The Inferno's Claim

The Natural Order

Genova stirred awake from her sleep later that evening. Beads of sweat covered her forehead, and her breathing was uneven as though she just ran a countless-kilometer marathon.

She sat up on the bed and placed her hands over her banging chest as she tried remembering her terrifying dream. She rummaged through her mind to find out what the nightmare was about, but nothing came no matter how hard she tried. Perhaps it was too horrifying, and it was best not to remember anything of it.

Sighing, Genova reached for her phone on the nightstand and pressed the lock button to check the time. The phone screen showed it was 6:45 in the evening.

"Oh, s**t! I have overslept!" She cussed and quickly crawled out of bed. Her eyes were still drowsy, and her body demanding for more sleep.

She had to stand up earlier that day and prepare to leave for the airport. Moreover, she barely got a wink of sleep the night before.

Genova couldn't close her eyes last night as her heart felt too heavy to say goodbye to her parents. She tossed and turned on her simple yet cozy bed until her heavy eyelids ultimately shut closed at some point. No matter how hard she fought against the idea of moving out, it couldn't be avoided in the end.

Her family of three still had to part ways, alas.

Genova went inside the bathroom to quickly fix herself before exiting her new bedroom to meet with the others.

"You are awake! Good timing," Eva’s voice rang as Genova’s figure appeared on the stairs.

"Hi, aunt!" Genova waved awkwardly.

She felt uncomfortable sleeping all afternoon and not helping with dinner or other house chores.

As though Eva could read her mind, "Have a seat, dear. Dinner will be served in a few minutes. And don't worry about doing any house chores; Monica is responsible for those. There are enough workers at her disposal should she require any help!" Eva spoke softly.

Although she sounded so relaxed and unbothered by anything, her gaze was keen on the girl’s face, searching for anything unusual about her reaction.

Genova's lips formed into an 'O' without knowing what else to say. Quietly, she took a seat next to Eva and smiled stiffly. She could feel her aunt’s eyes on her but didn’t think much of it.

“Did anything happen while I was away, dear?” Eva probed cautiously.

Genova dipped her head down. “Nothing, aunt. Sorry I didn’t do anything else but sleep.” Her voice was barely audible as she mouthed her apology, thinking she might have misused her privilege of her aunt’s generosity to allow her in this beautiful home.

Eva sighed. “There is nothing wrong with taking rest when you are tired, Gen. I want you to see this house as your own. You are no stranger to me but my very own niece, so please be comfortable in our home,” Eva spoke warmly.

She knew it would take some time until her niece got comfortable in her new home. “Do not take my question the wrong way – I was only curious to know if you perhaps went sightseeing around the estate,” Eva added while peering intently at the girl. She didn’t want to miss the slightest change in Genova’s reaction.

Genova shook her head. “Unfortunately not, I was too tired to do so. But it is certainly on my to-do list.”

‘It seems she doesn’t remember anything,’ Eva released a silent breath of relief.

She had been wracking her head on how to explain the incident earlier to Genova whenever she woke up.

‘Thank goodness there is a natural order that immediately takes effect whenever the revelation of the mystical world is too hard or sudden for anyone to handle.’

Though quite several humans were aware of the creatures that dwell within them, many couldn’t handle the reality whenever they somehow stumbled upon this dark secret. And in order to prevent the population from going into shock, the supernatural world was urged to maintain the mystery of their existence amongst humans.

Additionally, the previous witch and fairy queen created a spell called ‘The Natura Order’, which messes with those whose minds were too frail to handle the truth of the hidden world by automatically erasing the knowledge from their minds. In other words, the spell is referred to as ‘The Forgotten Spell.’ This way, anyone who wasn’t meant to know about this secret remained oblivious.

Furthermore, what happened earlier was very unusual and Eva had been trying to make sense of it. There was an agreement that humans were never to be harmed under any circumstances which took place centuries ago. This law remained effective to date. Rogues were the only ones who never followed this arrangement and were common enemies to both parties. However, the creature in the woods earlier was no rogue. What’s more, its kind was scarce to come across. Such ancient and magical beings almost don’t exist anymore.

Eva recalled the hostility it exuded. She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened should she have been any second late.

Returning her focus on her niece, “You mentioned having a ‘to do’ list. Other than getting a view around the estate, would you mind sharing what more you have in mind?” She inquired and gently poked Genova with her index finger.

Genova blushed. “It-its nothing much. I hope to get to know new people and make some friends.”

“By ‘friends’, any chance a fine young man is included? Your prince charming like girls your age often dream about?”

Genova’s head hung even lower as her cheeks turned crimson with no idea how to respond.

Eva looked at the girl and chuckled lowly. “There’s nothing to be shy about, dear, it is a totally normal fantasy for young girls. I was no different.” She began, “In fact, I didn’t only wish for my ‘prince charming’ to come and sweep me off my feet, but I wanted one with a full package. He had to have all the right muscles in the right places—especially in a particular area where it was most needed,” Eva said casually.

Genova was rendered speechless. She lifted her head and stared at the shameless woman dumbfounded.

“Don’t give me that look. I was no saint and I don’t expect that of you either,” Eva added with a shrug.

Genova blinked. She opened her mouth but ended up closing it at a loss for words. Just then, the sounds of slippers against the marble staircase resounded, causing both women to turn their gaze in that direction.