Cold air had always been blowing ruthlessly in the city of Este since long ago. Every nook, corner, and even mouse hole will not be missed by the winds in July. So, obviously, that evening became a twilight that was so gloomy and lonely. All the pets were curled up on the rug in front of the fire. Birds returned to their nests early and livestock returned to their warm enclosures.
Except Marlon and Laureen. The two of them faced each other with faces that were no less stiff than the branches of the acacia tree that shaded the road. Frozen. Their eyes, look at each other, but not the feelings they are arguing about.
The worry—about the end of the Coalition and the nightmare of the destruction of the Lumons. Holding warmly in Laureen's womb.
"Really, Laureen, I'm not going to ask one more time—because I'm pretty sure that child isn't mine." Marlon massaged the tablecloth in counterclockwise horizontal motions. Maybe he's a coward, but it's clear the baby in Laureen's stomach is not karma that happened to him from what happened a month ago.
"I did not say this creature is yours, I just told you. Just in case you have an idea. What should I do with this Reeda child.”
“Reeda?! God, Laureen!
“Shut your mouth, Marlon! You scream like a girl!”
Marlon immediately covered his mouth with his hand. Occasionally he looked around. He leaned back in his chair. His shoulders felt limp to his fingertips. This shock was the last he wanted to hear in his life. “Is there still Reeda in this world?”
“One left. Oh, you asked about the father of this child?” she asked sourly. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened. Like a carousel, the events spun around in her head.
Exactly a week after Marlon had slept with her, Laureen still couldn't shake the feeling of shame and embarrassment. The man left the room, not even turning around. Let Laureen drown in her own love.
On the same night. Unable to contain her disappointment alone, Laureen went to a bar, drinking too much tequila and catnip. She couldn't even stand up properly when the man approached her.
The man took her outside, cornered her in a hay cart, and slept with her.
Laureen is a Lumons, a member of the Coalition. It would be easy for her to kill the rapist if she wanted to. It was also easy for her to run from the law. But the woman didn't do it. She was so heartbroken to a man named Marlon. So now honor doesn't matter anymore. And maybe this action she did to cover up another gaping hole in the corner of her feelings.
It wasn't until the next day, when Laureen woke up with a terrible headache, that she recognized the man. A Reeda, Deluna's younger brother. Gregora's famous friend. Laureen didn't know how the boy had survived Reeda's massacre, but here they were.
Laureen had no better choice than to slit his throat before he woke up from his drunken stupor and leave the body there. In the afternoon Laureen reports to Gregora about the discovery of Reeda's body.
Until today when she deliberately left a note for Marlon, Laureen was completely unable to keep it to herself.
On the other hand, Jesse is no longer the friend Laureen used to know. The coalition has made her a bloodthirsty, fighting, and greedy woman. Jesse can no longer be spoken to without relying on aisikla. And Marlon, he can read the future. Maybe it would be better to get a little support to kill this child when this child is not his.
"Say something Marlon, your daughter is also a descendant of Reeda, but she has blue aisiklas." Lauren grunted. She swallowed her embarrassment whole in front of the man she adored.
“Golden blue. Aisikla Candramawa is golden blue color.” Marlon massaged his temples with one hand while he tucked the other hand under his armpit. “You're right. But I don't see anything about this child," he said, examining Laureen's stomach. The woman in front of him even blushed, it was hard to hide her feelings for Marlon. Even at a time like this.
"Maybe it's because she's not in her perfect form yet, so I can't see her." Marlon blinked a few times. “But Candramawa's future is hard to see. I only found out that she was about to spit out a blue aisikla when her mother…”
"Golden blue," Lauren confirmed. Her tone was a bit harsh.
"Don't teach me."
"You taught me earlier."
“Laureen. Focus." Marlon looked fiercely at the woman in front of him.
Lauren sighed. "Then what shall we wait for? Or are we going to kill it?” Laureen asked herself, how can she kill a creature that is still inside her own body?
“No, it will probably kill you too.” Marlon paused. "Did you say 'we'?"
"I won't involve you if you don't want to. But you have heard this, can I believe you?” Laureen looked more like sizzling now.
Marlon frowned. "Why are you even dragging me?"
Now it was Laureen who leaned back limply. She had already thought that this conversation would never end. "Okay, I'll wait until the baby is born," said Laureen, "after it's born I won't have the heart to kill it. I'm going to be a mother.”
"You want me to do it, right?" Marlon understands.
With a heavy heart, the woman nodded. "Do we have a choice? Coalition members, if they had known about this, they wouldn't have waited. They would kill this baby without a second thought. I will die too.” Laureen closed her eyes in resignation. "It's actually not a big deal if I die."
The latter was deliberately said to see Marlon's expression, sometimes Laureen was sure that Marlon loved her. Instead what she saw showed the reverse. The proof is in front of the eyes, Marlon just nodded.
"I'm going to kill it," Marlon said. “Where will you hide until the time comes?”
Lauren shook her head. "I haven't decided yet."
“Go to Vertellar. There is an old building you can rent there.”
“How do you know that? Aren't we forbidden to leave Este?” she asked.
"Belongs to a relative."
"Which relative?"
"Are you going there or not? Why are you even bothering me with questions? Lauren, this problem is yours." Marlon is excited.
"Okay. Okay." Lauren focused again.
"When the creature is born, put it at the foot of the oldest pine tree at the top of the hill." Then after agreeing on which tree, they separated there. Each of them searched in their own way, all the trees in the forest, which one seemed to be the easiest to identify.
After that Laureen went as far as possible. She is hiding in Vertellar City. Where no one recognized her—a town without Lumons. Until the creature was born.