Chapter 214 - Harbinger of Catastrophe

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry to hear that!"

Asou Chiaki genuinely looked horrified that Suzuki Ara reached out to pat her hand to calm her down.

"I'm physically fine now, although just a bit slow here," Ara assured her as she tapped the side of her head again. "I mean slow like I know how to give the answer to the math questions but I can't remember the process."

The young Suzuki lied through her teeth again so smoothly that she didn't feel anything strange from doing it anymore. Previously whenever she did, there would be a stab of guilt in her chest – like when she was still hiding her identity to Kou. But now…

But now, she didn't feel anything. Well, she was doing it for the good of everyone anyway.

"Then I'll tell Pres I'll be tutoring you," Chiaki announced without hesitation, then took out her mobile phone. "I'll just check if the nanny is available for Taka this week."

The secretary was about to call when Ara shook her head and she stopped to look at the other questioningly. "What's the matter?"

"I will be bothering you so you can take Taka over to Denechofu. We have tons of people who'd be happy to take care of him."

Chiaki looked stunned. "But he cries a lot.  He will just bother people there," she said worriedly but Ara just grinned at her.  

"Don't worry, we have an expert baby smooth-talker and soother in the house," Ara said, her eyes glinting with mirth as she wiggled her brows at the other woman who realized who she was talking about.

"Pres?"

Chiaki looked as if she heard something incredulous.

"Yep," Ara confirmed her guess. "Did you forget I was a difficult baby?"

Ara was a colicky infant. She could remember her parents always complaining that she was so difficult to handle since she was a baby. They told her that when she threw a major tantrum when she found out she'd be transferring to a different school.

That was also the time she found out that whenever she was throwing a tantrum or crying so hard when she was a baby, it was always Aki who would calm her down. Also, as a picky eater, only her big brother could coax her to eat the food that was prepared for her.

"Ah…"Suddenly Chiaki's face slacked, her mouth forming an O as memories came to her, and then she smiled.

Ara was sure she was also remembering those times. After all, she and her brother had been friends since they were toddlers.

"Yes, I finally remember that," Chiaki said with nostalgia reflected on her pretty face, and a soft smile of her lips.

"Aki used to hurry home after you were born. He said because his baby sister wouldn't stop crying without him. There were even times when it's his turn to clean that I'd let him off because he was so useless looking worried and anxious to leave anyway."

The story was shared with a laugh. Ara found it too cute, and she felt more and more very lucky to be Suzuki Aki's sister.

"I was so spoilt, huh?"Ara said. "His kids would be very lucky."

At the mention of kids, Chikai's smile turned awkward and she turned away before agreeing. "Yes, his children would be lucky to have him as their father…"

There was some regret and sadness in Chiaki's voice that Ara would have missed if she was not listening so intently. But she did catch those and was sure now that Chiaki liked her brother. Still, why wouldn't she accept him?

"Too bad, I don't think my brother will be a father in this lifetime," Ara said with a practiced melancholic sigh.

She made sure she totally looked dejected at this information. She decided she would make sure to give this woman a great push towards her brother's direction today.  

"What do you mean? Is Pres sick?" Chiaki looked totally concerned that Ara almost smiled and break her acting.  

"Nah." The younger Suzuki shook her head, still looking woeful. "But it seems my brother likes only one woman who didn't seem to like him back. He said he won't bother marrying and having children if it's not with her."

Lies. She did it again. It didn't matter. She felt more and more comfortable with her story anyway.

It sounded like what Aki would tell her anyway. It didn't matter if it hadn't happened yet.

"Oh…"Chiaki murmured, looking a bit stunned.

Ara was sure she knew who she was talking about. She was a hundred percent sure now that she was aware of her brother's real feelings towards her but evaded his advances for some reason.

"I thought my brother had a girlfriend already. But it seemed it was not really the case as the girl seemed to reject her. Poor brother. He'll be single for life…"

Ara sounded so sorrowful about her older brother's future, sighing and shaking her head, all the while aware of the other woman's every expression. Chiaki now looked guilty.

"Yeah, poor him," Chiaki muttered as she turned away, regret shining in her eyes.

As the two women talked at the cozy café, a raven-haired beauty sat on the tall rock inside the Devil's Cavern that suddenly let out an amused laugh. Her mirth echoed in the rock-solid place, making all the creatures like the basilisk and the chimera turn to her with glinting eyes.

The beauty turned to the basilisk, meeting its orbs as if daring it, but the monster was the one which turned away first. It was as if it was in awe and wary of the only human who couldn't be affected by its petrifying gaze.

"Behave my loves," she crooned after, making the monster settle where they were resting quietly before her laughter disturbed them.

She then jumped from the high rock towards the side where she kept some things and took a decorated dagger there. It was one of the things Alinea's druid friend left behind from the mouth of the cavern where he died after protecting him. In its hilt was carved the name Sven and a pang of sadness squeezed her chest when the face of the young man flashed in her mind and she frowned.

Why was she feeling this?

Ah. She didn't ponder longer for the answer for she already had an idea of what was happening. After all, it's what had been happening since the beginning of time since she came into this world.

She was slowly becoming one with her main soul.

She had felt her original self doing some mischief or something bad earlier and so she laughed. It was so amusing that the other who was previously so pure was slowly becoming more and more diluted and she had no idea what was happening like the others never had an inkling of what was to come.

The raven-haired beauty turned towards the pool where she leaned over to look at her reflection and she smirked. Her face – it was the face of heaven's most beloved child. It was such an irony.

Why?

For as she was heaven's beloved child, she was also heaven's greatest enemy: Alencica, the harbinger of catastrophe.

What was amusing was that those people who were after her now including Kresnik, the fool had no idea that the one he was trying to protect was the real enemy of mankind.