Is he safe?
Evelyn woke up and stretched her hands lazily. Her face was puffy yet she felt fresh. She squinted her eyes as she looked out of the window. It was time for dinner now that the sun had fallen a long time ago.
After coming back to the palace, she briefed her father about her tier two task and went to get some sleep. She was in desperate need of it and fell asleep as soon as she hit her bed due to fatigue.
Before supper, she decided to shower. She changed into her gown and walked down the hall to the dinner table. Her uncle, Admiral, was also present. A pleased smile came on her face as she looked at him, who was beaming brightly and proud of her performance in the task.
"My niece," he called and added, "or should I say Miss Councilwoman now." The way he looked at her, the way he said those words was clear that he was proud.
She took a seat and answered, "I shall always be your niece, uncle Admiral."
Her father appeared to be relaxed, with a soft smile on his face as he had his dinner.
"How did it go?" Admiral inquired.
Evelyn had no idea what to say in response. She was confused. Should she be glad she got into the council, or should she be upset about the deaths that occurred during the task?!
"Happy to enter the council," she replied with a confused smile.
Her uncle gave her a slight nod. The supper table was deafeningly quiet. Something had been bugging her since she realised the council tier two task.
"Uncle Admiral," she called him to rid herself from the nagging question.
"Mhm?"
"Is the council aware of each candidate's character?"
Her uncle paused eating and gave her a puzzled look. "What makes you think that?"
"They told us to find the imposter in today's task. It implies that they were already aware of the imposter."
"Admiral, are you permitted to reply to this question?" Her father asked.
An intense atmosphere filled the dinner table. Evelyn realised the council had many secrets hidden, which her father knew. She was going to join it and therefore hoped for a response.
"Well, it's time for her to learn worldliness and she better get used to it," he replied.
Her father nodded, indicating that he was aware of the situation. She was perplexed as she looked at each of them, being the only person who wasn't familiar with the outside world.
"The council consists of good and bad people. I presume you are already aware of it."
She gave a slight nod of approval and listened to him attentively.
"How do you think they got in?" her uncle questioned.
His question puzzled her. She waited for him to continue since she knew he wasn't expecting an answer from her. He took his time to come up with the correct phrases to explain the situation.
"The council gets familiar with the candidates based on their responses to the tier one exam. You may have noticed that the questions were more practical based."
Seeing her nod he continued, "Only the head councilman checks them. All he sees are solutions and the strategies they mention to get them. And whatever the strategies they come up with, good or bad, they are selected. That's when the council gets to know about the individual's character."
"How come bad people are allowed to join the council?" She asked.
"Everything requires a sense of balance. What a good heart individual fails to notice is sometimes noticed by the wicked. And let me be clear, there's nothing good and bad in this world. It's about the perspective of the individual," Her father, Renaud, explained to her. She tried to comprehend what he meant.
"What exactly was the task, Eve?" Admiral queried.
"Why? Aren't you supposed to be aware, being one of the head councilmen?" Renaud questioned, knitting his brows.
"Griffin took care of the council exams while I was working on a case. This time, I heard there were a lot of deaths," he responded and stared at Evelyn, expecting her to reply, pondering exactly what happened there.
"Task was to find the imposter," she replied.
Her uncle nodded and took a bite of the meal, thinking how a single person was able to kill so many people without anyone noticing him.
"What will they do with the imposter? And when does the council inform the candidate's family about the demise?" She asked.
"The imposter will be hanged, and the council is still looking for bodies in the woods. Only five have been discovered so far," Admiral replied.
"There should be only five, uncle," Evelyn informed him. When she had questioned the imposter, he clearly stated that he killed five candidates.
"No. There's more. Only eight people, including the imposter, were found alive at the location. Rest are missing."
The revelation made Evelyn's eyes widen. Only six of the twenty candidates made it out of the forest alive. It came as a shock to her. That day, the councilman drove each candidate directly to the council office, where they returned to their homes on their own. Therefore she wasn't aware of the candidates who passed the task.
She lost her appetite as she started to think about it.
"I am exhausted. Will go get some rest," she said, standing up and walking back to her room.
"Eve," her father called her.
She turned around and looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Don't give much thought to people you don't know or with whom you have no relation. I'm not saying you shouldn't help them, but don't go overboard. People overlook your countless good deeds and evaluate you solely on the basis of your one blunder," Renaud stated. His voice was tinged with concern for her. He knew that she had been starving since yesterday yet she left the food on her plate as soon as she heard about the deaths. Deaths of unknown people.
Evelyn smiled ruefully and nodded to him. She walked into her room and shut the door behind her. Sliding back onto her bed, she hugged her pillow. She gazed at the white sheets blankly as all her mind was occupied by someone.
After listening to the revelation that her uncle made, the first thing that came to mind was the brown-eyed guy. She pondered about him, wondering how he was. Wished he was one among the eight people. Her heartbeats rose, and all she wished was for him.