It's Gone

Ayana sat in front of the windows with a dumbfounded expression. Luca's sudden arrival surprised her. She never thought that Luca would come at this hour. Who would have thought that the man would come back around 3 and not 7 in the morning?

Although she was back in her room safely, for some reason, her heart cannot calm down. She feels like something dangerous might happen. 

Luca's voice and the way he talked sent a dangerous premonition in her heart but also gave a strange nostalgic feeling at the same time. His voice sounds soothing but also dangerous. The way he talked with the butler made Ananya suspicious since he sounded like he was teasing her. He knew that she was outside the window. 

"Did I underestimate him? I did. I really did exactly that a moment ago," Ayana mumbled while looking at the tower next in the opposite direction. Although Luca was back, the light on the fourth floor of the west tower wasn't turned on. Ayana groaned as she looked at the dark tower, feeling defeated. 

'I should have tidied the book quicker and got out from the tower right as soon as possible. I shouldn't get too comfortable with everything and visit the west tower that often. I underestimate him and the situation. Everything was so comfortable that I let my guard down, forgetting the fact that Luca was a dangerous man, and I should avoid him at all costs,' Ayana thought then closed her eyes.

The restless feeling makes her eyes wide open although she was tired. Since the first time she saw Luca in their wedding hall, the man's mere appearance would make her restless and worried.

At first, she thought that it was because of the man's handsome and dashing looks that her heart beats faster. She thought that their closeness was the cause of the uneasiness in her heart. Although after thinking about that for a while, she realized that she never lacked an attractive man all her life. 

Her father, her uncle, her stepbrothers, and some of her guy friends in Zone B have more than average looks. the women's eyes always followed them when they walked. She still remembers some women even shamelessly approaching Rama, his guardian in Zone B, even after a harsh rejection. 

Ayana can even say that almost all of them have extraordinary beauty, but they never give her these kinds of restless feelings.

'It might be fear. No. It should be. Why am I so stupid that I mistake this kind of feeling with attraction,' Ayana sighed. 

Ayana opened her eyes when she was calmed down and her eyes caught a hue of orange appearing on the horizon. She also heard the sound of a chirping bird that signaled that morning had arrived. Everything seemed so calm. It was so different from her chaotic heart. 

Ayana walked toward the cabinet beside her bed. She needed a sleeping pill. She won't sleep if she waits for other hours. As she was going to drink the water, Ayana realized that something was wrong with her reflection. Something is missing, but she couldn't pinpoint what it is because of her throbbing head. In the end, she dismissed the thought and swallowed the pill.

After that, Ayana lay on the bed and waited for sleepiness to come to her. just in fifteen minutes, soft and regular breathing was heard from the bed, a sign that she had fallen asleep. 

***

Ayana's face was getting pale the moment she realized that she lost her necklace.

She had been rummaging through her room for almost an hour to find the necklace, but she couldn't find it after cleaning every corner of her room. It seems like she lost it outside her room.

She remembered when she took the pill last night, her necklace wasn't there anymore.

She didn't realize that the necklace was gone since she was too tired.

The necklace was one of her father's remains that left with her. Ayana keeps everything from her father since she did not have much to remember. The necklace was the most important one since that was her father's last gift to her. She always wore that since she felt closer to her father when she wore that necklace. The necklace made her feel safe.

When Ayana contemplated what she was going to do, a maid rang her door. Ayana went to open the door.

"Miss, it's time for breakfast." The maid said, waiting for her reply. Ayana was tempted to reject it since her mood was so bad now. Her head has also throbbed since an hour ago because of a lack of sleep. She doesn't have any appetite.

"I will have breakfast in my room." Ayana finally answered in a lower voice.

"Madam Irene insists since young master Luca will also be there. Madam said that this will be your first breakfast with the young master, miss," the maid's trembling voice was heard as she lowered her head even more. She has a feeling that Ayana's mood was severe since the atmosphere was more tense than usual.

"You should have told me about that sooner," Ayana said with a smile, but the maid's body shook even harder. Their young miss was even scarier when she smiled when she was in a bad mood.

"I will go down at the usual time," Ayana said as she gestured to the maid to go. The maid bowed down quickly and almost in a sprint, leaving Ayana alone. This is the first time she saw their missus angry.

Ayana took a bath quickly and tried to remember where exactly she lost her necklace. She still wore the necklace when she took a bath yesterday. Then the possibility is, she lost it around the west tower.

Ayana sighed in frustration. She couldn't step around the tower for the time being. She couldn't ask the maid to find the necklace since people might notice that she had been there before. If the maid knew, then Irene would also know about this.

'What if someone took it and claimed it as theirs. No, no, no, I need to calm down. From the look of it, there are limited people that could step inside the tower. If I am lucky, no one would find the necklace until the next time I go to the west tower. 

That was right. Let's just hope that I drop the necklace around the boxes of books. No one seemed to visit that place since the place was full of dust when I stepped inside several days ago,' Ayana nodded her head. The uneasiness started to disappear a little. 

Ayana calms herself down. She never thought that she could be this careless.

As usual, Ayana walked down 10 minutes before breakfast started. She halted her step when she entered the dining room. Irene was sitting beside Luca, who sat in the head family position. They seem to talk about something.

Ayana approached them quietly, but Luca seemed to notice her presence.

"Good morning, my dear wife. Did you have a good night's sleep?" Luca's cheerful voice startled Ayana. She maintained a straight face and kept walking steadily to sit beside Irene.

"You need to sit beside me, dear wife," Luca said when he noticed where Ayana was headed to.

Ayana paused for a moment and walked to sit on Luca's right, obeying the man's words.

Irene's sullen expression caught her eyes when she raised her head. It seems like Luca's weird behavior didn't only upset her, but also Irene. The woman looked at his grandson with a bewildered expression.

"What's happened to you?" Irene asked while observing Luca's odd attitude. This is the first time Luca has behaved this way. Her grandson never talked with anyone with this kind of merry tone, especially to the species called humans. Irene even believes that her grandson would kill all of them if killing a whole species is not a crime.

Irene thought that she would never get a chance to see Luca talk kindly with humans, but Luca proved her wrong by talking to his wife with a sweet voice. Irene felt uneasy with the man's strange behavior.

"Aren't you the one that warned me to treat my wife preciously, dear grandma," Luca said still with his smiling face. Irene's suspicions increase.

Irene felt like her blood was boiled just by hearing that. She really hated how Luca would always take a chance to annoy her. It was just a second later that her brain proceeded with the words Luca said. 

Irene frowned, still looking at Luca with suspicion. She never told Luca to treat the girl preciously. The boy was always strange since he was a child. It was even hard to guess his mind. Although one thing that Irene knew for sure, this grandson of hers was never a good listener. 

He might look docile and appear as if he would listen to what people said, but then suddenly he would surprise everyone by doing the exact opposite of what he was told. 

Irene knew that it would waste her energy to do something useless like telling Luca what to do. Luca has this rebellious nature where he sometimes would do the opposite if he was forced to do something. He is literally living in his own world and doing everything he likes while pretending to be an obedient child. 

'It was a miracle that he agreed to this marriage,' Irene thought as she looked at Luca in relief. 

In the end, Irene only takes a deep breath to calm herself, since Luca did not harm Ayana, everything should be fine.

"How are you faring here, my dear wife?" Luca asked Ayana. Irene's eyes twitched as she heard the caring tone and how Luca addressed Ayana.

Irene quickly managed her expression when she realized that her eyes might appear bulging hearing what Luca just said. This might be the first time she heard Luca address someone outside the family with that kind of endearment and it does not sound like mocking. 

'What is happening here? Did something happen? Is the person that sits beside me really Luca? Where is the man that just called me grandma?' a lot of questions appear in Irene's brain. Everything felt surreal and Irene started to think that she was still dreaming. 

'What is the reason Luca treats this girl nicely?' Irene turned to Ayana still with confusion. She started to observe the girl in front of her with interest.

"I…" Ayana lost her voice the moment her eyes caught the necklace with a round pendant on the man's neck. Her heart beats louder as she grips her hand below the table.

"It was great. Everything was great." Ayana said with a calm voice, her expression did not change, but her brain was full of a plan to take back her necklace.