Chapter 285 - Divination

Menedelia arrived at the fortress at 5:00 in the afternoon, carrying a bag filled with stuff that she had brought from the market.

Rebecca has been walking around the front yard of the house as a form of exercise for the last half hour while waiting for Granny's return. "Here you are at last!" she grinned. "Did you bring something for me, Granny?" she asked excitedly.​​

"Oh, yes! I brought you some delicious creamy rice cakes!" Menedelia said.

"Wow! Give me!" Rebecca said, already salivating.

"Let's get inside first," Menedelia said.

The two women entered the house and went to the kitchen.

Menedelia removed the stuff that she had brought from the market and put them on the table including the creamy rice cake that Nini gave her. "Here's your rice cakes!"

Rebecca picked up the yellow one and took a bite. "Wow, yummy! Did you buy them from the market?" she asked.

"Yup! As long we have money, we can buy anything from the market," Menedelia stated. "Speaking of money, see this!" she said and waved her hand. The wooden box filled with gold coins appeared on the table. "Open it and see what's inside!" she ordered.

Rebecca quickly opened the box, and her eyes widened in shock, holy cow! The box was filled with gold coins! She gave her benefactor a questioning glance. "Granny, where did you get this money? Did you rob a wealthy businessman?" she asked jokingly.

Menedelia smiled brightly. "I've helped someone in town, and I got rewarded by these gold coins!" she replied. "These coins alone can provide us up to six months of food ration!" she enthused.

"You're amazing, Granny! You're the best!" Rebecca showered her benefactor with high praises.

Menedelia smiled smugly. "Alright, get as much as gold coins you want before I keep them away for safekeeping," she urged her.

Rebecca stared at the shiny gold coins. In the human world, gold and silver coins are very important. When she was still under Graven's care, she was provided with everything, she doesn't have to work for a living, and there is no need to keep money with her. Now, Granny is the one earning money for the two of them. She felt ashamed to get even one coin. "No need, Granny. Just hide it for safekeeping," she refused politely.

"Okay, as you say so," Menedelia spoke. She picked up the wooden box, brought it to her room, and put it inside the closet. Then she returned to the kitchen.

"Granny, you have a generous client," Rebecca commented casually.

"Yeah! I'm just getting luckier these days. When it rains money, it pours," Menedelia said jokingly, flashing a bright smile.

Rebecca picked up one red apple and began munching on it.

"Enjoy the fruits. I'll start preparing our food for dinner," Menedelia said.

"I'll help you, Granny!" Rebecca said and helped prepare the ingredients for the dishes.

Rebecca was slicing the ingredients in the wooden chopping board while Menedelia started the fire and boiled rice on the pot.

The women fried a fish and cooked stewed pork meat with vegetables.

One hour later, they're already eating their delicious dinner.

~~~0~~~

Two days later.

It was a lazy afternoon. The two women were resting on the beds inside their room.

Suddenly, Menedelia received a signal coming from Zero informing her that he's around.

It must be about the gathering of the oracles!

She got up from the bed and went to Rebecca's room.

Her pregnant charge was staring at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts, then looked at her.

"Granny?"

"I have to go somewhere... I'll come home later. Probably late in the afternoon or the evening, depending on how long I will finish my business outside. Take care of yourself, and don't forget the things you shouldn't do while I'm not around!" she reminded her again.

Rebecca nods her head. "Got it. Take care of yourself, Granny!" she replied.

Menedelia left the room and donned appropriate clothes for the occasion.

A few minutes later, she vanished from her room.

She appeared at the top of the hill overlooking the calm ocean.

Zero was already there, gazing at the tranquil sea below. He tore his eyes from the sea and looked at the old woman. "Granny..."

Menedelia went to his side. "What's up, lad?"

"The five oracles have finally gathered at the manor today. They're willing to perform divination on Nini," Zero explained.

"That's good! I'm ready to join them," Menedelia spoke.

"Okay, let's go now to the capital!" Zero said and waved his hand.

They vanished from the top of the hill.

They reappeared in the living room of the manor, Nini's residence.

A female servant came into view.

"Where are the visitors?" Zero asked her.

"They are in the banquet hall, my lord," replied the servant.

"Okay, you may go now," Zero said.

The servant walked towards the location of the kitchen.

Zero and Menedelia proceed to the banquet hall.

When they arrived there, Nini's parents were already seated on the chair facing the five oracles.

In the corner, about twenty meters away from the gathering, they saw Nini lying on the bed, in a state of deep sleep.

Zero and Menedelia went to the couple's side.

"We're here, my lord!" Zero announced their presence.

Tony looked at them. "Now that you're here, we can finally start! Please take your seats," he said, pointing to the two vacant chairs on the row.

The newcomer took their seats.

Menedelia looked at the five oracles in front of her.

The group is composed of three old men and two women, the same age as her.

Tony addressed the oracles. "Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm sure that you already know why we have a gathering here. The purpose of your coming here is to perform the divination on my daughter and find out if there is something wrong with her internal essence. I want to know everything that you will see and notice in my daughter's condition. As you can see, I already put my daughter in a deep sleep. Please free to check her condition," he concluded.

Evelyn looked at the oracles and spoke, "Who will be the first to check my daughter's condition?" she asked them.

"I want to be the first to check her condition!" An old man, sporting a white mustache spoke.

"Okay, please go ahead, you can check my daughter now," Tony said and stood up.

The couple and the oracle went to bed, where Nini's body can be seen lying in a deep sleep. Her whole body was covered with a pink blanket starting from the neck to toe.

The oracle place his hands on Nini's forehead. He closed his eyes and began his divination under the watchful eye of the couple.

He finished his divination after ten minutes. He looked at the couple and spoke, "I'm done!"

"Can you please tell us what did you see in my daughter's future? Her overall condition? Did you see a vision regarding what's going to happen in her future?" Tony asked eagerly.

The oracle cleared his throat. "Your daughter's essence... there's something about it that I can't describe well. It's not alarming though, but something is going on inside her body. It needs further observation. As of now, I can't diagnosed her condition properly. But overall, she is physically healthy...however...there is something off about her essence...a tiny bit. It's so subtle that a normal person can't detect it, but I can..." the oracle said.

"How about her future... have you seen a vision after taking a glimpse of her mind?" Tony asked.

The oracle nods his head. "Yes. I saw a vision of her getting married, that's what I have seen in her future."

The couple looked at each other in confusion.

Tony spoke, "Thanks for your vision. You may return to your seat," he told the oracle.

The oracle returned to his seat.

Another oracle stood up and went to Nini's side. "My turn?"

"Please proceed..." Tony told the oracle.

The oracle closed his eyes and placed his hands on Nini's forehead, then he began his divination.

The couple watched in silence as the oracle performed his thing.

Minutes went by.

The 2nd oracle concluded his divination and looked at the couple. "Your daughter is healthy, but I detected a conflict in her essence. There's something not normal with her essence. In my estimate, just 10% abnormalities, not so alarming though, given time, it might start to disappear," he explained.

A frown appeared on Tony's face. Two oracles already mentioned the abnormalities in her daughter's essence. He's getting confused with the term they used.

Evelyn addressed the oracle. "How about her future? Did you see something... or anything?" she inquired.

"I saw a wedding banquet and she was standing in the center with a guy, probably her husband? I'm sure that the wedding is hers," the Oracle responded.

Tony's brow's furrowed. "Um... didn't you see a vision of her involvement in a tragedy or something?" he directly asked the oracle. The couple didn't inform the oracles in advance that Nini is about to get married and they also didn't mention Menedelia's tragic vision. They kept the whole thing secret from everyone. The people that they have instructed to get the oracles for them were also blind to everything.

"I don't see a vision of tragedy but only a vision of happiness in the form of a future wedding. That's all I see in the girl's future," the oracle replied.

"Okay, thank you. Please go back to your seat," Tony said.

Th 2nd oracle went back to his seat.

The 3rd oracle comes to the bed to take his turn.

"Please perform your divination on my daughter," Tony told the oracle.

"Okay, I shall start now," the oracle replied. He put his hands on Nini's head and start his divination.

Minutes went by.

The oracle opened his eye and addressed the couple. "The girl is in great physical shape. She is healthy, but her essence is somewhat corrupted, just a little bit. I notice a strange... foreign essence, merge with her own. However, it's nothing to worry about because her essence is more dominant than the foreign one. I also see that this girl is going to get involved in a happy celebration soon! That's all!" The oracle concluded his divination.