“It’s all delicious.”
I responded as I finished eating the food prepared for me, the food having been specially prepared by the hands of my mother, who was smiling lightly as she saw me enjoy the food, my two sisters on my side as I sat at the table, their eyes questioning as my mother took the lead.
“So, how did it all go?”
To her question, with a smile, I started to talk, speaking about the experiences that happened on my journey with Carmel. Of course, I made sure to make some changes to match everything, but the overall innocent story was put forth from my perspective, and I didn’t even forget to talk smack about the other two who might be soon falling into their own personal hell.
The story went with me reaching the place, our disguises, Nini joining us, the stupid attitudes the two showed, the adventures we faced while we moved through that place, the things we went through, how Carmel seemingly went forth to clear the trail to get the solution, a break happening between Carmel with Nix and Melvin.
The stories of how they tried to undermine me and fucked things up at times, the way they spent the night, the troubles they caused me, and basically, I spoke about the adventure in a fun and happy manner, to which I could see that I had hooked the interests of Elda and Nora, who too would no doubt have the fantasies of going through something like that with me.
An adventure that will only have the two of us, and it’s within this that my mother spoke.
“Sigh….I never thought you would have so many connections, you truly did go all out on your journey back then.”
Her words contained a certain charm to them, to which, with a wry smile, I replied.
“I had to, after all, I have a duty to complete on my shoulders.”
My words pointed towards the status of mine that I had made clear to them, the atmosphere in the room turning a bit more dark at those words as I could see brief flashes of heavy emotions passing through the faces of my family, the main one being the emotion of fear, fear that I might fall like several heroes out there.
“Oh! I was also able to finally get back the true friendship I had with Carmel too!”
I suddenly shouted, trying to make the atmosphere better, but these words of mine only changed the atmosphere in a different manner as Nora with a frown asked.
“What does that mean?”
To her words, with a surprised look on my face, I spoke.
“Oh! Guess I forgot, you see what happened was…..”
With that, I started to speak of the things that happened in the past, things about the memory of Carmel, when she had ended up in that maze, how we fought together, how we escaped, and all. I made sure to tell the true story here in a friendship-like adventure manner, but I could see that I had completely soured the mood around.
Nora had a frowning face, Elda’s eyes looking dark, while the smile on my mother’s face didn’t look as light as before, as my mother asked.
“Looks like you went through a lot of adventure with Princess Carmel.”
Her words were heavy, to which I, with a smile, spoke.
“Yes, I did.”
“Looks like you care for her a lot.”
Nora suddenly spoke, the jealousy in her words fully out in the open, to which I, with a smile, replied.
“I do, in a sense. She was one of the first good friends I had made during my travels.”
To this, Elda added.
“Yet, she didn’t remember you for this long, nor did she care for you. What kind of friend is that after you sacrificed your life almost?”
Her tone was accusing, to which even if I continued to act oblivious now, it would only spell doom for my character. So, putting on a face as if I was taken aback, I looked at the faces of the three of them as I asked.
“Wait, are my sisters jealous?”
The silence I received from the table was more than enough of an answer, to which, lightly rubbing my nose, I spoke with a smile.
“I only see Carmel as a friend, and she too is the same, there is nothing to worry about here, after all, the only ones I truly and fully love are within this room.”
My words did their best to clear the atmosphere in the room, but I could still see that the three of them weren’t satisfied at all. My mother was hiding it well, while the other two openly showed it to me.
“How about this, I will take the two of you on our own adventure date?”
My words were whispered into their ears, the eyes of the two of them widening at it as Nora and Elda looked at me, then turned to look at each other, the two of them nodding at each other as they then turned to nod at me. Of course, I also didn’t forget my loving mother as my words whispered even more secretly into her ears.
“I have something special planned for just the two of us.”
My words only made my mother’s anticipation rise as I, looking at my family, spoke.
“Why don’t we just settle down?”
The three of them nodded their heads at my words as we moved more into a comfortable area where it was just the three of us, which provided even more security to the outer ears. Thus, I had settled down on the sofa, with my head on the soft lap of my mother, she with a loving smile patting my hair with light touches.
While my two sisters looked on with jealousy, though they knew well to keep themselves in control now as my mother patting my head asked.
“Isn’t it hard holding all these burdens?”
Her tone carried a certain weight as she asked me, the question making my two sisters look at me with worried eyes as I, with my eyes closed, spoke.
“It is, but if it means protecting you all, then it’s nothing I am not willing to give up.”
My words no doubt surely affected the hearts of the three ladies as I felt my mother touch my hair even lighter as she spoke.
“You can just give it all up, you know? I know for a fact that none of us here want to see you suffer.”
I smiled at those words as I responded.
“I am the only one who can do this, if not, lots of death and perhaps even a war that might bring about extinction might happen.”
My words had a certain conviction to them, to which my sister suddenly spoke.
“And you can’t tell us what this certain evil is, right?”
To which I replied.
“That’s right, the truth of it only lays in my mind, but I am sure my genius sister of war has already read the flow of war building up in our realm.”
My words no doubt already having confirmed the suspicions that might be running in her mind as Nora added up.
“You ran all around, made so many connections, and brought together your friends with immense talents to serve you, even then are you ready for it?”
Her words held a wisdom she must have inherited from the bloodline that is held in her body. The reply to her words took some time as I spoke.
“No, even now I am not fully ready, but I am the best I can be.”
These words affected the ladies as my mother spoke.
“You do know you can share all your burdens with us, that’s what family is for. We will always be your support, and if at any time you want to give up, you can, for we will support it all with our whole hearts.”
To this, my hand went to hold the hand of my mother who was patting my hair. Holding it in my hand, I placed a light kiss on her hand, my words flowing smoothly.
“I know. I have already learned my lessons from trying it all alone. It’s scary and sad, that’s why I will tell you the things I can, and I will, with all my heart, want you all with me when I do things.”
A moment of silence fell between us, and I felt my mother place a kiss on my forehead. She went back to patting my hair, and the comfort in it was divine. I held on to it when Nora suddenly spoke.
“I don’t think I will be able to live with losing you too.”
Her words froze the room, and I suddenly opened my eyes. Turning my head, I saw Nora’s eyes, which held a lot of emotions, mainly focused on fear of everything. I am pretty sure she just wants me to give it all up and just be with her and the family.
