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Return to Henrietta
🕑 Added 2022-12-21 12:00:04 +0000 UTC<Unknown, but even his memory data appears scrambled. Try to communicate with him.>
Despite all the consequences, Seth was ready to unleash his divinity and fight back, but since he was only feeling confusion and no malice from Tarquin, he carried on and did as the system suggested.
“I’m Seth, the one you came here to kill.” Replied Seth, observing Tarquin to check his reaction.
Tarquin turned his head to the side, looking Seth up and down before nodding.
“Makes sense, yes.” He replied, looking around the small hole in the ground. “Since I’m here, does it mean I lost?”
“Yes, you did. You never stood a chance to begin with.” Said Seth.
“I guess I didn’t. Will I die?”
Seth frowned, seeing that Tarquin only felt a weird sense of calm and acceptance. Thinking for a moment, he said: “No. You still have a use for me, so I don’t plan on killing you. Of course, only if you do as I say.”
“Sure. I don’t mind either way. How can I help you?”
“Keep pretending to be a general, lead the troops south as you’re supposed to, then wipe them all off as soon as you arrive at Endora’s capital.”
“Endora?” asked Tarquin with a frown.
“Former blood kingdom.”
“Oh, that’s what you called it. I remember now. Sure. I’ll do it. Anything else?”
Seth frowned once more and talked to the system. ‘So, what do you think?’
<His sense of self appears to have been broken. It also doesn’t look like the master-servant relationship between you was established. During the takeover break, his will mixed with the perception will. He’s like a confused child.>
‘Is it safe to have him continue the mission, or should I change plans? It will cause some trouble, but I can always impersonate him and play his role in the war….’
<While it might work, there are certain risks involved. His disguise will be in trouble since his behavior has changed drastically. There’s also the possibility of him failing to follow host’s orders.>
Seth sighed and closed his eyes to think for a moment before saying: “Listen, Tarquin. This is an essential job, and I can’t allow you to fail, so if I let you live, I need to ensure you can do your mission.”
Tarquin nodded indifferently, making Seth say: “Forget it. Just lead the troops south, and don’t use your energy to attack Endora. I’ll send you back up, and I need you to calm down the trouble upstairs that your absence started.”
Seeing that Tarquin agreed again, Seth said: “Open your source. I’ll put my energy inside, and if you misbehave, I’ll kill you.”
Tarquin did as he was told, and Seth inserted a sliver of his destruction energy inside, placing it right at the center of Tarquin’s vortex. The moment that energy is activated, his source will crumble upon itself, and Tarquin will die instantly.
After Seth’s ‘insurance’ was placed, he teleported Tarquin to somewhere safe and continued observing from the hole in the ground.
Having been missing for almost a whole week has caused great chaos amongst the troops he was leading in battle. His sudden return was just as chaotic, but how he dealt with the situation stunned Seth.
Tarquin had just come out of a tent and told the panicky soldiers that he had gone somewhere to take a dump. His calm and relaxed attitude threw everyone in the unit off, but no matter what questions they asked, Tarquin would use some stupid excuse.
Seth continued observing his interactions for a few more days, but despite wanting to face-palm himself at every word from Tarquin’s mouth, he had to accept that it was working.
Since the soldiers only became familiar with General Tarquin at the start of the war, even if they felt something was wrong with his character turning from a tyrannical general to a flowery one, no one complained about it.
The soldiers and other officers even started to like the new General now that they didn’t have to fear getting executed for speaking a few wrong words. After an entire week in which the situation only calmed down and got better, Seth finally decided to leave the army camp.
He was still determining if Tarquin would fulfill his commands, but as long as he kept on the facade until the date of the attack everything would be alright. In the worst-case scenario, he will kill Tarquin.
After arriving outside the camp and back into Oath territory, Seth had the system keep an eye on Tarquin, with him being ready to kill him at a moment’s notice before proceeding further inside the kingdom, heading towards Oath’s Capital.
With only a month and a few days before the start of the grand plan, he chose to be in Oath and supervise from that side while leaving Endora in Maya and Hollie’s capable hands.
———
After arriving in the capital of Oath, Seth found an utterly chaotic city. Even walking through the slumps, he could hear the people whispering about a revolt.
On his way towards the middle ring’s marketplace, the guards he passed by were all holding tightly onto their swords, looking carefully at every citizen who even came close to them.
The royal guards were even worse, their black and tired eyes telling a compelling story about the stress they were under.
The tension in the capital was at an all-time high, and Seth knew all of this was because of Cain and Molly’s acting. Small acts of rebellion were happening daily, and people would also die during each one.
It didn’t matter if they were ordinary citizens, thugs, guards, nobles, or academy students; no one was safe inside the capital anymore. The king’s shadows would act a lot more ruthlessly than before, people disappearing from the city every day, never being seen again.
Even walking through the city’s streets disguised as a citizen dressed in good-looking clothes, Seth could feel all the unfriendly looks all around.
‘You would think my perception energy was the worst thing to ever happen to Oath, but to think that less of a year was enough time to even top that.’
<The uncertainties were already there for a long time, with Cain and Molly only having to raise them to the surface.>
Seth nodded and walked into a small inn to the side before buying a room on the second floor. Once inside his room, Seth expanded his space energy outward and waited.
Not even five seconds later, space broke in front of him, and a soft body threw itself into his arms, hugging his neck tightly.
“Someone looks like they missed me.” Said Seth, massaging Henrietta’s back with a soft smile.
“So much.” Replied Henrietta, her voice already starting to crack.
“Shh, I’m here to stay with you until everything is over. Let’s sit down.”
Henrietta nodded in Seth’s arms but didn’t stop clinging to him even while Seth carried her to sit on the bed. Setting her soft body in his lap, Seth continued massaging her back as he asked: “Tell me what’s been going on.”
Henrietta nodded again and finally lifted her head from Seth’s arms. Wiping the corner of her eyes, she started speaking.
“We received news from you, and after failing to dissuade John, we took him with us while rushing towards Oath. When we arrived here, we regrouped with the others and went over the plan….”
Henrietta slowly explained the situation in Oath, along with everyone’s movement. Once she was done, she lowered her head and said: “Seth, about father….”
Seth sighed and held onto her hand: “You already know about my new ability, don’t you?”
After Henrietta nodded, Seth continued: “To appease the people after everything is over, someone had to be held accountable. We’ll be able to spare your mother, brothers, and sister, but Lian has to be executed.”
Henrietta nodded again, barely able to contain herself from crying. She knew from the start that her journey with Seth would end with King Lian’s death, but now that it was so close, she could barely keep a strong front.
“Do you want him alive?” asked Seth, able to sense her mixed feelings.
Henrietta lowered her head and asked: “That new ability. How does it work?”
“It locks away their will, not allowing them to disobey any of my orders. Their soul remains untouched besides that. It is possible to break the link, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Henrietta bit her lip and said: “I don’t know, Seth. I always hated him for planning to marry me off like I was just a pawn for him and how he always seemed to love his other children so much more than he loved me. But now… I don’t know if I can stay and watch him die….”
“You know why he had always treated you like that?” asked Seth with a sigh.
Henrietta looked up, her eyes already red, and shook her head.
“You didn’t ask him?” asked Seth, looking at her surprised.
“I haven’t even seen him. Couldn’t bring myself to….”
Seth nodded and opened a portal to Lian’s chambers before saying: “Lian, come here.”
Henrietta’s body shuddered, but Seth held her hand tighter, whispering, “Don’t worry. I’m here.”
Out of the portal, Lian came and knelt towards Seth with his head lowered: “Master.”
Seeing Henrietta had buried her face into his chest once more, Seth massaged her back and said: “Speak to him, love. He’ll not be able to lie now.”
Henrietta took a while to gather the strength to turn around and look at her kneeling father. Lian’s eyes widened when he saw Henrietta, but he didn’t react other than that.
“Lian, you’ll answer her questions truthfully.” Said Seth.
“Yes, master.” Replied Lian.
Henrietta took a deep breath and asked: “Father… why were you always colder to me than to the others?”. Her hand gripped Seth’s stronger as she asked her question.
“Because you are not my daughter.” Said Lian bluntly, making Seth sigh and Henrietta shudder again. Seth thought the dumb Lian would ease up a bit on it, but he should have also given an order for that.
“W-what do you mean? How can I not be your daughter?” Henrietta asked, staring straight at Lian.
Seth brought his hands around her waist and held her tighter as he spoke to Lian: “Tell her the story from the beginning, Lian. She deserves to know.”
Lian nodded. “Yes, master. After having my third son, your mother and I started drifting apart. Kingdom business kept me in the throne room longer, and I started neglecting her.”
“She kept asking me to spend more time with the children and her, but I couldn’t. I explained to her that the kingdom was going through some troubled times, and she seemed to understand. Eventually, she stopped bothering me, and, despite seeming a bit colder, things returned to normal.”
“She even remained pregnant again, so I thought everything was over. She gave birth to you, and I was thrilled to have another daughter.”
“That was all until I happened to spot her laughing at one of the court officials. It was not a major thing, but there was something that I noticed right away. That court official’s eyes looked the same as my daughter’s.”
“I told myself I must be imagining things, but it kept me awake at night, so I sent my shadows to investigate subtly. A few weeks later, they reported to me. The queen has been spotted having sex with that court official inside my throne room late at night.”
“That was when it all changed. I couldn’t kill the queen or my official daughter, so I took what I could. I had the court official kidnapped and killed in secret. After I interrogated him and discovered that you were indeed his daughter, he was tortured to death by my shadows.”
“Your mother came - “
“That’s enough, Lian.” Said Seth, stopping him from continuing, but Henrietta, already in tears, said: “Continue.”
Lian remained silent, and Henrietta turned her red eyes toward Seth.
“Continue, Lian.” Said Seth with a sigh.
“Yes, master. My wife came and asked me about it, but I didn’t want her to know I had killed her lover or that I knew about Henrietta, so I played the fool, pretending I didn’t even know who she was talking about. She suspected me, but in the end, there was no evidence, and she fell into depression again.”
“Since I knew you were not my real daughter, while I couldn’t kill you or denounce the affair, I also started trying to avoid you. You were like a reminder of my wife’s betrayal, and whenever I saw your eyes, I was filled with unquenchable rage.”
“To prevent people from finding out, I had you stay inside the palace and did my best to isolate you before you were of marriage age. Then, I planned on using you to make some ties to a noble house and finally get rid of you.”
Henrietta was crying silently in Seth’s eyes and asked: “Then why did you still pretend to love me all this time? Why couldn’t you throw me away?”
“Because I needed the noble you would marry to believe I was giving away something of value. If I started treating you like the bastard daughter you were, he would have become suspicious of your origin. I also needed to keep your mother from discovering my involvement with that man’s death and doing something stupid.”
“So my father is dead…” muttered Henrietta, her body shaking in Seth’s arms. “Seth, please send him away.”
Seth nodded and teleported Lian away before starting to console Henrietta.
“That night… I remember now.” Muttered Henrietta, her destruction energy starting to leak out of her source.
Seth sighed and nodded: “Yes. It was the night the shadows also discovered your mother and her affair.”
Henrietta started crying louder, burying her head into Seth’s chest as she said: “And who am I supposed to hate now? The king? He was only acting out of misery and jealousy. My mother? She was lonely and in pain, finding comfort in another’s embrace. My actual father? I don’t even know him, and he’s already dead.”
“Who do I even blame for these feelings, Seth? Who? I hate them all, but at the same time, I understand it was no one’s fault.”
Seth sighed again and didn’t know how to answer her, so he remained silent as he listened to Henrietta cry her heart out. Her feelings eventually overwhelmed her as she fell asleep in Seth’s arms.
