“I’ll bring her next time I come, I promise.”
“But why didn’t you bring her with you now?” Joe asked. “She must feel lonely without you.”
That broke Abril’s heart, as it was something she tried not to think about. But she held back her tears, not wanting the children to see her cry, and replied, “Because I’m on a very important mission right now, and she can’t be with me. She’s in a special place where she can grow without problems. When I finish my mission, I’ll go to her immediately.”
“Don’t take too long. She must miss you a lot.”
374
< Part 1: Our Priority
Part II: Our Priority
+25 Points
The duchess explained everything that was happening in the duchy. Alessandro listened attentively. When
she finished speaking, he said, “We will stay here while we clear out the nearby villages.”
“It will be a pleasure to assist Your Majesty. If you need anything to help me, please don’t hesitate to let
me know.”
“I will. Let’s hope we can eliminate all the monsters as soon as possible. I don’t want any more victims of
these attacks. The monsters are getting very close, so try not to leave the mansion.”
“I won’t. Since the attacks started, I’m worried about leaving the children alone. I fear there might be an
attack while I’m away.”
“We will leave now and return before nightfall.”
“You should eat before you go. You’ll need the energy. I’ll have something prepared immediately.”
“Thank you.”
When Alessandro left his office, he went to find Abril. She was in the garden playing with the children, who
had made a flower crown and were placing it on her head.
“That looks very nice on you.”
”
“Thank you. Have you finished talking with the duchess?”
“Yes, we will depart after the meal, so you should take the opportunity to bathe.”
“Yes, I want to take a good bath. Children, I’ll play with you later.”
The children looked sad and said, “Play with us tomorrow.”
“If I have time, I will play with you.”
Alessandro took Abril’s hand and said, “Come on, I’ll take you to our room.”
As they walked, Abril said, “When all this is over, let’s come back here and bring Lissana. This place brings
back good memories.”
“Then we will return here for a few days, and we can go to the beach, the mountains, wherever you want.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
When they reached the room, Alessandro said goodbye to Abril. “I’ll see you at mealtime.”
“Are you going somewhere?”
“Yes, I have some things to discuss with Sirius.”
“Should I come with you?”
“It’s not necessary. I’ll tell you what we talked about later.”
< Part II: Our Priority
+25 Points
“I hadn’t asked, what did the duchess say?”
“She told me which areas have been affected by the monsters. Fortunately, it seems they haven’t attacked
the villages, only roads and small forests.”
Abril sighed in relief and said, “Thank God.”
Alessandro kissed her forehead and said, “I’ll see you later.”
Abril quickly glanced around the room. The trunk with her belongings was in a corner. After taking out clean clothes, she went to the bathroom. The bathtub was already prepared. She undressed, got into the
few bathtub, and submerged herself. After being away from the palace for so long, she had very opportunities to take a good bath; it felt like a luxury to her.
While reclining in the bathtub, she wondered where Cira might be. Those attacks didn’t seem to make any sense, and she hadn’t attacked the palace yet, which meant she wasn’t after the Hades key they possessed.
“She is supposed to be gathering the Hades keys. Why hasn’t she come for the one in our possession yet?”
Suddenly, like a puzzle, all the pieces came together in Abril’s mind.
“Because she can get it whenever she wants. She needs the other key.”
Abril got out of the bathtub, dressed quickly, and ran to find Alessandro. When he saw her approaching hastily, he asked, “Aby, what’s wrong?”
“The monster attacks are being caused by Cira.”
“We already suspected that.”
“But she’s doing it unintentionally.”
“What do you mean?”
“If she wanted to attack us, she would have done so already and not by placing monsters on less–traveled roads or in forests. She would attack the royal capital or the larger cities to cause more damage. When I was in Laios, I saw how she absorbed the darkness. I think she wants to strengthen herself even more and has somehow managed to break through to Hades through the wells.”
“What you say makes sense, but we don’t know where she is.”
“No, but I know where she will go. She is looking for the second Hades key. If we find the key, we will find
Cira.”
Sirius said, “You’re right, but we have no idea where the second Hades key might be, so we are in the same
situation.”
“We already found one key; surely we can find the next one.”
“That won’t be possible,” Alessandro said.
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