Episode 130 - To the forbidden room

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Aernest, Aedelak, Con, and Dea followed behind the Crown Prince, Eugene, and Hal who walked in front of the group. Duke Marleigh walked last to keep an eye out for the children from behind. Though everyone grouped for different purposes, they all headed to the same place; the forbidden room.

Originally, however, the group was supposed to only have the Crown Prince, Duke Marleigh, and Hal. But after the Crown Prince threatened Eugene with the word ‘egg’ and insisted that Eugene come with them to look for Euria, everyone else started joining. Aernest was Eugene’s partner in crime so there was no way he was going to leave without Eugene, and Aedelak’s duty was to serve Eugene so she could not leave as well, hence the group came to be.

On the other hand, Con and Dea wanted to see Sir Ario obtain justice, which is why they tagged along in the hopes of learning more about his tragedy.

Unlike the hecticness of the audience room, the hallway to the forbidden room was empty of people and empty of chaos. However, the grimness of the hallway produced a spine-chilling sensation that was indescribable even though it was decorated in fine jewels and fine furnishings. To add to the grimness of the atmosphere, only the sound of the master clock in this particular palace could be heard ticking its time away.

“Sister, I'm... I’m a little cold..” said Aernest, as he rubbed his arms to warm up.

Before Eugene could reply, she heard clothes shuffling, followed by Aedelak’s calm voice, “Here you go, Young Master.” she said as she handed over her outer jacket.

Aernest gave Aedelak a surprised look because he hadn't intended for anyone to give up their jacket for him. After a few seconds of hesitation, he thanked her and wore her warm jacket comfortably.

“Duke.”

“!!” An unfamiliar voice that didn’t belong to the group suddenly spoke out, startling the children into raising their guards.

Before anyone could scream, Duke Marleigh spoke out, “It’s alright. He’s your guard.” Just as Duke Marleigh finished, a young man appeared in front of them out of the blue. The young man's abrupt appearance shocked everyone even more as there was nowhere but darkness for him to emerge from.

“What’s wrong?”

The young man stood to one side as he reported, “There’s no one in the immediate vicinity. Most of Zene's knights and servants have arrived at the Main Palace.” He didn’t say why but anyone could guess, it was because of the King and the incident that had occurred just now.

‘But… there’s not one guard?’ Eugene's eyes met the Crown Prince whose expression was neutral.

As if he understood her gaze, he replied, “This place is rarely guarded. It is uncommon to pass through here as many people will choose the shortcut.” He didn’t mention this but not many people know where the stoned room was. He had discovered this passageway that led to Kal’s palace back when he was younger.

“Ah.” Eugene nodded.

Duke Marleigh nodded at the young man, “Alright. Anything else?”

The young guard nodded, “My comrades have yet to return from the search ahead of us.” His meaning, something was wrong. Not only were there no knights or servants in the vicinity, but their guards had also disappeared into thin air.

“......” Duke Marleigh frowned.

Eugene and the rest who overheard Duke Marleigh’s conversation with the young guard didn’t dare take another step forward. Just as the hallway turned completely silent with only the master clock ticking, two pairs of footsteps rushing towards them from around the corner of the hallway could be heard.

The footsteps got louder and louder, forcing the children to hide behind Duke Marleigh and the young guard, who stepped forward to protect the children.

“......” Eugene gulped air and felt Aernest and Aedelak clutching onto her long sleeves.

No one dared to blink as they braced themselves for an impending attack. With unsheathed swords, Duke Marleigh and the young guard prepared to attack.

Then suddenly, the two figures appeared. One figure was very alarmed by the weapon in front and screamed!

“AH!!!”

The figure had used all her brain cells and physical capabilities to break that she almost fell head-first to the sword that was pointing at her.

The scream incited Aernest to scream! “AHH!” he shouted in horror as he dropped to the floor in shock!

“......” Eugene blinked blankly as she held onto her long sleeves that Aernest almost ripped when he fell.

The figure who almost died by the pointy sword breathed out in relief!

“Sis.. Sister! I, I finally found.. You!” Unlike the suspenseful thriller they just went through, the voice was cheery and girly, warming the cold hallway in an instant.

“......” Eugene stared blankly, black lines filling her face. She… she had gotten anxious and nervous for nothing!!

The cheery girl clutched her aching stomach and breathed out loudly, “Took.. took me a while to find you!”

Who else could it be other than the girl who had disappeared early this morning, Euria Veria!

Eugene’s forehead twitched in slight anger, ‘Who’s been trying to find whom?!’ Nevermind. She forgot that she completely forgot about Euria -cough-.

On one hand, Eugene wanted nothing more than to smack Euria back to her senses! But on the other hand, she didn’t want to lose composure, especially in front of the Crown Prince and Musician Hal. The daydreaming incident was already so disgraceful that she could not allow herself to embarrass herself in front of them ever again!

Suddenly, laughter erupted in the hallway, “Hahaha!”

The voice belonged to the Crown Prince who failed to keep his composure in check. He could see why Eugene's personality might flip when it came to things concerning her twin sister. There was just something about the girl with the red eyes that would irk anyone with a mature nature. Hence, it was impossible for Eugene to not lose composure! Without asking, he could tell that Eugene must be living a hectic life every day with this mischievous little sister of hers.

Even Hal, who had been unhappy and silent the entire time, couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth when he saw the innocent face of the young child in front of him.

Euria paused and pointed at Hal, “Oh, it’s you! But why do you look more ugly?” she tilted her head sideways as she looked at Hal in shock! Yesterday, he cried. And today, he looked as if he had just finished crying because of how puffy his eyes had become! It looked, even more, puffier than the chicken she had been stalking all day today!

“.....” Hal’s face was blank as he pursed his lips, ‘Innocent-’

Euria walked past the young guard and stood in front of Hal, “Sister said that people who cry are very ugly. So, please don’t cry.” With one hand, she fished inside her jacket and shirt and handed one egg to Hal.

“Sharing is caring.”

Hal… blinked. Egg?

“....” The Crown Prince’s cheeks puffed up and his eyes began to water. In a bid to calm himself down, he reached for Euria’s egg and tucked it into Hal’s robes for him.

“Thank you…” There was no expression on Musician Hal’s face but everyone could tell that he has become more relaxed.

‘The Euria effect.’ Eugene breathed out in relief but got surprised at herself, ‘Was I unconsciously worrying for Musician Hal?’ She could feel herself relaxing from the tense atmosphere.

‘Sure enough, everyone needs a Euria-vitamin when they are sad.’ She thought quietly as her lips tugged up into a small smile.

The Crown Prince smiled at Hal before moving his gaze back to Euria. He closed his eyes for a few seconds as he sucked in his breath. The… the big bulge on Euria’s stomach was so eye-catching that he almost lost control over his emotions again. His lips twitched the more he looked.

Eugene noticed the big and small bumps on Euria’s bulging stomach as well. But instead of wanting to laugh, she felt the need to faint right there and then. Eugene shook her head to get rid of the dizziness she felt and sighed.

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Euria glanced around curiously and asked, “Where is everyone going?”

Eugene turned to Duke Marleigh who merely sighed. He didn’t answer but instead said, “It’s good that you’re back.”

Euria nodded eagerly and walked to Eugene.

The hidden guard who came with Euria greeted Duke Marleigh and his comrade with a slight nod.

“Is it safe that way?” asked the young guard who had mistaken Euria and her hidden guard as an enemy.

But before Euria’s guard could reply, Euria intervened, “Don’t go that way.” She then pointed to the left corner and exclaimed, “That way looks more interesting!” she grinned as she patted her ‘eggs’

The Crown Prince blinked, “......Well since the path straight ahead seems suspicious, we should take the left path instead.” He glanced at Duke Marleigh who agreed with his suggestion.

Eugene turned to Euria with a raised eyebrow, “Were you looking for me this whole time?” She asked as she walked forward with the group.

Euria hummed and shook her head, “No. But I did have to wait many hours for the chicken to leave before I could take their eggs. Sister, it was really difficult staying still.” Euria began to complain as she rubbed her stomach.

‘... Did you not say that it took a while for you to look for me just now?’ Her lips were straightened as she stared blankly at Euria.

Aernest popped out from behind Eugene and asked curiously, “But why eggs? Why not something more interesting?” He couldn't figure out what was so fascinating about eggs that she sneaked out without him or Eugene.

Euria gulped the moment Aernest finished his sentence, “Well, it was because I dreamt of a giant fluffy delicious egg last night!” She looked hungry when she finished.

“...”

Eugene’s eyes twitched, ‘So you weren’t looking for eggs to feed me, but went on an adventure to feed yourself. Right, no wonder you left without hesitation.’

Aernest poked Euria! “Still, it’s dangerous to go alone! You should have called Aeselak at least!”

Euria shook her head and laughed happily, “It’s okay! I met a friend as I was leaving the room early this morning!” she glanced at her hidden guard who wasn’t ‘hidden’ anymore, and grinned widely.

Euria announced proudly, “Together with this brother, we staked out all morning!”

The Crown Prince laughed out loud again, “Hahaha! Miss Eugeneia and Miss Euria are very different from each other!” Though he didn’t know the twins for all that long, he could tell that Eugene was someone who would never go on an adventure to ‘borrow’ eggs.

He pointed to Euria’s stomach and laughed, “You are very cute. But did you know that stealing anything that belongs to the Royal family is bad, Young miss?” he teased as he watched Euria pout.

“If you give me one, I will forgive you.” He added!

Euria looked down at her tummy, heartbroken, and reluctantly gave one of her eggs away.

“Thank you!” The Crown Prince reached out to Euria and was about to pat her head when she avoided him.

“You’re welcome, Crown Prince Nexiel.” She bowed politely and turned away.

Eugene blinked. ‘Is she angry?’ She has never seen Euria avoiding anyone, the Crown Prince was the first.

“.....” The Crown Prince blinked and was about to speak when a shout was heard from in front of him!

“Get… GET DOWN!” The voice came from Aernest, who was hunched over and was fiddling searching for his headphones!

All of a sudden, wind started to push them from behind as if the oxygen wanted to rip them apart!

The Crown Prince followed Aernest and crouched down, “Wha... What’s happening?”

Eugene pulled Aernest towards her and shielded Aernest’s ears with her entire body.

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