OUT OF THE TOWER

THE TWINS walked out of the tower hand-in-hand. Argent really wanted to let go of Aurum's hand. But then she thought of the current mental condition of Aurum, so she just continued holding her hand. Aurum experienced killing people at the age of four, then she was locked up in a tower for three years without any contact with others except their mother. Argent has no doubt that those factors definitely left a psychological shadow on her sister. If Argent let go of her hand now, she might think that she's rejecting her. And she didn't want her to think that. Right now, in Aurum's mind, she's someone who saved her from the tower. If Aurum thinks that she's rejecting her, then that would only add to her psychological shadow. It would be even harder for her to have a somewhat normal mentality.

This was an important growth period for Aurum. Anything that happened during this period could have a great impact on her. So in order to insure that she would grow up properly without any of those psychological shackles, Argent should do everything to give her wonderful memories. Memories that could overshadow those dark times. She would spoil her if she must. After all, this was the promise she made to the original owner. So even though she doesn't really like physical contact with others, she could only endure. Who knows, maybe she could get used to it as time went by.

They continued walking towards the manor. Because you need to bypass the maze garden in order to reach the manor, the first people who saw them were the two servants sent by their mother to monitor Argent. When they saw Aurum, they stepped back and a look of horror immediately passed their faces. Argent raised an eyebrow. Were they so scared that they didn't even noticed that there was no Mana flow around Aurum? Which meant Aurum could not hurt them. Maybe what happened three years ago really left a big impact on the servants of this manor.

"Y-Your Grace, t-this... please get away from t-the lady," said one of the servants.

These idiots. If something bad would happen to her, it should have had already happened. She noticed Aurum trembling beside her. She's probably scared by the reaction of the two servants. Argent patted her head and said gently, "It's okay, I'm here."

Aurum looked up at her, her big amber eyes were watery as if her tears would come out any second. Then she smiled and her body also stopped trembling. "Uhm."

Argent looked coldly at the two servants. "Is this the attitude you should show to the sister of a duke? How arrogantly disrespectful."

The two weren't able to respond immediately. She scoffed at them and pulled Aurum towards the direction of the manor.

Aurum looked at Argent. She felt that indescribable warmth again. She never thought that relying on someone like this, having someone protect her, could feel this good. She tightened her hold on Argent's hand. Yes. She would never let go of this hand.

Argent looked down at Aurum when she felt that the grip on her hand became tighter. "What's wrong?"

Aurum smiled at her. "Nothing."

When they reached the manor, the first one to see them was the butler - Gregory. The usual stern face showed a surprised expression when he saw Aurum. But after just a few seconds, his expression returned to normal. He probably noticed that there was no Mana flow around Aurum. Now this was what a competent servant should be, unlike those two earlier.

"I'm going to call the Duchess," Gregory calmly said.

"Please do so. We'll be waiting in the sitting room." Argent pulled Aurum towards the sitting room. Once they entered, she guided her to the nearest seat and the both of them sat down. "Do you want to drink tea?"

Aurum shook her head. "Mother - will she be angry?"

"No. I think she will be surprised. But ultimately, she will surely be happy. So, don't worry too much, okay?"

"Okay."

It didn't even took a minute before the door of the sitting room opened and Anthea came running in. When Gregory told her that Argent took Aurum out of the tower, she readily thought that he was joking. But this was their strict butler, she doubted if he even knew how to joke. But what he said surprised her even more. That he couldn't feel any Mana coming out from Aurum's body. So she didn't waste time and immediately went here in the sitting room. And the first thing she saw was her twin daughters sitting together. Something she didn't think could even be possible.

Anthea's first instinct was to pull Argent over. But then she remembered what Gregory said. She stared at Aurum and sure enough, there wasn't a shred of Mana leaking out of her body. But how could that be possible? She looked at her other daughter who's calmly sitting beside Aurum. "H-how...? Argent?"

"Mother, remember how I was holed up in my room for the past three days? Well, I was making this." Argent raised Aurum's hand where the bracelet was. "It's a special bracelet primarily made of nullum. I made it in a way so that it could stop the leaking of Mana in Aurum's body. And as you can see, I succeeded."

Anthea walked slowly towards them. Then she knelt in front of Aurum and held her hand. She stared intently at the bracelet. Nullum wasn't the only thing in the bracelet, she could also see amplification stones and stones that could conduct Mana. She just doesn't understand how the combination of these things could produce such an amazing effect. And Argent was the one who made it.

She looked at Argent. "You really made this?" Argent nodded. "How?"

"I don't know. There's just a lot of knowledge inside my head. Maybe when I was hit by Aurum's Mana two weeks ago, it actually woke the inner genius in me," Argent said, lying through her teeth. Good thing she has a poker face. "But that's not what's important now. Now, Aurum doesn't need to be in that tower anymore. It's totally safe for her to be around people. She could have a life out of that tower. Isn't that great, Mother?"

What Argent latter said, finally made Anthea realized one important fact. Aurum was no longer leaking Mana. She wouldn't hurt people just by being near them. Anthea no longer had to lock her daughter in that dreadful tower. And most of all, the three of them could finally be together. "Yes, yes, it's great," she said, she didn't even notice the tears that flowed down from her eyes.

Aurum raised her hand and wiped their mother's tears. "Don't cry, Mother."

Anthea held her daughter's hand and tried to control her tears. "Mother is just happy. My baby could finally be with me and her brother."

"It's all thanks to brother."

"Yes." Anthea put her other hand on Argent's cheek. "You did great, Argent." Then she hugged both her daughters. "My babies."

----------

Argent slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Aurum's angelic face. After getting her out of the tower yesterday, Aurum didn't even want to separate from her for even one second. So Argent could only let her sleep in her room. She doesn't really mind. Since she already decided to be more tolerant of her.

She got up. She debated whether she should wake Aurum up but at the last minute she decided against it. This was probably the first decent sleep Aurum had in a while, being locked up in that tower and all. Argent fixed the quilt covering Aurum and then went out of the room. She walked down the stairs and saw her mother coming out of the study.

"Good morning, Mother," she greeted.

"Good morning. Your sister?"

"Still asleep."

"Did she sleep alright? No nightmares?"

"No, she slept quite peacefully."

Anthea breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

"Mother, do you still remember when I asked you about me transferring to a school somewhere in Amexem? Could I get your decision on that?"

That was what Aurum heard when she went down the stairs. Hearing that immediately filled her with extreme fear. "No!" she shouted, tears already flowing down her cheeks. "You said you will be with me from now on. That means you can't just leave me!"

Both Argent and their mother looked at her direction. Argent walked up to her and wiped her tears. "Hey, calm down. Who said I'm leaving you? When I go to Amexem, of course I'll go there with you."

"R-really?" Aurum asked, still sobbing.

"Really."

Aurum finally smiled and hugged Argent. "You're really the best, Brother."

"You two, I still haven't agreed to that particular decision," Anthea slipped in, breaking the sisterly moment of the two.

Argent glanced back at their mother. "I still think it's the best decision, Mother. Both me and Aurum could have a fresh start there. We can't do that here. The both of us are too infamous for that to happen."

Anthea understood what Argent was saying but she was still a bit reluctant.

"Besides, don't you and Father have a close friend there who you can entrust us to?" Argent continued. She heard from Nelly about that particular friend. It's also one of the reasons why she chose Amexem.

A man with dark blond hair and green eyes suddenly popped up inside Anthea's head when she heard what Argent said. "That's true. But..."

"And now that Aurum's fine, you could finally lead the search for Father. I know you've been wanting to search for him. And now you finally could. You don't have to worry about us. I promise I will take care of Aurum."

"And I will take care of Brother," Aurum added enthusiastically.

Anthea looked at both of her daughters and she couldn't help but tear up again. She was still somewhat worried about the sudden change in Argent's temperament. But seeing her right now, observing her for the past two weeks, and discovering her making a miracle device that could help her sister, she could only be thankful for this change. And Aurum, this was the first time she'd seen her so lively. Whenever she went to that tower, she couldn't see any emotions in those amber eyes. As if she already gave up on life.

She sighed helplessly. "Alright. But I will be there with you until you properly acclimate to your new environment. And I also need to inform the court about this. You're a duke and Aurum is an SS level Gift. It might take a while before we get permission."

"I understand. But Mother, could you not mention about me making this bracelet for Aurum?" If they learnt this, she has no doubt that it would be too troublesome.

"Don't worry, I won't." Even if Argent didn't mention that, Anthea has no plans telling the court about her daughter's invention. Who knows what those people in court would do when they learnt that, especially that sly king.

"Thank you, Mother."

"No need for thanks." Anthea walked up to her daughters and put her hands on their shoulders. "Now let's go and have breakfast."