Hera went to the shop to fetch Menedelia. "Are you ready?" she asked.
Menedelia nods her head. "I'm ready," she replied.
"Where is your charge, Rebecca? She's not with you?" Hera asked.
Menedelia shook her head. "She didn't know that I'm going to Zero's place. If she knows she will object because Rebecca hates your master so much," she said.
Hera sighed. "Alright, let's get inside the carriage. My lord and Nini are waiting for you in the manor..."
The women walked towards the carriage that was waiting outside the shop. They settled comfortably inside the carriage. Hera ordered the driver to bring them to the manor.
"So, how's Nini?" Menedelia asked.
"She's doing great! She adapts well to her new environment. She's like a child so eager to explore and know everything about her surroundings," Hera replied.
"That's good! I'm truly happy for her!" Menedelia said.
The women fell into a comfortable silence during the entire ride.
Half an hour later, they finally arrived at the manor.
The women entered the house and climbed the stairs. They went to Nini's room and found her talking animatedly to Zero on the terrace.
"My lord, Menedelia is here!" Hera announced their presence.
Zero looked at his guest. "Welcome to our home, Grandma!" he said.
Nini looked at the visitor fondly. "Hello, Grandma! It's nice to see you again!" she said in a cheerful voice.
Menedelia smiled at both of them. "It's nice to see you again, guys! You got a nice place here! And the garden is beautiful!" she gushes and looks below the terrace.
"Yes, I love this place! Too bad, it's just a rented place. Not our real home! If I'll have a choice, I want to live here for the rest of my life!" Nini said wistfully.
Menedelia and Zero looked at each other.
"Once you meet your wealthy parents, you can ask them to buy this property so that you can stay here all you want," Menedelia suggested.
Nini looked at Zero. "Can I do that? Please?" she asked him, her eyes were flashing with excitement.
Zero smiled. "Sure! I'll help you convince your family to buy this property. After we moved out of this place, the owner is ready to sell this property to the highest bidder," he said.
"I don't want others to own this place! I want this place for myself!" Nini exclaimed, her voice brimming with enthusiasm.
"We have to talk to your parents first. Next week we will travel to the capital to meet your parents. I already informed them in a message that I finally found you. They're now eager to meet you in the capital," Zero said. He shifted his attention to the visitor.
Menedelia took that as a cue. "Alright, let's get started!" she said and lowered herself on the couch beside the girl. "Nini, may I have your palm, please?" she requested.
Nini's brows knitted together. "Why-?" she asked.
"Let's have a palm reading to have a glimpse of your future again. Because it was hazy the last time," Menedelia gave her reason.
"Okay, no problem!" Nini extended her hand to the woman in front of her.
Menedelia clasped the girl's hands. "I requested everyone to keep quiet while I'm performing my palm reading," she said and close her eyes to have a glimpse of the girl's future.
Everyone on the terrace obeyed and remained quiet while Menedelia is doing her thing.
Zero fixed his gaze on Menedelia's face, on the lookout for any changes in her demeanor.
Fifteen minutes later.
Menedelia had finished with her palm reading and opened her eyes. She looked at Zero. "I'm done! Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked him.
"Sure!" Zero said and stood up.
Nini looked at the woman. "Grandma, did my future changed?" she asked curiously.
Menedelia shook her head. "Nothing changed, dear! It's still the same," she replied.
Nini smiled brightly.
"Let's go to my study room," Zero told Menedelia.
They left Nini's room, went to the study room, and settled on the comfortable sofa.
Zero looked at her. "Is there any changes with Nini's future?" he inquired.
"Not much, but something will happen to her in the future," Menedelia smiled. "Why don't you let me read your palm?" she offered.
"No way! I don't like my future to be known by anyone else! I want to face my future head-on like a piece of adventure," he said with a grin.
"Alright, as you say so!" Menedelia nodded her head and no longer insisted on her request.
"Let's go back to the topic," he said. "You said that something is going to happen to Nini aside from the tragedy. Can you tell me what's going to happen?" he asked.
"Well, after Nini meets her family and they will know about her future, they will choose a good husband for her and marry her to that guy. I think the purpose of the marriage was to make sure that there's someone they can trust to take care and protect their daughter at all times," she elaborated.
"Huh? That's outrageous! They just meet their missing daughter, and they would marry her right away? That's odd!" Zero commented.
Menedelia shrugged. "Well, you can't blame the parent. They only want what's best for their beloved daughter!" she repeated.
"But that's too soon! Anyways, did you see the face of the groom?" he asked curiously.
Menedelia shook her head. "The groom's face is a bit hazy. I only see the wedding scene and the back of the guy, but I didn't see his face clearly," she said. "This is one reason why I didn't tell Nini about her impending marriage, she might react negatively, poor girl!" she said.
There were a few minutes of silence between them as Zero was digesting Menedelia's new prophecy slowly. He was in deep thoughts, thinking if the fortune teller was exaggerating this time or everything she told him about Nini's future are just make-believe stories.
Menedelia was studying the young man's face. "Are you still doubting my prophecy?" she asked.
"Can you blame me? Everything you told me is outrageous claims and hasn't happened yet. What if nothing happens? What if you are just feeding me and the girl with fabricated lies all this time?" he said, trying to gauge her reaction.
Menedelia smiled while shaking her head. "Well, I have nothing to say anymore. Let time decide if I'm telling you the truth or not. Once Nini meets her parents, and they will declare her marriage right away, that's the time you will finally believe my prophecy. Anyhow, even if you don't believe me, I will lose nothing, so, that's it! I've better get going. Rebecca will start worrying about me. I told her that I shall return right away," she said and stood up.
"Ok. I'll instruct the carriage to bring you to the forest," he offered.
"No need. I can teleport back to my house at a speed of light," she said and went to his side. "Take this, if you need anything from me or you just want to seek my advice, all you need to do is go to the forest near my home. Although you can no longer enter my fortress freely but as long this object is with you, it will alert me that you are near and you want to seek my presence. Since you are one of my generous clients, this is my gift to you. Keep it, and don't lose it! I'll take my leave now. Take care of yourself and Nini," she said and vanished from the study room in a blink of an eye.
Zero was left alone in the room. He still can't make up his mind if he will believe Grandma's prophecy or not?
He examined the sun symbol amulet made of silver in his hand for a few minutes. It can be handy in the future. He stood up and put the amulet in the drawer of the desk for safekeeping.
There's another errand he had to do today, and that is to bring Sofia to her home before the day is over.
There was a knock on the door.
Zero glanced at the door.
"My lord..." Hera said from the doorway.
"Come in," he said.
The door opened, Hera entered the study room. "The girl Sofia is ready to go home, my lord," she informed him. "By the way, where is the fortune teller? We're supposed to send her home in the carriage," she said.
"She already went home. She teleported back to her house in the forest a while ago," he replied.
"Ah, okay," Hera said.
"Bring the girl to the carriage blindfolded, and let her wait inside. I'll come down in a moment," he said.
"Copy, my lord!" Hera said and left the room.
Hera appeared in the basement, inside Sofia's room. She looked at the girl sitting on the edge of the bed beside her bag containing her meager belonging. "Are you ready to go home?" she asked.
"Yes!" Sofia answered excitedly. "I still can't believe it! That I'm finally going home today! It's like a dream come true! I'm so ecstatic!" she beamed. A megawatt smile appeared on her face.
Hera smiled and approached the bed. "Closed your eyes," she ordered.
"But why?" Sofia asked nervously.
"Don't worry. I'm just going to blindfold you on the way to the carriage so that you won't be able to tell anyone about the appearance of this place. I'm doing this as a safety precaution to protect our existence in this area," Hera explained.
"Okay, go ahead, I don't mind. As long I'm going home today, I'll obey everything you'll say to me," Sofia said.
"Good girl!" Hera put the blindfold on Sofia's eyes. Done, she grabbed the girl's belongings and holds her right arm firmly. They vanished from the room in split seconds.
They reappeared outside the house in front of the carriage.
The driver who was standing nearby helped Hera settled Sofia inside the carriage comfortably.
"Just stay here for a minute while we're waiting for the lord to come down from his room," Hera said.
"Okay," Sofia replied.
A few minutes later, Zero exited the main door of the house and walked towards the carriage. He looked at Hera and asked, "The girl?"
"She's already inside the carriage waiting for you, my lord," Hera replied.
"Okay, we will go now," he said and entered the carriage.
The driver pulled the reins of the horses and commanded them to move towards the gate.
Hera watched the carriage exited the gate and disappeared from her vision. She went back inside the house to resume her duties.
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