One Hundred Years As An Extra

He looked at the bench and glared at me again. I sighed. It was his signal. I took a step forward thinking about the precious certificate that I had achieved after so many hardships. My mouth felt dry.

“Yes, I think he left a blueprint. I remember asking for one since I liked the bench so much.”

“Will the blueprint help to make something the same as that?”

“I am sure you can. Probably even better than this one. I am sure there are many extraordinary craftsmen in the palace who can include their own designs and make it with better material.”

“Great! Give it to me then…” said Julius reaching his hand towards Kaichen as though to receive the blueprint. How the hell were we supposed to give him the nonexistent blueprint right now?

Kaichen scowled at me. He sighed then swept his hair over his forehead. He looked like he was going to fall apart now that the situation was getting out of his hand.

“I will look for it and give it to you,” I said.

“You don’t have it here with you?” asked Julius.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” snapped Kaichen. “I thought there were more important matters to deal with right now. I thought we were supposed to leave for Acrab.”

Julius narrowed his eyes at Kaichen. But he didn’t respond. He seemed shocked seeing Kaichen like this. “When are you planning to leave?” he asked after a pause.

“Right now,” said Kaichen.

“What? So soon? Just like that?”

“Do you have any other solution to the problem?”

“Um… no.”

“Then, I think that’s one thing sorted.”

“Okay.”

“We will need to pack and leave right away. So, please leave.”

“Are you kicking me out?”

“Last I checked, this was my house. So, yes. Can’t I kick you out of my house and my area?”

“Well, no! I am the Crown Prince!”

Kaichen gave a weary sigh, scowled at Julius and stormed up the path to the house. After Kaichen slammed the front door, Julius turned to look at me. I awkwardly gave a bow.

“Then… please take care, Your Highness.” I walked to the bench to clean up the leftover siron, trying to ignore his questioning gaze as much as possible. I walked along the path to the house.

“I feel like I interrupted something,” mumbled Julius. I pretended not to hear.

I wondered what happened to Kaichen. Why was he acting so strange and cooking up unconvincing lies? He had looked so warm and kind when he accepted me as his disciple but then he had turned so grumpy all of a sudden. I prepared myself mentally for Kaichen’s fluctuating mood as we left for Acrab.

* * *

When I returned to Acrab, I noticed that so many things had changed. There wasn’t much to prepare for the journey because we used Kaichen’s mobility magic.

It’s going to be okay. Everything will be okay. I chanted as I packed my bags. When I received Angel’s letter and even when Julius had warned us, I hadn’t been prepared enough. I hadn’t thought the situation was this serious.

I didn’t want to return to Acrab but I had a duty to fulfill. I had to protect Acrab. I owned it to the people who lived here. I had to prepare myself to face whatever came my way even if I suffered from it.

“My Lady!” cried Angel.

The mansion, which had always looked so dilapidated, shone in the sun. The ground around it was covered in bright green grass. There were no weeds around it.

Even the ivy which creeped through the walls looked beautiful. Previously, they had been so wild that the mansion looked haunted. To me, the mansion had held no attachment. It was my prison. So, I had let it go to rot. But now, black roses bloomed around it like in the old days. Angel had turned the mansion into its old glory. It looked like a place out of a fairytale, complete with roses, vines and ivy.

“Is this my house?” I wondered aloud.

“What are you talking about?” asked Kaichen.

“It looks so pretty and grand. It looks like someone else’s place.”

Acrab used to be a wealthy city. And the Alshine mansion was magnificent. How was it possible that Angel had turned a dilapidated shack of a mansion into this beauty in just three months?

Mimi walked behind Angel. Ah… it makes sense that Alshine mansion was able to turn into this grand beauty if Mimi helped Angel. Mimi was her maid. She had lived in the mansion for more than half her life now, serving the Alshine family. No one knew the mansion better than Mimi.

“Welcome, My Countess.” Mimi politely put her hands together and bowed her head to greet me. It felt strange to see Mimi greet me so formally. There was nothing amiss because the maids and servants greeted the owner of the mansion in this way in Arab but… I had fired Mimi. She had no reason or obligation to help Angel, or to greet me so respectfully.

Mimi politely put her hands together and bowed her back to greet me. I’ve never experienced it, but this would have been the proper greeting a maid would have given to her owner.

I looked at her in confusion and curiosity. “I wanted to thank you for saving my brother…,” she said hesitantly.

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. I was grateful and glad but Mimi and her brother, Mickey, were people that I wasn’t really prepared to meet, right now. Of course, they didn’t remember it, but I remembered everything. They were part of the terrible memory I carried with me. I wanted to bury the memory deep in my heart. Seeing them made me feel like I would choke on my own guilt.