Chatter came from the room with both sisters squabbling back and forth until finally, Abigail came out and happily said to Nathan,
"She'll be out in a moment, and come back next time to play with Mr. Buzzy and me!"
She waved goodbye and left Nathan by the door.
As Nathan was about to knock on the door, Seraphina unexpectedly opened it and accidentally got tapped on the head by Nathan.
"Ow!"
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were going to open the door, so I was going to knock."
"Who knocks a door with that much force!? Ugh, it feels like my head was about to split open."
Nathan repeatedly apologized and tried soothing the pain in her head by softly rubbing it. This reaction from him confused her, and she grabbed his hand.
"Nathan, are you alright?"
"Uh…"
His response was already enough of an answer, but after taking a look at his face and the way his hand was slowly shaking, she took him into her bedroom and told him to stay while she went out.
Later on, she came back with male clothes.
"Where did you get those?" he asked.
"These are spare clothes my cousin left here while he was training for the knight's exam a few years ago. I told a maid to bring some water so that you can wash up."
"Thank you, but you don't have to go through all this trouble."
"Trust me, it's better this way. My mom is a clean freak, and since it seems like you'll be staying over for the night."
The door knocks, and Seraphina lets her in. She prepares a bath for him and leaves the room.
"After taking a bath, then we'll talk."
The smell of luxury fragrances felt captivating with the warmth of the water. As he was about to get into the water, his head ached from memories of almost getting drowned. Seraphina heard his groans and asked if he was fine. He assured her and proceeded to take a bath.
He came out wearing her cousin's clothes and smelled like lavender.
"You see? You look and smell better than when you got here."
"Was I that bad?"
"Definitely. You had a rotting river smell on you, and your hair was drenched with that smell as well."
"Sorry."
"Now let's have a more serious talk. Firstly, what the hell happened to you? Did you fight the Heralds?"
"It was more than that?"
Nathan then started explaining everything from departing home to ending up at her door without mentioning Daniel. Seraphina fell silent throughout everything he told her.
"Wow, that was… a lot."
"Yeah, and now I'm going to be interrogated by the King of all people, along with my dad and maybe even your mom."
"Wait, your dad is here?"
"Yes, didn't you see him downstairs?"
"No. I went upstairs to the storage room to get your clothes and went to a maid's room to get some bath water."
[Damn, your house is big.]
"But that Xavier guy, are you sure he's dead?"
"That's what King Augustus told me on the way here. Plus, I don't think anyone would survive that many stabs to the back."
"Like I asked when you got here, are you alright, even mentally?"
"Do you want the truth?"
"We've been talking about it this far. So, what's a few more things to get off your chest?"
The room went quiet for a moment. Nathan started fiddling with his fingers and kept getting flashes in his mind of his fight with Xavier. He took a deep breath and answered.
"No. I'm not alright. I don't even remember the last time I had a good night sleep, and after tonight, I don't know when I will. Sera, I killed a man. Did he deserve it? Yes, he did. When I asked you this morning at school where I could find them, you took a step back because you were afraid of the look on my face. Even a few moments ago, your little sister didn't even trust me or what I said because I looked like a complete mess."
She then stopped Nathan with tears about to come out of her eyes from going any further.
"Nathan, stop, please. It's my fault for what's happened. I gave you the wrong location on purpose because I thought you'd give up on finding them and come back when they weren't there."
"But still! It doesn't change the fact that I murdered a guy. I'm scared of the face my mom would make if I told her what I did. And Daniel of all fucking people-."
"Wait, what do you mean, Daniel? What happened to him?"
"So much but so little about Daniel."
Their conversation stopped after they heard a knock on the door. Seraphina stood up and opened it.
"(shocked) Your majesty!? Mom and… Mr. Valen?"
Lawrence answered,
"You can just call me Nathan's dad."
Captain Regina came into her room and told both Nathan and Seraphina that they had heard everything. But they had more things to discuss. So, they all went out on the room's balcony and started discussing. She asked Nathan what he was going to say about Daniel. He looked at King Augustus, and he nodded in approval. He began telling them everything he heard and saw about Daniel. About how he was helping and working with the 'Heralds of Life'. He mentioned how they used his father as leverage to make him vulnerable to their persuasion. After hearing everything, all of them were shocked except for King Augustus.
"I can't believe it. How can Daniel do this?"
Seraphina started crying and almost collapsed to the floor, but her mom held her up. Looking out for her well-being, King Augustus asked Captain Regina to lie her down on her bed. But Seraphina refused in outrage.
"I'm not going anywhere! I'm now just as involved as any of you."
She wiped her tears and stood upright. King Augustus smiled at her resolve and started about will happen in the future.
"Once Laurence and I leave, we'll be going with some Imperial guards with us and gather up evidence, and with the body of one of their commanders. At the crack of dawn, Captain Regina will inform the rest of the Captains of what's going on and tell them to meet at the castle, waiting for me to call them when addressing the people. While all of this is happening, I want both Nathan and Seraphina to keep a low profile at school and not tell anyone what we talked about tonight."
Seraphina came forward and asked,
"What about Daniel?"
King Augustus replied, "We'll talk about him another time."
She nodded her head.
"That'll be all for now. It's getting late, so you three should go to sleep in preparation for a busy day tomorrow."
As Captain Regina and Seraphina left the balcony, Nathan stayed with the others and asked,
"What about my mom? Before I left, she asked me what time I'll be back from Noah's for dinner. She must be pretty worried right now."
King Augustus felt perplexed at his question, but Lawrence answered,
"We'll go to her, and Augustus will tell her that you're staying the night here with Noah because you came here with an assignment to do with your other friends and because there are potential dangers in the area, so people should stay indoors."
This made Nathan feel relieved and assured. He then left the balcony, leaving King Augustus and Lawrence there.
"Wow, it seems you're a natural liar."
"Shut up and let's go."