Lynette’s eyes fidgeted as she saw Jeremiah suspend a brute like Paul in the air with a single hand.How was it possible for someone his size to be that strong? She also noticed that it didn’t seem like Jeremiah was exerting himself and was actually way stronger than what he was showcasing now.How was that even possible?“Are you okay?” Jeremiah looked at Lynette and asked her.“Huh?” Lynette said after snapping out of her daze.“I said, are you okay? He didn’t hurt you too much, did he?” Jeremiah asked.Lynette checked her arm, which was red from how hard Paul had grabbed her, then she looked at Jeremiah and shook her head.“I’m fine, young master,” she said.Jeremiah, whose senses were heightened and was a very intuitive person, knew that she was lying as her expression was a dead giveaway. There was no way someone as big as Paul didn’t hurt her the way he grabbed her arm and Jeremiah became even more infuriated.He faced Paul and yelled, “How dare you lay your fingers on her, yo
Inside the welcome ceremony.The servers had started serving gourmet dishes to the guests and Brenda’s stomach had started grumbling from a strong hunger.She wasn’t that hungry until she smelled the delicious aroma of the dishes, but now that she had, she wanted to gulp them down.“I really want to eat something,” Brenda said to Kristin, her hand on her stomach. “Yeah, me too. Let’s call one of the servers to bring us something” Kristin said, then she looked for one of the servers whose back was turned to them as he served another guest, and she called out to him.The server turned around and to her surprise it was Desmond. Immediately, her expression dulled as she lost her appetite and didn’t want him to come near them.Unfortunately, Brenda didn’t pick up on that and called him over anyway. “What do you think you’re doing?” Kristin asked her hungry best friend.“What? I thought you wanted to eat just as much as I do” Brenda replied, a confused grimace on her face.“Yes, but not
“Where do you think you’re going, huh?” David asked angrily.“David?” Desmond's eyes blinked rapidly. “I said, where the hell do you think you’re going? Did you forget that you have a job to do?” David asked.Desmond gulped because he knew that he had messed up. His only reason for being at the welcome ceremony was to work, so where was he running off to? “I’m just… Umm…” Desmond cleared his throat “I’m just going to step out for a moment, but don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”Just then, David chuckled and Desmond got confused.“Sorry, ‘cause for a second there I thought I misheard you. Did you just say that you were going back to work and that you’re sorry for taking a little break?” David said.Desmond grimaced, understanding that David didn’t misunderstand or mishear him but rather was telling him not to repeat the nonsense he just said and that he should do what he told him or there would be consequences.What should he do? He feared David and didn’t want to incur his wrath, bu
Jeremiah and Lynette finally made it to the building where the welcome ceremony was taking place and just as Jeremiah was about to head to the entrance, Lynette told him to stop.Jeremiah looked at her, wondering why she stopped him.“We’re supposed to meet up with Mister Kingston when we get here, remember?” She said. “That’s right. Isn’t he inside though?” Jeremiah asked.Lynette nodded.“Yes, he is”“Then why are you stopping me from going in?” Jeremiah asked.“Because we are supposed to go in another way. This way is for the guests, whereas you, young master, are to go in through a special passage,” Lynette said, and Jeremiah groaned. “A special passage? So you’re saying that Kingston is waiting for me at that special passage,” Jeremiah said, and Lynette nodded. Jeremiah had no problem going through a special passage if that’s what they wanted him to do, but he was curious to see how the welcome ceremony looked from the perspective of one of the guests. He had never attended a
“Jeremiah? Has anyone heard that name before?”“Not me. I also haven’t seen him before, so I can’t tell if he’s someone important or not.”“But come to think of it, why does his face seem so oddly familiar? It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t grasp it.”“I think you’re right, he does have a very familiar face, but why is that?”“Forget about all that! What I want to know is how he knew that the gift Malcolm presented was a fake?”The guests murmured as they stared at Jeremiah. “Jeremiah or whatever your name is, who do you think you are to stand there and say that the gift I spent years and money to get and bring to this ceremony is fake?!” Malcolm asked angrily. “That’s right, who are you and can you tell everyone how you know that the mirror is a fake?” The presenter asked. Just then, Jeremiah grimaced and looked down.Truth be told, he too didn’t know why he said that the gift Malcolm had presented was fake or how he knew that it was a fake, but, for some reason, he j
While everyone had been berating Jeremiah after they asked him to prove that what he said about Malcolm’s gift was true, and he kept quiet, searching within to know why he felt the mirror was a fake magical item in the first place. He needed to know how he knew to be able to prove that what he said was true and after a couple of seconds of reflecting, he finally found the answer. He knew exactly how to prove whether an item was magical or not. Jeremiah saw all the eyes that were glued to the mirror he held in both hands, and he too looked at the mirror. “Have any of you ever seen a magical item before?” Jeremiah asked the crowd and they all looked confused. “Seems like no one other than Mister Ludwig, who brought the gift, and you, who says it’s a fake, has experience with magical items,” the presenter said on behalf of the crowd. Jeremiah chuckled. “So how can you guys know it’s real if you’ve never had any experience with one before? Does Malcolm climbing that podiu
Seeing the vitriolic gazes aimed at him, Malcolm, who didn’t know what to do, ended up chuckling nervously. “You guys can’t seriously be taking what that bastard said as the truth, can you?” Malcolm asked as a way to discredit Jeremiah, but saw that his attempts were futile.“Why shouldn’t we, Mister Ludwig? He said that the mirror would explode when destroyed if it was a real magical item, but it didn’t, so he was right, and you are a liar!” The presenter said.Among everyone there, the presenter was the most angry because he had propped up Malcolm when he said his gift was a magical item, and finding out that it was a lie made him feel like he was an idiot who believed the man. Malcolm’s brain fired on all cylinders, trying to come up with something else to say to save himself, and just in the nick of time, an idea popped up. “Wait a minute, who is he for all of you to believe that what he said is true?” Malcolm asked, pointing at Jeremiah.“What do you mean? We all saw what happ
Malcolm gulped, fear in his eyes. There truly was no way out of this mess this time. Malcolm quickly went on his knees, pressed his head on the floor, and groveled at Reginald’s feet. “Please forgive me, Your Majesty! I didn’t know that the mirror wasn’t a true magical item! Even I was fooled by the merchant who sold it to me,” Malcolm pleaded. “I’m confused, didn’t you say that you spent years and millions to obtain the mirror?” Reginald asked. “That’s right your majesty. Millions of my hard-earned money and time was put into—“ Malcolm said, but Reginald cut him off. “If that’s the case, then I assume you would have done your research to know if the item was truly magical or not, or are you telling me that you’re so incompetent, that a simple merchant scammed you out of millions for a regular mirror?” Reginald asked and Malcolm gulped. He knew that nobody would believe such a stupid lie because how did he, a successful businessman, who had been in search of the mirror for a
Inside the Study, Reginald, who noticed that Jeremiah’s mind was elsewhere, asked him what he was doing. Jeremiah had actually been eavesdropping on David, wondering if he would say anything that would expose his involvement in the gas processing plant’s explosion and prove to Jeremiah that his suspicion was right. However, that didn’t happen and Jeremiah got annoyed that David stopped talking all of a sudden. From the last sentence Jeremiah heard David say before abruptly cutting himself off, he concluded that David knew he was onto him and was actively trying not to expose himself. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence, and Jeremiah was wrong about the whole thing—meaning David wasn’t involved in the explosion at all. There could only be one answer to the two possibilities, and time would reveal which one was correct because sooner or later, David was bound to slip up. All Jeremiah had to do was wait for that moment to come. Jeremiah replied “Nothing. I was just listening to wh
David, looking at Jeremiah, blinked multiple times to emphasize his shock.Even though he had once thought that Jeremiah had joined hands with Dean and Adam to kill all the guards—after seeing the dismembered bodies when he escaped the plant—the fact that this was only an assumption and was never confirmed left him with some doubt that Jeremiah had ever gotten blood on his hands.That assumption quickly vanished after he heard about how Jeremiah saved everyone at the welcome ceremony from the Rubik's Cube bomb and even traveled a great distance to save him.However, when Jeremiah admitted outright that he had killed Dean—and went on to elaborate on how he did it—it sent a shock through David's body. He realized he might have been wrong about who Jeremiah had killed, but not about the fact that he had killed someone.‘So he really is a cold-blooded murderer’ David thought and gulped.Just then, David noticed something that felt concerning.He looked at Reginald and the three other men—
David tried standing up but before he did, Kingston offered him a hand. David looked at Kingston’s hand but instead of accepting, he felt insulted. The fact that he had just heard that Jeremiah, his one competition for the throne, was a powerful being who could do whatever he wanted, made him feel weak and useless in comparison, and seeing Kingston’s hand annoyed the hell out of him.Still, he had to maintain composure.“No thanks. I can stand on my own” David said, feigning a smile.“As you wish, Sir” Kingston replied then retracted his hand and stood upright while David went on his feet and walked back to where he once was.“Are you okay?” Reginald asked.However, David, who was annoyed that Reginald felt it necessary to ask that question out of concern for his earlier reaction, forced a smile.“I am Uncle, so please, continue,” David said. Reginald looked at Jeremiah and said “You should also listen to what I’m going to say because it involves you as well” “Okay,” Jeremiah grim
Reginald started by revealing the history of Crimson Fall to David, who at first was confused as to why he was telling him an old folk tale but soon realized why when Reginald told him the part that only the king and a select few knew. The moment David heard about reincarnation, his eyes widened, asking himself if such a thing existed.Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only bombshell he was going to hear as the story continued to unfold.Reginald told him that it was the Garrick family's mission to make sure that Lord Crimson, the powerful dragon who ruled over Crimson Fall for centuries, reincarnated and like that wasn’t enough, he gestured at Jeremiah and told him that Jeremiah was Lord Crimson, reincarnated.“I’m sorry what?” David asked, trying to make sure he wasn’t mishearing things. “You heard me right. Your cousin, who we all thought was dead, is our one true ruler. The all-powerful, Lord Crimson” Reginald said passionately. David’s eyes blinked multiple times as he looked at
The boldness with which Jeremiah said “Yes, I did” demoralized David. It was like he was telling David that he didn’t regret what he did and was daring him to reprimand his actions. Knowing that he couldn’t lash out at Jeremiah for what he did, David had no choice but to gulp and accept what happened and move on— making him more mad because he hated being made to feel small and insignificant. “I’m sure you had your reasons but can you please tell me why you hurt my friends,” David asked, making sure to choose his words carefully so as not to sound like he was confronting Jeremiah. “Friends? I think you’re misunderstanding something, David.” Reginald said and David quickly looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. “Jeremiah didn’t hurt your friends but your friend. Only one person was hurt by his hands” Reginald clarified. David grimaced. He reflected on Reginald’s words and remembered that the king had said “friend” instead of “friends” when he revealed that the per
That’s right, he had completely forgotten about his punishment because of the night he had, but it’s a good thing Reginald was bringing it up now.What was his uncle going to say? Hopefully, something along the lines of, he had seen that David had learned his lesson and because of that he had decided to bring the punishment to an end. David thought and started smiling discreetly.“After the aftermath of the explosion at the welcome ceremony, I have decided that—“ Reginald said, but David cut him off.“Explosion at the welcome ceremony?! What explosion?” David asked and Reginald paused.“You haven’t heard about the explosion yet?” Reginald asked. “No, I haven’t. There was another explosion but at the welcome ceremony?” David replied.David had been so anxious to find out what Jeremiah knew about the gas processing plant explosion that he was tunnel-visioned from everything else. He had just gone to his room to freshen up, changed clothes, and then went to Reginald’s study for the mee
After looking at everyone in the Study and seeing how they were staring at him— especially Jeremiah’s whose stare was like a predator’s to a prey— David, who realized that he was in a hot mess, thought of how to get away from the situation.How could he spin the story and change the narrative in his favor? He wondered and his brain started working at a million miles an hour in search of the answer.Soon enough, a thought came to his mind and he decided to go with it.David started chuckling, making everyone wonder why he was doing that.What did he find so funny?“Uncle, what gave you the impression that I knew about the explosion before it happened?” David asked.Reginald, who thought about the question, grimaced and adjusted how he sat.“Well, if I remember correctly, you were rambling about how we should leave the area and were adamant about it for a good minute before the building exploded, so I thought that your behavior was because you beforehand that the building was going to e
Once inside the study, the first thing Jeremiah did was pause and groan when he saw David standing in front of the desk. Kingston, who was just as surprised as Jeremiah at the sight of David, jolted and asked “Sir David, you’re already here?”“Yes, he is. Truthfully, even I was surprised when he arrived before you two did, but for some reason, he seemed eager to have the meeting which I guess is a good thing because I have so much to ask him” Reginald said.David, who was trying his best to keep his cool and act normal, turned to Reginald and smiled. “I just wanted to tell Uncle what happened because I know how worried he was about my disappearance and maybe that will calm his mind a little,” David said.Reginald, who didn’t know the young man’s true motive and believed his words, smiled. He took David’s feigned concern for him as a sign of David changing and attributed it to the punishment he gave him working. Speaking of the punishment, what was going to happen now that the guard
Jeremiah, Kingston, and Steven went to Reginald’s study while Elizabeth went back into Jeremiah’s room to spend some more time with Lynette’s corpse.Since the body would most definitely be kept in Jeremiah’s room until the funeral tomorrow, this was going to be her only moment of privacy with her former protégé. Though it would be a one-sided conversation, as Lynette could talk back, Elizabeth was going to say everything she had in her chest and hopefully feel at ease with losing someone she cared about so soon.A couple of minutes later, after finally being at peace with Lynette’s passing, Christabel came to the room and she too got her chance to say goodbye to her friend and fellow protégé.After that, Christabel and Elizabeth reminisced on past moments they and Lynette spent together when she was alive and the experience made the remaining two form a stronger bond than what they had before.Just then, the room door was knocked. “Who is it?” Christabel asked after Elizabeth used