Chapter 300 - ALI MINI THEATER Side Story 15

"Master, did you see her again?"

Kresnik turned and raised one dark brow at his people. The mermaids, servants, and other mythical creatures residing in his oasis all looked at him in anticipation that their faces barely hid. These were a very curious bunch.

He sighed. "You know I did. I had to go and return her voice, hadn't I?"

There was a bit of censure in his voice as he slightly frowned at them, most especially towards the mermaids who were mischievous enough to steal the girl's voice.  However, his servants were shameless enough to not even look an ounce guilty over what they'd done.

"But isn't that great, Master?" One of them had the gall to ask with a glimmer in her eyes. The mermaid's hands were clasped in front of her as if in prayer. "Maybe the legend about the lake in this oasis is real."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" someone who was absent the other day asked, and the mermaids explained to him about the rumors about finding one's true love if the person offered his most treasured item to the lake.   

"That's total baloney," he commented right after, but the mermaids refuted his comments.

"But look at what happened? Didn't the Master find someone very interesting?" the mermaid countered, not at all bothered by the fact that the said "master" was just lounging under a tree nearby and could hear them clearly.

"The legend didn't mention about someone interesting. It's talking about true love! True love! So it's phony! And it's not the master who offered something to the lake!"

"But interesting can lead to that! Also, what if he's the girl's true love?"

The mermaid kept arguing back and forth with the others, that all Kresnik could do was sigh heavily. These days, he wondered if he'd become too lenient for his subordinates to disrespect him like this. He sat up from where he was lounging to reprimand the arguing people when movement at the far side of the lake caught his eyes.

His blue gaze zeroed in on something dark that was popping in and out from behind the huge boulder, and a sense of deja vu assailed him as a familiar head showed up.

Ah…

Kresnik's eyes turned bleak as the errant child of Perun managed to scramble on top of the boulder to jump onto the green grass below.

"I made it!" she crowed in delight with her silver-grey orbs sparkling as if coming to his territory was some kind of a personal quest. His expression, however, became a bit amused upon seeing the piece of meat in her hand.

Chicken. The girl came bearing chicken once more.

Kresnik wondered how she's able to sneak out again after just a day of being confined in her room due to the incident of losing her voice. If it were other people, they'd have learned their lesson by now and stayed away.

With a sigh, Kresnik stood up and approached the girl soundlessly as she celebrated her feat. He watched as she stepped backwards in a dance and sighed again as she bumped against him as she did, startling her.

She turned around fast, her head tilted up to look at his face.

"Oh, it's you," she uttered, amusing him further, though he didn't want to show it. He put on a stoic façade. He reckoned, he had to be a bit tough on this trouble maker.

"That's Lord Kresnik, to you Princess," he told her matter-of-factly. "How come you're here again? Haven't you learned your lesson, yet?"

He had spoken with unveiled disapproval that would normally intimidate others. However, this young woman didn't even falter. It must be because she's the daughter of the scariest person in the entire celestial plane that she's immune to other deities.

"Of course I did," she answered readily, but Kresnik was doubtful that she did.  

"If you've learned your lesson, then why did you return?"

"Because my curiosity is bigger," she announced unabashedly with a youthful grin that made something within his chest react that he looked away and cleared his throat.

Dangerous. That smile was dangerous.  

Kresnik sighed. "Is this about the lake? If it is, then I'm telling you it's not real," he informed her bluntly.

However, instead of being disappointed, she pouted. "But mister, I was told that people would try and discourage me about this. So I will never listen to anyone unless I've seen it with my own eyes whether it's real or not."

Kresnik had never felt such a strong sympathy towards Stribog than right at this moment. He knew his best friend often babysat this niece of his and he could imagine the headache he had to suffer daily.

"Again, it's Lord Kresnik, and I'm not discouraging you. I'm telling you a fact. I am the one who created this oasis for the mermaids to stay.  Why would I lie to you?"

"But I'm already here. It doesn't hurt to try, no?" she told him stubbornly, so Kresnik had no choice but to give in.

"Fine! But you will go back home right after," he warned her, his blue gaze narrowing on her smiling face. But if ever, her smile only widened.

He sighed as he guided her towards the lake. He was planning on making one of his subordinates cater to her, but to his chagrin, each and every one of his minions had disappeared sometime while he was talking to her.

Those imps…  

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he walked ahead of her towards the lake. Every fiber of his being was aware of her and he felt frustrated as he didn't know what to do with his feelings.

She was the daughter of Perun. Compared to him who had thousands of years in existence, she was but a child. But at the same time, to him, she's also a woman – a strange, yet, beautiful woman who had captured his interest – and might be more. He suspected having a malady that made him think about her more than he should.

"Mister, mister! Why are you walking so fast?" she asked, and to his surprise, as soon as he stopped to turn to her, she had reached out and captured his hand in hers, rendering him frozen.

"You…" He was caught unawares that he had no idea what to say but ended up saying nothing when she flashed that bright smile on her face.

He stared at her for a while with her still holding his hand, and he couldn't help asking. "What's your name?" He had told her his, many times, but she never told him hers.

"Alencica," she answered, and he immediately understood why.

Her name meant a shining, bright light, very apt for her personality that's like the sunshine. Her father had chosen her name well.

"You should do what you came here for then, so you can go home. Your uncle's going to go crazy looking for you again," he told her as he ushered her towards the lake, but she didn't let go of his hand.

In fact, she held his hand tighter as they walked towards the blue water that seemed to sparkle like a gem under the sunlight.

"Where is the mermaid who took my voice last time?" she asked as she squinted at the lake.

Kresnik was confused. "She's not a prophet. If you're looking for true love, she can't give you one," he informed her blandly.

"I know," she answered with a mischievous grin. "I'm just here to offer her a gift."

"What?" If he was confused earlier, he was more than that now. But he also knew that asking her would be useless. The woman didn't make sense most of the time. Instead, he narrowed his eyes on the lake and called the mermaid over.

Of course, the mermaid appeared right after being called by the master. It was one thing to hide, but they couldn't do that when they're personally summoned.

"Yes, Master?" the mermaid asked demurely, but her curious gaze was on Alencica.

"It's you!"

Perun's daughter let go of his hand to go to the mermaid, and Kresnik felt a bit lonely. He somewhat got used to her touch, and he depressed over at the realization. However, when the girl suddenly turned to him, he looked away. He was not prepared for anyone else to see how he felt.

"Mister, if you're going to help, you have to do it properly,"Alecica suddenly said as she returned to his side and took his hand again in hers. "Come," she whispered as she pulled him towards the mermaid whose eyes shone like the stars as she looked at their intertwined hands.

"Here, Miss," she said as she handed the mermaid the wrapped meat.

Kresnik signaled the mermaid to take it, which the latter did. "What is this Miss?"

"It's a gift," she said which puzzled both master and subordinate.

"She tricked you, and yet, you're rewarding her?" Kresnik couldn't help but ask.

"But she helped me find my answer," she countered enigmatically as she stood up and turned to him with a gentle smile on her face which was mesmerizing.

Kresnik didn't know he stared. He just looked at her beautiful face, lost in that smile of hers.

"You… found your answer?"

The legend, of course, was nothing but a rumor. So the girl must have realized this before. "If you already have your answer, then why come here again?

With this, Alencica threw her head back and laughed. "Because I need to confirm if the answer I found was the truth," she told him as she gave his hand a squeeze before turning around to leave.

"You're leaving?" Krensik called out to her, his hand felt lonely again after being let go.

"Yes. I promised my father I won't be out for long," she said as she flashed him one last smile. "See you again, Kresnik," she said before jumping over the huge boulder again and vanishing from his sight.

Kresnik, on the other hand, stood frozen where he was. It was the first time she'd called him by his name, and his ears turned red as he raised the hand she touched and stared at it.

Not far away, his subordinates had watched the entire scenario and sighed to themselves. Their master was a goner.

"I was wrong," the one who fought with the mermaid about the legend of the lake announced. "It seems finding your true love by this lake is true…"

Meanwhile, back in the Celestial Palace, Alencica arrived and rushed towards her father's study almost immediately. "Father!" she called as soon as she opened the door.

Perun who sat behind his desk looking over some scrolls looked up and smiled at his child. For the first time, Alencica did not sneak out of the palace and had asked his permission to go out which he gladly allowed.

"Well? Did you finish your task?"

With this, Alencica sighed as she sat on one of the chaises in front of his table. Her silver-grey eyes rested on her left hand which she caressed with the other.

"Father, you are right," she said afterwards.

Earlier, she had asked her father how she'd know if she found her fated person. Perun had answered that she'd know when she found someone whose hand she didn't want to let go.

"Oh?"Perun's amethyst gaze was warm as he gave his child a lonely kind of smile. It was a kind of smile a parent gave his child who's finally ready to spread her wings and fly away.

"Yes… my hand felt lonely when I left…"