merciful, so pray that we will never meet again!" Luke said and spit on the ground.
Graven was feeling sad and heartbroken. "Where are you going, brother?"
"You don't have to know! I'm no longer your brother so stop asking where I'm going and what is my activities in the future. None of your damn business!" Luke said in an irate voice. "Enjoy your wife!" he said, a smirk curled up in his mouth and disappeared from the area in just a blink of an eye.
Graven was about to beg for his brother's forgiveness and understanding but he suddenly vanished from his sight, he groaned.
His heart was breaking inside, but he kind of expected his brother's reaction. He was just thankful that Luke didn't resort to violence despite what he witnessed in the farmhouse last night.
He just lost a brother but gained a wife.
He took a deep breath and rose in the air, examining the whole area. The place would heal and teem with life again after a few months.
Since his brother was no longer inside the cave, it's about time to leave the place and returned to his wife.
He teleported back to the Helman farmhouse. When he appeared inside the room, his wife was not in the room. He left the room and went outside to find her, he strolled towards the nursery.
When he entered the nursery hut, Laura was having fun watering small plants in the corner.
Laura sensed his presence, she looked over her shoulder and smiled after seeing him walking towards him. She put the plastic watering bottle into the ground.
He went to his side and planted a kiss on her temple.
"How it's going? Did you see him?" she asked eagerly.
"Yeah, I have a brief conversation with my brother. He was fully resurrected and no longer residing inside the cave," he replied.
"Let's get out of here and talk somewhere, the servant can enter this place anytime," she said.
The couple left the nursery hut and walked towards the trees located a few meters away from the house.
They lowered themselves on the wooden bench, looking around them to check if other people are standing nearby.
After making sure that no one is in earshot, she glanced at her husband. "Tell me...what Luke told you? Did you two fight?" she asked while inspecting her husband's body parts for any signs of wounds.
"I'm okay. We didn't fight. He told me that he was here the whole day yesterday and able to witness our wedding ceremony. He was the one responsible for turning the lights off on the entire farm for a few minutes. At some point yesterday he wanted to hurt the people who attended the wedding due to anger but he decided that it's not worth it and didn't do anything and took his leave..." he explained.
A petrified look appeared on Laura's eyes face. "Oh, my God!" she gulped in shock. Her whole body trembled. Her happy wedding yesterday was close to becoming a slaughter event yesterday.
Graven rubbed her back to calm her down. "Relax... my brother doesn't do things like that. He might be thinking about killing the guests yesterday but he really can't do it, because if that was his intention all along then we already see dead bodies yesterday, besides my men and I won't allow him to create great damage here," he said.
Laura trembled in fear. "He is angry! He might return here!" she said in a panicky voice.
"Shh...calm down. I think he will no longer bother us because he already disowns me," he said.
Laura's brows knitted together. "W-what do you mean?"
"Because I betrayed him behind his back and stole his beloved woman, he no longer wants anything to do with me. He doesn't want me to be his brother anymore. He severed our sibling relationship today and gone away without telling me where he is going. He's gone!" Graven said sadly, feeling dispirited.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..." Laura hugged her husband tightly wanting to erase the pain from his face.
"It's okay, it's not your fault. It's all my fault - therefore I deserved all this," Graven said. "I guess it's better this way... maybe he can find another woman in another place, then fall in love with her and have a family of his own. If that happens... there is a big chance our path will cross again in the future and he might have already forgiven us during that time. We will wait for that time," he said wistfully.
Laura released a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault!" she said and began sobbing.
"Wife, don't cry! I don't want your parents and sister to see you crying, they will surely ask me why? They might think that we have a big fight today, they will get worried about us. You don't want to worry them, right?" he asked her.
Her husband has a point, Laura ceased crying and dried her tears with her hands.
"Don't worry, my brother will be able to forgive us in the future," he said confidently.
"I hope so," Laura replied with a gloomy sigh.
A few minutes later, Sofia arrived at their location and informed them that their mother baked a delicious banana cake and wants them back on the veranda for the afternoon snack.
The couple went back to the house to enjoy the banana cake with the rest of the family.