32 Our Future (iii)

I opened the box and found swords in it.

"These are royal family swords?"

"Yeah."

"Then why did you bring them here?"

"My father told me too; you are the next heir, so that they will be yours."

I have been to my grandparents' place many times, so of course, I have seen swords and many royal family treasures.

Some swords are considered national treasures; one sword is made with the rarest material, one made with diamond; they are precious, kept in the safe, and have tight security so...

"Why the hell did he send them here?"

"The palace is undergoing renovation, so we are only keeping these here for some time."

"That's it?" I was worried about nothing-

"But they are now yours." my mother quipped.

"So, what did grandpa say?"

"He was talking about making you public on your 18th birthday."

"I see."

"If you don't want that, you can tell us; we will talk with my father."

"Nah, it's okay."

"Was Aunt Lirole there too?"

"No, Tirole didn't come; I will talk to her later."

"Oh, by the way, you guys already ate?"

"Yeah, we ate on our way back."

"Okay then, I will order something."

"No need for that." my mother stopped me.

"Why? Wait, you don't mean you will cook for me, right? You look exhausted; I don't want to trouble you."

"No, we brought some pizza with us."

"Oh, didn't think of that."

They usually don't let me eat junk food, but it's okay once in a while, and I can't tell them I have been overeating junk food; it's all Elena's fault. She drags me around from one place to another and makes me eat junk food.

I was eating pizza and...

"Been years since I saw swords." my mother said as she took a sword from the box.

"How about you show Das your sword skills?"

"Sure, Das, watch carefully."

"What are you---"

My mother started swinging the sword. She is using the sword like she has been using them since she was a kid--well, I am sure my grandparents taught her.

"I am in the mood too." my father said as he took one of the swords from the box.

"Hey, dad, what are you doing?"

"Watch me."

My father did the same thing as my mother; how does he know how to use a sword?

"Want to have a duel?" asked my mother.

"I was just going to ask you that." said my father.

You are kidding, right? These are real swords; if you miss them, you will get hurt.

"Hey, stop---"

I couldn't stop them; how could I possibly stop them when they are having so much fun?

It's like they have fought many battles and know exactly what they are doing...ah, my father did say that he and mom have played a VR game together.

"So you have played a VR game, huh?" my mother stopped fighting when I said that.

"How do you know about that?" she asked.

"Dad told me."

"Derek? Why did you tell him?"

"It's okay; we shouldn't hide it from him."

What are they about? I have never seen such a horrified look on my mother's face before.

"Didn't we talk about it already?" my mother yelled.

I haven't seen her yelling either; she sometimes yells at me, but as long as I remember, she has never yelled at my father before.

"Angela, it's okay, something like that will never happen again."

Something like what? Wait...you don't mean---that can't be true, right?

"Dad, could it be that the VR game you played was the ---"

My mother's phone rang, "It's Lirole, wait a minute Das."

"Okay." my mother answered the call.

"Hey Lirole"

I haven't seen my aunt in 3 years.

"Yeah, I went to the palace today."

Is she embarrassed to call that place her home?"

"Yeah, why didn't you ---wha...no way! Congratulations."

Huh? Congratulations? What happened?

"I see, yeah, okay, yeah, sure, yeah, take care."

"What did she say?" my father asked.

"Lirole is pregnant."

"I will call Ady later."

Ady is my aunt's husband--wait, now it's not the time for that, she is pregnant?

My aunt is 16 years younger than my mom, and my mom is currently 50, so my aunt is 34.

It's normal to get pregnant at 34; I have a cousin too; she is 15 years old.

Let me tell you a legend of royal family blood; in the royal family, ever since forever, every male has got his lover pregnant at the age of 20; the same goes for every female, a female gets pregnant at age 20 too. No one can avoid that; it's like destiny; even my grandfather got my grandmother pregnant when they were 20, and that's the reason for the 16 years age gap between my mother and my aunt.

The same thing happened with my aunt. She got pregnant when she was still in university. My uncle and aunt took a break from university for a year and resumed it the next year. When my aunt gave birth to my cousin, it was kept secret from the world; my uncle and aunt got married at 20 on paper but had their ceremony ten years later.

It didn't happen with my mom, though; my mom is truly awesome; she broke the legend.

"Lier is coming here next week." said my mother.

"I see."

I haven't seen her in a year; I am worried about her, will the legend happen to her? She is currently 15, so there are still five years left; maybe she already has a boyfriend? No way, right? She is the same as me; she had the same childhood like me, even more cruelly than mine.

"What's wrong, Das?"

"Nothing, I am going to bed."

I didn't sleep yesterday either; I am feeling sleepy.

Das went upstairs to his room meanwhile,

"Angela, you should act calmly in front of Das."

"But when I heard about VR game--"

"Something like that won't happen again; it was 30 years ago; the world has changed now."

"I still have nightmares of the time we were trapped in the game."

"But we cleared the game, right? Everyone was safe."

"Many died in the game."

"I know."

"We are not the ones who cleared the game."

"I know."

"We are not the ones who saved the players."

"I know."

"It was 'Zero'!"

"I know."

"That person cleared the game, that person saved us, saved everyone."

"I know, I know."

"He lost his lover in that game."

"..."

"He lost everything in the game."

"....."

"He was one of the victims, but he was treated as the culprit behind that tragedy."

"Angela---"

"And when the misunderstanding was cleared, he was found dead months later."

"....."

"Do you think someone like him can die in a car incident?"

"I--"

"He was killed, and I am sure of it."

"Angela, it's okay; he is watching over us, watching over the VR world so, something like that won't happen again."

"Do you believe that?"

"There is no reason not to believe that."

"I hope it's true."

"Yeah."

Angela walked to the kitchen and took out a beer bottle.

"Angela? What are you doing?"

"I want to drink some beer."

"You can't handle beer well."

"It's okay; I will only drink a small amount."

She gulped down the entire bottle.

"Angela?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you drunk?"

"Derek... you look cute."

"Yeah, you are drunk."

"I am not...drunk."

"You are."

"I am...not."

She took the sword which was lying on the sofa and started swinging it.

"Hey, watch out; you will hurt yourself."

"I will not, I...will protect...you."

"Yeah, you did protect me back then, many times."

She passed out soon after, and Derek took her into their room.