Chapter 34: She Knows

[Fiore's Castle, Garden]

"So... You went ahead and did it, didn't you?" Lavi said as shook his head disappointingly, "This was supposed to be a secret, you know that right?"

"I know..." Mary sighed as she fell back down onto her chair, "I just can't hide it any longer. She has every right to know."

"Look, I'm not saying that what you did was wrong, I'm just shock that you ACTUALLY told her." He justified as an attempt to comfort her.

"But, do you think she'll be alright?" Beck asked as a hint of concern flashed through his eyes. He was actually really worried for Emily. Will she able to handle the news? Could she bring herself to accept Damian's true identity? All these questions were just spiralling in his mind.

However, an unfamiliar voice penetrated through his train of thought.

"She's fine. Despite how she look, she isn't as 'breakable' as you think."

Everyone at the table instantly whipped their head towards the direction of the voice and they saw... a fairy?

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Elizabeth." The creature introduced as she flew to the middle of the table. Taking a quick glance at her surroundings, she beamed, "Wow, this castle has changed quite a bit, didn't it?"

Everyone froze upon seeing her.

"OH MY GOD! THAT'S A HUGE FLY!" Mary yelled as she hid behind Lavi's chair, "AND IT SPOKE! SOMEONE KILL IT!"

Elizabeth flew towards her and glowered, "How rude! I'm not a fly! I'm a fairy."

Just then, Mary started chanting something under her breath, before shouting loudly, "Get away, DEMON!"

Beck laughed nervously when she did that, "...Demon, huh? I hope that won't work."

Just then, the queen placed her teacup on its saucer, making a 'clink' sound so as to get everyone's attention. "I see, I get it now. You're the first queen's familiar, right?"

Elizabeth giggled as her tiny wings flapped with excitement, "Yes, I am Erica's familiar."

THAT was something that you wouldn't hear Everyday.

Mary was insanely baffled by what Elizabeth had just shared and started freaking out, "How?! It's been so long since the first ruler! How is it that you're still here?!"

"I was put to sleep for the past centuries and now I'm awake." The fairy explained vaguely before landing her eyes on Beck, "Hey, you're fine now."

He nodded and smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, thanks for healing me."

"That's no need to thank me, you should thank is Emily. The energy I used to heal you is hers. Wow, you must be someone special to her - given that she was willing to put her life on the line to save you." Elizabeth grinned as she swung her arms causally.

"Put her life on the line?" Beck repeated, feeling somewhat puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Well, using her as a medium is extremely dangerous. She has a massive amount of energy, making her entire energy system unstable." Elizabeth answered with her arms crossed, "Which means if I make a mistake and overuse her energy, all her energy will rushed in all at once, too much for her body to withstand, causing her core to explode, killing her instantly. Also, it's my first time using her body. So, the chances of making mistakes is definitely much much higher. However, she is still willing to do it."

"And her explanation for that is: 'If the backlash is against me, then it's fine'." She continued with a slight melancholic look, "...She really do surprise me, I've never met her before, yet she trusted me enough to allow me to use her body, even though death was very much plausible in that situation. Hmm, the fourteenth princess is really an interesting one."

There was a few seconds of silence when she finished, but soon the queen broke it as she let out a laugh, "She's just like you, Anderson. Reckless as ever."

The king responded to that comment, with a mere 'hm', before he proceeded to clear his throat and call for Jai.

"Jai, follow Emily and see if she's safe."

Upon hearing that, Jai, who was standing behind the king, bowed and complied, "Yes, your majesty."

And, in the next second, he was gone.

*****

[Fiore's castle, second floor]

"Why didn't he tell me? He could have just tell me! Did he think that keeping this a secret will make me happy? Why did he do something so reckless? He's such a huge idiot!" Her mind screamed as she sprinted through the second level. She did not know which room Damian is in, but she still ran.

Coincidentally, she saw a servant coming out from a room up ahead, so she assumed that he was in that room and rushed in without thinking.

Luckily, she was right.

Damian was in the middle of eating the breakfast prepared by the servants. Just when Emily blasted into the room, his eyes widened with shock as he just froze there with one question on his mind, "What is she doing here...?"

There was a good minute of staring before any of them said anything.

"Um... Hey." Damian greeted awkwardly while looking away from her, "...What a surprise to see you here. Well, I guess yo--"

"Why?" Emily asked abruptly.

"'Why'? What do you mean?" He asked back as he forced out a smile, that came out crooked - really unpleasant-looking.

But of course, Emily didn't really cared much about it, instead she just interrogated further.

"...Why didn't you tell me?"

When those words flew out from her mouth, she couldn't bear to look at him. Because she knew, if she did, she will end up crying. So, she stared on the ground and continued, "You could have told me. Why didn't you do that? Why did you hide it from me? ...Why didn't you just--"

Her words died on her lips once she felt a pair of toned arms wrapped around her.

"Sorry." Damian breathed out, "I'm so sorry, Em."

Once she hearing that, tears just began to pour out from her eyes like a broken faucet and she started sobbing like a little girl. All she could do right then and there was to bury her head in Damian's chest.

Damian, on the other hand, did not stop her from crying, he just let her be. He felt like that was the only thing he could do - which was to let her let out all her emotions.

*****

[Fiore's Castle, Torturing chamber]

"Where are some of your hideouts?" A burly man questioned in his deep voice, holding onto a leather whip.

Erik, who was chained up onto the wall, refused to answer him.

"Ain't talking, are we?" The torturer chuckled as he swung his whip across his victim's torso. Gritting his teeth, Erik grimaced momentarily at the burning sensation he got from that blow.

"Let's see, why don't we try again? Where are some of your hideouts?"

Again, there was no answer.

The torturer noted Erik's silence as his response and placed his whip down, but in turn, grabbed a much dangerous apparatus.

A bolt cutter.

"Hm, I do admire your loyalty, but now, it's completely useless." The large man scoffed as he tapped the tool on his other hand repeatedly, "Ah, you're the first person I've met to be immune to truth serum. Wow, things could've been much easier if you weren't, isn't that right? Well, you better speak up before you start losing body parts."

He then went closer to Erik and held him by his cheeks, "So, where are some your hideouts?"

Hardened, Erik sneered at him, "...What makes you think I'll tell you?"

The man let go of his cheeks and started laughed hysterically for a moment, before swinging the chuck of metal across his face.

"'What makes me think', you ask? Well, let's just say that your life is in my hand and I can just kill you anytime." He growled menacingly.

That hit almost made Erik blacked out, but he shook his head a little to stay conscious. The pain that he felt on his right cheek was so bad that it was numbing. However, he still need to keep up with his facade.

He spat out the blood that was in his mouth and snarled, "...Kill me then."

"Hmm." There was a few seconds of consideration, but he refused, "That will just be too easy for you, right?"

"Well, since you don't want to answer... I'll just start the real torture." He announced as he brought one of Erik's finger into the apparatus before clamping it shut. Though his finger was relatively persistence, the burly man won in the end after applying more pressure.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crack.

It sounded as if someone just cracked open a juicy pomegranate.

Pain exploded throughout his entire hand as the blood splattered out. Yet, he couldn't scream or whimper. Instead, all he could do was to cuss under his breath in order to not look any weaker in front of his torturer.

Just like that, one of Erik's fingers had just been cleanly detached from his hand and it had fallen onto the cold and bloodied floor.

Despite that, he was not going to lose to him.

Not to Fiore.

Phantom was the only organisation who could fulfil his wish, so there was no way he would betray them, even if it cost his life.