Chapter 46: The Search

There was an awkward silence as soon as the not-so-unexpected couple noticed him. The two ladies shyly moved away from each other. Siorre sat on the windowsill while Lira settled on the chair by the long table.

"I'm sorry," Aries sincerely apologized. "We can talk over dinner."

"No," Lira blushed as she cleared her throat. "I need to hear your report."

"And we have no more time to waste," Siorre added with a glare. "Pines might arrive here at any moment."

"Then let's remove that transport gem you put in our room," Aries nonchalantly suggested.

"I cannot entirely go back from my word," Siorre sighed. "So, what happened at the quadrangle?"

"Prince Sunrei won," Aries reported. "I also tried penetrating the manor."

"Aries!" Lira was terrified.

Siorre, on the other hand, smiled proudly and gave him two thumbs up before asking, "How did it go?"

"I only reached half of the second floor," Aries casually replied.

"You've reached… half of the second floor?" Lira was dumbfounded. "Then…"

"Yes," Aries answered her unfinished question. "I saw your mother and she is doing well. We can return to her now. But I guess we have to hide our scent. Do you know what perfume your mother is using?"

"I'm not hallucinating. I can smell it in you," Lira eagerly got up on her feet and approached Aries. She tried to sniff his scent more closely.

"Yah!" Siorre yelled. "Is that necessary?!" She hurriedly moved away from the window sill and searched his overcoat, "Maybe your mother put a bottle of perfume in his…" She grinned and pulled a tiny bottle of lavender liquid from the inner pocket of his overcoat, just near his chest. "See this?"

She must have put it in his overcoat while he was busy fighting Merrick.

"Mother…" Lira cried as she carefully held that tiny bottle close to her cheek. "It's been a long time since I last saw her."

"She is as beautiful as you are that for a moment I thought I was looking at you."

"I will only allow you to say those words for now," Siorre glared at Aries who quickly promised, "I will say it to her only tonight. She needs to hear it. Don't worry. My heart belongs to only one."

"I know," Siorre grinned, probably misunderstanding what Aries meant.

"Let's go," Lira commanded.

"Can I tag along?"

"Of course," Aries answered the Scorpio House Leader. "I already tried it earlier. I can bring two people along with me. And I think that will be the best. We need to protect Lira at all cost."

"This will be enough for one trip. I am hoping that my mother can help us."

"She already helped me and I am only a stranger to her," Aries reminded the hesitant future house leader. "What more can she do for her daughter?"

Lira confidently smiled and said, "Let's go."

^########^

It was easier returning to that room where Aries had seen the woman who greatly resembled Lira. The moment they entered the chamber through the shadow cast by the four-poster bed, Lira had been caught in a tight embrace by her mother.

"Siorre, I leave Lira to you. I'll just check on Princess Pieffer and Prince Sunrei," Aries whispered at the Scorpio House Leader.

"Sure," she quickly agreed. "I can take her back to the hideout."

"Call us if…"

"I know," Siorre grabbed Aries by his shoulders and lightly pushed him towards the shadow. "Don't worry. We will not get caught."

He smiled then passed through the shadows and searched for the royal siblings at the hideout. They were no longer there so Aries went to the House of Bull. He did not use the transport bracelet because he only wanted to watch through the shadows.

After a few minutes of searching, he found the royal siblings in the backyard of the tower which was the home of Tauren. There were a few graves in it. Princess Pieffer, Sunrei, and Tauren were kneeling in front of a newly made one.

Aries waited until they were done paying respect to their relative. It must have been hours before they decided to leave the grave of Merrick and returned to the tower. He waited for another hour before he moved out of the shadows and knelt in front of the grave. He picked up pebbles on his way there and built a prayer stone for the person he had killed.

I'm sorry that it all comes to this. I wish you a better existence in your next lifetime. Have a healthy body and live however you want to live. Be alive. Be who you are.

"I'm sure that Merrick is on his way to being reborn with a healthy body and a life filled with freedom," Princess Pieffer knelt beside Aries.

"Mindreader," he muttered, making the princess smile even by a little.

"It is all we can think of for every person that we could not save, my cousin included. We can only hope for a better reincarnation for them. But that can only happen if Serestral becomes a better world for them."

"Right. We have a lot of things to do," Aries lowered his head one more time in front of the grave. "Wait for it. All of you."

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Aries bid farewell to Princess Pieffer and returned to the manor. He did not step out of the shadow because Lira and Siorre were no longer in that room.

"Your scent lingers," Mother of Lira had spoken and there was an unusual coldness in her voice that confused Aries. She was sitting on the bed and did not look up from the book she was reading. "They left hours ago," she went on saying in her cold voice. "You should also go back."

Aries felt that there was no need for him to reply. He just quietly took his leave. When he returned to the hideout, the royal siblings were already in the chamber of the future house leader.

"You!" Lira shot a strict glare at Aries. "Sit here," she motioned at the empty seat opposite Siorre.

"What's wrong?" Aries asked after he had settled on the chair.

"Mother told me that you killed two guards in the quadrangle," the strict glare in the eyes of the future house leader had turned into frustration. "I told you not to kill anyone until we get the Book of Balance."

Aries suddenly understood the coldness in the voice of Lira's mother. He had committed a crime.

"I need to save the prince," Aries was not regretting anything. "Punish me once you've become the house leader."

"Death is your only punishment," Lira reminded him.

"Then punish me after we save Serestral. Prince Sunrei will try to kill me anyway. We can do that Battle to the Death."

"Aries!" Princess Pieffer was horrified.

"I agree," Prince Sunrei agreed. "We can do that Battle to the Death."

"I'm not listening to any of this!" Princess Pieffer furiously got up on her feet and rushed out of the room.

"I'm serious with it," Aries told Lira.

"Fine," the future house leader sighed. "Let's decide on it once we get the Book of Balance."

"Did you get information from your mother?" Aries inquired.

"Father was not telling anyone about its location. He trusts no one, even his wife," Lira let out another heavy sigh. "But Mother thinks that he is hiding it in his room. That must be the reason he had thrown mother out of their room," she slammed her hand on the table in frustration. "We need to find that book!"

"I will find it," Aries promised. "I just have to take a bath. I need to remove any scent in my body before I return to the manor."

Lira nodded and motioned for him to take his leave.

^######^

After making sure that the scent in his body had somehow been minimized, Aries changed into a new set of fresh clothing. Lira provided him their black uniform. It was light and had a very faint smell. He had quickly gotten used to it. The future house leader had also given him new sets of securely packed smoke bombs and fireworks. He hid it well in the pockets of his overcoat then stepped into the shadows and return to the manor.

Though Lira had said that the Book of Balance might be in the room of her father, Aries still inspected the remaining rooms on the second floor. He did not find an extraordinary book in any of those areas but something unusual had caught his attention. Those chambers were empty. That made Aries check the other rooms again. They were also empty. Even the mother of Lira had gone missing. He checked the guards on both floors. They appeared as composed as they were the last time he was there. Even the housemaids looked calm. Aries wondered where the residences in the upper rooms went and if that was a normal routine.

Aries returned to the second floor and stared at the door of the only chamber he had not yet inspected. He had this feeling that everyone missing from their rooms had been gathered inside that area. He was suddenly hesitant to enter that room. Then he remembered his promise to Lira. He should get that book now.

Moving as carefully and as quietly as he could, he searched for shadows inside the chamber of the present house leader.

That was the biggest room on the second floor but it only had a few luxurious pieces of furniture. A king-sized bed was on the leftmost corner of the room. Tall cabinets lined on one side of the wall. A fireplace with couches was located near a wide window. A glass door was separating the balcony where the present house leader was relaying all his verdicts. A long table that was similar to the one in the chamber of Lira was positioned on the right corner of the room and it only had one elegant chair next to it. High shelves filled with books occupied most of the remaining walls. But Aries still could not glimpse any extraordinary book.

Contrary to what he was expecting, the room was nearly empty. A few sentries were guarding the balcony but no one was inside the chamber except the house leader and he was walking along the shelves as if counting the books in there.

The old man pulled one leather-bound book and opened it. After a few minutes of looking into the pages, he had softly spoken, as if he was reading from the book but the words that he had said appeared not to have come from it.

"Return to where you came from."

Those were his words and, at that moment, he looked like a different person. He was not possessed. Aries was certain of it but if someone won against him in the battle to the death then he could truly be a different person.

"Save your friends," the old man glanced at the shadow near the bookshelves. "Save my daughter."

Aries moved his hands out of the shadows as guards from the balcony had entered the room and had their weapons aimed at the house leader. He grabbed the old man inside the shadows before he had been stabbed in the back by the guards. He pulled the old man deeper into the shadows until he saw what he was looking for.

The Book of Balance was in a secluded room right behind those towering shelves. The chamber was not that wide. It had no windows but it was well lighted and ventilated. There was a vent at the high ceiling. Lamps were hanging at the pillars in the walls. A locked door was on the farthest corner of the room. No guards were guarding that precious book. It must be because no one can touch it but the house leader and the future house leader.

"How did you do that?" the old man was astounded.

"I am a Zodiac Knight. I can do some extraordinary stuff," Aries simply answered. "Get the book and I will take you with me."

"The Book of Balance is safest in this chamber," the old man insisted. "Lira is the one you should bring to this place."

Aries glared with suspicion at the present house leader.

"You need to move now," the old man pleaded. "They are attacking her base."

"What? How…" his eyes widened as he realized the mistake he had committed. "Stay here."

The old man nodded and Aries quickly jumped back into the shadows.

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