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Chapter 51 - The past of the siblings

Merlin: “What do you mean you are a cursed child?”

Hearing Merlin’s question, Camille gave up in trying to hide her past from him, and came clean.

Camille: “I guess there is no point in hiding it anymore, is there? I’ll tell you, you would need to know about it, were you to decide to help us in the end…”

She was divagating a little, but Merlin chose to hear her out, he had a feeling that her story could shed light on many things, for example, the ambush or the attitude of the viscount.

Camille: “My brother and I grew up in the Imperial Palace, in the capital of the Dollan Empire. Our mother was one of the youngest mistresses of the Emperor, and his favorite one, she became his mistress when she was 15, after he killed a demonic wolf and saved her life.”

*So far, it’s a good love story, but I still don’t see how that is related to our current situation* thought Merlin.

Camille: “However, more than 30 years ago, an oracle received a prophecy from the gods. It stated that two cursed children would be born from the blood of the Emperor, and if allowed to live, they would bring disaster upon the empire. They would recognize the children when the wrath of the gods marked their home in a day of clear sky.”

*What does that ‘wrath of the gods that marked their home in a day of clear sky’mean?* asked himself Merlin.

[*It means that lightning would fall on their house in a day of clear sky. I think that in your old world, that phenomenon was called positive lightning, or bolt from the blue.*] said Lokiseth to Merlin.

*Thank you for clarifying that point, master.* answered Merlin.

Camille: “A couple of months ago, lightning struck our home, our mother went missing, and then every soldier and guard in the Dollan Empire was given the order of killing me and my brother on sight.”

Merlin: “Wow, you had it rough! But if that was the case, how on Klantea did you make it alive out of the Dollan Empire and managed to get here?”

Camille: “A stroke of luck. A few years back, our uncle came to visit us accompanied by a merchant friend of his. When we started to get persecuted, that merchant happened to be in the capital buying some goods, and smuggled us out of the Dollan Empire in his caravan.”

From Lokiseth’s teachings, Merlin had gained some understanding about prophecies, and the most basic fact about them, was that they were divided in two groups: short notice prophecies and long notice prophecies.

Short notice prophecies were given to an oracle between 1-5 years before the foretold events took place, whereas long notice prophecies were given to oracles a minimum of 100 years before the foretold events took place.

Taking those facts into consideration, from her explanation, Merlin could deduce most of what had actually happened. The most plausible theory was that the two siblings and their mother had found themselves involved in some kind of conspiracy.

The prophecy was most likely real, however, if more than 30 years have passed since it was given to the oracle, then it was a long notice prophecy, which meant the siblings weren’t the ones mentioned in the prophecy, but someone had put a lot of effort into making it seem otherwise.

The quick spreading of the contents of the prophecy among the population a short while before the positive lightning struck the house of the siblings, pointed in that direction. With the help of the right artifact, any wind magus of the fifth rank or above could have casted that lightning from several miles away.

Another suspicious fact, was the disappearance of the siblings’ mother. It was too coincidental that she disappeared right before her children were persecuted and an order of killing them was sent out. Either they didn’t want her to appeal to the Emperor in behalf of her children, or someone wanted to get her, and used the matter of her being the mother of the “cursed children” to tie the hands of the Emperor, and keep him from looking for her, for the sake of the empire.

Anyhow, whoever was the puppeteer in the shadows wanted the siblings dead, and if that person had gone so far as to have imperial guards infiltrate in Shephiran Kingdom and pose as bandits, risking an international incident if discovered, just to kill the siblings, it was obvious that the threat on their lives was still there, and would continue until they were confirmed dead.

Camille: “What I don’t understand is how those imperial guards found us… We took a lot of precautions precisely to avoid that!”

Merlin: “That’s an easy question: someone sold you out.”

Camille: “I don’t understand what you mean. That merchant is loyal to our uncle, he would never do something like that!”

Merlin: “Well, let me put it this way to you: whoever it is that wants you two dead, doesn’t care about the cost, and usually, the fastest way between two points is a bag full of gold! You said that merchant is loyal to your uncle, let’s say he really is loyal to him… What about the rest of the members of the caravan? Are they loyal to your uncle too? Do they have any reason at all not to sell you out and make a fortune in the process?”

Camille was dumbstruck by Merlin’s words, she couldn’t believe she had missed such an obvious detail. Of course, someone had sold them out! And they didn’t even have to put any effort in obtaining the information required by the ambushers, because she and her brother had foolishly assumed they could trust the members of the caravan, and given the information to them!

And another realization had struck Camille thanks to Merlin’s words, if their enemies had ambushed the carriage sent by the viscount and guarded by his men, then they surely knew where they were at the moment! That also meant that the multiple plans the viscount had made to keep them safe, had already been jeopardized and were of no use anymore.

Seeing the turmoil of her emotions reflected on her face, Merlin didn’t know how to continue the conversation from there, so he asked a question that had been bugging him for a while.

Merlin: “Say, Camille… why were you trying so hard to seduce me, when you obviously hated acting that way? Don’t you understand what would have happened if I accepted your advances? I could have even eaten the cake and disappeared before drinking the coffee!”

Hearing his words, Camille furiously blushed because she knew too well what Merlin meant. She was, after all, the daughter of an Emperor’s favorite concubine, and her mother had explained to her about the birds and bees at the early age of 7. Seeing that she was approaching the age in which she would be married off to some noble, her mother had even explained to her about the different ways to please a man.

She had no practice whatsoever, but she knew all the theory. She was currently blushing so strongly, because the moment Merlin mentioned the subject, she had pictured herself putting all her theoretical knowledge into practice, with him. She finally managed to get a grip on herself, and honestly answered Merlin’s question.

Camille: “Two reasons: First, as I said before, it didn’t matter what happened to me, as long as I secured your cooperation and you lent me your strength to protect my brother. And second, for just a moment, I thought that with your strength, you wouldn’t mind about me being a cursed child, and I would be able to be loved like a normal girl… That would have been killing two birds with one stone.”

Her voice broke a little at the end, and Merlin noticed it. He realized that she was at her limit, and she was doing her best to hold on. He didn’t have any intention of becoming romantically involved with her, but she was too nice, and he felt that he should help her out a little.

It was ok to do so just as a normal friend, and now that he had already made his mind up, he had only to make sure that she didn’t misunderstand the nature of their relationship. Too many girls had done that already, and it would give him a real headache if Camille joined them.

Merlin: “I think we should head to your room now…”

Camille’s cheeks started to redden. She was confused and nervous, confused because Merlin had previously said he wouldn’t do that with her, and nervous because of what might would happen next. Merlin chuckled when he saw her reaction, he then took her in his embrace and whispered in her ear.

Merlin: “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you. I’m sure that at least one person in the ballroom knows about your uncle’s plan, and is working for the ones targeting you and your brother. They expect me to drink the spiked wine, and follow you to your room, which is exactly what we are going to do…”

When Camille heard that, she calmed down a little, but she was still blushing, and that Merlin was holding her tightly into his embrace didn’t help. The viscount, on the other hand, was delighted to see them acting so intimately, for he believed everything was going according to his plan. Seeing Merlin and Camille cross the ballroom hand-in-hand, and going in the direction of her room, only strengthened his belief.

A few minutes later, they arrived to the corridor that led to her room. Merlin had noticed for a while that there was someone following them. He didn’t know if it was one of the viscount’s servants, or someone working for the ones targeting the siblings, either way, that didn’t change what he had to do.

Seeing that Camille was about to talk, he put his hand on her mouth and gestured to her to stay silent. She didn’t know that someone was spying on them at that moment, and tried to talk again as soon as Merlin put his hand away.

Camille: “Merlin… *mwah!?*”

Not knowing what else to do to keep her quiet, he chose to keep her mouth occupied with something else instead of talking. In the beginning she resisted the kiss, but she eventually gave in and even took the lead at the end.

The person who was tailing them didn’t realize they had stopped going toward the room to kiss, so he continued walking, but hurriedly stepped back to hide behind the corner before they could see him, upon seeing them standing in the hallway.

He thought *looks like that child really has fallen into the clutches of that cursed girl… I have to inform master that the plan of the viscount is proceeding as planned.*

Feeling that the one following them had gone away, Merlin separated from Camille, only to see that she was still in a daze. She was unable to muster any strength on her legs, so Merlin supported her and led her to the interior of the room.

Merlin felt the room out, and discovered that it was a plain, simple room, there were no secret passages or traps whatsoever. He was feeling a little dejected, but it was good in a sense, in case an attack were to occur, the assailant only had two possible points of entry, the door, or the window, both of which he proceed to close.

He heard Camille clearing her throat, and turned around to face her. She was doing her best to try looking angry, but she was failing big time. She couldn’t hide the happiness reflected on her face.

Camille: “Merlin… You are aware that you just stole my first kiss, aren’t you? How exactly do you plan on making it up to me?”

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