Saga of Atlantis

"Hm 🎶 hm 🎶"

With my eyes closed, I hummed in the dimly lit room, reclining on the chair as I tapped my finger on the table.

"Never gonna get it 🎵, never gonna🎵"

As I mumbled lyrics of a song that I remembered, I glanced at the handcuffs binding my hands.

With a red light still beeping in the middle, the handcuffs tried to suck all my mana from my core.

Click

As I was having fun alone, the door of the room clicked open and a man walked inside.

And right beside him was Duke Morton.

The man with black hair, dark red eyes, and an aged face sat in the seat opposite of me.

With his deep gaze looking at me with an apathetic look, not bothering to hide his boredom.

As for my so-called father, he stood at the corner of the room.

Ignoring Duke Morton’s presence, I looked at the man, recognizing him from both my memories of Eden and my memories of the game.

The councellor of the current king and a man with absurd level of loyalty towards the kingdom and it’s subjects.

"It’s been a while, Eden," his deep voice echoed in the silent room as he looked at me.

"It really has been a while, Uncle Archer," I replied, nodding my head.

"You have grown a lot. The last time I saw you, you were a scrawny little kid throwing tantrums all around the place," he said, interlocking his fingers and resting his chin on them.

"But you haven’t changed at all, have you?" I asked as I leaned in. "I bet you came straight here without checking on how your daughter is doing, right?"

"I am here for official work, Eden," he replied matter-of-factly. "And Grace can handle herself, and Sophia is also with her."

"And you, as her father, just keep ignoring her. What a wise decision," I replied without hiding my sarcasm.

"....."

"....."

We both just stared into each other’s eyes.

No matter how much I tried not to think about it, because of this fucking neglectful man, Grace’s condition never improved.

He was the reason she was hell-bent on making an enemy out of the royal family.

If this fucker had just cared a little bit about his wife’s death, or if he had not stopped Grace from even knowing how her mother died, things would have been much better for her.

Even when she pleaded and begged him to at least try to get some justice for her mother’s murder, he never lifted a finger to find out what actually happened.

Because of his negligence, Grace tried to take matters into her own hands and come to her own conclusions.

"Then, let’s get started with your interrogation," the man said, breaking the eye contact between us.

"I will be frank and ask you this: where were you during the whole event? And don’t lie about being with the class; your classmates have already testified that you were not present with them."

’What a pain these guys are,’ I let out a tired sigh as I reclined back on the chair.

"I was just roaming around the place. When the terrorists attacked, I was one of their targets as well, so I had to defend myself," I replied without looking at him.

"And how many did you take care of?" He asked, folding his hands.

"I don’t remember, maybe 2 or 3."

"Do you have any proof for that?" He asked, looking deeply into my eyes.

"And what proof do you have to justify this?" I retorted, showing him the handcuffs placed on my hand.

"They are just precautions, don’t worry about that."

"Yeah, you and your shitty precautions."

"A total of one thousand and ninety-eight people died and ten’s of thousands are seriously injured, Eden. Don’t take this lightly," he said gravely.

"That’s a lot less than I expected," I replied, looking at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, glaring at me.

"Nothing," I replied with a smirk, enjoying watching as the gears of his brain started to work to come up with his own weird answer.

Again, we both glared at each other, neither backing down even a little bit.

"Do you know, Eden, that the tomb of the first king has been destroyed by someone?" He asked, still glaring at me.

"I don’t know," I replied, shaking my head.

This information had not been made public, and if I had admitted to knowing about it, he would have suspected me more.

"And you have nothing to say about being absent during the entire terrorist attack?" He asked, tapping his fingers on the table.

"I have given you my answer to that."

"We can help you, Eden. You just have to tell the truth," he said in a softer voice, as if sympathizing with me. "If you are being threatened or something like that is happening, we can help you."

"Can’t you just be quiet? Like I said, bring me the proof if you have something to say," I replied with an annoyed look.

"Hmm... Why is the green light still beeping?" He muttered, looking at my handcuffs. "It’s been hours since it was placed on you."

I remained silent not commenting on it.

The handcuffs they made for me have a mana-draining function, and when the light shows green, it means there is no mana in my body.

However, because my body automatically filters too much mana from the environment, it has zero effect on me.

"Anyway you have a lot to talk to,so I will came back in a while until then talk with your father." He said as he stood up making his way towards the door.

Click

Bam!

"Hah..."

Like an old man, Duke Morton sighed as he sat down on the chair in front of me.

"It’s good to see you, son," he said in a voice that was hard to decipher his emotions.

"How are your children? Are they safe?" I asked, looking at him.

"They’re both fine. Only Daniel had some minor injuries," he replied as he reclined in the chair.

"Good for them," I replied, closing my eyes.

"Eden," he mumbled, calling me.

"I am listening," I replied, still keeping my eyes closed.

"Look after the siblings, and please forgive them if they do anything bad," I slightly opened my eyes, looking at him.

"And why would I do that?" I asked with a small smile. "I am going to make it clear right now, if they ever try to do anything funny, I will not be merciful."

"Hah..." sighing again, he closed his eyes.

"I heard you brought a new woman into the house on the day we left," I said, looking at him. "Is it true?"

".....Yes," he replied honestly.

"How long have you known about her?" I asked, looking at him curiously.

"...Before I met your mother," he replied with a deep sigh.

"Good for you, getting your teenage love in your forties," I replied with a light chuckle.

I wasn’t mad at him. From the way Mom behaved after hearing this, she was chill about it, and as long as she is fine, I don’t care enough about him to get angry.

"Do I have any value in your life?" He asked, his face conflicted.

"Maybe a little," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Then listen to my advice, Eden," taking a deep breath, the old man continued, "don’t trust that woman too much."

"What?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.

"Your mother, be wary of her, Eden. She isn’t as nice as she looks," he said while rubbing his temple.

"Haha... Please stop with your nonsense. I will take it as a joke, just stop now," I replied with a forced laugh as I looked at him.

"Listen to me—."

Baam

Before he could say more, I stood up from my chair, making it hit the ground.

Grabbing him by his collar, I made him look at me.

"Don’t you dare slander my mother’s name," looking deeply into his eyes, I said. "You are the one who cheated on her, and you have the audacity to say not to trust the only person who cared for me?"

"I never cheated on her," he said as he grabbed my handcuffs.

"Are you going senile, old man? Or have you forgotten the meaning of cheating?" I asked, glaring at him.

"You don’t understand, and the way you are, you never will," he replied, making me lose my grip on his collar.

"Just make sure to keep my words in your mind," fixing his messed-up collar, he said.

"..."

"..."

Instead of replying, I shoved a middle finger in his face.

He stood there frozen, unable to respond.

Yeah, I only value your advice this much.

Click.

The door clicked open once again, and a new figure emerged.

Her silky black hair tied in a bun, while her eyes looked at Duke Morton and then me.

"I have to take you home, Master," Sarah said, bowing a little in front of me.