~Chapter 60: Eve's Choice~
The so called intruders in front of them were happy and glad. Lento's eyebrows rose as he stared at one of them with his dark eyes for a moment before recognizing them. Penensio sighed as he immediately recognize one of them.
"Chung. Welcome back, but I do not think that a commotion as this is necessary."
"Sorry... We were to crash anyways. Also, how is father?"
"Fine, but stressed out. We're currently in war with Altera.. And..."
Penensio's amber eyes fell on Eve. Chung tightened his grip around Eve as he glared at Penensio. Lento turned on his heels, attracting everyone's attention to him. He raised a hand and silently called back their troops.
"Talk about this later. Right now, we should return to the palace."
Penensio narrowed his eyes at Eve for a moment before leaving with Lento. Chung sighed as he looked at the others. Elsword shrugged before throwing Aren and Elsa on his shoulders and holding Aisha with his mouth. He began to follow the Penensio and Lento. Raven, Rena, and Ara stared at Chung and Eve before they all made way to follow the leaders.
Along the path, the citizens greeted them with as much enthusiasm, however the dark circles under their eyes didn't help. Eve stared at a citizen with empty eyes before a thought came into her mind.
'Is... Altera okay..? I may hate Ignotum, but.. The citizens are innocent. They had nothing to do with the war. They could be living in the streets with nothing, but rags. Whether they're men or women, they have to be involve in the war as well. Creating Nasods and also fighting against Hamel's soldiers..'
Elsword turned his head around and found his eyes staring at Eve and her now sad eyes. Chung found Elsword's gaze on Eve and immediately hugged her from behind. He gave Eve a ride on his back and refused to let her down. Eve was immediately distracted from her thoughts unintentionally by Chung and intentionally by Elsword. Raven whispered words in Rena's ears and she nodded her head.
As soon as they entered the palace, they found themselves bowing down to the intimidating king of Hamel. The troops were ordered to go back and the gates to the palace were closed, along with the doors.
"Chung! Welcome home!"
"Ah... Yes.."
Chung looked a bit uncomfortable with his father's sudden mood change. Eve's hands were on top of his eyes, covering them. Curator stared at Eve for a moment before giving her a warm, gentle smile. Eve nodded her head while Penensio stared intently at Elsword and Elsa on his shoulders.
"You there. Are you... Part of the royal family of the Red Knights?"
"What about it?"
Elsword gave a cold glare at Penensio as Raven took Aren and Elsa off Elsword's shoulders. Aisha was also set down on the ground as her heartbeats were slow and faint. He set Aren and Elsa down on the cold ground before Penensio softly muttered words under his breath.
"So... Both of them are still alive after all these years."
Those words didn't escape Elsword's ears as the confusion was clearly shown on his face. Penensio's expressions grew dark before turning towards his lord.
"Eve... May I ask you something important in private?"
Eve nodded her head as she followed Curator without any hesitation. She knew what was going to be asked and what were going to be the consequences. Lento held Chung back as Chung wanted to come along with them. Ara sat down next to Aren and watched his expressions. Elsword realized Aisha was on the ground before he hugged her body besides him.
'A choice is to be made... Altera or Hamel. It may seem easy and no one would hesitate to choose Hamel, however... Is it really like that?'
"Eve... You're of Altera's royal blood. The princess of Altera. In other words, you're our enemy, but... You're in a relationship with my son. You're going to be my daughter-in-law anyway. I want to ask you. Whose side are you on? Altera, your birthplace or Hamel, your home?"
"Hamel."
"May I ask why Hamel's your choice and not Altera?"
"Hamel... I guess it's because Chung is here. Chung has a connection to Hamel. He loves Hamel."
"In other words, it's because Chung is here. If Chung hadn't existed nor did he met you, you wouldn't have chosen Hamel, but Altera."
"No.. It's not because of only Chung. Chung is only part of my reason. I.. I want to escape from Altera. Altera is where I'll be a caged bird whose freedom would always be restricted. Hamel is a free place. Acceptance is one of the rules in Hamel, isn't it?"
"Tell the truth. The truth about why you don't want to side with your birthplace."
"Ignotum is my brother, but at the same time he isn't. My brother was long gone. Corrupted by power. He'd do anything to get his way. The day he got the throne, it was also the day when I lost my complete freedom. He wouldn't exactly care much about the things I do, but he would lock me inside once I go too far. Meeting with Chung was an opportunity for him to experiment. Harming me isn't a big deal. Ignotum.. Reality is twisted for him. Chung would be harmed or maybe meet death. And that's something I don't want. Chung is someone I truly love and my entire world."
'In other words.. Chung's safety is first priority for her.. Her choices are mostly because of Chung. Doesn't she care about her own feelings? Or maybe... It's because Chung was the one to pull her out of her comfort zone. Chung... It's probably the same for him. Both of them.. Loves the other dearly, preparing themselves for anything. Eternal love, huh... Surely, their love would last forever, never ending, continuing on in the next life and so on.'
Curator gave a small nod and pat Eve's head softly. Eve immediately understood his action's meaning. Chung who managed to sneak away from Lento, heard Eve's words. He tightened his fists for a moment before smiling softly.
'Eve.. I would do the same for you. I'll do anything for you, even becoming evil. We're going to stay by together.. Forever, 'kay?'
"Chung, how about you come inside and stay beside Eve?"
Chung blushed faintly as he entered the room. Eve looked away while Curator left them alone as his thoughts were filled with certain stuff.
As soon as Curator left the room to the loving couple, his expressions turned serious, yet there were signs of gentleness behind it. He turned to Penensio who immediately knelt down with his arm on his chest.
"Penensio. Go and tell Elsword the truth that Elsa hasn't told him."
"What truth?"
"The truth behind your parents."
Elsword tilted his head to the side slightly as he stared at Elsa from the corners of his eyes. Penensio hid his eyes behind his bangs as he led Elsword to another room.
'Elsword's parents... They're both dead... Murdered by someone.'
~Author's Note~
Penensio's purpose... Guess what it is~ :D Also.. I'm going to stick with Curator. I'm sorry. Bear with me. When Assassin's Love comes out, it'll be Helputt. :x By the way.. I'm sorry for updating a day late. Well, it's about 2 hours..?
Anyways, I was at San Jose, CA for my cousin's wedding. It was fun! I was at my aunt's house, which I've never been at. Plus, I get to see my cousins, David and Danny. Also.. I was at the movie theaters, watching World War Z with all of my cousins. :3 We went to the theaters at 12:50AM and came home at 3:15AM.
During the movie, one of those "creatures" surprised me by attacking one of the main characters out of nowhere. I jumped and my shoulder bumped into David causing him to jump along with me. Anyways... It was fun overall, and I updated a bit late because I was tired from the trip. :x
Here are my replies to my reviewers~
The Cynical Asian: :3 Yesh, and I respect you for that. :D I'm beside you. I'll be one of the happiest authors as well. :D My dream will finally come true~ Once Assassin's Love is published. :x Well, you're a guy, so... I guess girls is your first priority? XD Well, Mario saw it.. I was expecting you to be killed, but never mind~ :3 By the way... Do you want to dungeon again with me, but this time with my DC?
MarioRedFire: OAO Why hate me?! You're going to be worldwide famous! XD Well, it's going to be a mystery, so... Try guessing. XD Attack on Titan? Damn. You and my cousin, David talk about Attack on Titan.. XD It looks scary, so I avoided it. Thank you for your generous words~ :3
Kat Neko983: :3 Yay~ And.. It's the exact same words from Chapter 58: Prayer. XD No worries~ I updated~ And... That's when I give up on PvP completely. XD
Sweet Trickster: XD Badass Elsword. The nasty war is going to be a bit gory. Of course~ I would surely make it painless and all happy ending~ Hmm.. I might need to flip the coin or actually... ;D I have a brilliant idea~ It is cute, imagining so. ;3
Orithia WindBell: Eve saved the day once again~ Well, I expect a huge reaction from Aisha later on. XD Well... Elsword used the active "stoic".. Just imagine him standing while a whole bunch of them stood behind him. XD Yeah, he's amazing. He deserves some spotlight. I'm not sure about their child appearing since.. The preview isn't going to be in order and hopefully no one would try to piece the previews together.
Konjiki No Yami: XD It's awesome. I would have done that as well. XD Well... Chung is a grown boy with crazy hormones. XD Plus.. They did it together in the first preview.
An0n Author: :3 And Penensio is going to reveal something important to Elsword! OAO Well, it's during the war, so.. XD Not much enthusiasm.
Helringo: XD Wait.. What's your highest level in the game? 31 or did it change? Well, now you know who they are. XD Meet Penensio and Lento! Yeah, summer. XD I'll probably update more often if I don't get distracted by Kagamine Rin+Len. XD And yeah, I heard about it.
CHANELE SOLAR SYSTEM WOLF: XD Yay~ :3 Now... Forward!
BIAxDiA: The strongest warriors will have to fail sometimes. Ara is boss. XD Of course. Since, it's their Prince after all. :3 Well, it's 60 chapters, including this one. XD And... Chapter 1: Dreams and Thoughts of Eternal Soulmates said that they're all going to be humans. XD And in the first preview for Assassin's Love, it also said that they're all humans~ :D But don't feel stupid. XD You probably skim through it too quickly.
Kiyo-Kun Bladeheart: Sera.. If she is, then I'm going to be honored. And thanks for your generous compliment!
ruby undercover/RubyCrusade: XD No worries~ I'll probably listen to them later.. XD Well, he's badass. XD Oh god.. That's a dangerous situation. :x If you don't update, then I'll die of anxiety. OAO Well, you can still write, but slower updates... Sadness... Q-Q However! I shall wait for you! :D
Thanks for reading!
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