Chapter 81 - 82. Scapegoat
"But if Zie was an illusion that was created to kill you mentally, then his death never existed and everything you saw was just a hoax," I tried to digest all her words carefully. "You can conclude that the marionette is also part of the illusion so that when Antonie dies, the doll should also disappear. Even if it turns out that he is still there. So what possibly happened is the first possibility.
Azalea then added, "You just have to wait for the seal to disappear and Zie will return to the spirit realm, so that Antonie's words about that young man aren't there, just to trick you. He made the marionette lived for you, using his immortality spell and the help of his cat, because he must serve his sentence," azalea paused for a moment, looking at me who was still shocked and confused, ' He is a scapegoat.`
"So I killed and you punished the wrong person?" I asked nervously.
Azalea did not answer. I interpreted her silence as a 'yes'.
A few seconds passed, Azalea sighed. "He was not completely right or wrong. All the wizards knew about the murder, and of course he had to accept the punishment. He tricked us, so the punishment was all he deserved to get," She explained, then patted me on the shoulder after asking me to be patient.
"He wanted to give me sweet memories, but he also had a duty to kill my mentality. Is it possible that dad killed Zie because Antonie could not do it?" I asked for an agreement.
I just realized now. I felt like I had to read the book over and over again until I got a clear understanding from reading between the lines. Otherwise, I felt like I would only be jumping to conclusions based on my opinion, not the actual purpose of the book. "I was wrong. I am sorry." I whispered.
"I just asked you not to get surprised at something you will encounter when you go home. You have to realize that when Antonie was killed all his illusions were gone. There will be some things that won't be like before," Azalea took me to a condition I might face when imagining all this thing.
"Why did the Manjis call Antonie a thief?" This was the question I wanted to address but I was not too confident.
"It might be that Antonie asked the Manjis for something but failed to pay the price they asked for it," Azalea replied, looking like she was just guessing.
Just because of his selfishness and ambitions, his father sacrificed dozens of people. Coupled with the greed of the Elder and the foolishness of both of them to get rid of me so that I would never be able to replace my grandmother, as the prophecy said--my father was willing to throw me, my brother, and my mother away, sacrificed Antonie and caused much damage. Innocent people were killed for nothing.
"I will cross tomorrow, making sure that everything is okay, even though I am really scared," I told Azalea my true feelings.
"I will go with you to keep you company," Azalea replied quickly. "We don't know what will happen, so we have to prepare for the worst." I obeyed her. She would also take Kerberos and some of her bodyguards.
I went to the room where Naar and Yoru were being treated. Although I was not allowed to go into that room by the guards, I insisted on waiting outside the room. They were looking very busy while I was just sitting, watching them walk here and there. I was totally blind about their current condition there, and that made me really worried.
If only I could go back to the banquet room, I would not have left the bathroom due to seeing the reflection of a spider on my soup. I should have stayed in that room and I would have been able to warn them about the posing danger at that time. Unfortunately, I could only regret it now.
"I'm sorry, but could I know the current condition of Naar and Yoru?" I asked one of them who seemed about to enter the room. He was one of the guards here. I realized it was really impolite but the following day I would cross the portal so it was important for me to know their condition before leaving.
"They? Who are they?" He asked in confusion.
"Two guards of Miss Azalea," I replied to describe, "One with a black armor, and another---," I paused to try to recall what armor Yoru was wearing.
"Oh, the two main guards?" I nodded in reply, "They are still being treated."
"Are they okay? Err… I mean how is their condition? Please tell me. Tomorrow I must cross but I don't know when I will come back here," I expressed all my worries. I was really worried about them and I could not think clearly at the moment.
The guard looked at me attentively before he asked, "Are you Miss Tha?" I nodded. "I'm sorry." He spoke softly in awkwardness.
'Am I so horrified that he is so afraid of me?' I was annoyed. "Fine," I was disappointed. Then that guard disappeared into that room, leaving me in confusion.
I was about to leave when a voice called and stopped my footsteps. It was the guard I was talking to and another man who was in white clothes.
"I'm so sorry but we don't allow anyone to go inside," the one in white was talking to me, "Right now, the condition of one of the main guards has improved, but Mr. Naar is still in critical condition. He has lost so much blood, but of course we are doing our best to save them. Thank you for visiting us." He bowed before me.
I turned around and left them without any words to say. 'This is so annoying! He was just fueling my worries but I don't know what I have to do!' I was upset with myself. I walked to my room and decided to pack the stuff I would take along with me.
"Your expression is awful," chirped that tubby cat. He was licking his fur on my bed.
"It is not the right time for cracking a joke," I reminded him, hoping he would understand the situation. "My friend is in critical condition," I said with a serious expression, and then I threw myself on the bed, next to him.
"The incident is like when Zie was shot. It happened again. I don't want to cross tomorrow, but I simply have to go with Azalea. There are things that need to be fixed." I stroked his head and he enjoyed it so much. "Aren't you angry at me for killing Antonie?" I was curious.
He was silent for a moment, stopped licking his fur, "I am glad he finally died." Said Mickey calmly. I was shocked by that answer.
"You are such a wicked cat!" I slapped his tubby body softly.
Mickey stared at me. He seemed really annoyed, but then he turned to look sad. "Death was much better for him, I might say, so that all the burdens he carried on his shoulders finished," He said as he jumped off my bed.
Mickey stared at me deeply when he continued his words, "When he was assigned to kill you he was really frustrated. That was why he asked for permission to create such an illusion for you to deceive you, to make you live in a fake world. He was able to convince Yon father that killing you mentally was more effective than hurting you physically. He knew well that you were a very strong kid that would be able to strive as soon as possible." He explained seriously.
Then, Mickey added, "But some things were beyond expectation. You were down for too long. So, he sent me to accompany you. He asked me to bring Zie to live, and I chose that marionette as your friend." 'Was I so weak in their eyes?' My heart was mourning to hear his words.
"He created the Zie character to help you go through hard times when you were neglected by your parents. He kept watching you since you were a child, giving you a lot of surprises. He also knew you loved 'petricore' aromas—natural scent when the rain falls on the dry lands—and he made you smell those scents. Even in the dry season when the sun shone brightly." I was frozen to hear all that Mickey said to me. 'Is that all true?'
I looked at his serious expression, searching for lies he might hide, but I did not find it, just sadness and sincerity were shown, even when he said, "Please forgive my master." He begged me to forgive Antonie.
The fact that Zie was sent by Antonie and the magic in that doll was meant to help me out of the down was hard to believe. "You are not joking, are you?" I asked him to convince me. To be honest, I doubted that cat.
Mickey shook his head, his gaze was fixed to my eyes. "There is no point in deceiving you. When my master spent his time with you.." My eyes got burnt all of sudden, I got difficulty making my voice heard, even swallowing back my saliva was an effort for me.