"Do you mind if I watch TV?" Aurelia asked. She rubbed her belly and squinted like a sated cat.
"What do you want to watch?" Aurora asked.
"I'm not sure, I never really had time to watch much after my parents died. I've been working for three years. If I didn't come here, I would be working right now."
This was what she told Aurora as they walked into the TV room. She wasn't trying to make her feel bad; she was only stating a fact. This is what the previous Aurelia would be doing now. The girl worked herself to the bone.
She could still see the look on Aurora's face. Knowing she didn't know how to respond, Aurelia tried to change the topic.
"What's your favourite show?"
"Well, most of what I watch is dungeon streams. My favourite streamer is skinnybones; they don't post super graphic content. Not that I have access to that."
Ever since the disaster, the government has placed restrictions on everyone. All personnel around the country have to be registered. Their name, age, information, and when they turn eighteen, their dungeon potential is all recorded.
It wasn't even a year before guilds started springing up like mushrooms after the rain. Schools are different, too. Instead of regular schools, there are dungeon master schools. They help people with bloodline and elemental abilities "achieve their greatest potential".
And Rhea Academy is the school that people want to get into. Too bad most of the people who attend it are mainly children of the rich, famous and powerful. If regular people are found to have exceptional bloodlines or elements, they can also get in.
But people like that are few and far between.
Basically, most of the fighting that happens in dungeons is only seen by people above 18. Another thing to note is that not all the people on the planet are able to access dungeons.
People without a core don't have a chance to enter. They are also unable to be ranked in the 'dungeon' schools. They become ordinary people for the rest of their lives.
"Oh, I don't think I've ever watched a dungeon stream. Then again, I don't have much of a social life. Do you want to watch one together?"
So, for the next hour, Aurelia and Aurora spent the time watching videos. As for Eve, she was pretending that both of them didn't exist.
At about 12 pm, a woman and a young man walked into the villa. The first thing they saw was Aurora and a girl sitting in the living room, watching videos and laughing.
When Aurora saw them, she shot up, "Mom, brother."
Aurelia expected it to be them. Since her father had said they would be having lunch together, she expected them to be here before 12.
She stood up and walked towards them with Aurora, curious about what their reaction might be. According to her father, they went out to buy her gifts. She didn't see anything in either of their hands.
She nodded internally, guess the gifts aren't coming any time soon.
Everyone stood there looking back and forth between each other and Aurelia.
"Hello, I'm Aurelia, nice to meet you."
The silence had stretched for so long that Aurelia felt the need to speak up.
The woman stepped forward and locked Aurelia in a hug. The unexpected contact caused Aurelia to step back before stabilising herself. Her hands hung awkwardly as her eyes darted around, looking for help.
She heard the small sniffling. Sounding as if someone was trying not to cry.
"Um...are you okay?"
She patted the woman's back, waiting for her to let go, her eyes still bewildered. Isn't this the mother who hates me? Why is she acting like this?
Someone in the room cleared their throat. It was her father. He walked to the woman and pried her off Aurelia. He had her sit down to compose herself.
"Don't mind your mother, she still feels guilty about things."
Aurelia nodded blankly. She still couldn't help but wonder if it was because the story hadn't started, and that's why they were like this.
The boy still stood there looking at the scene. Not entirely sure what to do. Aurelia, who decided to play things by ear, acknowledged him.
"You're Kieran, right?" She didn't wait for him to answer before she started talking. "Okay, let me say it now. I'm not trying to replace anyone in your family. I am simply trying to be a part of the family. You can accept me or not, it's up to you."
Once again, Aurelia said what was on her mind. She wanted to make it known to everyone in the family that she wasn't trying to take anything away, only add something.
At this moment, a maid came out to let them know that lunch was ready. Her father asked someone to go upstairs to get Eve so everyone could start eating.
With everyone seated, lunch could begin.
Small conversations were being held at the table. Everyone was catching up with each other, sharing jokes, and Aurelia sat there listening. She had nothing to add, so she stayed quiet.
She didn't mind. She assumed they would ask whatever they wanted at some point. To her, it was pre-question cosy time. So said, so done, once everyone was finished talking about their day, they turned to Aurelia.
Her father was the first to speak.
"Aurelia, we know you haven't been doing well these past few years. It's our own fault that we didn't realise our daughter still hadn't come home after what happened. Two children being kidnapped on the same night is already a problem, but we did a DNA test and found it was compatible. We can only say that someone planned this."
The woman interrupted, "I'm sorry, I wasn't able to recognise you. You're my baby, I should have known."
Aurelia heard her voice crack as she spoke. The tremble in her voice. She looked at both parents. She wanted to see if they were being sincere. They held her gaze as she looked at them. They seemed genuine.
She decided, for now, she would accept that they might be genuine. She wasn't sure what to say to them. She couldn't feel their pain. She herself didn't feel anything. Yes, she felt happy, but the emotion waned.
She wasn't sure how to react to them because they were new to her. Did they want her to cry? To hug them? She wasn't sure. So she did what she always did.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to say. I'm glad to know my family, but I also know there is something wrong." She looked at her father, "You said her DNA matched, so how did you come to the conclusion I'm your daughter?"
"That's our fault," the twins spoke.
Kieran continued, "We did a DNA test with everyone. We were curious because our class was talking about bloodlines. We knew we couldn't know the bloodline until Eve turned 18, but we thought it would be fun to do a random one."
Next came Aurora, "We didn't know it would end up with us finding out our sister isn't our sister." She bit her lip.
"So how did you know it was me? If she wasn't 18, I wasn't 18 either. I'm pretty sure the disaster wrecked results from back then, so how are you sure?" asked Aurelia.
"That's because of Eve. She was the one who found you," her father responded.
Aurelia turned to Eve. She didn't say anything, just continued to eat. Based on the impression Eve gave her, she felt like what they said was horse sh*t. But she couldn't say that. She could see the trepidation on their faces.
"Eve, found me? How did you find me, Eve?"
She looked directly at her, not wanting to miss anything. She saw the subtle change in her eye before she quickly masked it.
"I just hired an investigator. My parents did too, but maybe mine was faster than theirs." Eve said as she put her fork down.
"Oh, that's fine then. Thanks for finding me and bringing me back to my parents."
Aurelia said this deliberately. She knew it would provoke her. She obviously doesn't want her here, but decided to have her come back. Something was up.
She also knew she couldn't say anything. Eve has been with them for years; there is no way they wouldn't believe they were doing this in her best interest. Let's see if she will reveal her tail at some point.