75th chapter : wind of an astray

After meeting with the kabuki guy once more, Marco had put him as a target for the meantime, so he went after the clues to get a more understandable situation, however the wind doesn’t always go as the ships want.

Three hours later, inside the red mermaid mansion.

“Sighsss, I never expected that to happen, these guys are some lowly shits, huh” complained Marco.

Marco was talking to Yuna, however, for the one who sees him from afar thinks he’s talking to himself. While being caught up with that conversation Marco entered the mansion feeling the presence of only one person at that time.

“Where did you go!?!”.

Layla was waiting for him as no one beside her was inside the house. Marco looked at her then grinned awkwardly, ultimately trying to think of some response that would appeal to her angry mood.

“Uhm, I was trying some games on the other side of the city?”.

Marco laughed himself out, however, he saw that Layla was pouting at him, completely persistent on the pressure.

“Take a seat now, we gotta talk about a few things!!”.

Layla yelled as she saw that Marco was surprised by that. So, in order to not crush her confidence, he took a seat in front of her on the ground while she sat on the couch.

“I know that hiding things from you is just like playing chess with a multileveled advanced high artificial intelligence, so I’ll say it to you straight.” she pouted again for a second.

“You’re gonna tell me that the red mermaid members are trying to keep the party that is my birthday party at eight in the evening a secret from me which is also Fabia ma who’s forcing Emilis to not call me for the hanging gardens work, yeah I know about that so take it easy” Marco answered.

He couldn’t help it but to say what he had in mind which made Layla furious for a second then chuckled at her state. Layla reminisced about this feeling for a while now.

“You’re not likely to have any other funny spells like looking at the one’s mind do you?”.

She asked, implying it as a hilarious question but Marco looked at her calmly then smirked. Layla got red then asked again to confirm in haste because of the rushing thoughts on that side.

“Relax. I don’t have any, I can just guess what people can think about on the spur of the moment, also I know that you don’t wanna miss this day cause you waited for it for four years”. Marco responded, smiling at her then he stood up.

“If you gonna make up for the other four years on my side that is”.

Layla said returning the smile at him, He looked at her acting like she was not flustered by what he said then smiled at her again. He thought that she was being bold for a second however it didn’t let her skip out of the remarks that Marco had for her.

“I’ll be happy to do so, if you’re willing to give me that rematch for the sake of it, I can beat your ass peacefully for the times that you marked me without my knowing”.

Marco said, walking upstairs while leaving her a smile that was enough to make Layla shiver, since she wasn’t expecting him to know what she did this morning on his body.

While sitting on the couch, waiting for his return given that he told her that he’d take a quick shower, Layla thought that Marco was taking a long time. It ended up going to her head as Layla strode up to the bathroom on the second floor. She heard the sound of water dropping on the ground as it seemed that he was indeed inside, therefore, her mind wasn’t eased by that either, so Layla opened up the door with a reddish face, after getting her resolve to do so.

“Aren’t you taking a long…time?”.

Layla called for him as she opened the door to see that he was filled with injuries while the shirt on the ground was also filled with bloodstains. The horrifying momentum had Layla instantly pale from fear as she did think that Marco was killed.

“Marco!?”.

she rushed to check on him, calling his name while hoping that an answer would come. Luckily, Marco turned over looking at her as he finally noticed her. His consciousness was within the white palace but the blood and injuries were previously gotten because of that battle within the orphanage.

Ultimately, Marco was hiding the appearance of blood on him through his curse in an area of effect, so the fact that Layla’s mind didn’t catch up on that while she was scolding him earlier had her realize that something was off from the very start. He sighed, noticing her hands trembling as Marco saw her holding his shirt up.

Somehow, he felt guilty for this small charade.

“Errm I tripped over something inside a nearby dungeon so I got these scratches, so don’t worry”.

Marco patted her head then took the shirt from her hand. He erased the blood when she wasn’t looking in that direction, afterwards he used a potion, in order to not show his regenerative abilities, although Layla pouted at him out of nervousness, she saw that he was ok so she dropped that nervousness.

Layla had him washed up quickly then turned over to get him straight to the living room, sitting on the couch to rest down. Thus seeing that he was injured, telling him that she’s in charge of taking him away from the house for a while, until the others prepare things, Marco didn’t give her any attention about it.

He picked up his phone from the table as she kept rumbling about her duty. Until he spoke on his own, getting Layla’s attention.

“Alex senpai?” Marco was talking on the phone “Yeah I’ve sent them, just a few documents, hmm yeah , it’s alright, not like…but why are you that mad? it’s not like I got killed or something, Plus the desk was clean , I’ll be out so tell the others, hmm yeah, I, Sophie isn’t concerned right?”.

Seeing him act all normal like he wasn’t all butchered up a second ago had Layla completely furious.

“Just listen to someone when he or she is speaking!!” Layla roared in his ear before taking the phone and dragging him away.

Eventually, she had no thoughts about what to do afterwards, whereas she looked over Marco following her silently, while in reality he had Selicia telling him she’d take over if he didn’t listen to Layla’s demands.

“Ugh!! How come I came with you here out of all places?”.

Layla sighed, exasperated as eventually they went to the blue antique restaurant so Marco would work to pass time.

“Don’t complain if you want to pass time just like the old days then work with me”.

Marco responded to her sobbing as he gave her different clothes so they could work together. Layla blushed for a second as she saw his serene yet kinda empty smile. She then told him to go outside so she could change and she was quick to change.

“So how do I look?!” Layla was gleaming with happiness.

“As perfect as you should be!! Finally an elegant girl to work with besides this gloomy goofball!!” answered Carla.

Carla entered the kitchen with some plates in her hand as she nudged Marco to head out there first.

“Well, I didn’t ask for a nosy girl that would cry because her payment got delayed either.” answered Marco.

Marco responded back to Carla’s words as both looked at each other with bloodlust since what happened was Marco’s fault from the beginning as a punishment for what happened with him and Emilis at that time.

As it seemed to be a bit stuck on that matter even Layla tried to mediate between them but ended up being scolded too.

“You three have a lot of work so start moving!!”.

Alice roared before pushing them to head for work.

“In the first place is she allowed to work with us?”. Sam asked, looking tired.

“Yeah, no, As if we can say no to what Fabia ma say at this point?” Xavier responded.

“I’ll start the hanging gardens so make the announcement master”.

Marco spoke after Xavier as he went outside along with them , they were technically flooding with delivery orders so they’ve been running back and forth around the island to deliver them while those who stay behind check for what the customers need.

With some other requests Emilis was able to book something else as a pre-save item from the council to notify the people who booked for the hanging gardens. In that aspect, Just the entry was filled with enough people for them to hit the quota of the day.

“Here comes the harder work”.

Zack and Xavier said at the same time, taking a deep breath as they all felt the same. Miha started the first tone of the song, while Layla was filled with enthusiasm as she saw that most of them were thrilled and had been waiting for the hanging gardens.

A good meal and a peaceful melody that entertained the mood of the customers.

That two hour shift of the hanging gardens had initially hit the quota of the day really. After finishing the shift, they closed early so they could get back home as soon as possible.

“Ah!! The shift was insanely hard!! you guys deal with this every single day!?” Layla groaned, washing her face in the bathroom of the mansion.

“Yeah, this is just daily work, however today’s a special day!!”. Alex responded as she smiled after that.

Layla’s fatigue went away with that smile too so it didn’t bother her much that it was a hard day of work, they were all awaiting the evening after all.

“Happy birthday Marco!!”.

Everyone said as they started the party with a bang.

“Man so I guess you’re 19 now?!”.

Emilis tried to pat Marco on the head but he didn’t let him do so. The two glared at each other for a second.

“Yeah, I am nineteen and you guys are just after the cake, aren’t you?”Marco responded.

Emilis saw that all of them were around the table in a matter of seconds as he joined them eventually.

“Of course we are, Fabia ma makes a delicious cake plus this time Sophie and Arthur helped in making it too”.

Carla responded with a childish yet serious face as Marco saw Layla chuckling at that. He heaved a sigh, sitting down with everyone as they were all joyfully talking around. It wasn’t much of an atmosphere, aside from the usual jolliness that comes around their house so it made him happy nonetheless.

“Marco nii!! Happy birthday!!” Sophie came rushing with a piece of cake “Bon appétit!!” She said with a smile as he smiled back then patted her head.

“We’re learning new words aren’t we!? Thank you Sophie!!”.

The reaction was enough to make Sophie gleam with happiness like an angel. Taking the opportunity for it, Layla got close to him.

“And this is for you!!”.

Layla said as she gave him a small box, whereas they all whistled before hearing a complaint from the other side of the room.

“Hey!! that’s rude to give him presents before all of us!!”.

Arthur growled as everyone was looking at him fidgeting around from behind the couch, Arthur seemed to have been hiding it for a while now.

“Punpun!! The fastest bird gets the worm first!”.

Layla acted childishly as Arthur buzzed her with lightning for that, the two seemed to have it for each other as they were about to talk it out until Carla had gotten their attention.

“If you guys really thought about presents, I couldn’t exactly find a lot that would work for this guy so I said why not a book?”.

Carla put an old novel that she found down the street for him, after she warped it in a decorative paper like Arthur did.

“You bought me an old book that has two turns to get thrown out?”.

Marco said, looking straight at Carla who got flustered by his comment then turned around to look at Fabia who put a box on his head for his rude comment. “ Just accept it, what matters is the thought after all and it’s not like all of us remembered if it wasn’t for Carla, your brother and Layla, so be thankful goofball.”

Fabia sold them all out as Marco looked up at the others avoiding his gaze. And so the party continued.

In the end, Layla realized how peaceful the red mermaid is in reality, unlike all the rumors that roamed around them. Therefore, that soon to be fake turned out to be the real truth eventually. The drinking part had started as the older members were totally blasted.

“Hein!!? like I told you!! I wasn’t expecting that to happen, like why did you mess up the order if you’re not looking at the words!! ”.

Alice was yelling at Alex, while the conversation was getting in a way that seemingly had everyone being malicious.

“Alice!! Shut up for a moment!! Hic!! Everyone is trying to celebrate Marco’s party now!! hicc!” Tanya responded as she dropped the cup.

“Seriously, you always let them drink like this, master Emilis?”

Layla asked as she saw that Minerva and Nora took Arthur alongside Sophie upstairs, leaving the others down while Emilis, Vanica and Fabia were enjoying their drinks too.

“Yeah! That's where the fun part comes plus, It’s not like every party we passed ended up peacefully anyway, even when they’re sober”.

Emilis responded with a grin on his face before dodging a slash from Milize, he had Layla duck down for her own safety.

“Is this really the best part? She literally tried to slash you!!”.

Layla was startled by Milize’s attack but it took her to be on edge because Xavier tried to land a hit on Marco who jumped away instantly at the given moment.

“Why you little shit getting a birthday party when we got to work all day for nothing but a cake!?!”

Xavier was swaying left and right, however his moves were agile. Despite them being drunk, Layla noticed that none of them had fallen down on the ground yet, looking quite fascinated she instantly turned to Marco with sparkles in her eyes.

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“You guys always do this?” Layla asked.

“Huh? It's clearly a first that none of them has destroyed the place. We usually have master Emilis rebuild the place, after one of them gets angrier than expected, but I restrain them with chains before that so don’t mind it, let them have it”.

Marco responded while being upside down on a chain far away from Xavier, who was trying to release his serment, but Marco was erasing his euro to not let him do that.

Layla didn’t know that Marco had such an ability to begin with so she just saw Xavier acting weird, thinking that most of them lose their control over their serments when drunk while Marco was the one stopping them from releasing all along.

After that foolish party most of them went to sleep as Emilis made them do so with a fiery order.

“You make sure to get them home! don’t roam around and get home fast!”.

Carla was ordering Marco around as it was midnight, although looking a bit tipsy and red, she sure knew how to handle giving orders to Marco.

“and you should head to sleep too. You shouldn’t drink that cup behind the eyes of Vanica maman”. Marco said as he patted Carla’s head and erased the dizziness from her.

“You’re right and thank you, but seriously don’t take a lot of time since you know tomorrow will be the third part of the festival” Carla responded then closed the door.

Marco was in charge of returning the guests, Layla, Maria, Rachel and Ralph to their located mansions for now given that they can’t stay within the red mermaid mansion for now.

“You know that I’m strong enough to keep them safe” Layla said as she was walking with Rachel ahead of the group.

“That’s true but Marco kun is far stronger than what you expect so let him be Layla chan!” Rachel responded instead.

“That’s not exactly the issue. I can imagine Carla chan or even Fabia ma sending him outside either ways”

Ralph baffled with a laugh as after that, Marco confirmed it. The four of them giggled at Marco’s situation while he sighed in a slight exasperating way.

“Well things will get better after the end of the festival so it’s fine for now Maru!! I think I’ll be joining red mermaid after this!!”.

Layla said out of the blue as Marco stopped walking for a second there, his eyes were like an open book for Layla by now so she saw a bit of hesitation within him aside from the spark of fear that she didn’t quite understand why looked at her like that.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Marco asked so suddenly.

“I said that I’ll join red mermaid!!”.

Layla smiled at him as a way of comforting him whereas Marco thought it was a joke to lighten his mood. A slight smile of self mockery showed up on his face as it made Layla ticked off by it.

“I’m not joking! plus it’ll be a good addition to the team’s strength! with me you can count a new advanced A class in the guild!!”.

She was dead serious about the decision. As the conversation proceeded to go down the dark side, the other three kept silent because of not knowing what to say at that point of the matter.

“You know that I won’t accept you getting into red mermaid?”.

Marco said as he crushed the mood. His words had all of them flinching because of frustration.

“Huh?! Why though!? we can work together like we used to do at Shoko san’s place!! We can live what we once held dear together!!”.

Layla was getting a little nervous, trying to find little to no clues about this drastic 180 degree swap of decisions for Marco’s side.

“What about your reputation? you could get more hatred than the rest of us because of this blatant decision?”.

Marco was worried about Layla’s situation, he saw her smile fade away because of what He said. That last reply had her in shambles.

She smiled again but a sad one as she resolved some of her thoughts about it.

“Always seek the sunny side of the story y’know. As long as I am with you!! I don’t care what other people say!! Plus I can be a real help!! So why not accept me!! I can also be partners with you and Carla chan!!”.

Layla was forcing her way inside as Marco didn’t like that. What he had in mind wasn’t out of protecting her only, but also about the dark side he has on him, his family’s history wasn’t something that she needed to know about.

One way or another, making Layla know about the curse and the projects that the council has put inside many people would destroy everything she believed in up to now. In the end, he couldn’t help but to yell, as a measure of shunning her away from the thought.

“You’re not joining red mermaid and that’s the last word!! I said we would be together but it’ll be better if you keep working within the council!! You’re the angel of the council!! not a lousy holder that would destroy a store for no reason!!”.

Marco’s words seemed harsher than usual as Layla wasn’t expecting that, that smile faded away as a scoff of mockery was exhaled out of her, never expecting that would ever happen to her.

“Uhm, I think this is enough, both of you….”.

Maria was trying to put them at ease, but Layla reacted the same as Marco, dwelling with so much mixed emotions that holding her mouth wouldn’t just be the end of it.

“Are you now acting like my boyfriend for real!?! Don’t talk like that to me when I can force my way to the guild!!! I’m still stronger than you!!! And I’m able to talk with my father to get the order accepted that easily!!! I’m still the senior in this society for you!!!”.

She yelled at him as the street was filled with nothing but silence after that groan of anger.

Upon hearing her words, let alone seeing that dead serious and furious reaction, Marco didn’t even process what he said in return.

“Are you finally using that creepy royalty part of yours in all of this? asking things from your father? Isn’t it? This is what a spoiled princess would do when things don’t go her way? Cut the crap!! - Senior in this society - my ass!! It doesn’t matter who entered this place first. You can’t join red mermaid and that’s the end of the conversation!!”.

He reacted the same, eventually.

“Hein!?! Make me then!! I’ll join the guild whether you like it or not!! You’re not my father!!” She responded.

“I’m your goddamn boyfriend!!” He interjected “Red mermaid isn’t for royalty”.

“Then what’s it for!?!”.

She interrupted him too as the other three couldn’t really say a thing at this point. Something that had Layla pondering for a while was Marco’s eyes which were filled with emotions a second ago, those eyes turned completely lifeless as he stopped screaming at her after that last response.

“It’s for the goddamn orphans that ended up living a shitty life filled with cruel events, just because the council couldn’t take care of them properly. You don’t understand, You’re the public face of the council. It’s for your own sake! You can’t hang around someone, who’s considered the lowest scum of scum.”

Marco sighed then looked aside as he stopped talking, he saw Yuna standing next to him completely silent too. Layla understood perfectly well that Marco was talking about her own sake and safety, however not their happiness together. At the end of that furious reaction, it turned to some tears with a sudden try of releasing her serment.

Marco looked at her then didn’t say a thing for a moment, he found no strength to resist at this point as he exhaled a deep breath, looking onto the ground at the shadows beneath them.

“You’re trying to release your serment aren’t you? The uniform of yours is just a fancy item that would give you more strength so you can beat me down, as if that would work with me at this point”.

Marco looked at her with a blank reaction. That Blank reaction was his last act, whereas in that moment, for the first time Layla saw the glowing of Marco’s eyes within the darkness. She shivered before crying tears of frustration on her own, seeing him standing on his own as the other three had taken her side.

Marco inhaled some air to erase the haziness he’s been feeling by now then proceeded to pat her head, but Layla just slapped his hand off her head with a mocking laugh at her own state.

“I was right to let you out of the sight during these four years. You returned to becoming the same empty shell you were back then, nothing other than void within you. I wish I just passed my time back then at the library without meeting you. And that’s right I am a royalty, I don’t think a mere orphan would understand the needs of a princess”.

Layla’s last words were harsh too as she couldn’t believe that she saw these words with a plastered smile on her face. She passed past him, going on her way as Marco didn’t flinch or turn around either.

Both stood a solid stand on their words, Marco sighed after that and took a seat on the ground for a moment, feeling the life weeping out of his chest as his heart beat loudly, not understanding that it was an anxiety attack just now.

“You really had to tell her that she’s not allowed in the guild?” Maria kneeled to speak with him.

“I won’t explain myself even to you or to Rachel or even to him so just leave me be and go after her. If anything happens I’ll be up to protect you so just go”.

Marco responded as he calmly closed his eyes and exhaled his breaths after watching them go. Yuna stayed silent for a moment there as Marco didn’t see that she was conflicted about trying to pat his head, although knowing that her hand would just pass through him.

“You know, the hardest thing to pass is when you lose someone dear to you at the critical moment you wanted to protect them, so doing this prevents all that. I know I said that you should not let her in so you can protect her from afar but is it right to call her a filthy royalty? or is it even right to not let her choose what side she wants to stand on?”.

Yuna said as Marco stood. He looked behind at the way where Layla went then calmly turned back to head to the mansion.

“You know it’s not like I don’t want her to join, just having her around would lighten my world more. With Sophie, Carla, Arthur, Hana and the rest too, it would be way too perfect but it would cost her the innocence she is. There’s a reason she’s called the angel. She gives them hope” Marco opened the door as he finished his words.

As he entered, Marco was met with Carla sitting on the couch with her mother and sister. They all saw Marco heading right to his room without a word about what had happened.

Carla felt something was off but didn’t ask as she just went to her room too, however Vanica stepped in.

“Is everything ok?”.

Vanica asked as she was checking that Arthur was asleep, Marco looked at her as he was entering his bed, he didn’t expect her to suddenly read him like that.

“Nothing’s wrong, just tired I guess, I’ll be away for a while in the palace since there’s no game tomorrow”.

Marco responded as he went to sleep straight after that.

Seeing that Marco was feeling off for the first time. Even inside the palace he was just sitting there while checking what he got from the mask. One way or another, even Selicia was able to sneak behind him and suck on his neck. She stopped as she saw him off, not acting his usual at all, just like what happened with Carla’s case at that time.

“You know, women aren’t exactly simple creatures!!” Selicia said out of the blue.

“What are you talking about now?” Marco was internally confused.

“She’s saying that you should apologize”. Cedric said as he patted Marco’s shoulder.

“She’s still said some hurtful words, I don’t really like putting her on the bad side but this is I guess the first quarrel we had. In a way, she knows that I’m trying to protect but she’s blinded by the idea that she might be stronger than me to the point where her words would hold more value than me” Marco responded so suddenly too.

“So you are bothered by this situation!”.

Yuna laughed it out before blowing him to the other side with a strong kick as she approached him, his words somewhat angered her a little.

Marco sighed, being upside down on the wall. He got out and cleaned the dust off of him.

“Yeah I am!! Why’s she acting all this bossy all of sudden!! That’s what I can’t understand?! it’s not like I’m trying to push her away, entirely . She can pass time whenever she wants with the others but as friends and not guild mates. I can’t afford her knowing about my curse and start worrying more. That’s why I was avoiding the training here and she got emotional just after seeing that my heart stopped by getting here”.

Marco went down on the ground, sitting back with them.

“We are with you in getting Layla chan out of the game but it’s not fair for her too y’know!” Selicia said as she smiled at him.

Marco looked at her, he scoffed for a second, leaning back so he’d get some rest. Pondering some thought about what this conversation amounted to had him speaking bluntly despite the consequences of it.

“You know, The only valuable answer that I can guarantee, that it would help me, is Cedric nii’s words”. Marco said, suddenly stunning them with truth somehow, “Selicia neechan you poisoned your own father, not to mention you used your husband just for experimenting on some witchcrafts. Yuna nee, well, you’re a failure as a wife to begin with. no in a first sight have you ever treated my great grandmother in a good way, Cedric nii?”.

Marco was saying what he had in mind out loud which made them mad but at the same time didn’t hit him because he was in the right. Eventually it didn’t stop the conversation from going to the right track.

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