The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Sixty Three

Walking right into this tunnel was more nerve-wracking than I have suspected. I don't know which part of this meeting with my brother I was dreading the most, as I just feel so nervous. Maybe it's the part where I will find out if he really is proceeding with the wedding or not. That's what is making me crazy, I guess.

I think I am also scared that once I finally hear what my brother's reason is, there is a chance that I would go with his decision too. The frustrating part of this mess is that Garreth usually has his reasons, and he seldom makes mistakes, especially in his decision-making. Garreth has always been sensible even when we were still kids, so to be honest I kind of anticipating what he is going to say to me.

So when I finally reached the end of the tunnel and I saw him personally waiting for me and the Crown Prince, my heart pounded faster than ever. I could see his silhouette clearly in the dark and even if I still could not see what his facial expression tells me, I could already sense his great presence. The Crown Prince and I walked faster, with the Royal Guards led by Steffan in our back, as we reach the end of the tunnel where the silhouettes of the Royal Guards stationed at this chilly border stood firm.

"I will wait for you two to finish so don't worry about me getting bored," the Crown Prince suddenly whispered to me before we reach my brother. "Take your time."

I just nodded at that and silently smiled, thinking how lucky I am that the Crown Prince is so understanding. I should have not been able to get here after my obligations as his court servant, and we should have gone back to the Palace because it is too dangerous for the Crown Prince to be taking a side trip just like this, but he did not only approved of my request to come here after our business in Plumba, he also accompanied me so that I will not have trouble coming here. I could not express how grateful I am that he did all of that for me since coming here normally is an actual struggle. I guess I can that I have the perks of being the Crown Prince's friend, and I hope that this will go well.

"Your Highness, thank you for coming here all the way," said my brother who immediately knelt down before the Crown Prince beside me. Garreth's voice sounded the same, and I almost cried with joy when I finally heard him again. He was bowing his head together with the other Royal Guards who welcomed the Crown Prince. "My name is Garreth Filbuster, Your Highness, leader of the twenty-third squad---"

"I know who you are, Garreth," the Crown Prince said, interrupting my brother's personal introduction and that surprised everyone, most especially my brother. His eyes widened as he stared at the Prince, probably wondering why does the Prince know him personally. But then our gazes met and he kind of slightly nodded to me, and I think I know what he is thinking right now. Maybe he assumed that I introduced him to the Crown Prince. But that would still be surprising for someone who doesn't know that I was this close to the Crown Prince, so I just stood there watching Prince Kao and my brother exchange pleasantries. "Your sister right here came all the way here to talk to you, and I just accompanied here since we were in Plumba doing my duties as the Crown Prince."

This seemed to boggle my brother, but he was able to respond despite his utter shock that the Crown Prince would personally accompany his court servant in a place like this. "That is very kind of you, Your Highness. You should have not come here for that, I am so ashamed---"

"This is fine with me. I was the one who personally volunteered to come here with your younger sister. Anyway, now that we are here, let us go inside the campsite, shall we? I also want to check on how you guys are doing here. This is the first time that I came here."

"O-Of course, Your H-Highness..." My brother was stuttering so hard that I almost wanted to tease him for that, but I stopped myself before I could make this situation even weirder than it already is.

"Okay. Let's go." My brother then led us to the exit of the tunnel which in turn led to a wide-open space underground which to me looked more like a snow carriage station without the snow carriages, of course. It was a lot colder in here, maybe because we are now nearer to the border which means we are also nearer now to the Ruthless Blizzards. We walked through a corridor and then entered the main hall where a lot of Royal Guards were there. They all bowed too when the Crown Prince entered.

"This is my squad, Your Highness. We are in charge of the border patrol until the end of this week," Garreth said and I can't help but feel proud that everything seems fine in here. I think I would have felt bad if the Crown Prince sees something wrong with this campsite since I was the one who wanted to go here. The thing that I want to happen the least was for the Crown Prince to see something in this campsite that he will not like. That will not only tarnish my brother's reputation but it will also cause disappointment for Prince Kao, which is something that I wanted to avoid in the first place.

"Everything in here is okay? Do you have enough food supplies? Are all of your columbars here working? How about your coalstone rations?"

"Everything is good, Your Highness."

"Are all of your Royal Guards healthy here? Is there no one who gets sick? Does someone needs medical attention?"

At that, I saw my brother hesitate. "About that... Some of my men here get the frost fever... and the extreme cold here can cause lack of sleep... but so far none of my men are in serious medical conditions..."

"That is a relief, Garreth. However, to make sure no one suffers, I will send a doctor and some nurses here. They will also give you vitamins and everything that you need. Just give me a list of things that you still need here. Do you have enough covers and thick blankets? Kettles for boiling water? Soap and shampoo? Those things. Then after you and your sister talk, update me on the situation here on the border. I want to know everything, including how you live your day here, alright?"

"Y-Yes... Your Highness... I am so surprised that you are doing all of this... Thank you..."

"Thank you, Your Highness..." Everyone was sending their gratitude to the Crown Prince and I can't help but feel proud of Prince Kao too. He surely did the right thing to check on this campsite and I would be forever grateful too if the Royal Guards here will become happy with what he is doing for them. That, to me, is what a member of the Royal Family should do.

After that brief exchange, the Crown Prince decided to inspect the campsite to see what he can do to improve the place. He was thinking of sending more columbars here as this place was still cold despite the fact that this was already underground. I then took the chance and finally decided to talk with my brother privately. We went inside a room which I instantly recognized as his office. I saw on his table that he had a photograph of our family in a corner, while on the other side was Blasie's. I tried my best not to scoff at that.

"I'm glad that you are okay," Garreth finally said and then hugged me tightly the moment he closed the door. It was there that I finally was able to cry. "hey, why are you crying? Did you miss me that much?"

I glared at him when he said that. "Are you seriously joking right now? Our Aunt is still missing, Garreth!"

Finally, I was able to tell him that. I don't even care what he will say to me in response. I just wanted him to know that I was not happy with everything that was going on. I was not okay with the fact that Aunt Milca was still nowhere to be found.

Garreth seemed to have expected this sudden outburst from me because he nodded and then bowed his head in defeat. "I know that... I have been meaning to talk to you after my patrol duty here, Rainha. I was going to come to you so that we can talk about Aunt Milca. But I am glad that you came here instead."

"Why wouldn't I?" I told him painfully. "Blasie went to the palace to tell me that you were still going to proceed with your marriage even with what is happening, so I have to come here and talk to you! I wanted to know what on earth are you thinking about, deciding that!"

He took a deep breath before answering me. "I am sorry, Rainha. But that is our decision and we will be following it no matter what happens."

"What? So it is true! You are really still marrying her even if Aunt Milca is still missing?"

"Rainha, Aunt Milca is dead."

I gasped. "NO."

"She is dead."

"NO!"

I was now yelling. I don't want to believe him. I don't need to. And how can he be so sure? He is just here in this campsite and did not even bother to help me find our Aunt. So what is he talking about?

"Aunt Milca died, Rainha. There is no point denying that anymore---"

I slapped him hard, stopping him from saying those painful things that he was saying. Both of us were in tears now, but he was still shocked that I did slap him. This was the first time that I ever did that to him, and I think he deserved it.

"H-How can you say that? Do you have any proof that she is no longer alive then?" My voice was cracked and my face was wet with frozen tears now. I had to wipe them immediately because I did not want my face to get numb from my tears which automatically becomes icy the moment it leaves my eyes. "Tell me, Garreth! Do you have any proof that she is dead?"

He slowly nodded and I have to cover my mouth as I was horrified by his answer. "One of the Royal G-Guards in Aurville who investigated the incident is a friend of mine. You know him too, Rainha. Rustan is my classmate back at school, the one who always invited us to come to play at their house, right?"

I nodded because I remember the guy. "He was indeed a nice kid. In fact, he was the only kid in our neighborhood at Aure who befriended us, other than Kaylie who lived in the woods. Rustan was a chubby kid who loved making toys out of scrap metals, and Garreth loved making those toys too so they clicked instantly. They were of the same age too so they became classmates at school and both of them entered the Royal Army immediately after school. He was indeed a Royal Guard, but I did not see him that time when I visited the Royal Guard Station at Aure when Calyx and I reported the incident.

"What did he told you?" I asked my brother. "What did Rustan said?"

My brother looked gloomy at what he was about to say to me. "He said that they surveyed the places near our house, in case Aunt Milca ran away to escape in those directions. Rustan and the others found her clothes in the woods."

"In the woods? Where exactly?"

"Not far from where your friend, Kaylie, used to live. Remember the treehouse where her grandmother still lives up to this day?" he asked and I nodded. "Just south from that treehouse, they found Aunt Milca's clothes and some of her belongings."

"WHAT?"

Garreth nodded. "There was also blood on the snow where they found the clothes. They searched the area more in the hopes of finding her body in the vicinity, but they failed to do so. They even interrogated that old woman, Mitaur, if she knew about our grandmother but Mitaur told the Royal Guards that she had no idea what happened."

I could not believe what I was hearing. I was speechless for a moment. "Why I did not know this? Why did no one tell me this? There was an ongoing investigation about it, and no one bothered to tell me these things?"

"Rustan wanted to tell you, but you went back to the Palace right? So he told Calyx and Blasie instead. Rustan asked them to relay to you the details. But both Calyx and Blasie did want to be the person to break the news to you, so when Blasie came here to report to me what happened, we came to an agreement to not tell anything to you if there was no body found yet."

"WHAT?"

"I am sorry, Rainha. But I was the one who asked everyone to keep it a secret from you until Aunt Milca's body is found. I did not want to give you that bad news when we cannot yet confirm that she was indeed already dead. I know that you will refuse to believe it anyway. So I asked Blasie and Rustan to keep the findings to themselves first as we were still hoping that Aunt Milca was still alive and was able to escape."

I shook my head in frustration. "No... No... I don't believe you. The Crown Prince also conducted an investigation. They were not able to find any proof that Aunt Milca is already dead---"

"Because they did not find what Rustan found out, Rainha," said Garreth. "I heard about that too. That the Palace sent a special team who will investigate what happened. And even I put my hopes high that maybe they would find our aunt. But until now, I have no information that they did. I have friends in that team too, you know, so I would have got wind of the news if they really found our Aunt."

"But that is my point!" I said to him crying. "No one has found her body yet! So why are you so sure that she's already dead? Why did you decide that she was no longer alive?"

"Because that is the most plausible thing right now, Rainha!" he told me and I can also see the frustration on his crying face. "Don't you see? If Aunt Milca is really alive, then she would have gone home by now!" Garreth was crying hard now and I felt my knees turn into jelly. It was then that I realized how hurt he was that he had to conclude this way, and I could not blame him. Without her clothes on, anyone outdoors would die from the frost of this eternal winter.