Blood is thicker than water (4)

Feeling the crustiness around the eyes, Levinte struggled to open his eyelids as blinding lights penetrated his cornea.

"Ugh..." He moaned and gave a huge yawn. "What happened..." He whispered, low in energy, the feeling of drowsiness still intact. Lifting his head, he looked at his arms encased in plasters.

"You're awake! Your uncle was very worried about you." A nurse approached his bed with a soft smile.

Levinte supported his head and raised his eyebrows. "Where is he?" He asked.

Her smile widened, "He left while you were resting, he'll come back soon. Are you still feeling tired?"

While listening to her explanation, Levinte rested his eyes, then opened them. "A little." He answered.

"You were given some medication to enable restoration in a deep sleep since your energy was entirely sucked out. You need to rest more until the tiredness completely fades away." The nurse advised. Smiling, Levinte nodded. "Okay."

After checking and monitoring his condition, the nurse walked away and giggled, a blush suffusing her cheeks. Levinte detected a loving sensation radiating from her but did not mind, maybe she was thinking about her lover.

Staring at the ceiling, he remembered the incident back then. The pitch-black scene and the sound of people screaming were still vivid in his mind, he could not believe that he had gone through the terrifying incident. Then a recollection flashed through his mind—the attack in the restaurant. He wondered, did both incidents have a link? The people in black and the black surroundings, did they have anything to do with each other?

Maybe yes or maybe no, but Levinte knew that the empire was a target for some evil people out there.

While musing on the problem, he suddenly had another thought—this time he did not dream of anything like before. It was a one-time experience but if analyzed, a miracle dream would appear if he was deep in sleep.

What a shame, he lowkey wished he had a superpower to dream about the past.

From the corner of his eye, he could see a figure standing at the edge of his bed as his eyes lowered. He snapped out of his daydreaming and saw a tall and intimidating woman, her red lips curled up, her smoky dark blue eyes staring into his soul.

"You're not the one I was looking for." She said in a disappointed tone. "Where's the guy? I saw him here a while ago but Diana won't let me off the hook before completing my task." Placing her hand under her chin, she pouted and sighed. "I wanted to have a look at him. What poor timing."

Hearing her say the empress' name casually, Levinte's eyes widened in shock. He cleared his throat and asked, "Are you looking for my uncle?"

"Uncle? The guy's your uncle? Your mother's his sister?"

Uncle has a sister?

"I... Uh... I'm his bloodline but I call him uncle..." Levinte lowered his gaze, feeling intimidated by her stare.

"Oh! I was shocked to hear that she has a child left alone on earth." Her fingers tapped her cheek.

Levinte internally asked many questions. His eyes blinked rapidly, beyond confused by her words. "...Who are you talking about?"

The woman smirked, "Oh right, you wouldn't know about her. Never mind, tell your uncle that the Grand Duchess of Kopis will be waiting for him to visit the Kopis household."

"Huh?" He wrinkled his brow inquisitively. She chuckled at him, winked, and sashayed away. Levinte's line of sight was on her, completely blank, perplexed by her words. Not remembering a single word she said, he almost wanted to call her back to repeat her words but she was already out of sight.

What in the world was that about?

As he tried to recall her words, his eyelids slowly became heavy and his mind was clouded. He repeated the word 'Kopis' in his head since that was all he could think about. Like an exercise of counting sheep to fall asleep, Levinte gradually succumbed to another deep sleep.

"Why isn't he waking up? Huhu, I was out for a while hoping he would be awake by now but he's still sleeping!" A weeping voice fell into Levinte's ears as he regained consciousness. Falling asleep felt like a moment of darkness then waking up after a few seconds. As before, he did not dream of anything.

"He did wake up... But he said that he was still feeling tired so I told him to rest," Her tone implied that she was having a hard time consoling the weeping voice. "There there..."

Inhaling a deep breath, Levinte opened his eyes and exhaled loudly. "Why are you crying? You're embarrassing me..."

"Levi!" Acre jolted up and fidgeted around. Unexpectedly, he cried harder. Sighing, Levinte turned his head to look at the smiling nurse. "I'm so sorry you had to witness this scene..."

Her face was covered in a pink blush as her eyes locked on Acre, not looking at Levinte while answering, "It's okay," Her smile became increasingly eerie when Acre cried even harder.

"I was so worried about you! Huhu, don't scare me like that." Acre wiped his teary eyes. Levinte rolled his eyes in defeat, letting Acre cry as much as he wanted. The man wasn't the only one crying in the room, he was accompanied by family members of other victims in the room. There were still a few people who had not awakened from their deep slumber and their family members stood beside their beds, worried sick and tearing up.

"Uncle, I have something to tell you..." Levinte motioned Acre to lean closer. Sniffing, Acre sat down and pulled his chair closer to him. Levinte wanted to talk in a low voice, however, the nurse did not seem to show any signs of leaving. He awkwardly glanced at her, finding it hard to dismiss her.

Acknowledging the situation, Acre turned his head and looked at the nurse. "Thanks for everything. You can go now." He said with a slight smile.

The nurse snapped out of her fantasies and quickly walked away in small steps, sometimes glancing back.

"Back then, a woman was searching for you. She told me that the Grand Duchess will be waiting for you in the Kopis household." After rejuvenating, Levinte's mind was fresh as ever.

"The Grand Duchess of Kopis? What's with her?" Acre said, raising his brow. Levinte became more confused by Acre's confusion. "How would I know? Then she mistook me for being your sister's child."

His last sentence made Acre's eyes widen in shock.

"She's very weird. She called the empress by her name without any honorific title. Is that even allowed?" Levinte complained.

"Mn... Grand Duchess of Kopis was it? After we leave the city let's visit her." Acre's tone sounded serious compared to his usual way of talking.

Levinte looked displeased, "You're taking her words seriously?"

"I have to. How can someone I don't recognize knows about my personal life?" His poker face hinted that he was disturbed by the woman. Levinte frowned, is she a stalker?

"By the way uncle, I have an aunt? Is she outside of Earth?" Levinte inquired. Since they are family, there was no harm in asking for something more personal. Acre's serious face changed and a slight smile spread across his face, amused by his question. "Did she tell you something like that?"

"She thought I was your sister's child left on earth," When Levinte thought about it, it was pretty sad. "She's married?"

Seeing him pouting, Acre laughed, "She is, but she doesn't have any children. If she did, they would follow their father. Well, since it's not a secret now, I might as well say everything. That's right, I have a sister, a twin, in fact, she's living thousands of light years away from Earth."

"..."

Levinte did not actually expect him to say something so absurd and bamboozling. Compared to his staggering sentence on the day they met, this was too much information. In simple terms, huh?

Levinte struggled with his words, "So you're saying... I have an alien uncle-in-law?"

With the biggest smile, Acre's eyes lit up, "Yep!"