There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 441 - 434. Remnant of Memories

Everyone looked at Bassena in surprise; even Zein looked at Bassena in surprise--although only for a split second.

"Your...patriarch?" the King’s eye twitched.

Bassena had been a neutral power all this time; yes, he was a member of Trinity and worked for Radia Mallarc, but he wasn’t the household member of the clan. So, pouching him was a fair game. Taking a member of someone else’s clan through anything but marriage, however, was unforgivable between Old Houses, and a pretext for House War.

Zein didn’t know about this yet, but Bassena did.

"Yes, why?" he raised his brow slightly and smirked. "Naturally, I’m going to join House Ishtera, no?"

Ah--Zein chuckled. Naturally.

"What--but you..."

"I’ve told you," Bassena quipped before the foolish King or his attendants could speak anymore. "I had no intention of joining the royal family or whatever."

The amber eyes staring at them right now might be similar to the eye colors of the royal family. But that blazing cold fury only reminded the King of one thing; the way his long-lost sister looked at his father before disappearing twelve days later.

And as if confirming this, Bassena spoke again.

"My mother had left her name behind. As her son, I had no intention of picking up something she had thrown away."

"You--"

"Too bad," Bassena sneered. "I had a sliver bit of hope that you might call me for some...reconciliation," he chuckled bitterly as if he felt so silly for even thought of such a thing. He looked at the people who shared the same blood with him sharply. "If you just want to play superiority, try getting rid of that Deathzone in your border."

Bassena turned around and was about to hold Zein’s hand so they could leave when he heard the King speak again.

"Are you saying you really don’t need our help?"

Bassena turned around again and rolled his eyes. "Haa...listen here--"

[No, we don’t]

A voice could suddenly be heard from Bassena’s side. To be exact, from Zein’s commlink. These people had been acting more and more annoying, so Zein decided to call for the Big Brother.

The King and the adjutants blinked in surprise as the face of Radia Mallarc came out on the screen hovering above the guide’s commlink. The man was sitting relaxedly, but the crimson eyes were cold.

[Please refrain from pouching our esper if you still value your trade with Eastern Federation]

"What--"

[That’s all. I believe some of you are clever enough for this]

The call ended right after, and without wasting any more time, Zein grabbed Bassena’s hand to get out of the place; the room, the whole palace.

"Let’s go."

* * *

Just like any other important landmark, the palace did not allow teleportation except for an inevitable artifact’s effect. So, unfortunately, they had to walk all the way.

But being in the palace did not stop Bassena from grumbling and dissing the royal family, especially the King. Zein too, felt that the reasoning for the summon was so silly--so much so that he thought it was a ruse somehow to get Bassena to attack them in anger and detain him, only to tell him he could be released if he became a member of the royal family.

But they didn’t look like acting, and they didn’t stop Bassena from leaving.

Zein had no idea if those people were that conceited or...

"Is it me or the King seem...dumb?"

"He is," Bassena scoffed. "The women are actually the smart ones in this family, but they value the old view that the oldest son had to be the head, and the women need to be submissive."

"Is that why your mother left?"

"Basically," Bassena’s jaw stiffened in anger. "They wanted her to be a submissive wife to an old businessman; basically sending her off as an offering for money."

Zein nodded. Yeah...he too, would run away if he knew that bastard was going to sell him off as a slave worker. No--he was about to run away even after that, but he couldn’t do it because he would have to leave the twins alone then. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"I see that the Queen had a way to control the situation somewhat," Zein muttered. She might appear weak and reserved, but he bet the Queen held more power than anyone realized. After all, it seemed like she could wrap the King around her fingers.

It was just that...she still had to battle the influence of the adjutants.

"Sure, but there’s a limit to an authority derived from a shadow, isn’t it? She couldn’t give orders by herself after all," Bassena shrugged.

"And the daughter wants a future where she could give the order herself," Zein smiled.

And talking about the daughter...

"Wait!"

They heard the Princess’s voice and turned around. She was walking toward them with a female guard in tow.

"I want to talk to you alone," she didn’t waste time.

"About what? If this another bullshit--"

"Of course not," she replied curtly, looking slightly offended. "Unless you consider the matter of your mother to be bullshit."

A harsh wind swept the Princess, and the royal guard swiftly covered her with raised arms. It was only a release of mana, but it felt like an unleashed skill instead. The amber eyes were gleaming eerily like a predator, and the guard felt like she was going to be shredded to pieces.

"Sena,"

A firm soothing voice could be heard, and the wind pressure vanished, just like that.

The bodyguard swallowed hard, and she felt a tap on her shoulder--a sigh for her to step back. But it was hard for her to do that; not only because her legs felt weakened, but also because her charge looked pale. The Princess, however, just took a deep breath and stepped forward, waiting for a response with a raised chin and straightened back.

Bassena gritted his teeth. "Speak."

"Not here," she shook her head. "Shall we change the place for now?"

Bassena clicked his tongue and raised his wrist to look at his commlink. "Twenty-seven minutes left."

The Princess let out a sigh and gestured toward the southeast. "This way, please."

Again, Zein patted Bassena’s back to calm the esper as they followed the Princess and the vigilant guard who kept glancing at them as if worried that Bassena would suddenly lose control. They were led to a shaded path on the outskirts of the compound; a pleasant path flanked by shrubs with little white flowers that gave out a nice fragrance.

It took them almost ten minutes of walking until Zein could see a pavilion surrounded by trees. With all the shade, the place looked cool in this warm climate, and rather hidden from the palace’s traffic. There were several sets of tables there, and the Princess led them to the one in the center.

"What is it? You have seventeen minutes."

Bassena did not bother with pleasantry which had been exhausted by the King. But the Princess also did not like to glib, so she just signaled to her guard, who immediately took out a small chest and put it on the table.

"What is this?"

"It’s Aunt Sva--your mother’s stuff."

Bassena blinked once before snorting. "Are you even banned from mentioning her name?"

The Princess did not answer, and Bassena did not move, even though his eyes were trained on the closed chest and his fingers were tingling in impatience. The clock was ticking in silence, and Zein decided he should do something or this would never end.

"What’s the catch?" the guide asked, staring at the Princess. If he was (going to be) Bassena’s patriarch in the end, he should have the right to meddle in this. "What do you want from him?"

"Nothing," the Princess said dryly. "I just want to get rid of it."

"Then you could have sent it to him from a long time ago, or..." Zein leaned back and shrugged. "Destroy it."

Both Bassena and the Princess twitched, to Zein’s satisfaction. "If you people hated her so much, you should have already destroyed her belongings. But you kept it until Bassena came--or..." Zein tilted his head. "If he doesn’t come today, you’d probably continue to keep it."

The Princess’s jaw hardened slightly, cracking her nonchalant mask. Bassena frowned in curiosity and confusion at the reaction, and Zein continued his probing.

"You don’t really hate her, don’t you?"

"I do," the Princess replied indignantly, eyes and lips hardened. "I do hate her."

Zein patted Bassena’s thigh to calm the esper so the Princess could continue.

She stared at the ornamental chest, which was a bit too luxurious to store something that was meant to be rid of. "I hate her," she repeated, as if to remind herself. "I used to look up to her. I loved that she did not back down when people told her she shouldn’t be an esper or that she shouldn’t use her hands for anything but helping her future husband. I listened to her when she said she wanted to make his place better for women like us but what--"

The hands on her lap grabbed her dress tightly, and they could see her lips trembling slightly.

"She left," the Princess raised her face and stared at Bassena with slightly reddened eyes. "She left me here alone. She left to marry someone she didn’t even love and died in their hands. What I’m..." this time, she couldn’t prevent her voice from faltering. "What I’m supposed to feel about that?"

Bassena didn’t answer, because it wasn’t a question that could be answered. At least not by him. He too, had thought that her mother’s fate was filled with irony. At least though...she could still become an artisan like she had always wanted, and make a separate fortune to be bestowed to her son.

At least, she looked happy in the small photograph framed in Seven Ether.

But that would not satisfy Bassena, for he wished his mother could be happy for a lot more, for a longer time. And if it could not satisfy Bassena, it wouldn’t satisfy the Princess, who never saw the proof of her happiness.

"Just looking at the things inside hurt me, so..." she bit her lips and clenched her jaw as he uttered the next words with difficulty. "Just take it."