The following months had been uneventful save for the ongoing construction now in the fifth phase. The success of the fourth phase garnered praise due to Xavier and Pensri’s efforts and now they were both currently on site, still hands-on about the projects.

  Hariff and Haliff often visited the town and checked on them too, clearly enthralled by the other werebeasts.

  “You’re here again!” Pensri smiled widely and patted each of their heads. The architect was by no means tall but they’re nearly the same height now and they’re not past 20 human years yet.

  Hearing Pensri’s excited voice, Xavier peeked from where he’s perched and noticed the twins. “Oh, hello!”

  The twins happily waved at him, tails even wagging in tandem.

  “We should take a break first!” announced Pensri and everyone groaned in relief. Some were even whining, wanting to take a dip in the sea.

  The twins heard that their workers were from the Ize Region. When they first visited the site, they were mesmerized by the number of werebeasts and said workers were also surprised to know about them. They never got closer due to the construction protocols and they just watched them work most of the time.

  “Are they the masters’ wards?”

  Pensri nodded. “Yes. They were rescued in Izma.”

  The older werebeasts cooed at their timidness, hiding behind Pensri or Xavier whenever the other werebeasts came closer to interact with them.

  “They won’t bite you,” Pensri remarked, chuckling. “I’m sorry about this. They’ve been quite hesitant to approach everyone but they are still coming back.”

  They fondly ugh at her words. One older werebeast remarked, “It’s good that they are curious about their ancestry. I’d rather suggest they visit Zeev Hamlet though. They might be able to familiarize themselves with their other blood.”

  “I’ll tell the masters that.”

  Haliff tugged at Pensri’s clothes. “They might not let us.”

  “Why not? Karel would definitely let you go there, you know.”

  “We…”

  “Have you asked him before?”

  They shook their heads.

  “That’s right,” chimed in one of the older werebeasts, “you should ask His Highness and he’ll bring you there. Some kids your age were also rescued from the Eastern States. They were already back home.”

  “You hear that?”

  The twins brightened up and bade their goodbyes, running home in a speed they never knew they had.

  “Thankfully, those kids were also rescued. I couldn’t imagine just how many of our kin had already lost their lives to the humans’ hands.” The older werebeast stared at them disappearing from view.

  Pensri frowned, mencholic about her circumstance before Karel and Duke Streya initiated the rescue during the auction. “Unfortunately, they weren’t only the victims, even us humans.”

  The moment they arrived in the mansion, they spotted the head maid inspecting every nook and cranny of the main hall.

  “Hendrika!”

  She turned to them with a smile. “Hello. Did you come from town?”

  “Yes! We met the other werebeasts!”

  “Oh, they must’ve been the workers. Were you respectful to them?”

  The twins nodded. “We want to visit Zeev Hamlet!”

  Hendrika hummed. “The werebeasts’ city?”

  “Yes!”

  “Any particur reason why?”

  Haliff fiddled with his fingers while Hariff replied with a bright smile on his face, “We just want to familiarize ourselves with them. Is it alright?”

  “Of course. But, we should ask the masters first, yes?”

  The twins ran off again, eted by the idea that they could visit their homend.

  Hendrika chuckled. “These kids, really.”

  Hendrika entered Kani’s office, beaming at him with a soft smile. Pushing the cart next to the other table, she remarked, “The twins wanted to visit Zeev, apparently.”

  “Zeev? In Ize?” Kani raised an eyebrow.

  “They’ve met the workers in town. Most of them are werebeast according to Pensri and Xavier.”

  “That’s right.” He discarded his pen on the table. “I’m not familiar with Ize so Karel should be the one to bring them there.”

  “That would be wise.”

  Seeing the maid’s figure not moving, he asked, “Hendrika? Is there something more?”

  Hendrika smiled wider this time and only then Kani realized something. Her face aged and visibly getting older, reminding him that she’s a human unlike him.

  The chair screeched against the floor as he abruptly stood and went to Hendrika’s side to hold her hands.

  “I should have told you this before, Kani, but I’m quite happy to serve you even after all these years.”

  Hendrika had served him ever since she was employed by his grandfather, to the point of following him as he left the Liafor, and slowly built the Akashiya Trading. Halfway through, because of Kani’s distrustful nature, Hendrika distanced herself. He was also cognizant of that distance but never reached out to her until Cashile’s death.

  “I know, Hendrika. If you’re tired, you can just rest and leave the matters to the others.”

  She nodded. “I’d like to resign if you’d let me.”

  Squeezing her hands, he asked softly, “Where will you go after?”

  Hendrika chuckled. “I will stay here, of course. Where should I be but by your side?”

  “Then, stay. You should still nag at the servants if they’re not doing their duties right.” He ughed thinking about it.

  She also ughed at his words. “Walce is a capable man. He handled everything with such meticulousness that I have no qualms about it. I’ll leave everything in his care.”

  “Walce was a former marquis, just so you know.”

  Hendrika nodded her head. “No wonder!”

  “Are you really going to be alright?” He asked again. “Cashile, he—”

  “So, you knew all this time.”

  “How could I not?” She sighed and squeezed his hand. “In the end, he had succumbed to his selfishness.”

  “And I thank you, Hendrika, for not following in his footsteps.”

  “You promised me back then.” She smiled widely. “You’ve already achieved what you wanted and I’m there to witness it. I’m happy for you. Truly.”

  “Thank you, Hendrika, for everything. So, rest easy, alright? Leave the other things to us.”

  Hendrika smiled again at him, blunt with her words: “I know what bond you share with Karel, Kani. But, you’ve always held yourself back when it came to him.”

  He chuckled defeatedly. “Are we really going to talk about this? I’m a bit embarrassed.”

  “You also deserved to be loved. Don’t forget that. While I felt pity for you at first, enough to follow you on this path, I have grown to love you as my younger brother. I was there with you until now. So, it makes me happy to know you’re doing well.”

  Kani then frowned. “Why are you saying these words, Hendrika? Is there something going on?”

  She shook her head, a smile still on her face. “Karel is a trustworthy man. All this time, he took care of you when I couldn’t. Take the chances and be happy with him, yes?”

  She knew.

  “It will be if you put your heart into it. I mean,” she chuckled softly, “you’re already given him your heart.”

  He gaped and his cheeks flushed.

  Of course, she knew.

  “Love is a wondrous thing. I don’t want that love to shackle you. Instead, I want that to become your strength, your will to go on.”

  “Hendrika…”

  “Kani, you have to live well.”

  That very same day Hendrika asked for her retirement, Walce turned the mansion upside down once he found her colpsed in one of the secluded hallways early in the afternoon.

  Mersya was called back immediately from town due to the emergency and Kani stayed beside her while they waited for their physician.

  Pensri, who briefly went home that time, was shaken up seeing Walce running the hallways with the colpsed Head Maid in his arms while barking out orders. She told them that Hendrika even had served them breakfast earlier this morning, still cheerful and all smiles. To think that would be the st time she would actually see her smiling…

  “She… It can’t be right?” Pensri asked in a whisper as they stood by the door, looking at Hendrika lying lifelessly in the bed, Kani and Walce by her side and Mersya checking on her.

  The twins frowned, squeezing her hands held by them both.

  Mersya furrowed her eyebrows then gritted her teeth. Still holding onto the maid’s hand, she tried to ascertain what ailed her but couldn’t match it up with illness she’d known.

  “This is an illness that I haven’t heard or seen as of yet,” she mused audibly despite the frustration underlying her words, “but from what I’ve checked up st time, her nerves were not that damaged. She’s getting on with her age so it’s quite normal but now, they all deteriorated. Rapidly at that.”

  “That can’t be…”

  She looked at Kani with concern. “I have the servants eat a banced diet like Master asked me to, so there would be no reason for her to have such a disease.”

  “This would mean…”

  Walce frowned. “A degenerative disease.”

  Mersya grimly nodded. “With her advanced age, she wouldn’t st long. The fact that she was able to converse with you earlier…”

  “Will she…”

  Mersya closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m afraid she had to pass away sooner than we expected.”

  Kani held tightly onto Hendrika’s other hand, tears clinging to his eyeshes until they rolled down, tainting his cheeks. Choking out, Kani blurted, “She was already saying goodbye earlier then.”

  They all looked at Hendrika’s face, stricken with sickness and deathly pale.

  Mersya let go of the head maid’s hand and sighed. “I’m sorry that it’s beyond my capabilities.”

  “You’ve done enough, Mersya. Thank you.”

  Hearing the news of Hendrika’s colpse, Karel immediately teleported back to Mapiya Isnd. He found Kani sitting by the head maid’s bedside during the night, eyes swollen and lips chapped.

  “I’ve heard the news.”

  “Karel…”

  He stood beside Kani, letting his head lean on his torso and a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

  “She was the one who took care of me after I left my family, Karel. I couldn’t bear to lose her but I also don’t want her to suffer more than she already has.” He heaved a breath, squeezing onto Hendrika’s hand now losing its usual warmth. “Walce said that it’s a degenerative disease to which Mersya agreed. It will only be a matter of time that she…”

  “Unlike us, humans have ephemeral lives.” Karel squeezed his shoulder. “They’re creatures who strive despite their finite lives, making sure they live to the fullest until their deaths eventually come.”

  “Then, this ache in my chest…” He crumpled his shirt, bundling it on his chest. This was the same ache when his mother died, maybe even much worse. “Did you also feel it when you lost your loved ones? That you’ll outlive them because you’re an immortal?”

  “I do. It’s a… terrible feeling.”

  “Then, I’d rather die than to have an immortal life if I’m to experience all of these.”

  Karel closed his eyes at those words, reminded that while Kani was still in his prime as a Louvika, he too shall die. His lifespan merely a fraction of Karel’s and thinking about it brought immense pain in his heart. It wracked his body, shuddering at the thought of losing Kani someday.

  “In the end, we shall accept her fate.”

  Knowing his words bore truth, Kani sobbed more in his embrace.

  And like they initially feared, three days had passed and Hendrika lost her life without even saying goodbye to all of them.

  Sorrow filled the mansion for weeks even after Hendrika’s burial and Kani was inconsoble once again.

  They twins never left his side, comforting him and mourning with him. They too had rather become fond of Hendrika. Unlike Mersya who let them do whatever they want, Hendrika was there in every move and every decision. A guide and a real teacher. She always reminded them to adhere to etiquette, be kind to others and never hurt anyone with intent.

  Haliff even wailed her name aloud one night, startling Kani awake and he had to embrace the young werewolf to comfort him. He sobbed quietly while embracing Haliff tightly, and Hariff also pstered on his back, whimpering. Kani closed his eyes, once again reminded of the times Hendrika sacrificed a lot for his sake.

  Karel also hovered around this time, spending more time with him but not overbearing. The room was also gloomier than usual and the grand prince could see some things unseen by normal eyes. His eye twitched, more concerned about what’s emerging because of the mansion’s atmosphere.

  Not wanting it to devolve into a sourer mood, Karel watched over them most of the time, comforting them in any way he could. Their bed might be a little bit cramped due to having four occupants most nights but Kani found that comforting, knowing he won’t be alone throughout the coming days.

  Walce was also solemn nowadays, quietly mourning for Hendrika. When he first started out as a butler in the mansion, the head maid greatly helped him in his duties. He even sought her out for advice, asking her for second opinions as she’s the more experienced one when it came to household matters.

  As for Mersya, she put up notes about Hendrika’s illness, researched the old books Damien had given her and even asked Karel for Ramayans’ medical books to compare notes. The grand prince went out of his way to procure the needed materials, even going as far as visiting the Elven Kingdom of Beiyul despite their wariness when it came to Ramayans.

  The elven healer poured extra time studying illnesses, also taking more notes about her patients’ conditions. True, she’s not that close to Hendrika, but as a healer, she had a duty to give all her best for a patient. Finding herself helpless about Hendrika’s predicament was gut-wrenching. Mersya could have saved a life, prolonged it even, but here she was, agonizing over the loss. Still, she would work some more and learn.

  The servants who also worked with her since before their migration to Mapiya Isnd were devastated by the news. Like Kani, some of them were inconsoble, especially the younger servants who were trained and fostered by her.

  “It’s too sudden,” most of them remarked until the day Mersya finally came to a conclusion about what befell Hendrika.

  In Kani’s study, she told the master, “It might be a hereditary illness.”

  “Even so, it’s too sudden.”

  “Humans are built differently than us, Kani. They are fragile, prone to mortal illnesses and easily wounded.”

  Kani drew in a breath.

  “I’ll bet that even you rarely caught illnesses even though you’re a Louvika.”

  Kani casted his look down, on the verge of crying again. Mersya sat beside him, then hugged him tightly. The master held tightly onto her arm, mumbling hoarsely, “How are you immortals coping up with something like this?”

  She parted from the embrace and patted his back. “We mourn then comes the acceptance. It won’t be easy, sure, but time will heal us.”

  “Right. You also lost Damien.”

  “I was also powerless back then, Kani.” She smiled wryly. “I might be a Hexacaster but I still failed to save him.”

  Kani leaned back on the sofa.

  “Damien used to say to me that when the death of a person comes, you shouldn’t hinder death from doing its work.”

  “And if you didn’t want them to go?”

  “You will be punished for going against the Heavenly Laws. And death won’t be an easy escape for you either.”

  Mersya squeezed his hand, seeing his distressed expression. “We will get through this, Kani.”

  lymsleiah