Chapter 13

Half an hour later after Diana had left the house, Mr. Robert was still sitting on the couch and sipping his tea. A while later, there was a knock at the door. Mr. Robert didn't move, and the knocking continues. Suddenly the knocking stopped, and the door clicked. The door opened and a woman was standing there. The woman was wearing a cloak covering her face.

She looked around and asked, "So, you sent her away, huh?" She had an obnoxiously high-pitched voice.

Mr. Robert took a sip of his tea and said, "She is my daughter. I can tell her to do anything. I can send her anywhere."

"HAHAHAHA…" The woman laughed which sounded more like a screech. She suddenly turned serious and in just a blink of an eye, she was in front of him.

"You know what she is, right? You can't just send her away?" She screeched.

Mr. Robert took the last sip of his tea and looked at her, "Just as I said, she is my daughter. She is not like you."

"Are you forgetting about her mother? Your wife?" She smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"I am not. She was not like you, either." Mr. Robert replied.

"Ha… Your old age is affecting your senses too." She placed a finger under his chin. "Can't you see, she was just like me. I am just like her. Not a single difference."

Mr. Robert jerked his chin away, "No! She wasn't! She was not heartless like you and… neither will be our daughter."

"HAHAHA…" The woman laughed again like she was screeching.

"We'll have to see about that, Robert," The woman said. "Because nature… never changes." She put her finger under his chin again and slowly started to move it down to his neck.

"After all, that was exactly what killed your wife," She stopped her finger on the side of his neck and smirked, "And now, it will kill you too."

Mr. Robert smiled and said, "She is stronger than you. She has someone to protect her. You won't be able to hurt her. Instead… You should be worried about yourself; you are nearing your end."

The woman's smile dropped.

"SHUT UP!!!"

She screamed and moved her finger to the other side of his neck causing it to bleed.

"Ahh…"

Mr. Robert gave a weak smile, "You'll never win." He said and took his last breath. A few stray tears dropped down from his eyes and onto the couch.

The woman looked at his dead body and said, "You shouldn't have sent her away."

The woman stood up straight. She closed her eyes and suddenly she let out a high-pitched scream. In the blink of an eye, the house radiating warmth and comfort became a mess.

The woman looked around with a satisfied smirk. She took a last glance at Mr. Robert and went out of the house.

...….

Diana came running back to her house as fast as her horse could take her. Eric was following closely behind.

When they reached the house, the town's people were crowding the front gate. They both slowed down and got down their horses. Melissa, Carl, and Mr. Max, Melissa's father, were all standing at the front door too. Diana ran to her house, followed by Eric.

"Melissa. Where is dad?" Diana asked her. Melissa was crying non-stop. When she saw Diana, she hugged her tight, and Mr. Max placed a hand over her head.

"Melissa! Why are you crying, huh? What happened?" Diana kept asking, pretending to figure out the reason for her crying.

Eric looked toward Carl asking a silent question. Carl looked down and just shook his head lightly in response.

Melissa broke the hug and held her by the arms. "Diana, everything's gonna be all right. Okay? I am here for you. Your friend is here, Diana."

"Melissa? What are you talking about, huh? Everything is okay, right? Nothing is wrong." Diana tried to smile but her eyes were filled with tears. "Wh-where is d-dad?"

"Dad!" Diana called out and ran inside the house.

Melissa tried to stop her, but she was already gone.

Eric ran after her, "Diana!"

"DAD!" Diana kept calling out to her father. She went inside the living room and saw that all the things were thrown around. Everything was either broken or shattered to pieces. She took a second to take in the state of the place she is used to calling home. She gave herself a jerk and started to look around for Mr. Robert again.

"DAD!"

"Da…"

Her voice got stuck in her throat when she looked toward the couch.

"Diana!" Eric came running right beside her and turned to see the way she was looking. He was shocked, to say the least, but he held her by the shoulders right away.

There, on the couch was Mr. Robert. His skin was pale as white, and his shirt was red crimson. He looked lifeless and cold as ice.

But Diana could only see the smile and the tears stains on his face, which was nothing like she remembered from the morning.

She remembered his warm smile and the warm touch of his hand on her back and head when they parted earlier in the morning. She kept remembering the words he spoke to her the same morning.

Diana walked towards the couch and near him. She hesitantly reached out her hand and touched his face. It was the same as it looked, cold as ice. She touched his cheeks and the tear stains going down on his temples. Then she looked down at his neck.

There was a big cut going from one side of his neck to the other. A clear stream of blood that must have been flowing freely before was starting to dry.

Blood flowing from his neck was going down from his body, soaking his white shirt into red crimson, and finally was pooling down on the couch.

Diana hesitantly reached out to touch his neck. But she stopped herself and placed her hand back on his cheek.

"Dad…" Her voice broke and the tears, that she had tried her best to hold, broke the barrier and started flowing like an endless river.

Melissa, Carl, and Mr. Max were right beside them. All of them were in deep sorrow. Melissa kept crying non-stop and Carl was on her side to console her. Mr. Max was trying to hide his tears at the fact that he had just lost a lifelong friend.

Eric was standing right beside Diana. When she was about to fall to her knees, he held her tight and hugged her from the side.

"Dad… You said you will be here when I come back… You are here but… why can't I feel you, dad?!"

Diana fell to her knees and let all her tears flow freely. She completely broke down. Eric kept holding on to her and let her cry on his shoulder, trying not to cry himself.

Eric kept remembering the promise he made to Mr. Robert the night before. He looked at Mr. Robert and made a promise to himself,

'I promise, I will take care of her. I promise… not just to you but to her and myself as well. That I will do anything and everything to stay by her side… forever.'

...…..

That evening, Mr. Robert was buried leaving behind everyone he ever loved or whoever loved him.

After the funeral, everyone was sitting in Mr. Max's house. Melissa and her mom were sitting on either side of Diana, tears were silently falling from her face. She looked as if she had gone numb from all her senses. Both the women kept trying to coax her into eating something or even sipping a drop of water, but every try was in vain.

"Diana… Please eat something," Melissa tried but there was no response.

"At least drink some water Diana, please…" She kept trying but Diana was numb and lost.

Mr. Max shook his head and sighed, "Ha… Leave her be, Melissa. She needs time to get over her loss."

"But dad…"

"She'll come around soon, Melissa. You just need to be by her side. For now, take her to rest."

Melissa nodded in understanding and turned to Diana. "Let's go, Diana. I'll take you to your room." But there was no response again.

Mr. Max turned to Eric and Carl. "Your highness, I believe you should go back to the palace and rest. Diana will be living with us, and we will take care of Diana."

Eric had his gaze fixed on Diana this whole time. He could feel her pain, sadness, and sorrow. He had a strong desire to take all her pain away and make her smile again with all the happiness in the world.

He finally took his eyes off Diana and turned to Mr. Max. "Thank you, Mr. Max. I know you and your family can take care of Diana and she might be happy to live with her friend here. But…"

He took a breath and said, "I want her to come with me to the palace. It will be better for her to live there."

Mr. Max tried to say something, but Carl stepped in and said, "He is right, Mr. Max. We don't know who the murderer was, and what the person was after. The murderer might try to attack Diana and considering that she might be living in your house, the person could harm you and your family as well. We can provide her with better security in the palace. She will be safe in the palace."

Mr. Max sighed and nodded, "Yes, you are right. The murderer is unknown and so are their strength. We don't know what they might be capable of. It is better and safer for her to live in the palace, with better security and safety."

"We will be taking her with us, then," Eric said.

"But we should first ask Diana. What does she want to do?" Mr. Max said.

Everyone turned to Diana. Diana was still lost, and it seemed that she didn't hear a word of their conversation.

Melissa said to her lightly, "Diana. Where do you wanna stay? Remember, our doors are always open for you."

Diana finally blinked and gulped, "I… I wanna stay at my house."

"But Diana! It could be dangerous for you there." Melissa said worriedly.

"I know it could be dangerous but… I just wanna spend some time at my house, first. After that, I will come and live at the palace. They are right that if the murderer is after me as well, they could harm you as well. And I don't want that."

"Diana…" Eric called out to her.

"Please Eric…" Diana closed her eyes for a second. "Let me be alone for a couple of days."

Eric looked at her and nodded, "Okay… But you only have two days. I'll be coming back to get you after that."

Diana nodded and said, "Thank you."

At midnight, Eric and Carl traveled back to the palace. They were both quiet along the way. Eric was in deep thoughts when Carl decided to speak up.

"Are you sure about letting her live there?"

"I am not," Eric replied.

"Then why did you let her?" Carl asked.

"She might have wanted to have some time alone there for her to accept the reality and get over it."

"But what if the murderer comes again and she gets attacked?"

"That's why I want you to keep an eye on the surroundings of the house. Send your best men to do that and I want them to be on guard all day and night. Keep switching the guard timings in these two days. And most importantly, not let her know any of this."

"Yes, your highness," Carl replied.