A Young Prodigy

Just as Anastasia had been speculating for a long while now, there were other people around in this palatial home of theirs.

She was sensing other presences aside from Zen's from time to time, but since she felt like he wouldn't disclose this any time soon, she just chose to zip her mouth and investigate on her own. Contrary to her initial belief, though, these presences weren't actually that of humans.

They turned out to be these robots with artificial intelligence, designed to resemble humans as close as possible. What's more, they all seemed to be carefully and meticulously trained or programmed to effectively fill in the shoes of houseworkers.

Anastasia could say so since that's exactly what she's seeing at this very moment.

It just happened that Zen ordered everyone to prepare the dining table at once for breakfast. As if having Rupert, a cyborg dressed as what seems like a butler, acting as her escort isn't enough, he also has the other servants attend to her and serve a luscious platter of meals, desserts and a variety of drinks. 

With that, an early morning banquet took place. A moment after settling down at the enormous dining hall, though, Anastasia felt like she could no longer keep her inner thoughts from running her mouth.

"Say, Zen..." she called out from the opposite side of the table, catching her companion's attention.

"You only told me about the undead invading the world. Why didn't you say that AI already did too?" 

"Oh, ummm... The thing is, they really can't be seen everywhere. Just here," Zen started with a smile, earning an arched brow from her.

"And that's because?"

"Well, you see, I'm more than my handsome face, Sia. I don't just laze around and sit pretty all day. I'm a young man of excellent accomplishments too!"

"Right... I can tell..."

As Anastasia only regards Zen with a deadpan look on her face, he suddenly turns into a drama queen and starts acting offended. He can't help but let out an appalled gasp with how she appears to be unmoved and disinterested. 

If it really wasn't for that part about him being more than a handsome face, she really wouldn't react with a flat expression. He just looks so smug and flirtatious at the same time, giving her the impression that he has quite a narcissistic side with him -

Not like she wasn't able to tell from the first get-go, though.

"So then, what's this excellent accomplishment?" Anastasia chimed in again, simply giving in and letting him know that her curiosity was somehow piqued.

"Why don't you try to guess?" Zen challenged with a playful smirk, eyeing her meaningfully from across the table.

"Hmmm... You're a CEO of a robotics company before?"

"Nope."

"Well, you're too young for that, anyway. How about a young prodigy in technology and all that stuff?"

"Close enough. Be a bit more specific."

But then, she's already at a loss of words from that clue alone. He himself just confirmed that he's a genius. Then again, going by the fact that he's able to revive her, own a freaking castle and turn robots as his servants, that fact is already obvious.

Zen is no ordinary human at all.

"Perhaps, you're..." Anastasia continued, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"An AI yourself?"

He bursts out in a fit of laughter at this, taking her aback for a bit. The way she contemplatively regarded that presumption with such a serious tone was just really adorable that he couldn't hold his endeared guffaw back.

"No, I'm not, Sia. I'm completely human..." Zen trailed off before spreading an ear-splitting grin that told her just how accomplished he's feeling.

"To be more specific, I'm a scientist."

Then, she gaped.

Astonishment and awe visibly struck Anastasia at that moment. She only gawked at him as if finally accepting him as someone transcendental and god-like. After all, not only does he have an ethereal presence with how insanely good-looking he is, but he's also a freaking scientist at the age of eighteen.

It could be that he's just exaggerating his description, but she still sees it as more than plausible, especially with all the evidences around her.

"You're... a scientist?" Anastasia repeated with a look of wonder and disbelief.

"Yep!" Zen beamed, his smile seemingly getting warmer. 

That's when she suddenly notices something about how he grins with unparalleled brilliance.

He looks so sunny and bubbly, reminding her of the nickname 'sunshine boy' for some reason. In each passing second, she can see that certain image in him more and more. 

Then, at that very moment, Anastasia recalls a lost memory out of nowhere. 

It's that one with a certain blonde guy - the same one from her dreams last night. Lucien and Zen's charming smiles - she feels like they're two sides of the same coin, not very far from each other yet still has some sort of distance.

"I wanna be a scientist when I grow up! That's my dream!"

Then came his voice echoing.

Lucien's zestful expression, grinning eyes and ebullient tone pop up in her head all of the sudden, throwing her off guard. At that point, she knows that there's no denying these nostalgic feelings that keep rushing within her anymore. 

Anastasia has just realized that Lucien and Zen are the same person.