Rutto
“Greltheaven, once again,” I said as I walked down from the ship.
I had come here nine months ago but needed to return immediately. Those bastards didn’t even let me enter the city and sent me back from the port.
It was embarrassing for me in the court. It had ruined my reputation and made me bankrupt.
If not for that, fortunate incident, that brought me back to the good graces of his imperial majesty. I would have been still in that hellhole.
Those months were the worst time of my life.
Coming here is a dangerous decision. Seeing the undead could capture the city, but there was no future in the court.
It is also not safe. Especially for me, who could barely protect himself.
To me, this place will be much safer than the court.
Prince Grelt is dead. That bastard Darrow is also dead.
Without them, the old man is no threat. I would have really liked it if the old bastard had been here. I wanted to take the revenge on him.
I looked at the city and the barely visible tower.
Soon, I will be its guardian and all that emotion essence will be under my control. So are those precious plants, that his majesty wants.
Not to mention the whores. I didn’t get a chance at them last time; time, they will be mine. …
...
Homers
Ding!
The chiming sound rang out, as the doors of the elevator opened.
We stepped out and immediately felt the familiar sensation of the legacy that filled our souls, and this time; it is far more powerful.
I still remember the feeling of last time and what I had felt last time pales compared to what I am feeling right now.
For a moment, I thought the legacy had advanced. Which is obviously not true. It is still Grade I, but more powerful than the last time.
It is not just the power of the legacy, that overwhelmed me, but also the enthralling smells and beauty of the plants around me.
I thought the plants in the lobby were the most beautiful, with the most wonderful smell, but I had been wrong.
These plants are more beautiful and the smells coming from them had reached my soul. They have started to bring out emotions that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
I looked at the beautiful plants and the emotion mist covering them. They look so beautiful like the parts of heaven brought into the mortal world.
I found tears had started to come out of my eyes.
I looked around and saw nearly everyone had tears in their eyes. The only one among us, that felt less affected is Baroness Leila.
Even her eyes are misty.
The woman is very good at controlling her emotions. I had never seen her show emotions when she didn’t want to, but this place had affected her, too.
“Welcome to the velvet spa, ladies and gentlemen,” said a young voice.
Only to see a young woman in a white dress standing in front of us.
She is a teen girl, of fifteen-sixteen years. She had short blond hair, barely reaching her neck, and pale green eyes, that highlighted her delicate face.
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She had been there from the beginning. We just didn’t notice, as the feeling of legacy beauty and fragrance of plants enveloped us.
“Please follow me,”
The teen led us through the beautiful hallway covered in plants, into the room with mats.
Gasps!
The gasps rang out around me as they saw the marvel in the center of the spa.
“Mistral Cascade; it covers all four floors of the spa,” informed the teen with a bright smile on her face.
It is a spiral vortex rain waterfall, and it is not common water flowing through it, but water, that is densely mixed with mist of legacy.
It had turned every drop velvety, and the sound they made seemed to soothe my soul.
“Ah,”
I moaned as my legs became weak and I sat on the mat.
First, the spa had only overwhelmed my visual and olfactory senses, but now even my auditory senses were overwhelmed with this waterfall.
These three together created such cadence that emotions rose out of me in bursts and began to flow out through the tears.
I lost control over my emotions, and I didn’t try to control them. Instead, let them flow out through the tears.
The world is hard, and at every moment, I need to guard my emotions.
I needed to do that every day after we became nobles and intensified when the barony separated itself from the Greltheaven.
I had bottled all those emotions and now they are coming out of me in a flood.
Minutes passed when finally, the flood of emotions stopped.
I felt calmer than I had never felt become. It felt like the mountainous weight that had been on my shoulders had lifted up.
It felt so good that I couldn’t describe it. Nor did I try to. I simply closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of peaceful emptiness, that I am feeling.
I kept my eyes closed for minutes, before finally opening them with a gentle smile on my face.
I looked and saw myself sitting on the mat with mist covering me. I looked around and realized there were people everywhere, sitting on mats covered in dense mist.
I hadn’t noticed them when I had come into the room.
They had mist covering them and it was dense enough, that I couldn’t see their faces, but through their body language, I know they are also crying.
I looked at my husband and saw him shaking.
I could tell he was crying too, and I wanted to comfort him but stopped myself.
This is extremely personal, and even I don’t have the right to invade this moment. I wouldn’t have liked it if Elias had come when the emotions flooded out of me.
I looked at him for a while, before turning to others. All of them are crying, especially the men; they are crying hardest.
Which isn’t surprising. Men aren’t allowed to show emotions or cry. From childhood, they keep it all bottled up, rarely letting them out.
Now, it is all coming out.
I saw a door opening and three more people coming inside the hall.
The mist had enveloped them as they came through the door. I couldn’t see their faces at all and I don’t think my ocular skill will be able to peer through it.
Mist felt strong, and I didn’t forget the suppression that I felt here when I activated my skills last time.
The three people shook as we did, but the woman helped them sit on mats before they could fall on the ground.
Within a second, they begin to shake wildly.
I was looking at them, when a woman in her middle age, with Nazarian features, wearing in spa uniform in fuchsia colors, stopped beside me.
“My lady. If you are emptied, I could take you to the waiting room.” She said, in a most soothing accented voice.
I nodded and even took her help in getting up, which I wouldn’t have if it had been under any other circumstances.
She opened the door without any sound and took me out of the hall to the waiting room.
It is huge and beautiful with plants, and the waterfall, which I think connects to all the rooms. They have built rooms around it.
“What was that? The sensory outburst was sudden and controllable,” I asked the woman.
“The legacies are places that harvest emotions. When it mixes with things that overwhelm the senses. It triggers the flood of emotions,” she replied in a calming voice.
“It was extreme,” I said, and the woman smiled.
“That is good. I am sure you have started to feel the benefits of it already,” she said and I couldn’t help, but nod.
I am feeling calm as I had never before; even calmer than after the spa treatment last time.
She led me to a seat, and I sat down before handing me a catalog.
“Thank you,” I said, and the woman smiled. “If you have any queries about any treatment, please ask any of the assistants,” she said and walked away.
I watched her leave and look at the assistants. The teen girls strategically stood around the different parts of the waiting room.
I turned to the catalog and started to read.
The first time when I came, there were only two treatment packages. One for men, one for women; each one offering four treatments.
Now, there are over twenty packages, offering every type of treatment possible.
Hun!
I was reading it when I noticed a woman coming and sitting by me.
It is none other than Baroness Husk.
She looked different; a few lines on her face seemed to have vanished, making her look a little younger.
“It had been a decade since I cried like that,” she said, with a small peaceful smile.
“But it feels good, right?” I asked, and the woman nodded. “Like the load, I never knew lifted from my shoulders,” she replied.
A few minutes later, Baroness Leila came, and then Madam Silver. Who, for the first time, looked calm since coming to the city.
I wonder how long that is going to last.
I was getting worried about Elias when I finally saw him coming, making me feel relieved.
He sat down in front of me. Our eyes met before he turned to the catalog. We didn’t talk, nor did we need to.
I know he is fine, better than fine.