Throwing all the thoughts to the back of his head, Tim calmed his mind. Took a deep breath to ease his body and finally got ready to set free the spell his brain was screaming at him to do. He did not know the outcome. But how bad can it be?
Tim pointed his right hand towards a distant tree where no living being was present. Then he focused on one single word which he remembered. He was just following his instincts without any idea of the consequences.
"Archlight!"
As soon as the word escaped his lips, the cold breeze stopped as the surroundings grew dark. For several seconds there was nothing, then a pelting of rain began to fall. A terrific wind roared, accompanied by black cloud that flickered with lightning.
Amidst the pouring sheets of rain, the sky began to rumble, and purple light shot through the clouds. With each new flash, the lightning increased in power. It was almost as if the light itself was taking on a palpable weight, growing with a swell, ready to come right down.
Rumble!
Rumble!
Tin! Tin! Tin! Tin! Tin! Tin!
A loud metallic bell rang out and Tim's attention shifted. Upon tilting his head, he saw the castle behind him fully covered with a bluish layer of see-through energy shield. It was protecting the castle and its inhabitants. But from what? Was not it just a little rain? Why was the bell even ringing?
The wind reached its peak as the rain showered heavily. Tim took a couple of steps back raising his hands above his face, unable to withstand the barrage of drops of water which now felt like needles. He could feel something was not right.
Time seemed to slow down as Tim's eyes captured the slowly dwindling droplets, the leaves blowing away by the thriving wind and finally the arc of pure lightning falling upon the tree.
And soon the hell was unleashed with time again back on his feet.
Boom!
The lightning struck the tree he pointed. Tim's eardrums rang and his vision went painfully white. But that was not all as the shockwave from the impact threw him up in the air.
Tim could not even shout or understand what just happened before he hit the ground face first. Rolling down several times his body came to a halt but all this was more than enough to rob him out of his consciousness.
***
Tim slowly opened his eyes, seeing the very familiar canopy above him. He rose from the bed he lay in before looking at Adel who was sitting on the couch with a bored expression on her face.
"How long was I out?" Tim asked, remembering everything bit of thing he had done.
"Two hours!" answered the girl lazily getting up from the couch and standing before Leon. "You know brother, you have literally pissed mother so much that she is not even talking to me. Why do you always act like a moron? Why the hell do you have to destroy the entire garden?"
"Entire garden!" Tim appeared confused as he hurriedly ran towards the door leading him to the balcony.
And soon a horrendous sight came into view and Tim's mouth was hung wide open.
Before him was the vast garden or what's left of it. It was only a land with larger craters on it. Most trees were uprooted, the beautiful flowers were nowhere to be seen.
Pieces of wood and branches were bickered everywhere mixed with fire burning here and there. The sky was not calm yet as the flocks of dark clouds still lingered, pouring a light rain.
Many servants and knights were present to inspect the damage and, in the middle, stood the duke with a deadpan look in his eyes.
Tim blinked a couple of times to confirm what he just saw. Just what the hell he had done? How was it even possible? Wasn't he targeting only a tree?
A million questions emerged in his head as his body took two steps backward involuntarily. For some reason his entirety was shaking. Was it the anticipation of the consequences he was going to face? Or was it the dread he felt by looking at the duke?
"You really fucked up brother and the best thing is I am in the cross fires. We are both going down in this." Adel spoke in an irritated tone, folding her arms.
"What did you do?" Tim could not understand what she did to get in the cross fires. He had ruined the garden by accident ignoring the warning the duchess gave. He should face the penalties of his actions, not anybody else.
"You will see!" Adel began to leave the room but stopped holding the door handle. "It is not gonna end well, brother. Hope you are ready."
She left, gesturing to Leon to follow her, and getting ready to experience the worst he gulped a mouth full of saliva and followed her.
***
"You woke up huh." Asked the duchess leaning on the sofa with a gentle smile on her face.
"Ye—s." Tim mumbled frantically nodding as he sat on the sofa opposite to her beside Adel.
For both the siblings their mother's smile looked nothing but pretty. Anyone from outside would say she was just smiling observing her kids but that would be far from the truth. It was calm before the storm which was slowly approaching. And once it hit nothing would be left to salvage.
"You had a good sleep?" The lady of the house added with the same kind expression, intertwining her fingers as she sat cross legged.
"Yes."
"Mother, brother is sorry…"
"I am not talking to you Adel." The duchess cut Adel's words in mid-sentence. "Do not interfere unless you are asked."
"Yes mother." Adel nodded, saying nothing, facing the floor. She perfectly knew what was coming next as it was not the first time they were having this conversation.
"So, Leon, my son… tell me…" She picked the cup from the table, took a sip of tea. "How many times have we had this type of conversation?"
"I…"
"You know where you both sit like this after doing something nonsensical which could have killed all of us."
Leon stayed silent, muttering nothing. He just kept staring at his mother who continued speaking in a very smooth yet alarming tone.
"Tell me Leon, or you forgot counting."
"…"
"Adel, my sweet princess, you remember?"
"Ye—s. It is the tenth time."
"That's my girl." The duchess smiled in a graceful manner, putting the cup down. "So, what should we do now?"
"Mother, I am sorry. It was just an accident on my part. I did not know what I was doing. Please…"
"No, no, no… what are you talking my beloved son. Why are you sorry?" She replied in a worried voice but filled with traces of anger. "You did nothing except blow up the castle, which is literally nothing. Did anyone get hurt, no right? You don't need to worry. You just destroyed the entire garden, which I presume you do not like."
"Mother I…"
"You just used a grand mage level spell on harmless trees. You broke every rule I made for you because you like breaking things. You put this entire fortress into danger because does it even matter if anyone dies?"
The windows of the drawing room slowly creaked open, as the chilly breeze burst inside. And within minutes the temperature of the room dropped but the winds were not the only cause. The floor and air around the duchess slowly turned icy as the fire burning in the little stove disappeared.
"I did not mean to do…"
"No, it does not matter, because there are no consequences for the duke's son, right? Let everyone die as long as you're happy. As long as you think you are accomplishing something."
"No!" Leon raised his voice but it did not stop the duchess from cutting his words again.
"Yes! It does not matter."
She spoke in such a distinctive tone that Tim's entire body shuddered as a chill ran down his spine. He had not experienced anything like this in his entire forty years of life. It was something different all together. A lot scarier, even for the devil.
"But there is nothing we can do now. You cannot reverse the time neither do I. Like you say it is what it is, right?"
"Right." Tim mumbled facing the floor, just like Adel. No matter what he would say, the damage had been done. He had broken rules and must accept punishment. There was no running away from this.
Sigh!
The duchess let out a deep breath, leaning on the sofa, facing the chandelier above. "Why Leon… Why you always do this? Why can't you listen to what I say? Why you act like a child?"
Her voice was soft yet pained. She genuinely was worried as a mother whose kids were running beyond her control. They could seriously hurt themselves and she was just trying to prevent that.
Tim understood the emotions behind her words as he spoke, raising his head. "I know mother, I act like a child. I don't listen to your words but what done is done. I cannot change the past but I can change the future. And I promise nothing like this will ever happen again."
Leon said in a firm tone and both his mother and Adel looked at him with surprised expressions on their faces.
"You are accepting this as your mistake?"
"Yes!"
"You agree that you did all this?"
"Yes!"
"Everything is on you then."
"Yes!"
The duchess asked and Leon said yes to everything which he would never do. He would always bring illogical arguments to get away from everything but this time he just straight up acknowledged. The sun had to rise from the west for it to ever happen.
"You are not ill right?" Adel questioned overlooking her mother's expression as she too had the same queries.
"No. Why would I be? I am perfectly fine." Let out a faint smile.
"Well… it is not like you. The Leon we know would never admit his mistakes. He will just…"
"Can't he change?"
"Of-course he can, but not overnight. Something…"
"Then he changed."
"Just like that." She retorted with a skeptical look on her face.
"Yes!"
"…" Adel tried to say something but no words came out. So, she looked at the duchess for further directions.
"Well, if you really changed then good job. But that doesn't lessen your punishment."
"You can punish me however you want."
"Ok, then. Your punishment is you won't get any money to spend for the next two months and if you break your promise, you will get nothing for the whole year. Understand?"
Hearing the words Adel's gaze frantically flickered between Leon and her mother expecting something big to explode. But nothing happened. Leon just said in agreement without any hint of discontent in his voice and the duchess nodded. Just what was going on here?
Adel could not wrap her head over Leon's decision. He needed money to spend on his lavish life but was just cut off from it. Still, he acted like nothing happened. Why was he so calm?
But before she could figure anything out, the duchess spoke again, shifting her attention to her.
"And Adel, you will not get anything for a month."
"Why?" The girl replied in a confused tone.
"You are a partner in your brother's crime. If he is getting punished, you will too."
"But I did not do anything."
"I know."
"Then why?"
"All the damage you both have caused will be refurbished from your stipends. And don't you dare object." The duchess added ignoring Adel's plea. She was not going to detail every incident these two had caused. It was for them to reflect upon.
"Yes mother." Tim nodded again accepting the outcome which was much better than he anticipated but for Adel it was unacceptable.
"He is the one who did all this. Cut all his money, why mine? I did not do anything."
"You want to help the workers fix the mess?"
"No!"
"Then shut your mouth and do whatever I say. You already know what your mother can do."
The duchess's impassive gaze and emotionless tone were enough for Adel to understand the gravity of the situation and her position in it. So, she accepted the inevitable, not refuting any more words.
"Yes mother."
"Good! Now don't repeat the same mistakes or next time I won't be this generous. Am I clear?"
"Yes!"