'There are seven places where illegal Auctions are taking place.' I said to Sebalion sitting in front of me.
He wore the white uniform of the first squadron with gold medals. It was a formal fit which made his bulky muscles stand out more. Tanned skin and blue hair, a textbook example of a knight in shining armor but only I knew of his secret.
Nobody would have thought that he was such a creepy person.
'I see but how did you get this information?'
'Are you looking down on a Bellhouse? I asked him.
In status, I was stronger than a mere Baron's son Sebalion Warford. I had no reason to tell him any logical answer to the information done by the demon. Using my House's power conducting the investigation would be easy for Sebalion since the orders were coming from above.
'No…my lady I was just curious.' His amber eyes shined with earnestness. Respect was meant to be shown to me due to the ranking of my house.
'Fine…however I would like you to raid these auctions all at once and make sure that it is done in a discreet manner. If you want you can use Bellhouse knights too.' I proposed.
'Thank you, my lady, I would be honored to work alongside the knights of House Bellhouse.' He bowed down.
Till now I was neither his nor Lisbeth's enemy. No one was there to look down on me or show me contempt. That kind of feeling was overwhelming and alien at the same time.
'I will be going then…And make sure to inform me every detail of the investigation .'
'Certainly…'
It was nice to use the power of money and status…it felt dirty but in a good way.
**
'That is all?' Cronus who was beside me the whole time asked. He looked disappointed as if he did not get the drama, he wanted so much.
'Relax…If you want drama, it would come your way in a few days.' I said while walking down the stairs. The carriage was parked a little away from the iron gates. Nobody was allowed to park their carriage near the gates no matter how influential they may be.
'How so? Something will happen to Lisbeth?'
'No…Remember it is a romance novel, shitty flowers and unicorns will be found at every turn. Even if it is something forced or obsessive, it would be termed as romance and would be shamelessly shoved into the mouths of readers.'
I after all had a lot of experience of these kinds of novels first hand.
'…Sebalion is no different. In fact, he was someone with the most bizarre romance in the novel.'
'What?'
'He would fall in love with Elizabeth when searching for her. Without knowing her face, age, or even her gender at first. When he found that the painter died before he could do anything, he leaves his post and becomes a nomad to grant her wishes or something. .'
It was partly the reason why I assigned him this job. If he fell in love with Elizabeth this time around too I would have him and Elizabeth under my control. It was basically a buy one gets one free offer that was too crazy to refuse.
'Hey, Cronus??? Why did you stop?' I looked back at the man who stood on one of the stairs his face scrunched up in the most hilarious manner. Looking as if he has smelled dirty socks.
'Who in the world does that?' Cronus said with disgust evident on his face. '…Are you really thinking of making him your ally?'
I laughed looking at his face.
Any sane man would show the same kind of face...may it be a demon of time too.
'Yeah…It was really a good offer.'
****
At night I ate my food in silence. Roasted turkey with soft bread and butter and apple pie with hot milk felt like a feast made for a special occasion. Things were going as planned and I now only needed to face Dad. Remembering how he called out to me in the morning made me shiver.
Yeah…he definitely knew something. There was no way he would make such an unfocused and serious face if he did not know something.
I stood up to go back when he reminded me again.
'Come in the office after I finish in five minutes.'
I nodded.
**
'Ohh…so you are here?'
'Yeah.'
I went inside the warm office only lit by firewood. My nose tingled with something saccharine that I promptly recalled the smell as the sandalwood shavings that father always put on burning the wood in the fireplace.
When I was a kid, I used to accompany my father late in the night whenever he would stay up late to finish any document…I used to sit on the plush armchair with a fluffy blanket on my knees and read novels in the dimly lit room. The golden light of the fireplace and the small lamp burning in the corner where father used to work. There was only silence between us yet it felt like we were close. I would have loved the ambiance right now if not for my anxiety.
'Aria and the man behind her both of you come inside…'
What??
'As you wish Duke of Bellhouse'
Huh??
'You can see Cronus too?' I said in utter disbelief since it was I who was his contractor.
Both of them took a glass of whiskey and some after-dinner snacks. Father sat on his chair while Cronus stood at the far end of the room that was not lighted with the burning fire.
What? What is this? What is with this sudden development in such an aesthetic fashion? Why are they drinking at such an odd time?
Why am I the one not getting a drink??
I looked at father with puppy eyes. As a young inquisitive child, I was quite interested in such kinds of stuff that reeked of adults.
'Daddy's girl will always remain a girl …' he said
'Hmph….' I snorted. I was twenty-two this year...no wait twenty-one.
'Can we go back to the topic please?' Cronus interrupted our conversation.
'Ah…yes…yes…Tell me now, how can you see Cronus.' I started.
'When you died, I got your letter. And as you wished I started the chaos that forced him to turn back time.'
'I met your father on the last day of the deviant revolution and the war of states. It was the time after Lisbeth's death and I formed a contract with you as well as him.'
'So, the Grimoire?' I asked.
'Empty…right now I am sucking off the life force of both father and daughter.'
I could hear a soft snort from the other side of the room…his hatred for us ran deep.
'So, Aria…what are you going to do this time? It is also fine if you said that you would like to enjoy and don't worry about it because your dad will take care of everything this time.' He smiled.
'No dad…I will try to change the plot of the novel. I am trying to do so now…'
'Aria...what are you going to do this time ?' He asked again.
Ahhh…so that is how it is.
I took a deep breath and said again.
'I am not going to take revenge. Not on the advisor or the king, not even Lisbeth. Simply because it would be a fruitless chase with lots of angst. I do not want to burn with revenge while I could light up the whole world as a phoenix.'
'And how are you going to proceed with that?'
'The plot that I wrote about in my letter details many deaths of powerful people so as to make the protagonist stronger. I will just interrupt the flow of the novel by saving someone in each arc while other things will fall into place like a domino.'
'Butterfly effect is that it?' He closed his eyes deep in thought.
'Why are you trying to save everyone when you are still so far from saving yourself?' he said. his voice almost like a whisper.
'I just don't know …when I woke up that day the only thing that was running in my mind was the safety of you all…then I slowly realized that if I have to save my family then I have to save this whole country. Honestly, it did not sound so bad. Think of it as a repayment of destroying it in my past life.'
Silence ensued for a moment.
'Aria? Are you afraid of death?' he asked.
'Huh?...why would I not be? Everyone is afraid of death?' I stuttered on my words.
'You however have always been a little sensitive towards pain and death. It was truly mortifying that you had to experience both of it in your last days…'
'Just stop it, it is fine now.' I said feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Thinking of those days, the starvation and the smell…my food was threatening to rise from my stomach.
'It is because you are afraid of pain that you do not want to inflict on others?'
'Yes…yes that is right' I spoke anything just so that he could stop.
'…Or is it because you are afraid of it happening again that is why you do not want revenge…'
'Just shut up…PLEASE!!!!' I broke down.
'I don't want it to happen again, ok??? Bullshit to being a phoenix or a bird…Yes, I want revenge!! I want to see that fucking advisor's head fucking rolling on the ground just like mine!!! I want to kill every higher up that made the king sentence me to death…make them suffer the same pain and excruciating trauma!! I want to destroy Lisbeth, not killing her then at least make her invisible and make her realize her place as just a knight in an army!'
I cried and in a small voice …
'But I know that this is impossible and even if I get my revenge I get this feeling that might not be happy, after all, I caused deaths of so many people just for my own selfishness …so I decided to just change the course of my death and make some allies. At least in that way, everyone will be happy…hic..hic!! In my thinking, no one should die because I know what death feels like. Revenge sounds fun but what happens after that?'
'What is happy for others might not be happy for you. I don't want you to regret anything neither I want to make you feel guilty. I as a parent have failed you thrice now but not now. How about this? We can do this while not killing anyone and it would be just as much like the revenge everyone craves for .'
I smiled.
"It does not sound so bad."