Chapter 54: I Don’t Care
"I just couldn’t believe what was written in that letter. I couldn’t believe that our people would lose to the Ashton Faction like that. So I took the letter to Lady Raya and asked her for advice, and Lady Raya suggested that we go to the future and see for ourselves if the letter was telling the truth or not..."
At this point, Ethan looked like he was about to cry! His hands were gripped so hard that they shook, and he was staring at the floor with an intense look in his eyes!
"I wish I hadn’t listened to Lady Raya. If I hadn’t listened, then maybe she would still be alive now. When we landed in that battlefield, I got separated from Lady Raya, and I ended up suffering a serious injury that nearly killed me. I barely managed to get away from my attacker, and by the time I found Lady Raya again, it was already too late. She had been hit with a spell that... that killed her. So I just grabbed her body and ran back in time. The only way to save our people is to find the second half of the Chronos medallion, and the letter told me exactly where I needed to go. The World of the great Sage, Vanitas, one dimensional leap away from Varina. In the kingdom of Andura, in the city of Aquinas, in the Vanitas Academy of Magic. Ten years into the Age of Vanitas, I’ll find the second part of the Chronos Medallion in the Great Library. That is why I am here."
Ethan finally looked up at Rita with a strong gaze, and Rita stared back with a hard frown. It was difficult to tell what Rita was actually thinking at that moment since she was so stoic, but behind Rita, Viva couldn’t hide her emotions even if she tried!
’W-What in the world is going on here? Am I dreaming right now? This entire story that I just heard can’t possibly be real, right? It has to be a prank?’
Viva couldn’t even begin to wrap her head around what she had just heard from Ethan! It was so outlandish and unbelievable that for a moment she thought that Rita and Ethan had come together to play a prank on her! That was the only reasonable explanation for all of this! Time-travelling vampires? Time wraiths? Battles for thrones? Mysterious letters? How in the world did Viva end up hearing all these things in one single story!?
Maybe one of the basilisks downstairs already turned her to stone, and her mind was just playing random scenes to keep her entertained before she died! Viva’s face was squeezed into a look of complete disbelief, and she looked from Ethan back to Rita before she let out a long breath to calm down.
While that was happening, Rita’s mind was also running quickly as she tried to fully understand the situation. It was hard to believe everything that Ethan was saying, but Rita had been around Percy long enough to know that there were stranger things in the world than travelling through time to stop a war! Percy had once gotten them into a situation where they had to sacrifice a fire giant to a Cataclysmic Beast in order to trick it into lowering its guard, so this was nothing!
What was really strange to Rita was that letter. The letter that Ethan said he had received was the most mysterious part of this entire situation! Because whoever had sent Ethan that letter knew about both the past and the future somehow!
’Is it another time traveller? Or maybe someone from the future that was trying to save the Pastoni?’
Rita knew there was no way she could find out about this right now. The only way to figure out who sent that letter was to travel through time to the moment when Ethan received it and try to catch the person who sent it red-handed. But in truth, Rita couldn’t even begin to care about saving her family. Rita could try her best to help out, and there was a high chance that helping Ethan might help save the Pastoni. But the truth was that Rita simply didn’t care.
Rita didn’t care that her family members had been killed mysteriously, and Rita couldn’t care less about the Pastoni faction being eradicated by the Ashton! Why should Rita care about these things? It wasn’t like she lived there anymore, and Rita certainly didn’t have any love for any of them. Rita had accepted a long time ago that she was never going to go back to Varina, and she was going to stand by that decision even now. Rita simply turned and began walking out of the room while speaking.
"That’s all the questions I have for you. Alpha will bring you some blood to feed on later, but you will stay in this room until Percival gets back."
Ethan was stunned when he heard the dismissive tone that Rita was using, and he stood up quickly!
"Wait, Rita! Where are you going? Didn’t you hear what I said? I need your help to save the family. If we don’t do something, then that future will definitely come again."
"I don’t care about your family, and I couldn’t care less about their future. Do you really think I would give a damn about the same people who abandoned me when I needed them most? The only reason I’m not sending you back right now is because Percival will want to question you too. But if you step foot out of this room, or I see you snooping around the library looking for anything, I will kill you, Ethan."
"!"
Ethan took a step back as he felt an intense aura flowing off Rita’s body, and he stared at Rita in shock as she finally turned and walked away! Ethan couldn’t believe that Rita would be so heartless towards her own family! Her sister’s dead body was lying right there, but Rita didn’t even care about it!
’Just how much does she hate the family?’
Ethan was just a common guard in the family, so even though he had heard about Rita getting captured, he didn’t know the details about what happened afterwards or why. The only thing Ethan remembered was that Rita went missing after the Horox faction was attacked by a mysterious mage, and she was given an honorary burial. Ethan would’ve never guessed that the relationship between Rita and the family was actually this bad!
Ethan began to wonder what he was going to do next, and his eyes suddenly landed on Viva, who was still standing at the side. Viva was surprised when Ethan suddenly approached her, and she took a step back when he got very close!
"You! You’re one of Lady Rita’s maids, aren’t you?"
"W-What?"
"Your dress. It’s obvious you’re one of the workers in this establishment! I need you to help me talk to Lady Rita! My future and the future of my people depend on this! If you don’t help me, then hundreds of millions will die!"
Viva was completely thrown off by the pleading look on Ethan’s face! Ethan looked like he was a dying man, and she was the only one who could save his life! But Viva didn’t know what she was supposed to do for him! Even if she was a maid here, this wasn’t her real job, and she didn’t have any form of close relationship with Rita! In fact, Viva was sure that Rita didn’t like her! If Viva tried to talk to Rita now, then Rita might even kick her out!