The Serpent's Enigma

34 | Disarranged Thoughts

.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.

CAL LEROY SR.

Cal had never thought that this would be the sight that he would come home to. He expected to return in victory to a loving reunion with his wife and son. Now that he had declared his feelings to her, he was looking forward to spending the day resting in the comfort of her embrace.

Instead, his wife laid unconscious, bandages wrapped over her head and arm, and news that she had fallen from a horse today.

But why would she be riding a horse? Didn't she tell him that she wasn't that good with horses?

"Baby, slow down," Senior cupped Junior's face as the boy threw himself upon him; though it didn't stop his tears from flowing as he attempted to wipe them away. "Tell me what happened."

"I did it, Papa!" Junior sobbed. "I did this to Gigi! I was upset that you left, so I ran into the woods! Then she came after me... and that man knocked her off her horse! I never meant for it to happen! I never wanted her to get hurt!"

Normally Cal would have scolded his son, but seeing how he was crumbling inside his arms, he didn't have the heart to do it. Junior had realized his mistake and felt remorse for his actions, and that was enough.

Hold on... what man?

"What man, Junior? They told me she fell off the horse by accident!" Cal gripped his son by his shoulders, his blue eyes widened as if he had let slip something he shouldn't have said.

"...Nobody. Just a common snatcher. He threatened to take me away."

"And you're just telling me this now?" He stood up furiously. Had someone attempted to kidnap his son? "I have to alert the guards. We better catch him now; he couldn't have gone that far!"

"No, it's too dangerous!" Junior shrieked, grabbing the end of his suit. Tears were pouring out of his eyes as his voice trembled. "P-Please, Papa... Don't go. Stay! I-I don't want anyone else to get injured for me. N-Not you. Don't leave me again."

His poor son! Of course, he would be shaken! He shall conduct an investigation, but not now.

Kneeling back before him, he rubbed the sides of his head in circles. "...You said you were upset at me leaving?"

Junior shot a glare through his tearful eyes. "I was, and I am! Y-You didn't even write to me, not even a message. N-Not a single telephone call! Each day, I kept thinking to myself if you were ever going to return!"

"Oh, Junior, I'm so sorry. I didn't think that you would be so devastated with me leaving," Cal muttered regretfully. He had underestimated Junior's attachment to him, thinking it would be alright as long as he had Gigi by his side.

"Y-You're the evilest person..." He hiccuped between his tears, balling his fists and hitting them against his father's chest. "...t-that ever walked the earth!"

Cal enfolded his son tighter in his arms, Junior's tears dampening the front of his suit. "I see. I will make sure to call you next time. Every single day."

They stayed like that for some time, before he was finally called away.

Later Cal realized that he had to deal with Aravin, too. The boy had been avoiding him, so he acted quickly, contacting the Prajan Embassy and issuing a formal letter addressing Gigi's accident. Even though the notion of returning Gigi to Praja was mostly nonsense, he wouldn't want any talks of him abandoning Gigi reaching the royal family; just in case Aravin decided to write to his parents. He would have a lot to explain himself and would risk spoiling his plans for Seol-il.