After munching on the food in his mouth, Reynald asked, "What happened here in the recent decades while I'm not around? The place looks too… old."
"Well, it is old, coupled by the recent problems with the company on the other building." Mother Lily replied before sipping her cup of tea. "There's the orphanage being in a constant threat of being closed. We lost the support from Elijah, so that little "business-minded" son of his wanted to lay us off."
"Not a really intelligent move, I may say," Amelia spat, which earned the interest of everyone at the table. Seeing that they're listening, Amelia continued, "Years back, Mr. Elijah basically saved millions of pesos in tax exemptions because of the vast amount of charities that he contributed to. I heard that that son of his laid off every single one of them, including us. Although the damage to their company wouldn't be that bad, the amount of tax that they would have to pay will still pose quite a burden on them."
"How do you know all these?" Reynald asked with a curious gaze. "Amelia here is the daughter of a business owner in Macati. It's natural for her to know the basics of businesses." Mother Lily smiled as she explained.
"Only the basics, of course." Amelia smiled and added, "I'm the youngest out of us four siblings, and all of them are boys. The business would go to them one way or another, and I don't want to be an accessory or a leverage if ever they descend into a rivalry."
Reynald nodded in understanding. Back in Asturas, this is what he fears the most; the two brothers fighting each other for the throne. Fortunately, there's Athenasia, who guides them to be as harmonious as two brothers of a simple household, which he could see was successful. If ever he descends into the underworld, there will be their mother, firmly checking in on them.
"What's the matter, Little Rey? Is something wrong?" Mother Lily, seeing his melancholic face, asked worriedly. Shaking his head, Reynald answered, "It's nothing. I just remembered my two sons back home."
Silence.
Finding it odd, Reynald looked and saw Mother Lily's darkened face. "W-What's wrong, Mother Lily?" He asked in confusion.
She muttered something, which wasn't heard by Reynald, "What is it, Mother Lily?" He asked once more.
"Sons!" The Reverend Mother shouted in anger, startling everyone, even the other orphans who were eating. She then glared at him before snapping, "Sons! You have children!?"
Realizing what he had said, his hairs stood on their end, "I-I…" It seems that she was really angry this time.
Mother Lily quickly stood up from her seat before once again grabbing onto his sideburns, dragging him out while he yelped in pain. Everyone stood up and looked at the spectacle that was happening, from the nuns that were with them to the kids peacefully eating.
"Leave. Leave!" Mother Lily scolded him before opening the gate. "Why? Am I sinful in your eyes just because I already have offsprings? I'm already 50, for God's sake!"
"Of course not!" The Reverend Mother barked before hitting him with her cane that she was holding in her other hand. "You didn't bother bringing them here? Then, don't bother coming back here without them around! Do so, and this cane will fly straight at your ungrateful face!"
"Damn." Reynald gulped with worry. Can the Otherworldly Gate even allow him to bring in people from another world? Won't they just die upon entering that portal?
[Answer: The Gate can be likened to the Spatial Storage. Passage through the gate halts the passage of time for the items and people that are brought in. Similarly, Anything can be brought in or out of the Otherworldly Gate, alive, dead, or inanimate.]
Hearing that, Reynald sighed with relief. It seems that he really can. Still, he wants to stay here longer. "Can I stay here a bit longer? I'll just bring them here next time." He pleaded.
"No." The Reverend Mother was insistent, answering him with a firm voice, "If you want to stay here longer, then bring them here now."
"Can I just show you a picture of them?" Reynald presented his last straw, which he saw affected the Mother quite a bit as her expression slightly changed. Extending her hand, Mother Lily looked at him as if saying, 'Give it to me.'
Nodding quickly, Reynald pulled out the phone from his side pocket. Reynald felt thankful for the Otherworldly Phone existing because, if not for it, he wouldn't have been able to reason with the Reverend Mother now.
Turning it on, he clicked on the 'Gallery' and selected one of the pictures he had taken of them—a picture of them in their casual clothing while enjoying the nice sun out in the open garden. Except for the shiny jabot that adorned the teen's necks and the swords that were tied to their waist, their picture just looked as if they were in a formal gala.
He and Athenasia sat in the middle as the two princes stood on opposite sides, capturing a picturesque moment of a harmonic and prestigious family. With the plethora of flora and fauna surrounding them, the entire picture just shouts elegance and majesty despite being a casual photo of them.
Wearing the glasses that were hanging by her chest, Mother Lily took the phone that was extended to her and looked at the photo. Some of the nuns also turned and looked and were in awe of everyone's looks, especially that of the princes' handsome statures. They almost forgot they were nuns because of the two. As for the Reverend Mother, she was focused on other things.
"You were in contact with me for quite a long time. Why haven't I heard of them before? They're already this old?" Mother Lily scolded. "It just didn't come up, that's all." Reynald chuckled haphazardly before being silenced by her.
Inspecting it once more, Mother Lily then asked him with curiosity and doubt, "Is this your wife?" She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him suspiciously. In response, Reynald nodded.
"Why? What did you do? Why did she choose you? Don't tell me you knocked her up?" The Reverend Mother spat some inappropriate words that the nuns had to wave the children away from the scene. Reynald's eyes were filled with disbelief, "Mother Lily! You know I'll never do that! Why are you saying such things?!" He complained with indignation.
"Hey! It's just that this woman in the picture looks too out of your league, that's all." She waved her hand and replied, which just made Reynald feel worse. "She also looks young, at most 27 or something. Such a huge gap is not something I can accept. It's too sinful." She sighed while gripping her chest.
"Athenasia's just three years younger than me! Our children are 23 and 21 respectively, so we had them quite late already—2 years after our marriage!" Reynald argued as the Reverend Mother judged his entire existence.