Chapter 61: Court Of Celestial Valor
"Secret? Frankly speaking, I’ve always known Lord Ivan had a softer side, does this ’secret’ have something to do with why he’s like this?" Perplexed by Claire’s incomprehensible statement, Ivy questioned her concerning the secret they were all hiding, but not too much to her surprise, Claire simply swatted it away and returned her agitated gaze to the lonely dark sky, not having the miniscule strength in her heart to visit the past where the horrors undoubtedly began.
"There’s no need for you to intrude," she had used that as an excuse to drop Ivy’s interference, "it happened long ago, I see no valid reason bringing up the past when it shouldn’t matter to the present."
"You don’t have to tell me if that is the case, but please be aware of the fact that the past simply doesn’t run from the present either. If need be, the past will most definitely come back to haunt the present. Not all past deeds can go buried till it is rectified."
Slowly rising from the bed, Ivy lowered her head and smiled faintly. "I will be leaving tomorrow, the burial rites have been performed successfully, so I must return to my Kingdom and oversee a few things."
"I shall see you off tomorrow. Have a good night." Claire also lowered her head in the form of a courtesy, and after bidding one another goodnight, Ivy quietly left the room.
The next day at the Royal Chevalier Palace, Samantha had woken up early to find Lord Ivan’s bed empty of his presence as usual.
Why does he have a bed if he never makes time to use it? Thought Samantha as she pushed her body up into a sitting position. Normally he would either be absent, or she would find him slouching on the chaise lounge that was placed in the corner of the room, sipping his usual blood wine in a regal pose.
Yawning while stretching her arms out, Samantha looked beside the empty space on her bed to find whiskers asleep. The cute cat was curled up like a white fluffy ball underneath her blanket, its snow white tail wrapped around its furry body.
"Whiskers?"
A subtle frown graced her delicate demeanor as a vague memory of what happened yesterday flooded her brain, and her pupils automatically tensed.
The lit-up sconces that once provided an eerie illumination in the orb room had mysteriously extinguished itself last night, leaving her enveloped in pitch blackness. The panic that threatened to consume her soul had her reaching her trembling hands out to touch or hold on to something, anything at all, and she was so frightened that the air in her lungs ceased for a millisecond.