Retrieve the Kingdom

Sudden & Shocked

After that acquaintance party, Phoebe was exhausted and her mind is full of thoughts. She went back to her home to clear her mind. It was Saturday morning as she rises from her own bed that she’s been missing for days. 

She wishes this was her everyday sight. But she can’t stop progressing to put a stop to this madness. After viewing the view of the city from her room’s window, she decided to go downstairs. 

On her sleeping clothes, she joined her family at the table. “Good morning.” She said as she clears her throat, her voice is a bit rough early in the morning. Her family greeted her back as she drinks some water.

“It’s early in your school year and you are starting to get really busy, huh.” Her mom commented as she just giggles, both in frustration and laughing at what she has gone through. “I will be laid back a bit in my class leader duties these next weeks since it’s just about the event. We will back on normal classes with no more events in line this month.”

“Don’t stress yourself too much. Take care, Phoebe, okay?” Her father said as Phoebe smiles. “I am taking care dad, don’t worry.”

“I need to tell you guys something,” Bastien said as he looks at their parents. “That partner of Phoebe on leading the class seems a bit rude, is he, Phoebe?” He looks at the girl as she froze, she doesn’t know what to say. 

“He is nice! He is just more moody than me. Don’t judge someone directly, brother.” Phoebe gulps as she continues to eat her soup and bites some bread. “I guess… I trust you. And also, she is a friend of one of the royal princes, you are really lucky, Phoebe.”

“He is the son of the archduke, so that will make sense that I became friends with him.” Phoebe shook her head lightly while smiling. “I mean, some princes are snob, right? And you are just a scholar, that’s one particular reason that he can use to judge you.”

“Just don’t make careless decisions, okay? Especially when I and your mom aren’t there.” Nathan said as he slurps all of the soup and finished his breakfast. “Don’t worry, sir Bermin is guiding me. He is like an uncle to me.” She smiles as she realizes what she has said, but her family didn’t take any suspicion on that.

“He better be, and I am happy to hear that. I have spoken to him yesterday and he seems really a nice man, though I don’t see his wife anywhere.” Nathan said as Maya raised her eyebrow, “Really? I would love to meet her though, but I guess she’s not around.”

“Sir Bermin said she is on an important business trip right now. It’s been a month too that I haven’t seen her, and he is not talking about it a lot. I suspected something happened, but I never investigate to respect their privacy.”

“Whatever may have happened, you need to stay out of it, Phoebe. I don’t want you to stumble upon troubles.” Her father said as they all finished their breakfast. Phoebe decided to prepare for the day to walk peacefully in the streets and just don’t think anything for once. 

She suited up with her blue outdoor dress. She grabbed her sling bag and tossed her aurel pouch there. It was all that she needed as she went on her walk. It was nothing more relaxing walking down the semi-busy street of Oliver and just breathing the air. She just walked and walked, also looking around. Resting every now and then. 

She arrived at the park which is heavily decorated with flowers. She decided to walk around there as she noticed a woman struggling and was surrounded by men. She sneaks behind the tree as she checks what is happening. The woman was struggling and mumbling. 

Phoebe was shocked as she thinks of a way to help the lady. She noticed the big rocks that are lying on the ground. She didn’t hesitate to collect them. She aimed at the men as she throws rocks at their heads. They were stunned for a minute as Phoebe ran up to the woman and pulled her out. 

They ran to a crowded place and hid behind some stores. She looked at the lady who is wearing a veil. “Are you okay, miss?” She said as she checked her. The lady lets her as she confirmed she was neither hurt nor have wounds. “What did they did to you?”

“Don’t worry, I was not harmed because of you, and I am thankful for that.” Behind the veil, the lady smiles. “You are welcome.” She nervously looks around and checks if they followed them all the way here. She sighed in relief as she didn’t saw any men that she saw earlier, but she was still on high alert.

“I need to go now.” Phoebe holds her wrist as she walked forward. “But, those guys are still gonna catch you.” She said as she looks around. “I must go back on my way. But thank you for saving me. Don’t worry, I will make sure that I’ll be safe so that your effort won’t go to waste.” 

Minutes later, a carriage stopped by. It was the lady’s cue to go out. “Thank you, young lady.” She said as she walks and boards her carriage as nothing happened. The vehicle quickly gets out of the place as Phoebe was left there, frozen.

She decided to follow them until she saw her crossing the bridge to Enoch. She approached one of the guards, “Good morning, good sir’s. Can you escort that carriage, please? The passenger there faced danger earlier and it will be great if you watch her until she is safe. Please, it can save a life.” They were a bit hesitant, “I’ll go.” A guard said, which is a lot younger than the others volunteered. He jogs and followed the carriage, escorting it to its way to Enoch.

After ensuring everything was okay, she decided to go home and took a cart bus to make it faster. She walked for many meters just to keep the lady safer. She went home and directly to her room. She tries to remember every detail that happened. 

She sighs as she writes it in her notebook. “The voice seems a bit familiar. I don’t know… I was so nervous at that time that those guys will come and get us. They were piling up the poor lady, I don’t know their intent, but I know for myself I need to save her. There were 4 men who tackled her, she was screaming for help. The lady was fine. Though, I really recognized her voice. Or I am just hallucinating… But all in all, I am happy that she was safe.”

She can’t sleep that night and she has been carrying that for weeks. She doesn’t know why it impacted her a lot, but she surely is damaged by it. The memory visits her very often. Until Belle and Andrei started to notice her weird behavior. 

“Hey, don’t overthink about that incident. Okay? I am sure the lady was fine, I mean, the newspaper didn’t say about some veiled lady who got killed.” Andrei said as Phoebe sighs. “I am not worried about the lady, or… I don’t know. I don’t even know why this affected me a lot.” 

“Just don’t let it on your way. Or else you will be sidetracked.” Belle said. Phoebe noticed that students are starting to go to the main building. She checked the clock, the lunchtime isn’t done yet. 

“Let’s check it out?” Andrei offered as both of the girls nod. The three followed the students and they seem are going to the announcement hall. They look at each other as Andrei shrugged. They went with the other students as they can see Cledaire on the stage. 

“Good noon, students of Driessen Academy~ I am here to announce to you that we will have our sudden week break due to some reasons that I can not say for you at the moment. The headmaster decided to give you some rest while they are addressing the matter. I hope you can understand the authorities of the school and it is for your own good.”

The students start to question why even though Cledaire clearly said that she can’t say anything. “Look, everyone. I am sorry that I can’t really dismiss any information. Even myself has no idea what’s going about it. But no matter what it is, it’s for our own good. The headmaster is out of the office right now so the student councils are on high alert for any violators. That’s all, thank you for listening~”

The three, well, all of the students were confused. They returned to their food and position with a lot of questions. Some already performing theories. The three came back to their table. 

“Maybe that’s about the mysterious veiled lady,” Andrei said as Phoebe looks at him. “Not the lady you helped, it’s pretty common for some ladies to be veiled, but this mysterious veiled lady has been bugging the king. I don’t really know why, but she is trying to create some chaos, that’s what my uncle said.” 

“What does she have to do with this, I mean, this school is full of  responsible students and we are protected, right?” Belle said as Phoebe thinks. “Whatever the reason is, we will find it out sooner or later.”

“So, what will you do for the ‘sudden week break’,” Andrei asked them, Belle’s face lightens up. “Since it’s a week, I can possibly have a vacation to Lalonde. Maybe you guys can come.”

“Well, I need to say this to my parents first,” Phoebe said as she finishes her lunch. “I am sure my father will let me, so sure!” Andrei enthusiastically agreed. 

That was the story of how she got to this balcony in Lalonde. Phoebe just wants one thing here, to check on Hawthorne. Belle’s place was cozy and her parents are nice to let them stay in their house instead of renting an inn room in the area. 

“Enjoying the view?” Andrei said as he joins her. She nods as she sighs. “Hey, enjoy here. Anyway, Belle said that will be going to Hawthorne later. I am excited to see new places, especially that place. We haven’t visited that when I and my family went on vacations to some places. I am sure it will be great.” 

Phoebe just smiled as Belle called them. “You guys better be preparing now!” They did, they suited up and bring the things they need for their trip. They board the carriage that is owned personally by Andrei. “To Hawthorne, please.” 

The coachman was a bit hesitant. “Are you sure, your highness?” He said in a very nervous voice that Andrei is a bit suspicious of. “I’ll tell dad that you aren’t obeying me.” He doesn’t have the choice but to follow the prince’s orders.

Before Belle and Phoebe can say anything, Andrei was prepared to answer their questions in their minds. “I have the power okay? And I think I need to use it this time to satisfy you girls.” They all laughed as they continued on their journey. 

“So you really think that you helped the mysterious veiled lady?” Andrei asked Phoebe as she nods. “She seems mysterious enough to be that lady you are talking about.” They all think. “What can you describe her?”

“She’s timid and she seems not really traumatized about what happened. I don’t know if it’s just her reaction and she tries not to look scared, but she seems mysterious to me. Though her voice seems really familiar, the memory of her voice slowly fades off from my mind, so I can’t really confirm anything.” 

The conversation was cut as the carriage stopped. They all went out of it as Andrei looks at the view, it was a great scene. They decided to go down the stairs to the town. 

Andrei slowly saw the people are lying around dirty and seems the place emits a depressing aura. 

“What happened here?”