10.09 cycle nine, Ca’thir, of calendar Moonrachia

  When I wake up

  Everything comes back normal

  No, not really, it's just my vision that has turned back to normal

  The unfamiliar ceiling filled my entire vision

  When I shifted and sat up on the bed while leaning into its headboard, I noticed there was food on the table beside me

  From the temperature and light alone, I could notice that it was already near midday

  In this huge and silent bedroom, where there’s nothing other than my thoughts, anyone could definitely hear the sounds of construction work outside from here

  “I really do hope that the entire event is just a mere dream.”

  But, it's not

  All of it was real

  When I raised my hand, I could see the scar left behind from the wind magic before

  Slowly, I stood up from the bed and left the food there alone on the table

  I might be hungry, or I might not be, but is it important now? I don’t even have a slight appetite left at the moment

  When I open the door and enter the hallway

  There’s no one here, it's empty despite how huge this house is. I can’t even say it’s a house, it's more like a mansion

  The moment I entered this house yesterday, I could feel how quiet the house was, and then Maya explained that no one worked there as a permanent servant

  Maya explained that she was considered a special case

  Noah employed only a few cleaning servants, who worked only once every 5 cycles

  It’s not that weird, I guess

  But there’s more: the Orlier family never held any territory, despite how high the position of their family was

  The Orlier family could be considered as one of the pillars of power in the Kingdom of Arnentia, since there are 2 Halo-level mages, Eisya and Noah

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  And I never really thought about much of this before, because I know the Orlier family doesn’t have many family members, so one could consider all of the things they do as normal

  Who in their right mind would protect and stall for a criminal? And stalling time for a criminal?

  Worse, I could even be considered a huge criminal now

  So, currently, I need information, a lot of it

  Because no matter how powerful the Orlier family is, they couldn’t set me free from this crime

  I need to meet Maya now

  Through the empty hallway, I keep wondering what they want from me to make them do something like this

  Perhaps, maybe, in the small chance, I could be forgiven for my crime? But soon, I realized how dumb those ideas are

  Before heading to the second floor, I heard footsteps somewhere around the opposite side of the hallway that I walked through

  When I turn around, the one who walked there is also stopping

  Someone with a frown and slightly red eyes with dark circles and heavy bags under her eyes

  She walks toward me, slowly, step by step

  Then quickening her pace

  Before she threw a fist into my stomach

  But there’s there was no power behind them

  “Do you know how worried I am currently?”

  Another gentle punch

  “Do you know that people are watching your every move?”

  Another gentle punch

  “Do you know that you’re going into the court and will definitely be executed?”

  This time, it's not a punch, but she's just gripping onto my shirt with both her hands

  Despite trying her best to act normal, I could hear it

  Her voice was shaking

  Her trembling hand and finger

  What should I even say to her right now?

  I don’t know

  When my parents died, when I was still younger, Rheya's family was the one who watched over and raised me

  I know her family and Rheya herself would believe me no matter what

  But at this point? I don’t even know

  I’m not even strong enough to see her eyes right now

  How am I supposed to even explain all of this? When I don’t even know what happened?

  “Can you just please?”

  “Run away from here, live somewhere quietly, please, just for the last time, grant my wish.”

  Hearing it from her makes me smile a little bit

  She’s always been like this and surely will be the same even in the future

  “Sorry,” Then I shake my head slowly before taking her hand

  But I won’t run away

  At the end of the day, the evidence is clear

  From my action, accidentally or not, I killed a lot of people

  Meeting her right now, at this moment, made my head clear enough to make a decision

  “I should act like a responsible adult now, that’s what you always teach me.”

  When I met her gaze, I could see how hard she was trying to hold back her tears

  “Have I become the responsible adult you're always talking about?”

  She pulled away her hand and threw another punch

  But this time, there is a power within it

  Before she slowly hugged me, while sobbing a little bit

  “You idiot.”

  Slowly, unsurely

  I hugged her back

  *****

  10.54 cycle nine, Ca’thir, of calendar Moonrachia

  I don't know how long Rheya held me, it should be around half an hour or more

  But after she finally calmed down, she hit me once again before leaving somewhere

  The more I talked to people, the more I realized that I couldn’t do anything to clean my name

  No, if I can even explain all of it, even if the Eyes of Truth don’t detect any lies, could I even still be free?

  High chance I would still be in prison, at least, if I could even explain everything

  The highest chance I have right now is being executed

  For now, let’s confirm the situation first

  From outside the door, there are no sounds that could be heard from inside

  Maya was saying to find her here if I needed something

  -Knock knock

  “Maya, this is me, Kaleth.”

  “May I come inside?”

  There’s no answer

  Was she going somewhere? Could be, she was acting as principal in Noah’s absence and probably has a lot of things to do ever since Noah left

  -Knock knock

  Again, there’s no one answering

  When I try to open it, it doesn’t move even an inch

  I was forbidden to go outside

  Now what should I even do?

  A quiet sobbing voice could then be heard, followed by sounds of the opening door

  When I slowly turned toward the source of the sound

  I could see Alias, with her messy hair and red eyes, with her tear falling from her face, still in her pajamas, while holding a plushie in her hand

  Hearing her voice alone is enough to make my heart ache

  But seeing her crying like this has filled my heart with self-blame again

  Then, when her gaze found me

  She let go of the plushie from her hand and started running toward me and wrapping her arms around my legs

  “Is Mom not coming back?” Alias asked while sobbing

  I could feel her tiny finger gripping harder despite how small it is

  “Kaleth, answer me,” Alias asked once more

  “Is it because of me?” While trying her best to hold back her sob

  ---END---