Chapter 87

87 Dear Darla

Everyone went quiet, and the sudden chills came oozing down, especially for Justice. Never in his life that he knew about this.

“Did my family know? I mean, my mother or my fathers?” Asked Justice to Bernard.

Bernard frowned and unexpectedly asked Justice back, “I thought you have knowledge about this? Her majesty and his Majesties, of course, knew about this. You can even see the Beyor family portrait in your ancestral hall.”

He couldn’t ever imagine that there was a family portrait of the Beyor. Justice confirmed it once more with Bernard. “What?! Are you serious?! I mean, come on Bernard, the Beyor family, the one that was suspected as the catalyst of the blood plague? The Beyor family?!”

“Yes, your majesty... I mean, I thought you knew.” Bernard scratches his balding head, a bit astonished by the crown prince’s confession.

“Well, the last time I walk to the ancestral hall, maybe when I was a teenager, and there was no name plate in all the paintings, not imagined I hate those creepy portraits so I use another hallway.” Said Justice to all of them in the lounge room.

Anne suddenly smirked at Justice. “Creepy? Did you be afraid of something coming out of the portrait?”

“No... I am not! Did you see me at the cemetery? Did I look afraid?!” Justice immediately defended himself.

Vale then whispered to Anne, “Justice hates to see portraits. He always thought that the people inside the portrait will come alive and chase him.”

.....

The smirk changed into a burst of laughter, Anne just couldn’t believe what she just heard from Vale, even though Justice was glaring constantly at her.

“Would the two of you stop whispering at each other? We were having a serious conversation here.” Justice was annoyed by how Vale and Anne whispered and giggled at each other, he turn his attention to Bernard once again, ”

“Well, it was funny to have thought that you have a fear of portraits.” Said Brom casually to Justice.

The crown prince squinted his eyes at Brom. “Are you finished? I thought you wanted to go to the capital?”

Brom shrugging at Justice. He says goodbye to them but not before asking Anne to write her note. The girl then rushed into her room right away and begin listing the items that she need, including fresh meat for Chikara.

At her lab, Amaris was in the middle of writing a formula while mumbling to herself. Brom was already at the door, looking at his mother.

“Mother... Could I have some of your attention, please?” Said Brom, when he was still in the stage of consciousness. One thing about Brom was that he had such disinterest sometimes that it makes him sleepy all the time.

Chief Amaris turn around to her son, and told him to speak theatrically, “Yes, what do you want with me, my son?”

“I need to go to the capital. Do you need something?”

Thinking for a moment, chief Amaris shook her head, “Nothing for now. What are you doing to the capital?”

“Anne needs a favor, so I was happy to help her.” Brom shrugged at his mother.

She was stunned and even stop shaking the glass jar for a moment. Chief Amaris looks into her son with a frown on her face, “That was generous of you? And so weird of you to do a favor.”

“Well, you tell me to do good sometimes.”

Rolling her eyes, chief Amaris then chuckles, “Like I’m gonna believe that. Just go now, so you go back before it went dark.”

When Amaris goes back to her experiment, Brom, still standing at the door, leaning to see his mother, “Mother...”

“Yes, Brom?” Amaris answered her son, but her eyes focused on her experimenting jar.

“I think you’re right about her,” Brom said the words and exited the room.

Chief Amaris stop for a moment, and smiled, “Interesting, so our theory could be right about her.”

The horse galloped towards the dirt road into the capital, Brom wearing his magi hood, and go as fast as he can to the Icarus dormitory. He doesn’t know why he feels he wanted to be the one that sent the note to Anne’s friends. He was excited to see a certain someone.

Two hours later, Brom arrived at the Icarus dorm and went over to the stairs. The matron saw him and immediately called for him.

“Excuse me, magi, what are you doing? That’s the private places, exclusive for the exam participants that lived here.” The dorm matron looks at him while her hands were on the hips.

Brom looking at the matron, “I am looking for David and Darla, the silver pass participants.”

The matron huffed and pointed at the lobby. “Fine, please wait in the lobby. I’ll call for them.”

Waiting in the lobby, Brom was becoming the center of attention, people looks at him and whispered. Although eccentric, Brom has a distinct beauty that makes him distinguished from most men. Even when he yawned and looked at everyone with such disinterest, some people were still mesmerized by him.

Not long after, David and Darla step into the lobby and look at Brom with curiosity.

“Excuse me, were you looking for us?” Asked Darla to Brom.

Brom turns around to see the two of them, “Hello, I am Brom...”

He went quiet and keep staring at Darla. David look at him and cleared his throat. “Yes, we know. Remember that you’re saving us at the first exam incident.”

Although David spoke to him, Brom, on the other hand, just looked at Darla and never let go of his eyes. Darla was getting nervous. She brushed her hair and asked Brom, “Err... you need something from us?”

Suddenly, Brom said to Darla, “You, I need you.”

“What?!” Both Darla and David shouted at Brom.

“Oh my Gods, man, you are officially weird.” Muttered David to Brom.

Darla, on the other hand, snorted and laughed at Brom’s words, “Oh stop it, David, he was funny.”

David gasped at Darla, “No, he was just... weird. Just looks at him! He kept staring at you, like the weirdo he was.”

“Well, a handsome weirdo.” Said Darla, she then looked at Brom with her hands folded on her chest, “So, private Brom, what do you need from me?”

A note was handed to Darla directly from Brom. Darla and David read the note, Brom still looking at Darla like there was no tomorrow if his eyes faltered from her. The first time he saw Darla, he thought he was an interesting girl. She wasn’t slender but plump; she doesn’t have white porcelain skin but golden brown skin, with short brown hair.

“So, Anne was going to be in the Alchemia tower for a week?” Asked Darla.

Brom nodded his head.

“As the attending healer for the crown prince?!” Asked David after Darla’s question.

Brom once again nodded his head.

Darla let out a sigh. “Can you do anything besides nod your head?”

Brom nodded his head, despite Darla’s annoyance. David, on the other hand, felt entertained by him. “My my, Darla, let him be,” David looks at Brom once again, “Alright, we are going to be there tomorrow, at lunchtime, please tell Anne, thank you so much, private Brom.”

Brom tilted his head and asked them a question, “Do you know where the location of Alchemia tower is ?”

“Well, we can ask around.” Said, David.

Saying no words, Brom walks away from them, before he goes outside the dorm, he looks at Darla for the last time and said, “I will come and pick the two of you, wait for me.”

The two of them were just stunned at their place, puzzled by how unpredictable Brom was. Darla and David chuckle afterward. They read the notes once more and decide it to go to the market to buy something for Anne.

The next day, Darla was already waiting for Brom in the lobby while enjoying some warm moomilk and biscuits. She looked at some and sneered at her, probably because of the number of biscuits on her plate. Darla was conscious of how much food she consumed every day. She enjoyed the food that she ate, besides; she was built this way. Her family lineage depends on food to produce the lost magica.

They have their boundary as well, but unlike people everywhere that will gain their magica while resting, Darla could gain her magica just by eating. She was the only girl of ten siblings in her household. Of her nine older brothers having to work various jobs, she was the only one that choose to become a huntsman.

“Morning lovely, Did you pack the things for Anne?” David came to the lobby, he was yawning and fall to the sofa.

“Morning, you should eat some breakfast first. It will be a two or three hours’ journey, I’ve heard.” Said Darla to David.

“Ugh... Anne will owe us so much favor now. We got her things and the meat for that savage familiar to her.” David complained while eating one of Darla’s biscuits.

“Well, she couldn’t help it. The crown prince asked her personally to be his attending healer.”

Another person heard their conversation from the hallway, he walk as fast as he can to the garden where Heirim was sitting on the benches with a book in her hand. The snooping man fed her the information. The book came flying to the ground. Heirim was enraged. She already felt something was wrong when Justice was missing, along with the other of his best friends and Anne.

Heirim bit and chewed her nails. She promised herself to investigate what happened to Justice and Anne, whatever it takes.