Brooke's Priority
Chapter 28's

I kept my promise and picked up Fanita when the clock showed at two in the morning. By lighting a candle, the three of us descended the stairs to a place hidden in the Cohenherb household. Haley found this place two years ago while she was driving around not getting any assignments from dad. There was a secret passageway in the wine cellar. Luckily, this room was only accessible to the aged butler.

We walked again through a hallway and I stopped in front of a padlocked wooden door. I opened them carefully and told them to enter first. The typical smell of the basement poked our noses. I gave a handkerchief to Fanita who seemed unfamiliar with it.

I lighted another candle. The room is now bright.

“What is this?” Fanita quickly adapted and no longer needed my handkerchief. He's messing with the stuff I keep. “Emergency cookware, knives, blankets and powder what is this?” she kissed. “Medicine?”

I nodded and said, “Haley helped me buy those things. We are preparing to go north in about two and a half years.”

Fanita looked surprised until she dropped the medicinal powder. I'm grateful that Darshan repackaged the medicinal powder so well that it didn't fall splattered on the floor.

“You're going to the kingdom of Kirkuz? Are you crazy?”

“Please your voice.”

I'm still afraid that someone will hear us even if it seems impossible. We are far underground.

“I have to find Gordon Fichser.”

“Gordon Fichser?” Fanita held her breath for a moment. “The Royal Family has betrayed him and he will never be happy to see you. This is not even a secret.”

“I know,” sahutku. “But Prince Carlo was not the one who betrayed him.”

“So your plan brought him back here?” guess Fanita.

He was quick as I expected. “It's impossible. No one knows of its existence in the northern region.”

Gordon Fichser disappeared after he arrived north. No one knows if he's still alive. The information was confirmed because the border clearance previously granted to Gordon had been transferred to someone else.

“He was removed under the pretext of a diplomatic envoy. He could've been killed while he was north.”

“He's alive,” I said with complete confidence. “His life must have been shown to the public if he was really dead.”

Shaeviro must have failed to kill him.

Brooke wrote about it in his journal. Brooke's hypothesis is that Shaeviro's position will be safer if he can show the body of Gordon Fichser, who knows that Shaeviro was the mastermind behind the Queen's previous murder. I don't know where Brooke found out this important information, he didn't write it down.

But I know Brooke only met Shaeviro once, when he was twelve. He could have heard it all at that moment.

“Let's just say he's alive, how do you convince the person who decided to disappear?” ask Fanita.

Logical question.

“I'm thinking about it,” I replied honestly. “Because of that I didn't just leave.” I gave myself three years. “I will try to convince Prince Carlo.”

“Convincing him about what?”

“By the position of Shaeviro with Gordon Fichser.”

“You think Shaeviro won't do anything to save himself?” Fanita grunts annoyed. “You don't know him well.”

Haley and I looked at Fanita with curiosity. We seemed to be thinking the same so our eyes met a glance. We thought about what made Fanita so seem to hate that name. His eyes were sharp and his hands were clenched.

He seems to have a grudge against Shaeviro.

Whether it was good or not for me, I breathed a little sigh of relief knowing that he would soon side with me who finally had one thing in common with him.

Fanita closed her eyes for a while then said again, “The man who held you in the forest, who is he?”

Fanita changed the subject.

I glanced at Haley.

“Name as Levin. He was the one who helped me when I ran into the night market and was attacked by some people I didn't know.”

Haley glared at me. Naturally, I've never discussed Levin with him.

“What does it mean to carry you in the forest?” tanyakanya. Haley had heard the news about the hunting event and it was immediately realized that Fanita was talking about what was happening at the time.

“We discussed something important. I admit he seems crazy considering the students he hurt just to distract Lucas from me.”

I don't plan on revealing Levin's true identity.

“He is indeed a bit rough.”

I looked at Fanita hesitating.

“Quick say,” says Fanita firmly.

“Lucas loves Josephine Spitz.”

I said it with a flat face.

“What?” Fanita looked at me in disbelief. “The royal advisory princess? Who will be betrothed to Carlo?”

Haley seemed to show the same expression as Fanita. Maybe I'm just like them when Levin reveals the truth to me.

“Lucas definitely keeps this secret from everyone. I don't want him in danger. You know, Shaeviro it's kinda.”.

“She's dangerous,” Fanita scolds me and I see her clenching her hands again. “I don't like that guy.”

I became curious. But it is not time to ask about his personal problems.

Then, I opened the bottle of wine that Haley had brought. Pour it and drink it without turning my glass (me and Haley keep a few glasses of wine in this room. We like to drink).

“We've been talking too long seriously. I feel claustrophobic,” I poured wine and gave it to Fanita and Haley. “Come a drink for a while.”

We were immersed in each of our thoughts.

Haley then open the voice, “You have to advise your sister.”

“I don't want to be the bad guy.”

“You can't let her be in danger either,” Haley squinted her eyes. “This secret is the cause there is a poison in the tea that Lucas.” is supposed to drink

Everyone thinks it's the father's enemy who deliberately did that to Lucas.

Not entirely wrong. “Yes. Levin told me about the poison. Don't ask any more because I don't remember anything including how we used to get acquainted.”

I forgot to ask that.

“We must prevent Lucas. She must not like the woman,” Fanita pouts annoyance while pouring wine into her glass again. He can't wait for me to pour the wine for him. “I'll speak four eyes with Lucas.”

“Do not,” prevent me quickly. “Cannot. How long did you separate them?”

“We're not talking about feelings. We speak the right action.”

“There is indeed an incorrect action when talking about feelings?” my continue. “You don't know love will get stronger as more of it gets in your way.”

“You're talking nonsense.”

“You don't know the so-called tormented feeling?” I said sewot.

“You talk as if you've already felt it.”

“Hmm..”

I did, but I chose to give up under pressure. Honestly, I regret it to this day. I don't want Lucas to feel the way I used to regret. Sometimes I wonder what if at that time I stayed and was with him? I will not meet and feel the deep heartache of being betrayed by my other ex-boyfriend.

“I just want Lucas to be happy with his choice. He will definitely choose the right path. Never force your opinion on him. If they want to separate, let it be a decision that they both make. We just support Lucas in any situation.”

I'm sure they never read Romeo and Juliet.

Being forced to separate by others was extremely pitiful.

“I'm more concerned with how to take down Shaeviro. I don't want Carlo to be his puppet.”

Fanita sighed. “Your observation is good. But I also do not believe in Prince Carlo completely.”

“Aren't you guys friends?”

“My friends are only Lucas and Alex.”

I'm not surprised to hear that. I just feel like Fanita doesn't trust other people easily. He has a high alert attitude.

“There is no reason to suspect Carlo.”

“Quite about it.” Fanita put down her glass. “Tell me more details about your plans to the north.”

*****