Lacuna

Chapter 19 - Hollow

            As we return to Lev's mansion from the Baile en ceau, Lev was acting strangely as he stormed off of the car with a bouquet of striped carnations and a small cake in his hands, leaving me behind in the car. Out of shock at how fast Lev had stormed off, I froze inside the car.

Shortly, one of Lev's men left the car to join Lev, leaving only me and Rhys inside the car. Rhys only had his hands gripped onto the steering wheel as he silently sat in front of me. He seemed like he wanted to talk to me.

"Master Cole, pardon my small talk but how are you doing today?" Rhys asked.

"Huh? Oh, I'm well, how about you?" I replied.

"I'm also doing well." He answered. "Is your schedule for today full, Master?"

"Please, just refer to me as Cole, and no, I don't have any plans for today, why?" I responded.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Master Cole. Are you hungry?" He questioned.

"Sort of, but I'm fine," I answered.

"This might be an inappropriate request but will you join me for lunch?" Rhys glanced over to the rearview mirror and our eyes meet.

"I-I uhm... sure, yeah." I nod.

"Very well, thank you very much for agreeing to join, Master Cole. I very much appreciate it." Rhys thanked before finally driving away.

As Rhys drove, he became more relaxed and spoke a little more loosely.

"Are you alright with eating in a convenience store, Master Cole?"

"Ah, I don't mind," I answered.

Rhys only nodded silently in reply.

It only felt like a minute has passed before I realized that we have arrived.

Rhys rushed out the door to open mine. I carefully stepped out as Rhys gently shut the door behind me.

"Are you fine with eating instant noodles, Master Cole?" Rhys asked as we step inside the convenience store.

I nod.

Rhys went into the back, snatched two cups of instant noodles, and brought them to the cashier. Soon after he paid, he walked over to get hot water for the noodles and exited the convenience store.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I followed behind.

"Just over there." Rhys points over to an empty playground just across from the store.

We both soon sat on the two swings facing the road. Then, Rhys hands a cup of noodles to me; canned fish-flavored. This flavor exists?

I glanced over to Rhys who had already taken a slurp at his noodles which was deer meat flavored. Hesitant at first, I slowly brought the fork of noodles into my mouth.

As I chewed, the flavor had brought nostalgia into my mouth. I looked over to the road which also seemed familiar from this perspective.

"Did you bring me here on purpose? To this specific spot and with this specific flavor?" I turned my head over to Rhys.

"It was obvious, wasn't it?" Rhys smiled slightly.

—Of course, it was! He wasn't even trying to be subtle, geez.

I only nodded silently.

"The man you saw last night, I'm sorry for how he acted." Rhys sighs. "This might be way beyond inappropriate for me to talk and treat you like this but I can't help it."

"You're trying to recover my memories as Luc, aren't you?" I asked.

"Have you remembered?" Rhys's eyes widen.

"No, not all of it, I just found out about me turning out to be Luc Valentin last night," I answered as I bring more noodles into my mouth.

"Oh," Rhys sharply exhales "How did you find out?"

"The painting at an abandoned wing," I answered.

"So technically you know the main things of Luc then," Rhys responded.

I nodded.

"Well, do you know why I brought you here specifically?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"You used to get sad about your parents not spending time with you, including your brother. So, I took you here every night you get sad and we'd eat cup noodles together as an escape." Rhys explained.

"Do you know what happened to my brother?" I asked.

"I was hoping to ask you the same thing as well." Rhys's expression changed.

"Lev told me you served the family your whole life until now, don't you know what happened to us?" I asked as I lower my empty cup of noodles onto the ground.

"It's a sensitive topic but I'll answer with what generally had happened," Rhys answered. "Your mother was a Necric. Your parents had married each other to make a peace treaty, it was all arranged."

Rhys paused briefly before continuing his explanation.

"Well, from what we found at the scene, your mother had murdered your father after twelve years of marriage. We didn't see it coming. After the murder, it was said that she tried to flee. Some loyal guards had lost their lives helping her escape, betraying us. We had no choice." Rhys's expression saddens the more he spoke.

"But back then, you and your brother were never found. We just assumed you were dead since witnesses saw the queen fled empty-handed and alone." Rhys sighs. "Then, the maugens and the necrics were at war once again but it slowly died down since the necrics haven't attacked for quite a while."

"Why did she murder the king?" I asked.

"We're not sure of her motives but some of us speculated that it was all part of the necric's plan." Rhys frowned.

Silence filled the vacant playground for a while until I initiated another conversation with Rhys.

"What were you to us when you served us?" I ask curiously.

"I was just a kid when I was first introduced to the mansion, I followed my mother who served your family at that time. Your father saw the potential in me to become one of their skillful guards but I was only seven years old back then." Rhys cracked out a smirk. "Your father let me play together with your brother and eventually I became some sort of 'guard' to your brother."

"As I grew together with your brother, you came into the picture and I, acting as the older brother, took care of you both while your parents were busy." He continued.

A long pause went between us as the sky grew darker.

"I think it's going to rain, it might be best for us to head back," Rhys advised as he stood up from the swing.

I only nodded and watched as he picked the empty cups off the ground, throwing them into a trash bin.

Soon, I followed him into the car and watched as he drove us back to Lev's mansion.