"The ancestors? Did they come to you?" An incomprehensible expression appeared on Adrian's face. His eyes were tinted with vigilance.
"Hmm. They came with Omar." Arella weakly spoke.
"Omar? The cat beast?" Adrian asked with uncertainty. He remembered Arella telling him about this child. Was he not the one who could see ghosts?
"Yes. The ancestors came to visit me through him." Arella was minutely observing Adrian by now. If he revealed any unwillingness to speak, she would stop then and there only.
She had an inkling that the ancestors were not good to Adrian. So, if showed any sad expression, she would stop. She had no intention of touching his wounds.
"And what did they say?" Adrian spoke with clenched teeth as if trying to resist something.
"They wanted to bless me," Arella responded calmly.
"Huh! A bunch of hypocrites!" Adrian was not sad, instead, he looked as if he was amused.
"Huh?" Arella could not comprehend his statement, so she asked confusedly.
Adrian buried his head in the nook of her neck for a moment and then, started speaking.
"They are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. When I was young, they kept visiting my father. They wanted my father to ascend. Upgrade his aptitude because they saw potential in him." Adrian pulled his head out of her neck and looked at her as he recounted the details.
"But my father was not interested. They kept forcing him. But once hitting a dead end, they turned towards me. They said that I was a good seedling. I should be reared and trained since the beginning." A mocking smile appeared on his face.
"They said that they were powerful and could do anything. But when…when my mother became sick…" Sadness leaked from his tone.
"When she became sick, they refused to heal her. They claimed that she was holding both of us back. And it would be better if she died early." Cracks of hurt appeared on his face.
Arella pulled him in for a comforting hug. One of her hands gently patted his back, while the other was on the back of his head.
"Once my parents died, I never saw them again," Adrian spoke weakly.
Arella wanted to say a few words of comfort to him, but at this time, words failed her. No amount of words could heal the wounds of his past. So, instead of saying anything, she tried to cover him in her warmth.
She continued soothingly patting him and let him take his time to compose his emotions.
Once he had reigned his emotions, he pulled out of her embrace.
"They did not hurt you, did they?" Adrian looked at her and asked.
"No. They only wanted to bless me." Arella responded calmly.
"Okay." Adrian stopped at that. He did not ask any further. To him, as long as she was not hurt, everything was fine.
"I rejected them," Arella spoke determinedly.
"Why?" A frown crept up his face. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, their blessing was indeed a good thing. It could help her with her aptitude. And it might help her break the seal on her powers.
He had a bitter experience with them, which is why he rejected them, but Arella was free from any constraints, she did not have to reject them.
"I did not trust them," Arella responded with determination.
A veil of silence enveloped them.
"But I think they still blessed me. My senses have become sharper." Arella belatedly added.
Adrian looked at Arella, his eyes involuntarily shifted towards her neck. The gold chain sparkled brilliantly on her neck. And the red ruby was hidden in the valley of her softness.
"What did they say?" He inquired after some time.
"Same thing. They said I had the will and potential." Arella briefly told.
"No Arella. Me and my father, we never had the will." Adrian willingly revealed.
"It is good that you have it. It will help you in overcoming your bottlenecks." He murmured under his breath. Maybe it was a good thing. It could help her break the seal.
Adrian was still looking for the reason behind the seal. He wanted to find enough information on the nature of the seal and how to break it before sharing it with her. That is why, till now, he has not said a word about either the seal or the ruby.
Arella thought that he was referring to her low aptitude. He might be of the mind that their blessing could help her upgrade her aptitude. She left it at that.
She could feel the heaviness in the air. Due to their serious talks, the environment had become a little gloomy. She already had received a few answers, for others, she would take things slow.
So, in order to divert and lighten things up, she suggested having dinner. After dinner, they could have a walk. A distraction would be better at dispelling the heaviness.
Adrian readily accepted. It was getting late. Arella must be hungry, so without delay, they walked downstairs to eat their fill.
"Who was the one who called us earlier?" As the helpers served the meal, Adrian nonchalantly asked.
Arella's ears perked up at the sudden question.
"Sir, I did." A sweet voice answered.
Arella discreetly looked at the owner of the voice. A slender girl. She was younger than the other staff. And Arella had to admit, she was pretty. Her skin was healthy, and her face had a tinge of youth. She was strikingly beautiful. And certainly had ulterior intention towards her beloved!
The beauty saw Arella looking at her. Instead of being caught red handed, she confidently showed off her smirk. Her confidence had a reason. She believed that she was way better than his current partner.
At first, she had only heard that she was a low aptitude tamer.
But when she noticed that this Madam was no stunner, she was overcome with the world of possibilities. She had better aptitude and better looks. She had charm and was seductive. Much more attractive than the innocently pretty Madam.
Arella was mentally calculating how to keep this person away from Adrian when she heard his voice.
"From tomorrow, go tend to the gardens. We have enough cooks but are short on gardeners." Adrian focused on eating as he instructed.
An unhealthy pallor appeared on the face of beauty. Her eyes widened at the sudden notice. What was worse was that Adrian did not even look at her! Her pride was wounded! She wanted to speak but could not afford to offend him.
So, she wallowed in her misery quietly. The senior staff gave her a mocking glance. They were enjoying watching her make a fool out of herself.
There was a reason why even though, they disliked their new Madam, they bowed and did whatever was asked without complaints.
The reason was Adrian. Everybody knew how ruthless he could be. So, they did not dare to become too careless. A little neglect would do, but a blatant challenge will not.
Meanwhile, Arella tried hard to hide her blossoming smile. What need was there to think of defensive measures when she had such an awesome husband?
His one sentence and the entire problem got uprooted from its core! His strike was as sharp as a knife, killing the target without shedding any blood!
Her husband was truly a gem!