Chapter 04 | Hard
Finley
"Good morning, señorito, señor! What can I get the two of you started?"
When the waiter spoke, I saw that he had opened the small notebook he was holding. I saw Oswald pick up the menu and read it. I imitated him though it was the first time I would do this thing. I used to have someone order for me, taste the food first, and serve me. But Luciana is a different world that I didn't expect to enter.
If our family had not united, I would not have ended up in this place. I know it's not the right time to think about what happened to my family, but I'm restless. Leonor's identity added that I couldn't tell if she was an enemy or an ally. She is in the house right now with Marietta. Only Oswald and I went out because I wanted to ask some questions about her.
"Their french toast here is good, sir. I will check the preparation and taste it first before you eat," Oswald offered me, but I refused.
"No, it's okay. I can manage everything, Oswald. I have to train myself, and I think this is what my parents want." My new assistant nodded and handed me the menu. "I'll go with eggs, bacon, and pancakes. One latte for my drink." I saw the waiter standing between us, and Oswald had written that.
My assistant also said his order. The waiter was about to leave, but I saw Oswald had stopped him.
"Do you happen to see this girl around? Is she familiar to you?" I heard Oswald ask the waiter.
"Hm, no, but if you want to find missing person files, go to Riker's; someone will assist you there. You might find that woman there." That was it, and the waiter left us. Oswald and I looked at each other, and he read my mind immediately.
"Let's eat before going to Rikers, sir." I nodded in agreement with Oswald. Maybe Leonor's true identity is already there in that place. "Leonor looks kind and won't do anything bad,"
"That's what my father said when he welcomed Gaston's family back. Now Estonia has conquered Destonia because he trusted an enemy."
Oswald didn't move but what I told him was true. My parents misled me into trusting someone. Someone who I never thought would fight against us in the end. I was left alone in an unfamiliar place because we trusted someone that killed the whole clan in the future.
I clenched my hand tightly.
Even if I can't take back what is due to me, I will ensure that those who fought against our clan lose their power. I'll make sure that I will be the one who will kill them personally.
I will make sure of that.
We didn't get any information in Riker's either. With so many missing people in the world, Leonor's face was not on the list that Riker's people had shown us. The list includes those people who disappeared to other places, but none of them matched Leonor's appearance. We just thought about going home, and I caught up with Leonor and Farah outside the house.
Farah is the granddaughter of Oswald and Marietta. In the eyes of many, Farah, the stubborn child, is my niece, who started frowning over me even before I got close.
"You're here! I have to tell you something, Fin." Leonor said, asking me to go on the side not far from Farah and Oswald. She gently glides her hand on the wheelchair wheels. She had a little trouble because the other wheel was locked. I had to help her and show them how it'd been done. "I dreamed of a place that had many lights last night. I should tell you, but you're not there when I wake up."
"What did you see at that place?" I'm curious to ask. Leonor shook her head in response to my question. That answer made me heave a deep sigh after. "It's just a plain dream, Leonor. A series of thoughts, maybe? Don't force yourself to remember everything, okay? As I've always said, we will get there."
I forced myself to smile at her before saying goodbye to go inside to rest. Dreams have different interpretations, but in Leonor's case, she may still be in a state where the sedative injected into her is still having an effect. That sedative might have made her mind act subconsciously without warning. It's only been a few days since she got out, and the doctor said, I have to have a lot of patience.
I'm not a patient person, but it looks like my patience will be tested when it comes to Leonor. She has no memory of what happened to her. She always said that was the last thing she remembered before the accident, coming out of school. Even the accident she could not remember was strange; she was in the hospital when she woke up.
Having a girl with no memory of her present life tests my patience. Her memory of the past seems to disappear because she knows that she has parents, but their names have not yet been mentioned.
"You have to rest, Leonor. You have a therapy session tomorrow, and Mar-mama will accompany you," I almost called Oswald's wife by her first name again. I need to train myself to avoid small mistakes.
"Can you go there with me?" Leonor asked me. "Your presence will ease the nervous feeling inside my chest."
I looked at him before taking a deep breath.
"You can do it on your own, Leonor. I don't know yet who you are, so can we please maintain a line between us?"
He looked at me and sighed. "Okay. I'm sorry..."
Is she sad? But why?
I felt my left temple suddenly tingle in pain. Maybe because of the stress I've been experiencing for the past few months. Every day that passed added to my worries. I have here land and a people to lead on. My mother only transferred Oswald's land to his name so our enemies would not notice it.
If only I had known everything, I wouldn't have been able to prepare. Indeed, the saying always comes last.
I gently touched my left temple while reading the papers in front of me. Those are ledger books of the taxes of those who live on our land that must be submitted to the municipality at the end of every month—something I need to do other than study again. Using people's taxes, the four - I mean five. I almost forgot about Leonor, who became an instant member of my stage family.
"Sir, I made you some lavender tea to help you sleep better. You can continue those tomorrow," Marietta encouraged me. She placed a cup of tea in front of me and was away from the papers drowning me.
"I'm almost done here. After this, we will go to those who haven't paid one by one, right?" I asked, even though that was what I had recently heard from Oswald.
Marietta just nodded then her dark eyes smiled at me. "I'm going to go out and rest. Farah is in Leonor's room. That child has trouble sleeping. She needs a companion in bed to put herself at ease."
I nodded and was about to try the tea she made, but the lady stopped walking.
"I know what happened to you hurts, son, but everything hurts Leonor even more. She's alone in an unfamiliar place, with us, and has no memory of what happened to her. You have me, Oswald, and Farah, while Leonor has no one. Help her instead of being hard on her, Finley. You're a good boy, Hijo, and I hope you'll give her a little more time."
Marietta left me after saying the words that left me. I didn't feel angry because she had a point. I still have them whom I can trust, while Leonor has no one on her side. Add to that that she has retrograde amnesia that I should always remember.
I slowly stood up and opened the curtain covering the window. The round and shining moon appeared to me. The stars also twinkle in the sky.
It was the same moon and stars that witnessed the ill-fated scene that happened to my family. While hiding in a wagon with haystacks, driven by a horse, I saw how the bad guys executed my father. I want to scream, but they should discover me. My mother told me that I should live and take revenge for the cruelty they'd experienced in the arms of a friend.
I clenched my hands again while staring at the moon.
"They will all pay..."