In the room, Jennifer wiped her tears after reading the letter she got from Hassan in the morning. Few minutes later, Jennifer heard knocking on the door. "Come in", she permitted. Amanda walked in the room; she saw Jennifer lying on the bed holding a paper in her hand, her eyes seemed slightly swollen. Amanda frowned and asked in concern, "Ma'am, are you okay?"
Jennifer faced Amanda and smiled pleasantly, "I am fine (sigh!)—just reminiscing about my childhood. I don't know if it is appropriate to say at this, my mentor remembered me all the time while he was alive—", she closed her eyes, "—and here I thought that he had forgotten about me!" she got up slowly and sat on the couch besides the window.
"You know, I am actually feeling quite happy after knowing that even though I wasn't related to him by blood. He mentioned that he prayed for my well-being because he thought of me as his own daughter. He also stated that he prayed that this letter reaches me before I close my eyes for forever—" Jennifer swayed the letter in her hand, "—and look! here it is. He really was one of those virtuous men of God whose prayers could never be denied."
Amanda didn't know how to respond thus she remained silent.
Jennifer got up and looked through the window, "Is Leonardo with him?"
"Yes. He is accompanying our guest."
"Hmm" Jennifer turned and faced Amanda and asked, "Amanda what are thoughts regarding our guest?"
Amanda became attentive the moment she heard Jennifer. She assessed her thoughts for a moment and replied, "I never saw someone like him. He is a rare genius in my eyes—possesses mind-blowing intellectual, great work experience. A self-effacing man with a good character and really humble ….and most of all, really respectful towards women. I think Leonardo—would become like him in the future, if he remains by his side for a while."
Jennifer smirked, "Ho! Ho! I didn't think our Miss Amanda—would take a liking to someone who is already married!"
With that said Amanda blushed and averted her gaze, "I-I just admire him! D-don't make such assumptions on your own. I never said I like him. Anyway, he considers me sister so, there is no point in discussing this topic any further."
Jennifer chuckled softly upon hearing the latter's response. She knew that Amanda was struggling with her words to hide her feelings. After all, she was also a woman and the person who could understand a woman best is another woman.
Jennifer decided to tease Amanda a bit more so she asked, "I think you are just trying to hide your true feelings with that so called 'sister' cover." Amanda eyes opened wide; her body became stiff at the moment. Jennifer sneered and said, "You know I gave it a thought for a long time, but I think now is the most suitable time."
"What do you mean? I didn't catch what are you referring to?"
"What I meant is, you should get married too, Amanda!"
Amanda felt a jolt throughout her body after hearing the word 'marriage'. A responsibility, a diligent working woman like her never wanted to bear.
"W-w-what!? S-stop joking Ma'am! You know I hate jokes like that!", Amanda stuttered in embarrassment.
Jennifer chuckled and enjoyed the latter's reaction. "Ho~ Ho! You still act like a teenager. Look at your face! It's all red just after listening to the word marriage."
"I-I will take my leave first if you don't have anything else!", Amanda turned and wanted to leave the room as soon as possible but Jennifer didn't want to end the fun so soon.
"Wait! Where do you think you're going? I am not finished with you!", said Jennifer from behind. Amanda halted and didn't face Jennifer. She wanted to get out of this situation somehow so she half-way turned and looked Jennifer bashfully, "Ma'am, you are teasing me intentionally!"
Jennifer was perplexed by sudden reaction of Amanda. She sighed, "Amanda! I want you to be happy!"
"But I am happy by serving you, Ma'am!"
Jennifer knew that Amanda gives up so easily whenever she talks about the marriage. She gave up on the idea of teasing her and inquired, "Jokes aside Amanda! But in reality, you are not happy. You are just exhausted because you've been working your butt off restlessly since I retired. Are you willing to live your life like this until the day you die?"
Jennifer tried her best to make Amanda understand that true happiness would never be found in working but rather in spending time with someone you love.
There were people who dedicate their lives for something other than relationships and they stood out than the rest of the people of the world. And the path Amanda chose to live was similar to it.
"I am sorry Ma'am. But yes, I am willing to live rest of my life like this because the path I chose is to serve Guryon family. Even though, Lady Jasmine was next in line to handle all the matters but she passed tragically. Whereas, Master Leonardo is still young and …with all due respect you are not strong enough to carry this burden anymore. So, someone has to bear the responsibilities to maintain the order or everything will be finished once I start dating or entangle myself in a relationship. I hope you understand my situation and won't bring this topic in future again—now—I would like to take my leave because it's lunch time." Amanda turned around and left Jennifer in the room.
When Amanda left Jennifer shook her head in helplessness. She mumbled to herself, "She is right though! There is no one to handle all the family matters except for her. If she hadn't been around, I wonder who would I had trusted the family with!"
Jennifer folded the paper and mused, "But, she's wrong about one thing, I am strong enough to handle family matters for a few more years."
She got rid of the lingering thoughts and went down stairs for the lunch.
...….
It was already noon, Leonardo was lying on the couch besides Amanda, who was stroking the boy's hairs gently in the main hall. Whereas, Hassan had a cell phone in his hand; he was sauntering beside main entrance of the hall. In the meantime, Jennifer approached the duo on the couch she noticed Leonardo was holding on to a metallic cube.
"So, how was it? And what is that in your hand?" asked Jennifer. Leonardo opened his eyes and sat right away when he heard his grand-mother.
"It was awesome! He's so cool grandma! He gave me this sparrow!", Leonardo raised the metallic cube with excitement. Jennifer observed his gleaming eyes and observed the cube in the boy's hand. On the other hand, Amanda did the same. Jennifer slightly raised her brows, "Hmm—interesting! But it's just a cube, dear!"
Leonardo got up and asked with a serious look, "Grandma, you don't believe me?"
Jennifer looked at Amanda, "This—"
"I don't believe you either." Amanda cut in. Leonardo said in disbelieve, "You don't believe me either aunt Amanda!"
Jennifer chuckled, "Then why don't you show us sweety!"
With that said, Leonardo pouted and pressed the button on the cube. Just like before, the cube vibrated and transformed into a sparrow and sat on Leonardo's hand. Jennifer and Amanda were staring at the sparrow dumbfoundedly. Never in their lives, they imagined that they would witness something unordinary. But that was just the beginning, when Leonardo ordered it to fly Jennifer gaped in amazement. Whereas, Amanda was no different; her eyes were wide opened with white showing and they were fixated on the flying sparrow.
Leonardo ordered the sparrow to return; the sparrow returned to his hand and transformed back to its initial state. Leonardo looked at the duo; he realized, both Amanda and Jennifer were gazing at the cube dumbfoundedly.
"Grandma! Aunt Amanda!", he broke the awkward silence of the two ladies. Jennifer recovered from the shock and replied, "…y-yes sweety!"
"Were you that shocked after watching it for the first time?", Leonardo grinned. Jennifer gave an awkward smile, "Y-yes indeed I-I was…and I am right now." She glanced at Amanda besides Leonardo, who was still gazing at the cube with a stupefied look.
"But I think you need to pinch your aunt, she's still in shock!", Jennifer muttered. "W-who…made…this?", before Leonardo could say something to Amanda; she asked without even blinking her eyes. The disbelieve in her eyes, she couldn't hide it anymore.
"Oh, this!", Leonardo lifted the cube a little higher in the air said, "it was made by Professor. He said that it was his final year project when he was studying mechatronics in college."
Amanda and Jennifer were dumbstruck when they heard the reply. It was hard for them to believe such thing. Amanda rubbed Leonardo's head, "…G-go wash your hands! It's time for lunch!"
"Already!", Leonardo looked at the wall clock, "Okay!" he got up and ran towards the washroom.
Amanda faced Jennifer, "Ma'am do you know what this means?" Jennifer nodded, "Yes! He's an inventor. East empire is nourishing such a monster like him. We are lucky that we find someone like him to nurture our Leonardo!"
"Imagine! if he uses his talent in the military and our empire wage a war against them. We wouldn't stand a chance against them, even if we take another fifty years!"
"heh! And here, our delusional leaders are dreaming to rule the East Empire." Jennifer scoffed.
Amanda leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. Fear, pressure, jealousy and inferiority; these were the things she thought of after watching the unique invention of such a genius. She caught a glimpse of Hassan with complicated emotions, he was still sauntering and talking on the phone with a smile on his face.
"East Empire really deserves the reputation they have. They love peace but at the same time they are prepared for the war anytime!", Amanda muttered.