232 The Lost

MEANWHILE IN THE WINE CELLAR

Lord Nero and Stellan breathe in the strange allure of the murky wine cellar. Their brows meet and their nose crinkle at the strong whiff that oozes with a corked and musty smell. Going in first, Stellan lifted the candlestick giving a faint glow on the limestone flooring leading to a long line of wine barrels and larders. Their unmatched footsteps triumphed over the deafening silence clutched in the eerie darkness. 

Lord Nero walked beside his towering son until they reached the rack where his favorite wines are kept. He bent over the wooden rack of his collection of old fine wines, blanketed with thick dusts and cobwebs. It took him some time which to pick, for he wanted to choose a good one. Everything special to his friend Silvius, most definitely hold a certain place in his heart too. As he fervently go over each bottle, he could hear Stellan's impatience through his son's audible sighs and constant foot tapping. Never in his imagination that he would ever see his son become so tensed only for a woman. "Is that really the daughter of Silvius and Tris?", Lord Nero suddenly asked as Stellan stop from fidgeting.

"Absolutely, without any doubt", Stellan briefly answered. He ran his finger on one of the dusty bottles, and rubbed the dirt with his thumb. "The one and only Princess Helena".

Lord Nero narrowed his eyes as he finally pick a bottle of Rhenish wine which he remembered has a gold hue and crispy flavor that exactly fit Silvius' and Tris' wine preference when they were younger. A pleasant memory sent a glint of spark in his lips while he look at the bottle. Then he handed it over to his son, standing right behind him. "First, he presented as a man, who was believed to have a great resemblance with his mother with the gray eyes. And now, she's a woman with golden eyes. I couldn't have been mistaken in any way".

Stellan grunted, hardening his grip on the candlestick. Squinting, he looked at his father who's raising his suspicions on Helena for delicate reasons. "Have your... age started to affect your eyesight, old man?", he grinned as he took the bottle from his father's hands.

Lord Nero chuckled softly as he tap his son's broad shoulder as they make their way out of the cellar. The unfamiliar bond was neither unbearable nor galling... it was more of a refreshing sight to behold between a distant father and a perfectly docile son. Hence, he could still feel the gap that is still too wide to close. "Too bad no one can positively claim who she really is. "

"Do not fret, Father. I doubt that she's back for the throne if that's what you are most concerned of", Stellan shifted the candlestick to give more light on his father's face. He could tell that his father is loomed with doubts on Helena. 

"Doesn't she?", Lord Nero hoped otherwise. After all, no one deserves the throne other than the direct imperial blood of the royals, he thought. "Hmmm… but her in Brandenburg? Her mother and father make up the most sublime ideas just like her. My question is, why is she back with so much desperation without showing her real self?", Lord Nero loosened a few buttons of his top as the heat from the cellar started to embrace the back of his head.

"Things we do for family", Stellan said. "Helena had to do what she had to do to get into Brandenburg.", he admitted, placing the candlestick a stone's throw away from the entrance of the cellar. 

"Do… you love her?", Lord Nero asked as they reach the doorway.

"More than anything in this world", Helena is simply the light in his life, which seemed to be engulfed by darkness, just like the candlestick that he left in the cellar. 

"You are about to take a very thorny path, you know", Lord Nero matched his son's long steps with his hands on his back as they made their way to the dining hall.

"I don't mind getting splintered or pierced through the heart", Stellan straightforwardly said, walking swiftly as ever.

Nero knew Stellan would say such. However, being entangled with a mystery princess whom King Galen have his eyes on is more like a death sentence and a s*icide. "It will be more than that, Stellan.".

Stellan flinched at the name his father called him. It was the first time he heard him utter the name for a long time. He stopped midway to the dining hall as he look back at his father. "What.. did you just call me?", he didn't expect for his father to call him with his name so easily. As stubborn as his father is, he was expecting a few more dramatic arguments, and a lot of loud discussions before he could convince his father to get to call him with his real name. Now, it felt surreal that everything in his life is starting to fall in its place when Lord Nero called him Stellan.

Lord Nero realized what made his son's ears turn red, and eyes swell. For a time, he's been battling with his own self whether he could accept the reality that has been right before his eyes. "I don't know what have gotten into my son, and what the princess has to make you decide something that would endanger your own life. But giving it much thought, I guess… you have my support.", he said with a tap on Stellan's broad back.

Stellan furrowed his brows and glanced at his father, who had a light glint in his eyes. "Have the crows turned white?", he asked.

Lord Nero chuckled lowly, amused by his son's disbelief. He took the bottle from Stellan's hand, and placed his arm over his lofty son's broad shoulders. "I am trying. This is not as easy as snapping your fingers", he slanted his head as his son steer away from his gaze. "Galen is our bigger enemy and, you don't have to go through him alone. Also, Helena is Silvius' child whom I can't ever close my doors to. And I shall welcome her to Hesam, as you wish", he said.

"Th-thank you.", Stellan felt like a heavy load was lifted from his chest. "Then let's go back to the dining hall earnestly. Mother would probably have roasted my fiancè for a while now", he said.

Lord Nero smirked at his son's remark. He knew that Duchess Lucia's indifference towards Helena wouldn't escape Stellan's keen eyes. "Your mother is just being herself, like a royal wary of everything", he answered.

Hastily, Stellan and Lord Nero came back to the dining hall where her mother is sitting alone in the long table. At the time, the servants were already cleaning up, gathering all the plates and even the unfinished dishes. They had a look in their eyes entailing that a sudden mishap took place. Stellan's eyes circled the room, searching for the woman who left no trace. "Where's Helena?", Stellan asked as he clutch on his coat. He caught one servant's eye taking a quick glance at the doorway in the back.

"Powder room, I suppose?", Lord Nero could see through his ex-wife what could have just happened. He slowly released his son and heaved a sigh. He have seen that look in her eyes before. And it was like Evangeline happening all over again.

"Stellan", Duchess Lucia stood up with her eyes closed.

"Where is she?", Stellan frantically asked. As he started to read the room, it seemed like Helena didn't simply stepped out to relieve herself.

"She's not right for you", the Duchess hissed. Lord Nero could only shook his head.

"And who is? Eirah?", Stellan lifted his brows with rising disappointment towards his mother. He isn't a child anymore who would just stay still at his mother's command.

"You don't use such tone with me! I am your mother!", the Duchess' voice thundered inside the hall. The servants dropped the metallic utensils that caused quite a ruckus breaking the awful silence.

Stellan met her glares without batting an eye. He was all ready to break the thin line between him and his mother because this is Helena that they are talking about. "You don't get to choose someone I could love", he said.

Lord Nero stayed still as he watch Lucia's hands tremble, while she grasp the table cloth into a fist. She did this before, and she can do it again he thought. Seeing his son bravely fan the flames of his furious mother gave Nero an ounce of satisfaction. "It's Galen. His eyes is on that woman! If we don't turn her away, we are all good as dead", she said as if she was tormented just being with Helena in the same room. "Nero! Speak to your son at once!" Lord Nero poured himself a glass of the Rhenish wine and sat on an empty chair. 

"Your son can decide on his own now". Nero simply said, who just made the Duchess more furious. 

"You never cared for him before, so why now?", Lucia scoffed. "Seems to me that my son is not of his own senses, and so I shall do what it takes to keep him in check", she said, while he glared at the duke.

Stellan briefly closed his eyes and stared at his mother with a sigh. "Death… can't shake me off for running after Helena. And no King can separate me from her", he gritted his teeth, despite trying to be calm. He then walked out towards the doorway where the servants are nervously stealing glances at, leaving his Father with a pleased grin alongside with Lucia who's trembling in anger.