Chapter 15 - Family's Problems

Zaos's face was filled with surprise and fear when he saw a small figure on the other side of the door. However, those disappeared, and a frown appeared on his face when he saw that shadow was actually a little girl who had short curly, light brown hair, and her eyes were of the same time. That was weird. Zaos was supposed to be the only kid in the mansion…

"You are… Jeline's daughter," Zaos said.

The girl looked to be a year younger than Zaos, and naturally, his voice scared her since everything was so dark and she didn't expect to find anyone. The girl began to tremble in fear, but then Zaos patted her head to calm down.

"Don't worry, you are lost, right?" Zaos asked. "You went in the wrong direction when you were looking for the toilet."

The house servants lived on the West side of the mansion, while Zaos and his mother lived on the Eastside. He had no idea where his father sleeps when he is at home, though. In any case, the girl relaxed a little when she saw another kid.

"My name is Zaos. What is your name?" Zaos asked.

"… Nyana," The girl replied. 

"All right, Nyana," Zaos said. "I will guide you to the toilet and then back to your mother's room, but you can't tell anyone that you found me here, all right?"

Nyana nodded, and she seemed a bit scared of Zaos's attitude. He tried to be nice, but his choice of words probably made him look more threatening than anything. In the end, Zaos grabbed Nyana's hand and guided her to the West side of the mansion. Since the layout of the mansion was pretty similar on both sides, he quickly found the toilet. While Zaos was used to taking a bath with his mother, even though that had been pretty embarrassing in the beginning, he decided to wait outside while Nyana was finishing her business.

When she left the toilet with a more relaxed expression on her face, Zaos frowned because the look on her face seemed weird… no, her face seemed strange for some reason. Although Zaos concluded that it was due to the resemblance between her and mother, but then something clicked inside his head. Nyana's calm expression was weirdly similar… to Laiex.

Zaos opened his eyes in shock when he connected the dots. His dad's attitude two days ago, Jeline's attitude… the weirdness of the situation when Zaos considered all the facts… Nyana was Zaos's half-sister. Zaos covered his mouth in shock… his dad committed adultery while his wife was pregnant. Still, he managed to keep things hidden until now.

"Is your tummy hurting?" Nyana asked.

"…No," Zaos replied after taking a deep breath. "Let's find your mother's room."

Zaos quickly found their room as well since Nyana left it half-open. It was amazing that she managed to leave without her mother noticing when she was so small. Regardless, Zaos closed the door when she entered. Hopefully, she will be smart enough to keep her mouth shut, or if she talks, her mother will think that she was just dreaming.

"Shit… why did I have to discover this at such a time?" Zaos facepalmed.

While he wanted to look for the book and do his research, Zaos wouldn't be able to concentrate now. As if things weren't bad enough, as soon as he entered the library, he heard the door opening again… and this time Lyra showed up. Her usual smile was nowhere to be seen. Since he never saw his mother angry, Zaos almost wet his pants.

"What are you doing this late, Zaos?" Lyra asked with her arms crossed.

"… Looking for a book," Zaos replied with a forced smile when he noticed that lying would only make things more complicated.

"Don't we have many books in our room?" Lyra asked.

"I already read them all," Zaos replied.

"Couldn't you have waited until morning?" Lyra insisted.

"I tried, but I couldn't fall asleep since mom snores too loudly," Zaos said.

"I don't snore… probably," Lyra said. "Return to your room unless you want to be in trouble."

"… Okay," Zaos lowered his head and then said.

In the end, Zaos escaped with that much of a scolding. Lyra was just that lenient… in any case, Zaos was forced to return to his bed, but he didn't fall asleep. The same could be said about Lyra. It looked like she was worried if she snores or not.

"I am sorry, mom," Zaos said. "You don't actually snore."

"I knew it!" Lyra said and then picked Zaos's cheek.

After she got rid of her worry, Lyra quickly fell asleep, but Zaos didn't. He just found out that his ever serious father committed adultery and had another kid. Not only that, he brought his other family to home. For someone who had so much self-respect, he sure had some nerve.

"What is going to happen now?" Zaos thought after a long sigh.

At least Zaos knew that his father was mostly busy outside the home due to his work, not because he actually had another house. If that were the case, he wouldn't have brought Jeline and Nyana to the mansion. In the end, Zaos thought so much about it that he began to consider that he was just overthinking things… Still, he had to find confirmation. Only his father would be able to give the answers that he wanted.

"Even if I get some answers, then what?" Zaos shook his head. "Nothing will change, and if mom discovers that…"

Since he couldn't stop thinking about that situation, Zaos couldn't help but consider several things. First, Jeline apparently was a lowborn woman. Still, since the very beginning, his father didn't feel that effective toward his mother… Maybe Jeline was someone with whom he fell in love with a long time ago, but he was forced to marry someone who had noble blood.

"My head hurts… I need to stop thinking about it," Zaos sighed and then said.