Chapter 35

"I'll be back soon, leader." Nash stated. She is accompanying Yjhan out of the palace.

"I know. Head inside, you shouldn't have escorted me out."

"Still... I feel guilty not telling you those things, even though my family told me to address critical matters with my leader," Nash pouted.

"It's all right. Given your circumstances, it is difficult to tell others about your situation."

Yjhan patted Nash's head before turning his back to her, "I'll be going now."

Nash nodded as she watched Yjhan walking away from her.

Before Nash entered the dining hall, she saw Serio entering as well. Before Serio entered the dining hall, Nash stopped him.

"Grampa, do you have any healing ointment?" she muttered.

"For?"

"Bruises."

"I do. I'll send it to you later," Nash smiled and nodded, Thank the highest he didn't ask what happened.

"Nash, what about you take Owen on a tour or have a walk to the garden"

Ivelisse ordered as soon as Nash entered the hall.

"Let's go," Owen followed her. "Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere tranquil" Nash nodded and extended her arms, causing Owen to scowl. Nash laughs it off and asks him to follow her.

They went to the pond and sat down on the grass. It's not too hot because of the trees surrounding the area and all you can hear are the tree leaves hitting each other and the silent whoosh of wind, as well as the birds singing.

No one said anything and just stared at the pond until Nash broke the silence.

"I wonder if there are fish there," Nash can't help but think.

"Isn't this your home? You should know more if there are fishes there,"

"I guess you didn't know, but when I was here, this pond was just flat grass like the ones we're sitting."

'I heard this was built half a year after I left.'

"Why where did you go? I'm pretty sure you weren't adopted as his majesty resembles you so much," Nash chuckled.

"I wasn't here before this pond was built; I'm staying at my aunt Terry and uncle Vicor's house."

"But isn't the prince Vicor living on Earth?" Nash looked at him, smiled and nodded, "you were there too? Why?"

He couldn't help but ask.

"I'm pretty sure you'll say I'm immature, but what happened was that I had an argument with my father, which we usually do, but at the time, almost 5 years ago, it was much worse because of how extreme my tantrums were at the time," she lay down on the grass and stared at the tree leaves before continuing. Owen soon followed. "Before that time, my sister began to attend many tea parties and such, but I disliked tea from the first time I tried it, which is why I never got the chance to have tea with my family. I don't want to consume chocolate with them because I was acting as if my sister and I were the same age at the time."

"What's wrong with chocolate drinks?"

"I find it childish to drink chocolate while my family drinks tea."

"You make it sound like tea is drunk by mature people."

"I did," Nash chuckled.

"How is that connected with you leaving Marquea?"

"I was jealous. As you know, I never leave the palace unless I am all alone, I tend to leave the palace at night just to satisfy myself that I can also leave like others."

"Then why don't you just leave the palace? You can bring guards with you."

"Mother wouldn't let me, and I was afraid of the priest discovering my identity, so I left alone at night and went to the market. I also want to go to fancy restaurants with my family and experience a ball but I never had. Anyways, back to me leaving the palace since I think we're moving too far from the topic." She breathed deeply, "I confronted father, I asked him why did he have to let me live with a demon inside. I told him how much it hurts inside whenever the demon tried to lose control, I told him that I'm just a child and how could I suffer at this young age. I told him that he should've just let me die."

She bit her lower lips, "Actually, I don't hate my demon; I just use it as an excuse."

"Do they neglect you in order for you to act like that?" Nash shook her head.

"They never abandoned me; in fact, they are overly concerned with my well-being. I honestly don't know why I did it, but witnessing my father's reaction at the time made my heart ache, but my young self didn't realize it. It was father's decision to build me a vessel only to keep me alive, and I'm sure he felt horrible about it."

When a tear slips into her eyes, she quickly wipes it away and smiles.

"Days after that, I heard uncle and aunt leaving for Earth, where there are different kinds of people, unlike us, and where there is no such hierarchy as there is here. So I sneaked in and there I am. I was supposed to return after a month, but it ended up being 5 years because of certain things that I want to accomplish before coming back," she sat back up and looked at Owen who was looking at her.

"Do you know what the worst thing I did after I returned? It was just me behaving normally, as if I hadn't said such harsh words to my father. Until then, I had never expressed regret for the words I had spoken. But you know what bothers me the most? It's the fact that, even after I said those things to my father, he continues to act normally in front of me, as if I had never said such hurtful words,"

Owen stayed silent until Nash rose to her feet, "Are we leaving?"

Nash shook her head and answered, "I will check if there are fishes there."

She walked over to the pond and looked intently to see if there was any, but there wasn't. Nash returned his gaze and exclaimed, "There is no fish!"

"Just as I thought," he walked towards Nash and stood beside her.

"Hey, whatever you heard from me today, keep it in you or else I will smash your head in that rock to make you forget," she said pointing to a large boulder nearby.

"I know, don't worry."

From a distance, Nash's siblings watch the two. They heard everything Nash said. Celeste is silently crying, hugging her twin brother. Vincenzo on the other hand was just staring at them.

"Let's go back," Vincenzo replied, beginning to walk away. The twins trailed him back to the dining hall.

"What's wrong?" Ivelisse asked her daughter, worried. Celeste shook her head.

"Daniel teased her with a big spider," Vincenzo explained as he sat back down.

Ivelisse slapped Daniel on the back, not too hard. "I told you not to do that!"

"But it's no—" Celeste covered her twin brother's mouth and wiped the remaining tears in her eyes.

"I'm fine, mother, I was just shocked," she answered with a smile. She turned to face her father, who was staring back at her.

"How about Nash and Owen?" Roven asked.

Celeste smiled before answering, "They're at the pond searching for fish."

"I see,"