Chapter 50

The next day, he went around the forest with the company of his butler to search for a strange fruit that Toren once saw while doing carpentry.

They have gone deep in the woods to make sure that no one finds them lingering illegally throughout the unsupervised areas.

Whilst peacefully roaming around, they heard a rustle from the distance as if a running feet were brushing through the grasses.

A minute later, Toren saw his brother appear before him, sweaty and panting and wide-eyed.

"What are you doing here, Coen?" Toren asked, stammering.

Coen quickly rushed over to his younger brother and gave him a tight, warm embrace. "I knew that I would eventually find you," Coen whispered to his ears before unlatching away from the hug. "I saw you coming here. My omniscience finally took favor of me. I did not know where to look for you until now. The villagers said that you were given special privileges at the colonists' headquarters and I was so worried for you! Were all of those rumors true?"

Toren looked away, glanced at his butler who had been quite confused with the scene, then slowly nodded.

"All you heard were true. The ruler had taken custody of me as he hired me to be his personal painter. It was... all for his glory."

"Are you alright? Are they hurting you there? Do they even feed you?"

"I am fine, Coen. Do not worry about me. I was truly given a comfortable privilege at their place and I have been painting well."

Coen stared at his brother's eyes intensely, almost as if searching for something else – searching still for his brother, it seemed.

"I will not betray the country if that is what you are worried about," Toren assured by his brother's scrutinizing eyes. "I am only painting for them and not giving assistance to the villagers of the whole West. I have not leaked any information. I resisted everything that had always been against our tradition and culture."

Coen slowly nodded.

"You must go away now," Toren nervously said, looking beyond and towards his brother, seeing if someone was to get them. "You have only escaped the manual labor duration at the carpentry, have you not? If they catch you talking with me, it will jeopardize both you and me."

Coen understood what his brother meant, so for the last few moments, he mentioned their grandmother's death and grave location before finally running back away.

As Toren watched his brother leaving, chasing after time, he had seen some lingering residue of a bothered soul.

Toren knew that his brother was never content with that ephemeral interaction, which made him sure that Coen would return to find him no matter what.

There were plenty of pent up emotion which glittered away, stuck across the borders of his own shadows. They were just looming and waiting for a moment to click and flutter away.

Perilous and unpredictable, he thought.

Toren asked his personal butler to lead the way towards Madam Lumen's grave location which was recently just mentioned.

Sneaking out of the restricted area, they have quickly arrived at her grave.

The only things Toren could remember about his grandmother was that wicked prophecy and the smell of the snacks she served.

They have crisscrossed in his heartstrings, casually cutting his patience and contentment. The prophecy she had left on their family became a few years old curse which already occurred even before it had happened.

"Things are scarier than they actually seem," He thought and knew that his grandmother must have thought of the same thing.

The curse which destroyed Toren's relationship with his father may have led to its fulfillment itself.

"Whether you deal with prophecy with irony or obedience, destiny shall never change."