After saying that to Erend, Aurdis could finally see a look of relief on his face.
"Now you don't have to worry anymore," said Aurdis.
But Erend sighed as if things didn't end with just that. "It's not over yet. There is still The Great Calamity to come."
Hearing that name, the smile on Aurdis' face also suddenly disappeared. She was pulled back from the momentary joy she had earlier.
"You are right." Aurdis looked down at her hand that was on her thigh. Her hands looked restless fiddling I'm her dress.
Seeing that, Erend became regretful for having said about The Great Calamity that was coming and extinguished Aurdis' excitement.
"Hey," Erend intended to revive that excited feeling. "You said you wanted to meet my family?"
Finally, Aurdis' eyes widened again. This time as if there was a glint of light in her blue eyes. Erend didn't know why she wanted to meet them so badly.
"Yes! Can I meet them?" Aurdis asked.
"Well, I guess it should be fine if you met my mother and sister in this house," Erend said.
The spies who were watching his house were much fewer than before now. Erend was sure that their suspicions on them had also disappeared because there were no activities that looked suspicious that they were doing.
So, Erend thought that it was alright that Aurdis came to meet his mother and sister. Although of course, they need to be careful.
Aurdis looked pleased. But Erend still had to ask about that.
"But why do you want to meet my family?"
Aurdis stared at Erend for a few moments. Her gaze seemed to say that she wanted to say something big.
But, Aurdis decided not to say that for now so she had to come up with another excuse.
"Well, I just wanted to meet them. After all, you've seen my family, haven't you?" said Aurdis.
If what Aurdis meant was Aerchon, Erend had already met them. Although he is not the family figure he hopes to meet.
Laston is also one of the Aurdis family. Even though now he is a traitor and Erend almost kills him. But technically Laston is family.
Erend also doesn't know whether Saeldir is Aurdis' relative or not.
"I still haven't met your father," said Erend.
Immediately Aurdis's face became sullen. She took a deep breath before speaking. "You don't need to expect him."
Erend knew how the condition of the king could not be expected. But that was Aurdis family matter so he felt he had no authority to say anything.
Knowing that the night was getting late, Erend told Aurdis to come back and come again the next day. Tomorrow, Aurdis would immediately appear in his car when he came home from the military base.
After that, Erend would take her home and tell his mother and sister that he had just picked her up on the way. That's the plan for tomorrow.
According to Aurdis, it was a good plan. Erend also told her to put on her human disguise first so that her mother and sisters wouldn't be surprised.
So, after the night's meeting was over, Aurdis returned through the Portal into her palace. Not to forget, she said good night and gave Erend a kiss on the lips before leaving.
Erend once again sighed. That's the limit of what they can do. The warm kiss still remained on his lips, but apart from the sweet and warm taste, what Erend felt was a disappointment.
There were only two of them in this room. The night was also late and quiet. Erend would be lying if he said that he had no desire to vent with Aurdis. And he knew that Aurdis also had the same desire.
However, they can't. Erend had heard it from Aurdis himself that they couldn't go any further. Or there will be bad consequences.
So Erend believes that and respects Aurdis' wishes by not doing it again, or even trying to do it.
Erend immediately plopped down on the bed again. He took a deep breath and then exhaled. He tried to close his eyes to shake off the disappointment.
~~~
Adrien was awakened from his sleep by a strange nightmare. Beside him, his wife - Mary - was still fast asleep without realizing anything.
Adrien got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. As soon as he looked in the mirror, Adrien saw that his face was drenched in sweat.
"What the hell was that?"
Adrien sat on the toilet thinking back to the dream he had just had. It is a dream of a place full of death and decay.
Adrien still remembered the details of the dream as if he had actually been there. Set his feet on the black sandy ground. Around him were countless corpses.
All the corpses looked rotten and gave off an unbearable smell. They were the corpses of various creatures he didn't recognize.
Then when he looked ahead, Adrien saw a tall tower that was so black as if it was made of condensed shadows.
The tower rose into the sky which was covered only by black clouds with occasional flashes of reddish lightning appearing behind them.
In his dream, the distance between where he was standing and the tower was quite far because Adrien could see the entire tower.
However, he could clearly feel an entity in the tower staring straight at him. Or actually, the being is staring at his soul.
Adrien seemed to see a pair of red eyes with vertical pupils staring at him from there. Those eyes made him freeze in fear because they contained power and terror that he couldn't resist.
It was then that Adrien woke up from his sleep with a cold sweat and a pounding heart.
Adrien could only stay frozen in the toilet for a few minutes. During that time, he was able to calm down.
"Is this the madness that will come when my Magic awakens?"
Adrien thought that the possibility was big. If so, he has to find a way so that all of this doesn't get worse.
~~~