chapter 9

SHE'S absolutely not going inside without Lucian. That was Chloe's decision. She knew that Lucian's room will be in the Opall tower so she tried to find him.

With more than fifty rooms in the Opall tower, Chloe knew she will not be able to find him before the said interrogation ended. Nobody knows what will happen if she's late.

Goodness, where in the name of Demetrius are you, Lulu-chi? she nearly screamed in her mind.

Chloe started to wring her fingers together at her back as she stood at the stairs inside the tower. If Lucian was indeed inside, he must know that she didn't arrive yet. He will come to find her.

"Hey," a smooth, manly voice called out from the entrance of the tower.

Chloe turned to him, recognizing her brother's voice immediately. She instantly saw him because of his blonde hair, blue eyes and the white cloth that was covering his ears.

"Lulu-chi! Where have you been?" she exclaimed.

Lucian jerked his thumb at his back. "We had some errands. Barbie and the others went to eat somewhere."

Girls around Chloe started to buzz, seeing Lucian up close. They started to walk inside the tower.

The brunette glanced at the girls around them. "Seems like someone's an apple of every girl's eyes, huh."

Lucian shook his head. He didn't even look at them. The room that they are going to was located at the third floor and they had to use the stairs. There aren't many students in this tower, as there are only very few students that came from Deirdre.

Chloe wondered if they all had gone in a stage where they were bullied because they're peasants.

"Lucian Liu," a male voice made them halt at the top of the second floor. There are few Krysts in the hallway, but none were paying attention to them.

Both Liu turned, and Chloe gasped inwardly when her eyes landed on the lone man standing at the bottom of the stairs. He's tall and brown-skinned, and he has a scar across his left cheek. Lucian looked at Chloe and urged her to continue her way up.

"I'll follow in a moment," he told her.

Chloe was a little hesitant but she obeyed. She took one last look at the man before climbing up the final set of stairs. She saw Lucian walked back down the stairs and the two men disappeared from her sight as she emerged to the third floor.

"Chloe."

The said girl turned her head to the side and was surprised to see Jucel. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Jucel smiled shyly as she hugged a bunch of papers to her chest tightly. "T-Teacher Eric asked for my help. I-I was assigned to be with the royal authorities," and with a shrug Jucel ended, "r-running errands."

Chloe nodded slowly. "Why do they need to question those who were from Deirdre?"

Jucel started to walk to the left which was the way to the Magistrate's Office. "I supposed your ad-adviser told you that th-there's... something happening in-in Deirdre." Chloe nodded. "Apparently, they-they wanted to ask some questions to th-the Deirdre peasants or those who have gone into Deirdre for... for three weeks."

"I see," Chloe muttered and was in a deep thought.

"WHAT'S the matter? What brought you here?" Lucian asked the man as soon as they got into a secluded spot in the second floor.

"Melenōs Fortress was attacked," the man answered in a low voice. He stared at Lucian for any reaction but the young Kryst didn't show any sign of surprise. Lucian's blue eyes seemed knowledgeable of this news which made the man smile amusedly. "You're not surprised."

"One of my friends was called by the crown prince this morning," Lucian said with a nod. "One of the perks of having a close contact to a confidant of the palace."

The man smirked. "You mean the Dale Tribe from Markus." When Lucian looked at him with scrunched eyebrows, the man shook his head. "You can't trust him."

"Neither are you, Drake," Lucian countered.

Drake Lornn was taken aback by his words before he laughed dryly. He then looked around to make sure no one was around before handing a white paper. "The crown prince gave this to the teachers."

Lucian recoiled. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"I will not give this to you. I am letting you see it. It contains the Liu siblings' names in it."

The blonde didn't touch the paper and yet his mind was all over its contents already. His eyes glowed as he read the documents thoroughly. His eyes widened and then looked at the man. "Impossible."

Drake sighed in resignation. "It's not. I'm right there when Særi found the dead soldiers. Your parents are two of the 24th Blood Star's Knights. But they were not exempted from suspicion."

"Why are you telling me this? You will be tagged as a traitor to your Særi if they found you."

Drake smirked. "That's my problem now, isn't it?" He then looked away from Lucian. "I'm telling you this because the royalties are suspecting that someone from Illinor or Sarania invaded the fortress. A Mnemosyne Kryst and one of the Five Leaf Clover assessed the townspeople of Deirdre and found from the mind of many that the day you and your sister left Deirdre, your father went to the fortress. But your old man wouldn't admit to that. He seemed to know how to block a Mnemosyne from his mind."

Lucian finally understood what Drake meant. If this interrogation involves his family, then Chloe is in danger.

The young man hurried to the stairs and climbed two at a time. From the spot where Lucian left Drake Lornn, Drake put back the paper in his back pockets and started to disappear in a smoke.

CHLOE sat at the farthest chair in the hallway, waiting for her turn. Each of the students was asked to enter the room in front of them. Using her far-fetched eyesight as an advantage, Chloe could see four masters from the other year level. They looked unnerved.

Why would they be nervous? She couldn't think of a reason why they would be unnerved of something at all.

By the time that it was her turn, Lucian appeared at the end of the hallway. He was catching his breath as he hurried to them.

"Lulu-chi?" Chloe called as she watched her brother walk past her.

Lucian stopped in front of the attendant. He held the attendant's arm rather tightly now. "She's my sister. Let me go in with her."

The attendant seemed surprised at his request and tried to decline it. "But, Mr. Liu."

"Let them," a voice boomed from inside the room. It sounded authoritative and full of temper. Master Levi.

Chloe snapped her head towards the open door. At first, she thought she was just seeing an illusion but she saw Professor Levi inside along with other professors she knew.

She didn't like Master Levi's temper at all, which made her anxious. Why did they change the interrogators at last minute?

"What are you doing?" Chloe whispered at her brother while she stared at the door. Lucian just held her hand and shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to explain now.

The moment they entered the room, Master Levi ordered all attendants to go out. There are four people lining at the long desk.

Master Levi was sitting from the door. Master Hunn, Teacher Eric, and Teacher Ailene were also there.

Chloe felt something was wrong.

"I assumed you know the real reason why you're here, Mr. Liu," Teacher Ailene's sensual voice began. "And why we are the one who shall ask you questions."

"I would still want you to enlighten us, Teacher," Lucian answered with respect. Chloe kept silent.

"More than 30 soldiers in the Melenōs Fortress were killed mysteriously, Lucian," Teacher Eric stated as he put his elbows on the table. He has his usual smile plastered on his lips.

Chloe's eyes widened as she turned to her brother. Whether Lucian was shocked or he already knew it, he didn't show it on his face.

She attempted to talk to her brother through her mind. Who was that man earlier? Did he tell you about Helengrein?

Yes, Lucian clipped. It's obvious that he didn't want to explain further. "What does that have to do with us?" Lucian inquired loudly.

Master Levi pounded the table with his fist and Chloe flinched in terror. She looked at him wide-eyed while Lucian didn't even move a muscle. The man was staring Lucian down with a deep frown and his jaws grinding.

"It's seems that you are playing with us, kid. Tell us what you know."

"W-we don't know what--" Chloe started.

"Liar!!" Alongside Master Levi's shout was a lightning striking somewhere and a loud thunderclap. Chloe felt her whole system was breaking down in terror. She's so scared of this man already. "You know that the royalties are suspecting your parents and you are still playing dumb, sweetheart?!"

Chloe's nerves stopped shaking and she looked up alertly. "What?" But they were not looking at her. All four of them are looking at her side.

She slowly turned to her brother, Lucian, who was sitting casually and calmly despite Master Levi's temper. There's no other expression in his face, except the small recognition escaping his eyes.

Lucian sighed in resignation. "Yes. I do know about that." He glanced at Chloe. "I'm sorry, Chloe. I should've told you what we were made of."