Maybe they shouldn't have drop all of that to their younger cousin in one go, Sol thought to himself. Half of the things they talked earlier was honestly new to him, as well, and he can barely keep up with all the things Luna was dropping on their laps. He can totally understand the wide and absent look on Lilith's face.
Of course he'd known of Aurora's existence for a long time, despite not seeing the girl for himself. He'd picked and learned enough subtle signs to tell him when someone's hiding a great secret, even without the use of his blessing. It only needs a little sneaking and eavesdropping for him to extract all the details he needs to know.
Unlike what Lilith believes, he was actually quite fond of his little cousin. And unlike Luna, he didn't despise Lilith for being an exception from the magic that tied them to this house and to this place. He didn't agree with how their family persist in carrying the image the townspeople has of them, but he cared enough to admit to himself that having one of them carry a great sacrifice just for them to be free is too much.
"I wonder how the first blessings came to be."
"Sorry, what did you say?" Luna looked at him, confused at the sudden question. Beside her, Lilith was still looking a little pale, but at least she does not seem to want to keel over on the floor.
"Just that. . ." he shrugged his shoulder. "All this sacrifice and bloody. . . well, for something we all consider as some sort of miracle. I was just wondering if it was actually less of a miracle and more of--" he stopped talking when Lilith's face twisted in pain.
When they heard the door opened, all three of them stood up straight, shock slowly rising from their chest when they saw who it was.
"Your parents will be back in a moment. They had stayed there for a bit to make sure that the matter is taken cared of entirely."
A sound of confirmation would have been the respectful thing to do, but all three pair of eyes were glued to Aurora, who was hiding behind their grandmother with her head down. As soon as she saw Lilith, however, some signs of life returned to her gaze, her face relaxing into what looks like relief.
"The ambassadors will be arriving here soon," Annette continued. "They are scheduled to leave town tomorrow, and we will be accompanying them in their trip."
"Huh?" Sol felt unsteady at the sudden announcement. "Wait, our parents never mentioned anything about it to us yet."
"Why would you need their words for this?" Annette asked of them. "Of course they will be alright with the decision. This will be our first family outing outside of town, wouldn't it?"
"Aurora?" He looked to his side and noticed Lilith going to where Aurora was standing. "Are you alright? Oh heavens, I'm so sorry I lost you earlier! I tried looking for you but you were gone and I was--!"
"I-I'm alright," the other smiled, further relaxing in her posture. "The crowd was. . . frantic, and I somehow got dragged outside the building."
Sol couldn't help but marvel at the similarities of their looks. Objectively, he knows that being twins meant that they were an exact copy of each other, but seeing it for yourself hits quite differently. From his side, he noticed Luna sporting a weird expression as she looked at the two, as well.
When Aurora notice their presence, she seemed to hunch back to her nervous slouch and tried to hide from their stares by moving behind Lilith.
Well, this will be the first time they will meeting this hidden cousin of theirs, and Sol had no idea how to proceed from there.
"Come along," their grandmother called as she started going up the stairs. Aurora shoot them all another look before starting to follow Annette timidly.
"W-wait," Lilith called. "You. . . you can stay here with us now?"
Aurora looked at their grandmother and, seeing no reaction, looked back at Lilith and answered, "I-I'm not really sure. B-but! We're trying to fix some things for me!"
"Fix? What do you mean fix?"
The other nodded. "Sh-she said I can return it. My gift."
"Return?"
"I can give it back. She said I don't need to keep it if I truly didn't want to. She said she'll help me."
"Is that something you can actually do?" Sol asked, skeptic. Is there really a way for a magical gift to be return just as easily?
Lilith started to go pale again even as Aurora gave them a small smile. "If I don't see the tragedies again. . . maybe, maybe I can stay here then. I want to try if I can."
Oh, she looked hopeful, as well. Quite a complete contrast from Luna and Lilith's expression.
The front door opened again, and this time it was the rest of the adults that came in. When they saw Aurora inside, Aula was about to say something when the family matriarch's voice rang in the hall, "Come now."
Aurora followed their grandmother up the stairs, occasionally looking at their direction and sending an wary anxious look to the adults.
"Well," Sol said when they heard the room close. "I guess this means that you don't have to personally do the deed, since it looks like--hey!" He gave a sudden yell when Lilith quickly ran up the stairs to their grandmother's room.
"Lilith!"
Ah, to hell with it, Sol thought as he quickly stepped in front to stop the adults from running after his cousin. A second later, Luna moved to held her mother as they kept spouting some things. He didn't really tried to listen to every single word thrown around. Conditioned replies and reactions tended to mean the same things.
He hoped that those visitors arrive much later. This is turning out to be the biggest family drama this house will ever witness.
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Author's Note: writing towards the highest point of all this drama is freaking hard😅 I hope I still manage to do well with this chapter. What do you guys think?
Leave comments or likes if you find this story interesting. I would like to read your thoughts!