The Stygian's Mansion.
"So they are finally married."
Serena.
"...Yes."
Charon.
"Where's Achlys?...I thought he followed us."
"..."
Serena was in deep thought, but it was very shallow and easy for her to know why her brother wasn't coming home.
"Honey, why don't you go to bed to rest? I'll take you."
Veronica told her husband.
"Um...when he comes back, tell him to see me, Serena."
"Yes, Father."
"..."
"Don't hold your breath."
Serena mumbled to herself after seeing her father and his wife go upstairs.
Achlys, the first son of the family, just arrived at the mansion six hours after the wedding ceremony. Hard to admit the fact that the woman that he had feelings for just married a guy he hated from the bottom of his heart. But it wasn't just one reason why he was coming home late. His body was soaking wet even though the rainy season had passed. Achyls was watching the woman leave and secretly sending her off to her honeymoon by himself. He got frustrated that he couldn't do anything to stop her. He thought that his plan worked. He had told him everything about Kaiza, the man she ran away from a few weeks ago.
But deep down, he knew himself that it wasn't just that. She ran away not because of that secret but because she accidentally knew the scary truth about her mother's death. Her mother was killed by a person, not by her real sickness. A person took her mother's life away from her, from breathing. The tragedy that she had tried so hard to live her life with.
Part of him was slightly relieved that Zephyra was leaving this city to try to live her dream life and leave the crucial past behind. But why she came back was the question he was wondering over and over in his head.
He hated himself because he couldn't do anything. He tried and tried to help her, tried his best to have her, and tried for his life to make her life easier. But it seemed like destiny didn't want him to have her by his own will.
"Where were you?"
Serena came to his office.
"..."
"...Torture yourself?"
She asked him after seeing the mess on his body.
"What do you want?"
He asked her back without looking back at her.
"Father wanted to see you."
"I'll see him tomorrow."
"...I thought she was going to change her mind…it's almost a year already."
Serena came in and sat on the chair.
"..."
Achlys was silently listening, watching the view beside the window.
"I…thought that she would not come back anymore."
He talks to her sister.
"..."
"She knew…everything, and she still came back."
"Achlys, she loves him."
Serena.
"..."
"Even though she knows what kind of person he is, she loves him."
"No…"
Achlys denied to believe.
"I can see it. I can feel it not just from that man.…from her too. They are in love."
"..."
"So forget about her already and focus on what you should have."
"...then what is it?"
"Our family."
Serena answered.
"...I don't think that she came back here just to marry him…it's gotta be something…behind it."
He tried to figure it out.
"...Achlys, Can you stop fighting about this stuff? She's not yours…"
"I didn't say that she's mine."
He turned his face to her.
"You know what I mean…There's nothing you can force them to do. I know you love her."
"..."
"Just let them go."
"Hmpt…It's more complicated than that."
"Hmpt, What is it?"
"She knows…she knows I ensure one fucking thousand percent that she knows about it…but why did she choose to come back? She could live her new life there…why… and why did she still choose that mother fucker? Why!!... love!? How could she love a monster who used her?"
Achlys started to lose his mind again.
"What did she know?"
"..."
Serena couldn't receive an answer from him.
"Achlys, she's been with him, and he treats her very well, over time they are going to develop feelings…"
"Overtime? She's been with him not even a year, and she's been with us for over ten years…"
His eyes widened, and he looked at Serena.
"*Sigh...get over yourself and go see Father. I don't want to find any other excuses for you."
Serena was also upset, got up, and left him alone by himself.
Achlys spent his mind asking about reasons instead of trying to prevent the real tragedy that might happen to him. That is greater and even more sorrowful. There is not just one side of the coin but two sides. The ones he loves might end up tragically.
Veronica pushed the curtain out to let the daylight come inside.
"Morning, honey."
Veronica greeted her husband.
"Mmm."
Charon, who was lying down on the bed, was making the noise.
"How was your feeling? Any headaches?"
She asked while pushing the trolley nearer to the bed.
"A little…"
"I order a chef to prepare you a simple breakfast so it won't hurt your stomach."
"Thank you."
"And here's a drink, honey. It helps."
She offers him a cup of morning tea to her husband daily.
"..."
And she sits on the edge of the bed beside him.
"Our business will go smoothly…since the agreement is continuing."
She started on the topic.
"What are they saying?"
He asked after sipping the tea.
"They said nothing much."
"I have the idea, honey…About the Dirtline…"
"Why do we still talk about it? It's done."
His eyebrows were tied together.
"No, honey, It's still there…"
"What!?"
"I think the Dirtline is a golden opportunity for us to regain power and expand our name outside the Sovereign."
"We just got the deal back from Takakis even though they don't care about this, but–"
"When the Dirtline business is going great, you'll have the power to rule that area. No one will mess with Stygians again, not even Takaki. They don't have power there, honey. And they and other people know about this and reckon us…"
"Mmm…Still, they are risky moves, and I don't have a lot of energy to run them over again. And Achlys doesn't like this kind of thing; he was against me from the start."
"Honey, think about it. If we are rising up not just from the ashes but from the fire ashes by the Takaki and if we can rise above them. We don't even bother to ask for permission from them anymore; they will listen to you instead. The only family who can rule the Dirtline. Whoever is going to bow their heads to us in Sovereign."
"..."
"Do you agree with me, honey?"
"Mmm. How come the Dirtline is still there, and it's not easy, Veronica? Our partners in this business have all resigned."
"Who said we need the old ones? There are a lot of hungry people out there…"
"..."
"Don't you want to bring your reputation back, honey?"
"Mmm."
He seemed to lean to Veronica's ambitious idea.
"But before we can do that, you must tell Achlys to stop meddling with your old partners. His tactic is unnecessary because we no longer need to ingratiate them."
"..."
Veronica left her husband in the room, resting after the long talk and the wonderful breakfast. She headed back to her office and took the phone out of the desk drawer.
"It's Veronica. Let's continue the plan…And I'll meet you after you get those supplies."
She told a person on the phone shortly and hung up.
She puts her phone down.
The Dirtline was still going because of her unlimited greed for money. She found a way to help her earn more coins during the hard part of the Stygians when no one offered a hand to them because of the red family. Veronica used her useful, convincing, and manipulative ability to help others understand her business ideas and vision. It was a great and unagreeable strategy by most people. To reach the achievement, especially for a person with no strong physical strength like her, her determination to have power over anyone is strong enough to make her go on.