Doomed

Ziro picked up the call and asked, "Who is this?"

[Ziro, where are you right now?]

It was a male voice, and he sounded shaken up on the phone.

"Who is this?" Ziro asked again.

[I am G'San, leader of your mother's security team.]

"How did you get my number? If you have something to do with mom, then you can—" Ziro stopped when he remembered his parents went on the honeymoon.

'Mom has most likely turned off her phone, I guess,' Ziro thought to himself.

[Ziro, listen. I have something important to tell you, so wherever you are, brace yourself.]

"I don't have time for that right now," Ziro glanced at Sera, who was staring intently at him.

Not only Sera, but everyone in his class was looking at him since he was on the phone during the class.

"I will call you in the break—"

[Your parent's airplane crashed, and…] Ziro stopped hearing midway.

His brain had stopped working after what he just heard. He hung up the call and grabbed his bag.

"Wait, what happened? Where are you going?" Sera asked with a concerned look on her face.

Ziro looked at Sera with dead eyes and started walking towards the classroom door.

Alina got up from her seat and rushed to Ziro. She dragged him out of the class and asked, "What happened? Who was on the phone?"

"Plane… crashed… palace..." Ziro stuttered in panic.

Even though what Ziro said was too vague, Alina understood everything. She immediately went back into the class and grabbed her bag.

"Wait— where do you think you are going? You can't just leave during class—" Sera was interrupted by Alina.

Elina grabbed Sera's hand and dragged her out of the class.

"Wait— why are you taking me too?!" Sera exclaimed.

"We need your car. Come with us to the palace," Alina asserted.

"What? The palace is in the next city, and it would take us one hour to reach. I can't just leave during my—"

"Please," Alina requested.

Sera stared at Alina, then glanced at Ziro— whose face had turned pale.

"Fine. But you need to tell me what's going on." Sera nodded.

Alina held Ziro's hand and walked down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

Sera had asked them to wait at the school gate, and she had gone to the parking lot to get her car.

Ziro didn't speak a word and stood with a pale face. He just kept popping his fingers to control his emotions.

Alina rubbed her hand on Ziro's back and said, "It's okay. I am sure they are fine, don't worry."

Soon after, Sera came driving her car. She turned down the window and opened the passenger seat door as she said, "Get in."

Ziro and Alina sat on the backseat, leaving Sera hanging with the open door. Sera sighed and closed the door.

"So, what's going on?" Sera asked as she drove out of the school gate.

"Angelica and uncle Drake went on their honeymoon today, but Ziro just received the phone call about a plane crash," Alina explained.

Sera immediately hit the brake in shock with a horrified look on her face.

She took some deep breaths and looked back at Alina and Ziro, "Don't worry, Ziro. Everything will be okay," Sera said the same thing Alina told him.

Sera increased the speed as she said, "You might want to buckle up your seatbelts."

Alina hooked up Ziro's seatbelt, then hers.

They reached the palace in the next city in about twenty minutes— thanks to Sera's fast driving skills.

Sera parked the car in front of the palace's main gate and walked out of the car.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. You can't park your car here. The area around 10 km radius belongs to the royals," said one of the guards standing on the gate.

Alina got out of the car and ordered, "Open the door."

The guard looked at Alina and squinted his eyes, "Are you…"

The guard's gaze fell on the half-open window and saw Ziro. His eyes widened as he turned around and shouted, "Open the door!"

Alina opened the car's door and helped Ziro get out of the car. Ziro shrugged Alina's hand and walked past the guards.

They all headed to the palace's front door, but Ziro stopped and turned to the right.

Alina noticed him and asked, "Ziro, where are you going? the palace is this way."

"Edens' cemetery," he muttered.

"What? But—"

Ziro finally looked at Alina and uttered, "They are dead, Alina."

"What?" Sera's car key dropped from Sera's hand.

Ziro turned around and started walking to the cemetery.

"Wait— Ziro…!" Sera picked up her keys and chased after Ziro— but stopped when she saw Alina frozen up.

She walked back to Alina and shook her, "Alina, Alina! Snap out of it. Ziro needs you the most right now, alright? Stay strong!"

Alina nodded and rushed to the cemetery with Sera.

When they reached there, they saw a group of men wearing black suits standing around two coffins. And Ziro was standing beside a girl with ivory-colored hair.

Alina rushed to the girl and stood beside her as she looked at the coffins.

There wasn't anyone else besides the men and Nier because this matter was kept quiet. If anyone had learned that the Queen was dead, it would have caused a huge uproar in both allies and enemy factions.

"No way… it's a lie, right?" Alina had already started crying.

The girl turned her head to Alina and hugged her, "Alina."

They both sobbed and sniffed in each other's arms.

"Nier, what exactly happened?" Alina asked Nier.

"I don't know. I— I just got a call saying their plane crashed and—"

"But they had a private plane, right? How did it crash?" Alina inquired.

"I don't know. I haven't even told mom yet. She is pregnant and… and she is already sick. So I don't want to tell her now." Nier hugged Alina.

"I told dada, though, and he said he would take care of it then dropped me here," Nier added.

After bidding the final farewell, the men buried the coffins next to each other and closed the grave. Alina, Nier, and Sera were crying, but Ziro couldn't shed a tear.

Ever since he was born, he had never cried in his life. He could feel all emotions and experience them, but tears never came out of his eyes. Even at this moment, he wanted to cry, but all his eyes could do was make them teary— they didn't let the tear fall.

One of the men walked to Ziro and bowed down his head before taking off his cap and revealed his golden hair.

"Your highness, I would like to speak with you in private— I am G'San, by the way."

Ziro turned his gaze to G'San and closed his eyes, "Was it truly just an accident?"

"About that, the report from the logs says the engine failed, but we are looking into it," G'San replied with a calm voice.

"What happened to the pilot?" Ziro's voice sounded hoarse, as though it was a lifeless voice.

"We couldn't find his body, but he most likely died too."

Ziro opened his eyes and frowned his face, "Do you honestly think that?"

"Are you implying that the pilot is behind this?"

"What else?"

"Your highness, the pilot was one of your parent's old friends, and he would never do such a thing," G'San bowed down again.

"People… humans can be easily corrupted by power, strength, and money," Ziro placed his hands on G'San shoulders and said with a glare in his eyes, "I don't trust you either."

Ziro pushed G'San and turned around, "My parents trusted you, and looked what happened? You are dismissed from your duties."

Ziro then looked back and forth at Alina and Nier and started walking.

"Your highness, I don't care if you trust me or not! But your safety is important," G'San asserted.

Ziro stopped and said without looking back, "I am going to find out who is behind this, and I am gonna destroy anything. Try to stop me, and you are dead too."

"Your highness, we need to—"

"Shut the fuck up! I don't need a lackey to tell me what to do and order me around!" Ziro retorted.

"Oh, come on! He is just like his mother," G'San commented as he turned to Nier.

"Lady Nier, I would ask you the same thing. We still don't know if it was truly an accident or a planned attack. In either case, both you and Ziro need to be careful."

"I will tighten the security around you and Ziro," G'San stopped and glanced at Alina, "And, you are… the lawyer's daughter, right?"

Alina nodded and glanced at Sera, "What should I do? What am I gonna do now?"

Alina's voice was breaking, and she was barely holding her tears.

G'San turned to Sera and bowed down, "I trust and leave the kids to you."

After ordering his men to get more security, G'San rushed to chase after Ziro.