Their Magical But Deadly Journey

IT’S BEEN a few days since I heard those three words. I didn’t fall asleep right away and all I could hear was his voice whispering those words to me.

Antricus, on the other hand, continues to visit here. Sometimes he brought food. I accompanied him properly as if I didn’t hear what he said.

And every time he came home, I would just lock myself in my room. I will think again about what I heard that night. I will think again about the reasons why I am. Out of many women, I was the one he chose to love.

Over and over again. It’s like music on a loop. But I admit… that music is good to the ears.

I couldn’t sleep that night and stayed awake until morning. Literally until morning. I stayed up all night thinking about him. How he cares for me, how he protects me… is that because he loves me?

I think that he only thinks of me as a sister and that’s why he behaves like that when it comes to me. Then… I’ll just know that he loves me.

I don’t know why but there is a part of me that doubts about what he said. I mean, don’t get me wrong, who can fall in love in a short amount of time? It’s only been a few months since we met. Two or three months? Maybe it’s just infatuation.

But another part of me was hoping that all his words were true. That his love for me cannot be measured by how long we have known each other.

I’m messed up. My mind and heart are in turmoil. I want to tell this to Mom because I wonder how she will react.

Will she get mad? Surprise? Confused?

“Damn it! I’m in messed right now!” I frustratedly ruffled my hair and heaved a deep sigh.

After a while someone knocked on the door and it opened immediately. It was Mom, smiling widely at me.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she greeted. She looked at my appearance and immediately her smile disappeared. It was replaced by surprise.

“What happened to you? Did someone pull out your hair?” she asked ridiculously, but at the same time, confused.

I sighed heavily. “No, Mom. I’m just in a total mess right now.”

She approached me worriedly. “Why, sweetheart? Is something bothering you? Tell me, please.”

I looked at Mom. Her eyes were pleading. Her face was full of worry.

“Uhm…” I trailed off, weighing my decision whether to tell her or not.

“Hmm? Mommy is listening, come on, tell me.”

“W-what if s-someone confessed t-to you all of a sudden?” I asked carefully.

Her eyebrows furrowed. Her head tilted in confusion.

“Confess? What do you mean?”

“I-It’s just what if, Mom,” I added.

“Well… it depends, sweetie. You can’t stop someone’s feelings. Didn’t your Daddy Uncle say, if you love someone, say it. Don’t stop your feelings. Let it flow like an endless river,” she advised at length.

I bit my lower lip, thinking about something.

“Why, sweetie? Did someone confess to you? Who is he? When?” Mom asked one after the other. I don’t know but I could see that he was nervous for a moment.

“Wait, Mom, calm down.” I chuckled.

Mommy seemed to realize what she had done so she coughed.

“So… did someone confess to you?” she then carefully asked.

“Well…” I licked my lower lip. “It’s not literally a confess but… h-he said… i love you…” I trailed off.

I can’t guess the right words to say. It’s just as embarrassing to tell Mom something like this. But she doesn’t want to repeat what happened to me before so she is really focusing on me. She only noticed a few things about me. She became more keen and observant, eyeing me every time.

I have no problem with that. Because there are things that I feel awkward to say to Mom.

I know most of us come to the point where we no longer share things with our parents. We learned to stand on our own feet. We learned to make our own decisions, and we learned to keep secrets from our parents. There are things that we keep to ourselves and feel awkward whenever we share them with our parents. It’s not like when we were kids, no matter how big or small it is, we tell them about it.

I was back in my sense when I heard Mommy asked.

“Oh, really? W-who is he, then?”

“M-mom… I don’t want to tell it…”

Mom smiled. “How can I examine your lover if you won’t introduce him to me?”

My eyes widened at his question. I waved my hand in front of her as if I could get it out of her mind.

“M-mom! H-he’s not courting me! He just said ‘i love you’.”

Mom grinned teasingly. “Well, not yet?”

My cheeks reddened at the sudden thought. I thought of Antricus coming here every day with something while the outfit was formal and revealing itself to me every morning. I also think about how he will court.

But all of these thoughts suddenly erased in my mind because of one question.

WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT HIM COURTING ME?!!

“You’re blushing, Sazha!” Mom said while laughing.

My cheeks flushed even more. “Mom! Stop that!”

Mom giggled. “OMG, you’re so cute, sweetie!” Mom held my cheek like a baby.

“Stop treating me like a baby, Mom!” I said, irritated, but my cheeks are still flushed.

Mom rolled her eyes. “You don’t want me to baby you because someone said ‘i love you’ to you, ah!” Mom ranted.

I suddenly laughed hard. “You’re so cute, Mom! I’m really your heir!”

Mom also smiled at what I said her.

We stayed silent until Mom broke the peace in one question that made me choke even when I’m not eating.

“Is it Antricus?”

I gulped. “W-what…?”

“Antricus. Is it him? The one who said ‘I love you’ to you?” she seriously asked. Her eyes are dead serious. Scary.

Mom looks scary. She was staring at me as if she already knew the answer and was just waiting to see if I would tell her the truth.

I didn’t know what Mom was thinking so I couldn’t do anything but just nodded.

“Y-yes, Mom… i-it’s him.” I bowed down.

Mom was speechless and I was bowing so I didn’t know what her reaction was. I decided to look up, only to see her smiling widely.

“Mom?” I called her.

I was surprised when she suddenly screamed and jumped up and down. She looks like a teenager who is in love with her crush or something. She moved very aggressive.

“OMG!! I KNEW IT! AHHHH!” she squealed.

She came to me and shook my shoulder.

“Great! You’re really beautiful!” She stopped me before jumping up and down again.

“Mommy!” I scolded er but she didn’t seem to hear me.

“Mom! Stop!”

She still didn’t listen.

“MOMMY SOLIST VERSALES!” I shouted that I added her full name.

She stopped and looked at me like an innocent child, snorting.

“Why?” she asked, pouting.

“Mom? Really? Are you that thrilled?” I asked mockingly, joking.

She glared at me. “You have a bad attitude, you witch!” she shouted.

I laughed out loud. “Like mother like daughter, mom. Remember,” I teased her and winked.

She rolled her eyes at me before sitting on the couch, facing me. I could clearly see the shine in her eyes, she was obviously very happy with what she found out.

“So, how did you hear? I mean, did he say it to you directly?” Mom crossed her arms over her chest and listened to me attentively.

“Well… remember the time I went into my room because I was feeling a little bad? Antricus was here that time and I said that we came from the garden?” I said, recalling what happened that day.

Mom’s mouth formed an ‘o’. “Yes! I remember that! And then?”

“Then he came inside my room… whispering some things to me. And after that, he whispered ‘I love you’ to me… m-maybe he thought I was really asleep…” I continued to narrate.

I saw how Mom bit her lower lip to stifle a smile. I just rolled my eyes in the air.

“Mom, stop the tease. There is no confirmation,” I reasoned. I know as well that she will not stop teasing me again.

“Psh!” She rolled her eyes. “What do you mean ‘no confirmation’? You were already whispered ‘I love you’! Are you stupid?”

“You’re so harsh, Mom! Of course… I was asleep that time!”

“You’re not asleep, are you?! You did hear what he said, didn’t you?” She argued.

“Even so, Mom! It’s still different when it’s face-to-face,” I said.

But I finally realized what I said when Mom suddenly smiled mischievously. I rolled my eyes again.

“So, you want a face-to-face meeting. Alright, do you want me to call him?” Mom said calmly, obviously making fun of me.

“He doesn’t have a phone, Mom.”

“Aww, it’s a pity, hmm,” she said pretending to be sad. “Don’t worry, he will come here.”

And as if on cue, suddenly someone knocked on the door.

“Who is that?” Mom asked and opened the door.

One of the helpers appeared.

“Ma’am Solist, Sir Tray is in the living room.” The helper smiled.

My eyes widened. Meanwhile, Mom turned to me and grinned at me. I just palmed my forehead. It’s gone. I’m dead now.

“Alright, please tell him we’re coming down. Thank you.” Mom smiled sweetly.

The helper left and Mom closed the door.

“Come on, let’s go down.” Mom giggled.

I jokingly looked at her badly. “Stop that, Mom.”

“Will definitely do that, madam.” Mom laughed hard.

I just stomped my foot in annoyance. Mom put her arms around me and led me downstairs. We immediately saw Tray carrying a large paper bag. I don’t know what kind of food he brought.

“Tray!” Mom happily called after we got off.

Tray turned to us and immediately smiled widely. He looked at me and nodded. I also nodded to him.

Meanwhile, I secretly pinched Mom because of her uncontrollable laughter. She also secretly hit me on the hand.

“C-come on, Tray, Mom… let’s go to the kitchen,” I invited.

Tray creased his forehead and looked at me with concern. “Are you okay, Sazha?”

I was about to answer but Mommy cut me off.

“She’s fine, Tray,” Mom said, smiling. “Because you’re here,” she playfully added.

I squeezed Mom’s hand because of the shock. Tray was still creasing his forehead at us.

“What do you mean, Aunt?” he asked in pure confusion.

“A-ah… n-no… it’s just nothing.” I was the one who answered.

Mom is supporting us in the kitchen. Tray immediately opened the paper bag and took out tupperware.

We immediately saw the food and my eyebrows furrowed because of its unfamiliar appearance.

“What are these foods, Tray? They don’t look familiar to me,” I commented while pointing at the foods.

“Uhm… this is made by my Dad. H-he was a chef before, and t-these are his delicacies,” he replied.

My mouth gaped in awe. He just mentioned about his father. Mom was the same with admiration in her eyes, maybe she was also surprised by what she found out.

“Wow. I didn’t know that.” Mom shrugged. “But these foods look delicious!”

Tray smiled sweetly. “They are indeed delicious, Aunt. I swear, you will not regret trying these.”

Mom chuckled. “Really, huh? Come on, let’s taste it.”

We have prepared plates and utensils before serving the food. He opened the tupperware and Mom and I closed our eyes when we smelled the delicious smell of food.

“Wow! It just smells so good!” Mom excitedly commented.

I smiled and looked at the food. It has pork and vegetables soaked in brown sauce. I swear, I could see the sauce shining and glittering. It looks like it’s covered in glitter because it really shines.

“Oh, the sauce looks delicious, too,” Mom added.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Let’s dig in?” Tray asked happily when everything was ready.

“Let’s go!” Mom and I answered in unison. I’ve been drooling here for a while because of hunger.

I temporarily forgot all my thoughts because of this delicious food. The food is appetizing and really makes you hungry.

It was really delicious because I didn’t think I could eat three spoonfuls.

“Wow, it’s the first time you’ve eaten that much, sweetie,” Mom commented happily.

“It’s so delicious, Mom. I can’t resist the taste,” I reasoned before taking another bite of food.

Tray just smiled while watching us. He ate slowly, as if he was really dedicating this moment to us.

Damn, these foods deserve to be put on spotlight. They are game-changers.

We just keep eating until we eat it all. Scrape the tupperware and look clean.

I took a deep breath because of the fullness. I just ate this much food today. Those foods were fantastic!

“You ate too much, Sazha. You might not be able to handle the dessert,” said Mom while cleaning the table. Tray is in charge of the sink.

“What’s for dessert, Mom?” I asked then burped.

Tray laughed out loud. “That was a nice burp, girl.”

Mom and I laughed at what he said.

We just kept talking and laughing.

It’s really different when Tray is here with us, I get to have fun without worrying about problems. I lose my concern about our safety. I feel safe around whenever he is here.

And as if lightning was struck into me. I just found myself smiling like crazy.

“I love you.”