King Briceaus looked at Ceaser in shock and then he quickly schooled his expression to pretend the revelation didn't shock him. He made his wife and daughters keep quiet then he said,
"She bares a striking resemblance to the young princess, doesn't she?"
"Who?" Ceaser asked as if he didn't know.
"The servant who was serving tea." Nervanna answered only to have her husband glare at her and she looked down but kept her ears sharp as she waited for his answer.
Ceaser hummed as if he was thinking then he sucked in his breath.
"I don't really look at servants sire." he answered.
"I thought so." Briceaus said chuckling.
"I actually heard that Zeth had been made ruins of. No one knows yet who took the land and the people guarding the area have no emblems to show which kingdom they are for." Briceaus started hoping Ceaser would shed light on the matter.
"I actually haven't become aquinted with politics sire so I have no words to spare on that matter."
"Well you should involve yourself. You can never know who is next. I mean, an army strong enough to lay waste of a kingdom such as Zeth in a day; it is frightening."
"Indeed." Ceaser hummed sipping his tea,"You should tighten your security or maybe even have a tunnel for escape if such a tragedy was to come upon you."
Briceaus turned pale having a feeling that Ceaser's words were meant as a warning instead of a heads-up from an ally. The smile on his face didn't help and he ended up being silent for longer than he had hoped.
"Are you alright?" Ceaser asked frowning and feigning worry.
"Y...Yes. Yes of course. I was just lost in thought for a moment. It's a good idea."
"I'll propose it to father when I see him." Ceaser said picking up a biscuit from the plate.
The biscuits had blood red jam between then and Ceaser ate it messily on purpose to scare the already frightened family. Lucan was more than happy because now the conversation that was meant to take place wasn't.
"A passerby had mentioned he'd seen a huge bird attack Zeth." Briceaus said trying to milk the truth out of Ceaser and the latter chuckled with enthusiasm.
"A bird?" Ceaser asked and then his face and voice became serious again,"How absurd."
Briceaus trued to laugh but he failed to do so and the room fell silent. Nervanna, out of discomfort, re-initiated the conversation and this time she made sure it went back to what it was meant to be; an alliance. Lucan sighed hearing the woman talk about the discussion he dreaded now more than anything.
"I'd actually like to marry only once the prince does." Lucan said when Nervanna started speaking about the perfect date for the marriage.
"Why so?" Briceaus asked frowning.
"It is an oath I made when I started to serve him."
"Well if you aren't ready then one of your brothers can..."
"No!" Penelope exclaimed and she even stood to glare down at her father and when she realized what she'd done she quickly explained,"I...I truly love Sir Reginald."
Penelope seeing the displeasure on her parents' faces quickly sat back down and apologized. Ceaser studied her expression and he could see that she was truly sad as if she really did love Lucan.
"You won't have to wait too long. I will get married soon enough, just after my coronation in two months time." Ceaser said smiling at her and he saw how her eyes brightened up.
Nervanna smiled gleefully then looked at Virginia.
"Who do you think is good?" Nervanna whispered into Virginia's ear but everyone heard and Ceaser couldn't help but smile.
"So sad lady Virginia won't be a part of the family." Ceaser said still smiling,"We sent out proposals for the others already. I wasn't aware she wasn't engaged either."
Benjamin laughed and then pretended he was coughing and he excused himself. Nervanna nodded sadly and expressed her grievances and after an hour of endless chatter, the maids returned once more to clear the table and to serve lunch. The family unconsciously looked for Eve amongst the servants and when they saw her they kept staring and trying to convince themselves it wasn't her but the more they stared the higher their surety became.
"So, what did the passerby say the bird was?" Ceaser asked and Eve dropped the plate she was holding.
They all looked at her where she quickly started to pick up the glass shards. Ceaser smiled and then looked at Briceaus who was still looking at Eve.
"Is she the one you said resembles the princess?" Ceaser asked teasingly and Eve glared at him from the corner of her eyes.
"Yes." Virginia answered and he chuckled.
"I once danced with her and I know for a fact that she has white long hair."
Eve locked eyes with him and then she quickly left with the broken pieces of glass in her hands.
"Anyhow, the man said he thought it was Crow, the being your grandfather partially defeated or imprisoned."
"This passerby is an old man I presume?" Ceaser asked.
"Yes. He says he was a boy who was orphaned by the creature's actions."
"He must still hold a grudge and now his old age is causing him to imagine things."
Briceaus frowned but he said nothing in turn.
They ate in silence and when they finished their meal they finally went somewhere else. They two princesses excused themselves and retreated to their designated rooms to rest. As they walked even Nervanna left while Briceaus stayed with Ceaser and the lycans.
"I haven't seen King Julius and Queen Terra anywhere, aren't they here?"
"No. They will be arriving tomorrow morning. They went somewhere for some discussion of sorts with some people I don't know." Ceaser answered in disinterest.
"I see. Do you know what the discussion is about by any chance?"
"Mhhm no. Maybe they are talking about the mysterious turn of events in Zeth."
"I actually thought you liked the princess, how come you don't know what happened to her?"
Ceaser looked a little blank thinking back on all the times he'd thought and dreamt of Eve when he was still on mount Genesis. Then he thought about what she did to the three lycans all because she felt betrayed by his rejection. He felt infuriated and he didn't try and hide it from the king.
"My apologies if I said something wrong."
"No need. I guess karma caught up to her."
Hearing the word karma made Briceaus wonder if Eve had done something to Ceaser and he had attacked because of it and then taken her in as a slave. So did it mean he was the master of Crow? Briceaus shook his head and reassured himself that he was now like family to Ceaser so the boy had no reason to harm him.
Ceaser was alerted by the sounds of people running around and when he turned around the saw a black cloud of smoke coming from the kitchen. The lycans run to check what had happened and when nothing changed even after a few minutes Crow went there as well. For some reason he didn't understand he felt uneasy and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop it. Completely ignoring Briceaus Ceaser went there as well and the man seeing no other option followed.
"What happened?" he asked.
"The head maid asked the new servants to start a fire but they started it inside." Lucan explained and Ceaser understood that he was speaking about Eve and Elizabeth.
"And where are they?"
"Inside."
Eve could easily put out a fire so what was wrong? Ceaser tried to listen for any screams but there were none only faint and laboured breaths. The people trying to put out the fire were slow and he was certain by the time they managed to put it out the two girls would be dead.
Without hesitation Ceaser walked past the flames unscathed and this shocked the servants present and King Briceaus. He could barely see inside as it was filled with smoke and he felt suffocated. He looked around on the floor and spotted Elizabeth lying unconscious on the floor. He picked her up and when he turned around he found Crow standing by the door so he handed Elizabeth to him and then he started to look for Eve.
She was lying down close to the door and when he looked at her carefully he noticed that her side had been pierced. He picked her up quickly and exited the the room quickly as she was losing a lot of blood and needed air.
Ceaser didn't put Eve down outside and even Crow was still carrying Elizabeth. They proceeded to take them to their own rooms and when Briceaus tried to follow he was stopped by Lucan who looked at him like he was an insect.
"Eve..." Elizabeth whispered as she regained consciousness.
"You nearly died and yet you are calling out someone else's name." Crow said seriously as he looked at Elizabeth who lay on his bed.
"The witch...stabbed her..."
"Witch?" Crow asked becoming attentive,"What witch?"
"I don't know her."
Crow told Elizabeth he'd be back then he rushed to inform Ceaser about what had happened. He came back shortly and found Elizabeth was a bit more sane now. Seeing as Eve was still unconscious, Ceaser left her and went out. In the corridor he run into Briceaus and the man tried to find out what was happening.
"I can't speak right now." Ceaser said trying to remain calm.
"What do you mean? This may have been an assassination attempt on me and my family and yet you have nothing to say?!"
"If you don't leave I will torch you to death myself." Ceaser hiss punching his fist into the wall forming cracks all the way up to the ceiling and to the floor.
Briceaus remained quiet and watched Ceaser leave in horror. He stared at the crack and inevitably thought of what would have become of him if he was in the place of the wall. He did not even want to think about it so he left.