" We don't know exactly why she did it, it was a big shock."
A fat old man spoke to Albert in a consoling tone.
This was Marco's father, Mr. Brown. Sitting next to him was his wife, who spoke of her shock and anguish at losing Elva, and that she regarded her as her daughter.
" She was living a good life with Marco, I was devastated when I found her fallen on the ground with a poison bottle in her hand."
She put her hand to her mouth while shedding tears, "Even Marco hasn't come back since we buried her, we thought he went to tell you but now we don't even know where he is."
Her husband patted her on the shoulder to calm her down and asked the maid to take her to rest.
Albert, still in shock, was escorted to his sister's grave.
He stood in front of him, tears running down without stopping, crouched on his knees, embracing the plaque on which her name was written.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be by your side, it was my fault if only I was …"
He stayed for hours in front of the grave crying, until Mr. Brown came back to him and persuaded him to come home with him.
He didn't want to eat or drink anything, he just wanted to stay in the room where she lived. Mr. Brown responded to his request and gave him the key to the room.
Elva's room was simple and tidy, like the print of her owner.
Albert stared into the room repeatedly, opening the drawers that still contained some of her things.
One of them was a comb that he gave her and some accessories that she had made before.
He didn't sleep the whole night, he just kept thinking about his sister's things and remembering her, the things she loved and hated and her days with him.
Early in the morning, he decided to leave for the west, taking with him all her things.
But when they are out of the room, pay attention to the presence of something on the wooden floor of the room, looked like a void or defect in it, next to the bed. He put his hand over that part, it was like a cache of things when he opened it he found a small box inside.
Inside the box, he found a book of a small size and a fountain pen.
While he pouring over the book, the sound of knocking on the door surprised him, so he added the book to the things he had taken with him and left the room.
It was Mr. Brown who knocked on the door, "You're awake, I wanted to invite you…"
Albert replied coldly, "Thanks, but I have to go now."
Albert went straight to the West, never stopping on the way once, so much so that he arrived in a day and a half, while it takes three days to arrive.
After five years.
Albert continued his travels to trade all over the continent, trading in the West, East and North, and this year he decided to go south, but this time not only to trade but also to visit Norman, who finally settled with his wife and daughter there.
After days of traveling, he finally arrived at that village, and asked about his friend's house, the villagers showed him.
He knocked on the door, Meryl opened it for him, surprised.
" Hello Albert, when did you get here ? I thought you were coming in a month, Norman told me."
Albert asked, " Is not he here now ?"
" No, he went on a hunting trip the other day."
" Bad luck, I wanted to surprise him."
The conversation of the two was suddenly interrupted by a crying voice inside, " Mother, mother !"
The cute little girl looked a lot like Norman, she was three years old, she looked shyly from behind the door, rubbing her eyes with her small hand.
Albert smiled and said, "Hello, Helena, how are you ?"
Little Helena only looked at him while holding on to her mother's dress from behind.
He approached and gave Meryl a small box, saying with a smile, " This is a small gift for you, on the occasion of Helena's birth, being unable to come at that time."
Meryl joyfully accepted the gift and then invited him to enter, but the latter refused on the pretext that he had come only for a short visit because he had a business in the area, so Albert said goodbye to the two and left the village.
Albert went straight to the east, to meet his comrades there near one of the villages.
This was Marco's village, the place where his sister committed suicide years ago.
Albert's feelings were conflicting and mixed, he was holding in his trembling hands that little book that Elva had left in her room.
" The time has come." ( tightened his fist tightly.)
Albert and the five men who were with him put a large amount of arsenic poison into the well, it was chosen because of its suitable properties.
One of the men said, "Now we can step back and see the results."
He said that in a cold tone.
The next morning the residents came to get water from the well, Albert and his companions stayed watching the place all day because there were few residents, the poison was able to eliminate most of them in a few hours after drinking water.
Everyone fell down because Albert chose the day accurately, this was Marco's wedding day from his new wife, so everyone was together, they needed more water on this occasion. Albert was looking at their bodies lying on the ground coldly, this sight did not move anything, even after he saw them all writhing in pain as they died, old and young, he did not lift an eyelid.
The only people he looked at and his expression changed were his sister's hasband and his family, expressions of disgust and contempt. He pushed the body of the latter with his foot and returned towards the well again.
His expression was completely cold, but as soon as he arrived at the place, he was surprised, a person was sitting on the ground and coughing constantly next to the well, exactly leaning on the tree where his sister was buried.
This person was familiar without even seeing his face, Albert trembled from this scene in front of him, this person was his friend Norman.
He turned to him with a desperate look, saying in a broken tone, " Albert … Is that you ?"
Norman moved to him, but could not complete the next steps and fell to the ground.
Albert was in a complete stupor from what his eyes saw, his closest friend was dying in front of him because of the poison he put in that well. That was the last thing anyone expected.
Norman fell to the ground coughing up blood, when Albert finally woke up from his shock, he ran to his friend and hugged him tightly while crying, saying , " Norman, damn, how did this happen ? "
When they heard the sound of his crying around, those men who helped him with his plan came to him.
Norman stared at them, and then at the smoke rising behind them.
He looked at Albert and then said with difficulty, "You did this ? "
Albert tearfully replied, " I'm sorry, I didn't … "
He didn't answer and just stayed silent with tears streaming from his eyes.
Norman coughed so badly that Albert's clothes were stained with blood, this he could no longer speak, and then gradually the gleam in his eyes went out, and he died.
At that moment Albert shouted, "Norman !"
He was in disbelief that his friend had died this way and because of him.
Norman had come to the area to hunt a few days ago, he heard that the area has several wild animals. On the way to the neighboring mountains, the water he had with him ran out, so he looked for one of the villages to get it, but unfortunately, he found this one.