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"There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death. Prisoners in misery and chains." —Psalm 107:10
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AFTER the criminals were vindicated, the crowd dispersed which made Lantana think that they would also finally leave. But alas! The emperor blocked their way and invited her father for tea! Man… She didn't know that her father had such a big fat fish of a connection. Not only were they treated as vvip during the trial, but also they were invited by the highest person in their empire himself! It was like being invited for lunch by the president of her previous world but more regal than that, especially when the emperor was the one who led them to the greenhouse—the grand greenhouse of the imperial palace!
"It's been a while, Philippe!" Emperor Gregory spoke energetically as soon as the servant who was brewing their tea went out after hearing the emperor's order.
Lantana's eyes widened in surprise. It was as if he wasn't the person who spoke so coldly during the trial! At that moment, he sounded like a college student that was burnt out from school and finally had a chance to relax and enjoy life again.
"Yes. It's really been a while, Your Majesty."
However, her father did not reply with the same enthusiasm which made the emperor unhappy and sulk like a kid.
"You've become too cold! How could you do that to me? We used to sneak out a lot when we were younger!" the emperor said as he pouted like a kid.
The duke narrowed his eyes upon hearing the emperor's statement before he glanced at his daughter a couple of times with a worried expression. Then, he opened his eyes wide to the emperor with a threatening stare before he spoke with a suppressed loud voice.
"What are you saying in front of my daughter, Your Majesty? If anyone hears that they'd mistaken us as lovers instead of childhood friends!"
Hearing his words, the emperor laughed out loud as if all his worries in life had disappeared and he was just a kid at that moment.
On the other hand, Lantana was astounded seeing the unprecedented closeness of her father and the emperor.
"Don't be so formal. It's just the three of us here," he said to the duke after laughing worry-free before he glanced at Lantana with a wide bright smile.
"Would you like to roam the place for a while? I don't think you'll enjoy what us adults would talk about," he offered.
"Would it be alright, Your Majesty?" Lantana said as she glanced at her father and the emperor.
"Don't mind your father here. Just do what you want to do. There will be a servant waiting outside. Just tell him that you want to take a walk for a while and he will guide you," the emperor said in a tender tone as if he was just talking to his own child.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Lantana said as she courtesied and excused herself.
With the servant that the emperor spoke of, Lantana roamed around the palace as she was basically indirectly told to get lost for a while. It didn't really matter to her though since she didn't want to get involved between talks of two old men.
She walked and walked continuously outside the palace halls with a large smile plastered on her lips as she enjoyed the summer breeze blowing the cheeks of her face that was sending coolness down to her spine. She also enjoyed watching the leaves that were fluttering in the air as if they were dancing with the rhythm of the wind. Not only the leaves, even the flowers scattered everywhere were swaying back and forth as if they were subjects and she was the highest authority on whom they had to bow their head down.
Everything was fine in the first few hours. Everything was so great that Lantana didn't even bother to complain about her heels that were starting to ache because of the shoes that she wore. Not until suddenly, the servant who was touring her around just disappeared from her sight. As if he was never there. She tried to look back and forth but there was no trace of him anywhere, not even his silhouette could be seen.
"Hello? Can anyone there please lend a hand to lead me back to the greenhouse?" she tried uttering in a bit louder voice, trying her best for it not to crack.
However, contrary to what she expected, no servants rushed to her side to aid her. Rather, what came back to her was the eerily loud echo of her voice that made all her body hair stand up and made her stomach turn cold all of a sudden.
As a result, Lantana chose to continue walking even though she felt as if she was just walking in circles and wasting her energy. Well, she couldn't really stop no matter what because the sudden atmosphere of the place made her feel extremely frightened.
She felt as though she was in a horror movie wherein at any moment something unknown would suddenly jump at her face because of how deafeningly silent the place had become. Not only the noise, the temperature also dropped a hundred times that not even in winter was ever felt. As a result, her exhaustion grew at the same time the fear she was feeling arose a higher point.
With her energy getting depleted at a faster rate, Lantana was feeling the tiredness seeping through her body, making her stagger a lot of times. But she couldn't rest no matter what. She had a bad premonition buried deep inside her heart. She was not someone easily scared but at that moment, there was a notice ringing in her mind that was telling her of a possible danger that might come her way.
With feet that were tired from the stroll, she walked faster and faster until her walks turned to running—running for her life without ever looking back. Characters in horror movies easily get killed because of their stupidity. She wouldn't take after them.
Though she was wearing high heels, it didn't matter. What only mattered at that time was to get away from what was behind her. She saw no one but what she felt was exactly the same before she was killed by Vermin.
Soon enough, the place quickly turned darker as if a huge shadow was getting casted over the whole palace. The areas that she was leaving behind were getting much darker quickly than the place in front which made her long for more to get to the place that it was taking her forever to reach.
With stretched out hands, she was trying to seek for something—or someone that she didn't know but knew deep inside that could or might grant her salvation from the nightmare that suddenly unfolded before her eyes.
But she didn't reach it. She didn't reach the light in front of her as it immediately got swallowed up whole by the darkness behind her. Her outstretched hands were caught by no one. Her salvation did not come. No one saved her when her feet staggered badly and took a wrong step which made her fall directly on the floor. No one helped her when the darkness started to crawl on her body and surrounded her. No one.
Resigned to her fate, Lantana closed her eyes with dried tears on her face that she didn't even realize that fell, as the darkness swallowed her whole being into an abyss of nothingness.
But exactly a few seconds before that, she heard a masculine voice spoken in a tender and loving way…
"Wake up, ■■■…"
"...LADY Montgomery? Lady Montgomery!? Lady Montgomery, are you okay?!" Lantana heard someone say in a worried tone as soon as she was pulled back to reality.
During the whole time that she took a stroll, she never stopped throwing him questions about the palace or the people of the palace that he enthusiastically answered. Well, he never encountered anyone like the Montgomery Lady who would treat someone like him with respect and kindness—never in his life as a palace servant who served the imperial family for over a decade. As a result, he was more than happy to be her tour guide.
When he suddenly felt that she stopped walking and she suddenly felt silent, the servant who was guiding her fell into panic. He tried to call her out a few times but she never responded. He checked her body condition too but aside from her pair of eyes that looked as life got sucked away from them while staring into oblivion, everything was normal. Her breathing and body temperature were the same aside from the fact that she didn't move from her place as if she was a living statue.
The situation lasted for a few more minutes while the servant was completely in disarray, not knowing what to do. The more time passed by, the more he felt like his death was about to knock on his door.
However… What was that? The lady blinked… The lady finally moved! Thank God! He was spared! His life was prolonged!
The servant's eyes were filled with tears as he cried and almost jumped because he couldn't contain his joy. All of a sudden he became religious and worshipped God.
While Lantana was in confusion on the other hand. Her eyes were full of questions she mostly couldn't solve. Questions about the thing that she experienced. About the voice that felt so familiar yet felt so distant, the darkness—her sudden literal day dream that made her like a frozen statue.
"Are you okay, butler?" Lantana asked the servant as soon as she gathered her thoughts and noticed his poor state.
With a snot on his face, the servant answered, "Thank you for waking up! I tried to call you a lot of times but you won't simply bulge. I thought my head would roll today," he said while sniffing in between words like a kid while tears kept coming down his face.
"Really…" Lantana said in a low tone, almost whispering.
"So that's what happened to me while I was inside that dark place…" she muttered to herself.
"What do you mean, lady?" the servant said.
"Well, I don't quite understand what happened to me earlier either. Let's just proceed, shall we? Where are we supposed to go again? Ah! Why don't we go to where I can eat for now? I think I'm starting to feel famished," Lantana said with a business smile plastered on her face.
Until she wasn't certain, she'd definitely not speak a word about that thing again.