[Alissa's POV]
What does it take to be a woman? What does it take to be a lady? From where I was born, I was taught that a lady must be gentle. Not only with her words but also her actions, behavior and the way she handles things.
My mother taught me ways of the noble while my father, though he didn't teach me anything, he always evaluated me on how I performed. It was set from the day I was born.
All the more especially since I was an adopted child rather than being a legitimate one like my brother, Leeway Rosalyn. He was the only one who cared about me in the castle and was the only one who treated me like a human rather than being an object to adorn.
He used to tell me that everything is going to be all right and how he is going to change society from its very roots in the future by becoming the next king of the country. But he decided to do that in a different manner than everybody else.
He first, chose to move to a different country, an entirely different continent to be precise and start collecting allies from there. Since he knew that he cannot change things from the inside, he planned things from the outside.
"Learn Alissa. Learn everything you can… we will need everything in our arsenal if we want to fulfill our dreams,"he spoke to me before leaving the country and I took his words seriously. I learnt everything that was present there, from hacking to manipulation, from medicine to engineering. I devoted all my time to learning everything that was going to be helpful to my brother.
But…
"Leeway Rosalyn, died in an attack from the terrorists in Meria country,"was the news that i received one day. My eyes were wide open, while my ears couldn't believe what they were hearing.
The other people in the courtroom were smiling evilly, as if a thorn was removed from their back. The only one who was crying was my mother, whom I always thought that she hated my brother for running away.
"This is what the disgraceful son deserved," he said in a hushed voice that was loud enough to be heard by everyone.
My father just kept quiet as he took us back to our castle, where I finally reached my room, and closing it from the inside, I cried and cried and cried. It was too much to take. My purpose to live was extinguished. My reasons to move were halted. What should I do next?
After crying for hours and hours, I finally stood up, packed up my bags, as I stepped out of the room. I didn't pack enough, but it was enough to let me go to Meria country, to the place where my brother was killed.
"You are leaving too?" I heard the voice of my mother from behind as she continued,"take care of yourself, sweetheart. You better not die on me too, okay?"
I didn't turn around, but I was sure that she was crying too. I didn't turn around, but I was sure father was standing there as well. And yet, I didn't turn around and moved towards the destiny that my life has spiraled into. To find out about the murderers of my brother. To make them pay for what they have done.
Reaching the Meria country took a day, but I reached there on time. After that, I first reached the place where I could get the leads from, Michael Aroa, the best friend of my brother.
From what I have heard, he was a naive nerd who always kept his head under the books and learnt whatever he could see. Despite lacking severely in various other aspects, he was respected by my brother as a pure genius in terms of understanding capability and finding the logical reasoning for any solutions possible.
Such high words to a stranger that my brother met, obviously it piqued my curiosity. If anyone in this world could answer the questions that I carry in my heart, I could bet with my eyes closed that it has to be Michael.
With my expertise, it didn't take long to figure out where Michael was. Though he is currently not going to high school, living at his home for the past few days. Especially after the day when my brother was killed by those damn bastards.
"Let's get the answers we came for,"I decided as I moved to the apartment where he was living. It wasn't lavish or anything, more like a shack house with minimum sustainability. Now that I remember, my brother did tell me about how Michael's family isn't the best.
'But I didn't think it was this bad,' I looked at the wooden shack in front of me before turning towards the door.
Though before I could knock on the door, I saw the door opening as someone slowly moved out of the house. It was a boy around my age, his eyes black, his hair blacker.
He stood there as he got out and looked at me with a deep look. I could see a slight surprise in his eyes as he was about to speak, but the gate opened even more, showing an old couple, presumably his parents.
"A friend of yours?" Asked the old man as he looked at Michael, who turned at me for a moment before turning back at his father and spoke,"she is Alissa. She studies with me."
'Huh? Did he know me from before?' I was a little confused.
"She looks a little young to be studying with you,"his mother said as she looked at me with quiet curiosity.
"She skipped grades. She is just that smart,"then Michael turned to his parents and said,"I was planning to meet her today, but it seems like I got a little too late to make her come all the way here."
My eyes blinked a little as I observed them for a couple of seconds talking among themselves. What.. is going on here?
"Is the talk important?" Mother asked and Michael nodded as he answered,"She is his sister. She probably come here for answers."
Just this statement… made everyone turn silent as they kept looking at each other for a while.
"I AM READY!!!" A youth filled voice came from inside the house as a boy dashed out of and stumbled upon the rest of the family before Michael's father caught him.
"Behave William. We have a guest here,"his mother spoke as she smiled at me before turning at Michael,"take care of her. We will take our leave now."
And then, after Michael nodded, they started walking away from the house. William was curious about me, while the elders didn't bother much as they simply left from there without speaking any further.
As for Michael, he observed me with a keen look as he spoke,"You must have a lot of questions. Come in. Let's give you the answers you want," before he slowly moved into the house, while I simply followed him back. For some reason… I felt safe inside here… much more than at my own house…
And before I knew it, I was sitting in the diner area in front of Michael, who served me some snacks as he spoke,"Well. Let's start from the point where I entered that building with Leeway."
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