Seeing Aelia remain silent and continue staring at her with an indifferent expression, Leila could only sigh helplessly and say, "Anyway, it's up to you if you want to forgive me or not! I just came here to apologize!"
After saying this, Leila turned around and was about to go away, when she was stopped by Aelia's voice.
"Leila, if you are always so preoccupied with other's success, eventually you are bound to overlook your own good qualities and forget your ambitions!"
Leila turned around to face Aelia. She looked at her cousin who stared back at her with an expressionless face.
However, this time Leila did not despise the straight expression on Aelia's face. Her eyes seemed to turn red as she realized that this was the longest sentence that Aelia had spoken to her in a long while.
This subsequently made her wonder, 'How did things between us go so wrong that I didn't even hear a proper sentence from her in the last six years?'
Aelia saw her cousin looking at her with red-rimmed eyes and pursed lips. She seemed to be trying hard to hold her tears in.
Aelia sighed and went up to her. She flicked Leila on the forehead and said, "I'm glad that you thought things through! Since you decided to apologize sincerely, I've also decided to forgive you!"
After saying this, Aelia gave Leila a warm hug.
Feeling the warm embrace of her cousin, Leila could finally no longer bear to hold back her tears. She hugged her childhood best friend back and sniffled, "Thank you! Thank you for forgiving your stupid cousin!"
Leila actually had not thought that Aelia would really forgive her. This was not because she thought that Aelia was petty enough to hold a lifelong grudge against her, but because she herself knew that Aelia valued trust the most. And she had time and again broken Aelia's trust.
In fact, when Leila came to ask for forgiveness, she had prepared herself to hear from Aelia that they would never be friends again in the future.
However, now that Aelia said she was ready to forgive her, a huge stone seemed to lift from her heart.
Aelia smiled at Leila's face that was full of gratitude.
She calmly said, "Whatever happens, you'll remain my cousin! But I'm glad to get my friend back!"
Soon, they heard Azrael shouting from the driver's seat, "Aelia, are you guys done? It's time to leave or else we'll be late!"
Leila finally let go of Aelia and said, "Me too! I'm glad that I was not too late to find my way back!"
She patted Aelia on the shoulders and said with a solemn expression, "You should go now! And don't worry too much about matters here! You have grandma, my parents and me to take care of Uncle and Aylin, in case anything happens! So just take care of yourself! Alright?"
Aelia nodded at Leila's concern.
After saying "take care!", she opened the car's door and got in.
Leila watched as the car gradually drove away from the mansion.
She was still standing looking at the car's disappearing silhouette, when she saw Aylin come and stand beside her.
Aylin held Leila's hands and said, "Don't worry! She'll be alright! After all, brothers Asher and Az are with her! They'll definitely not let anything happen to her!"
Though Aylin said this to reassure her cousin, she too felt a little anxious. After all, her elder sister was going to a country that was powerful beyond an ordinary human's imagination!
...
Inside the car, Aelia was looking out the window! She was in quite a good mood after having a heart-to-heart conversation with Leila. She felt glad that they could resolve their misunderstanding before Aelia left for Delphia.
Sensing his Angel's happy mood, Asher too was in a great mood.
After some time, Aelia finally realized that they were not going towards the airport.
She felt confused and asked, "Aren't we going by air?"
Asher smirked and replied, "Of course we are!"
Aelia was further confused by Asher's words and looked towards her brother with a questioning gaze.
Unexpectedly, her brother too replied with a mysterious smile, "You'll see after we reach the military outpost at Sinoro!"
Though Aelia felt extremely curious, she decided to wait and see.
Instead, she asked something else, "Where's Mrs Wilson? Didn't you guys plan to bring her along for investigation?"
Azrael replied with one hand on the steering wheel, "She has been already sent there with some of our people!"
Aelia did not ask further since she knew that Asher and her brother would definitely take care of these matters properly.
After two and a half hours on the road, they reached the military town of Sinoro.
Aelia was looking out the window and was surprised to see a thin mist surrounding the town, despite it being midsummer in the country.
Asher and Azrael shared a somewhat concerned look after seeing the mist.
Azrael stopped the car in front of an estate with military personnel guarding the entrance.
As soon as the men in the military uniforms saw the license plate number of the car, they opened the gate and allowed the car to enter.
Aelia was surprised to see the estate so heavily guarded by the armed personnel.
As the three of them got out of the car, Aelia saw a man and a woman approaching them.
The two of them were not dressed in the regular military outfits, but we're dressed in a white official uniform.
They bowed to Asher and looked at Aelia with a curious gaze.
However, they did not ask any questions and quickly led them to a path behind the estate.
As soon as they came to the end of the path, Aelia was surprised to see a huge stone arch that seemed to be the entrance to somewhere. The arch seemed to be carved out of a single sandstone and had various engravings carved on it.
Though the arch seemed to be a gateway, on its other, was nothing but woodlands that surrounded the rest of the town.
Aelia could no longer hold in her curiosity and asked Asher and Azrael, "This is?"