Chapter 7: Inheritance

With only Alexander and Emilie remaining, the atmosphere slowly simmered down.

She stood up and moved to the seat opposite Alexander.

"How are you feeling?" Emilie asked in a calm yet caring tone.

Finding it difficult to look at her in the eyes, he gazed away.

"I'm fine!"

Of course, his face reflected otherwise.

"Alright! You're always a strong lad. Like what Cillian always said." She said with a soft smile.

Not knowing how to reply, Alexander remained quiet.

After another short while, Emilie spoke.

"Regarding today's event."

"Our security officers have pinpointed how the terrorist managed to infiltrate the convoy."

Alexander's face soon stared right at her.

"They disguised themselves as Egyptian supply officers and smuggled a Gate Diffusion Bomb on board a UN supply ship."

"However."

Alexander's face soon frowned when hearing that word.

"We have to wait for further raids and interrogation analytics."

"From the initial interrogation reports, which we can't guarantee the accuracy, the bomb was not developed by the group."

"On further 'incentives', one of the terrorists broke and told us that they met the bomb-maker in a bar in Istanbul."

Lifting her drink, she drank it slowly before continuing.

"The most startling thing was his description of the bomb maker."

"He told us the bomb maker is 1.8 metres tall, caucasian male with blonde half up half down hair. He has a sharp face and wore a black bespoke vest. He spoke fluent Arabic and English with a Scottish accent. His body bared no discernible scars or tattoos."

The information fully distorted Alexander's expression.

"We couldn't confirm the information with the other initial captured terrorists."

"Someone was fucking disguising as my family members!" Unable to rein in his emotion any longer, Alexander angrily cursed out loud.

She flicked the boy in the head.

"Calm down first. Being angry here won't do you any good."

"Ouch. Sorry." Alexander apologised and calmed himself down.

"Let's continue. Whether or not we are dealing with a renegade Eliot. We still need to wait for more information to arrive first before making concrete decisions."

Emilie twirled her finger on her glass rim.

"However."

"Just to be sure. I did some digging with our extended family."

Alexander didn't like the fact that she used "our extended family". However, he just quietly listened.

"The Eliot family's famous purple eyes are actually extremely rare."

She pointed at his eyes, "The only members that have that feature are you."

Her finger then slowly moved toward the smaller family picture in the room, "Cillian and your father, Edmund."

Emilie stopped for a moment so that Alexander could process all the information before continuing.

"The bar described by the terrorist was real. However, all CCTV footage of that day around the block and in the bar were deleted."

"Hence, for now, we should wait for more concrete evidence to arrive."

As she stopped her retelling, the room quieted down. Alexander was left to his thoughts.

Again, she had her drink whilst Alexander digested the new information.

"Are you alright so far?"

"Yes!" Although his words seemed fine, Alexander was honestly lost. He genuinely didn't know what to do and how to process this event.

***

Noticing Alexander slowly downing in his own world, Emilie stood up and moved towards Alexander. Surprised by her sudden movement, he reflectively moved back. However, Emilie caught his arm and pulled him up.

"Come! Let's have a walk to clear your mind. I'll brief you whilst we walk."

Before Alexander could utter a response, she had already dragged him out of the family dining room.

She moved calmly through the chateau's extensive hallway whilst Alexander followed behind.

His feeling of loss and confusion were slowly drowned out by the alluring scent of her perfume, distracting his mind from his sorrow.

The employees also ignored the sight of Alexander being dragged around as if this was a daily occurrence.

"Let's talk about your schedule," she spoke whilst pulling him by the elbow.

"Err. Can you let me go first?"

"In a week, that is the following Friday. We will host a private funeral for Cillian. Charlie will also meet you then to talk more about Cillian's will," She ignored his request and continued.

"The week after that, that is Friday after next Friday. The government will host a state funeral for all crew members of the HMS Victoria."

"I will have someone pick you up for those two events."

"Don't worry about speeches! You won't be required to give any."

"Cillian had kept your identity and information a secret. Hence, you won't have to worry about the Press troubling you during those events."

"Hmm, alright, regarding your free days." Emilie paused her words for a while before continuing.

"You can spend them however you wish. However, if you wish to leave the chateau, please inform Brandt or the security team. So they could prepare a protection team for you."

"I don't think that is necessary," Alexander opposed such unneeded complications.

"Don't worry. They will only follow you from behind and won't interfere with your business."

***

They continued to talk about safety protocol. After a while, Emilie stopped in front of a lift.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah!"

Tiredness was the only feeling present on Alexander after being dragged around by Emilie for the past 10 minutes.

*Ding*

The lift arrived, and they entered.

"Where are we going?"

"To a place where you can do Cillian's quests."

"Are you talking about the inheritance requirements?"

No," she laughed. "I'm talking about the quests regarding Cillian's decision to colonise Tatos."

"Why did you laugh about the inheritance requirements?" Sensing something wrong, Alexander asked again.

"No. It's nothing. However, you are in for a good time." Emilie continued to laugh out loud.

"Can you at least tell me about it?"

"Why should I? Cillian didn't task me with that. You can always wait a few days to hear it from Charlie." She smirked.

"Please … sister in law."

"Hmm. I don't know. How about you owe me a favour for it," Emilie's smirk became wider.

"I don't know," Alexander tried to stop his curiosity from killing him.

"I won't ask you to do something difficult. Most likely, it will be a minor errand." Emilie enticed him a bit more.

"Fine. Only a minor errand. Ok!" Alexander cracked.

"Hehehe!" She had a joyful laugh. "There are two requirements for you to get Cillian's inheritance."

"First," she pointed her finger at him. "You need to get married."

"Second," she pointed another finger at him. "You both need to produce offspring."

"Why"

"Hahahahah," seeing the miserable look on his face, Emilie couldn't stop herself from laughing.

After calming herself down, Emilie replied in a serious tone, "Cillian knows that you have been afraid of creating new bonds. The wounds of losing those you loved haven't been close yet."

"He was afraid that his passing would exacerbate your problem and make it worse."

"Hence, knowing your deep love for your family, he knows that you will try your best to complete his request."

"Will you overcome your fear of love, or will your love of fear overcome you."

*Ding*

*You have arrived at the 5B lab*

"That's for you to decide," without waiting for his replies, Emilie walked through the door.