"Just what are we to do here?"
Catherine asked as she sat on the dining table, beside her Austin sat with a brooding look on his face, since arriving here the two of them looked around the area, naturally the first thing they did was to move towards the door to exit out but no matter how much strength Austin used the door didn't move a bit.
It was similar to the windows, they were tightly closed and they are unable to see outside, no light entered inside yet the natural light stayed on in the room, Austin even used his full strength to hit the wall hoping to break it apart but it didn't even leave a mark behind, on seeing so the two began to move around the house, hoping to get some clue.
All they found out was the fact that the house was a model middle-family level, affordable, comfortable home, it had two floors, where the lower one had the living hall, the dining room, a common use room with an attached bathroom, and a small playing area for a baby, that looked moderately decorated along with a good kitchen that had all the necessary things, even ingredients to last for days.
On the top floor, there were two rooms, with one having an attached bathroom, there was a vast hall the staircase opened up to which could be seen as another living hall, plus it added with a washing and drying room, everything a happy family needed to survive and live with but no matter how much the two searched they couldn't find any value to their predicament.
All that was left was the dusty house that needed cleaning, worse was the fact that there was no sign of Marlene anywhere,
"Don't worry, if that so-called voice wanted to kill, he would have done so, there's definitely a plan behind this action of his"
Austin spoke as he lightly touched Catherine's shoulder, trying to comfort her, she nodded her head as she spoke back,
"True, from what I could gather from the trial we went through to what we just escaped, this person or voice definitely is someone that enjoys the despair in others....."
Her words were grave as she spoke, looking back, that divergence in the path, it was just a mockery to the trio, a path to just give some hope, in the end, no matter what path they had chosen, they would have ended up in the same predicament they were in,
"I just hope Marlene is okay"
"She will be"
Austin spoke in a strong tone, as he applied some pressure to Catherine's shoulder, his words activating the poison in her as Catherine believed the words he spoke, it's then that Austin stood up as he spoke,
"Then lets clean"
"Clean?"
Confused Catherine asked back to which Austin smiled,
"Indeed, the words that were spoken to us were survive, which would be implied that we would be stuck here for some time, why don't we make the most of it?"
Saying so Austin walked to the kitchen and returned back with several cleaning utensils in his hand that were already prepared in the kitchen,
"Why don't you rest"
Austin spoke as he reached close, for some odd reason, only the floors were duty, all the other things were well kept and preserved, and the furniture to all other appliances are clean and spotless, reminiscent of a house left alone for a few days, Catherine looked at the stuff in Austin's hand as she responded,
"You don't want me to help? or do you think I am some noble brat that doesn't know how to clean up?"
"Both"
Austin replied with a smug smile on his face which made a vein pop up in Catherine's head as she punched towards Austin who took it with gusto,
"Yup, that's the spot"
Austin said as he felt the powerless hit in his body, it was then that he moved from his place as Catherine's legs moved towards the area between Austin's legs,
"Hey! were you trying to end my balls!?"
Hearing Austin's crass words Catherine blushed a bit after which she placed her hands on her chest and she replied,
"Humph, that's what you get for being cocky"
"Looks like a princess is feeling angry, do you need me to bow?"
Austin asked with raised eyebrows to which Catherine replied, as she pointed at him,
"What are you going to do about it peasant?"
Catherine asked back in a haughty tone,
"Kay!"
But that didn't stay for long, as a small invisible hand of mana slapped her on her ass, causing her to jump up,
"You-You"
Her face turned red as she kept pointing at Austin, she took the knife from the table and she started to run toward Austin,
"You are dead!"
"Ah! help a crazy princess is trying to kill me!"
Austin cried out as he started to run around the house with a weakened Catherine chasing after him with a death glare,
"Come back here! I just want a single stab!"
Catherine pleaded,
"Definitely what a psycho killer would say, so no!"
Austin's reply was spot on as he kept running around, not too fast or not too slow as he kept Catherine on her toes, making her move around a lot but finally, after 5 minutes the weakened Catherine gave in as she leaned against the wall as she huffed and puffed,
"Huff...huff....you rascal"
"Call me?"
Austin asked as he suddenly appeared beside Catherine taking a seat but Catherine didn't do anything as she lay there leaning against the wall, a minute of silence between the two that seemed sweet yet bitter,
"It's been a long time since I played around like that"
Catherine suddenly as said as she looked particularly nowhere, her eyes seemed to be in a daze as she spoke,
"When I was young my father would have always played around with me like this, it was a fun time I spend with my mother, father, and my siblings..."
Austin didn't say anything as he kept listening to the words of the person beside him,
"But all that changed when I turned 10 years old and awakened my bloodline, which contained the highest amount of royal concentration, something which hadn't happened for a long time....."
Reaching till here Catherine's eyes turned a bit blurry but no tears came nor did she cry, all of such were shed a long time ago,
"This changed everything, my older siblings weren't even given a chance before which I became the next successor, I thought that this would be a good thing but how naive I was...."
A burning feeling of loss taking in those beautiful eyes,
"My mother was my father's 4th wife and was loved more than anyone, and here I was blessed more than anyone, jealousy is something very dangerous and I learned that the hard way...."
"My siblings no longer smiled at me and for some reason my father turned his back to me, not just me but my mother, leaving us to ourselves....."
"I was the crown princess but I has yet to grow, wasn't taking me out the best thing to do now? yet my mother had to pay the price for it, she ended up sick and yet that bastard didn't even visit!"
Rage burned in Catherine's eyes as she spoke of her father, the scars of the past opening up,
"From then on I learned to really use my powers and my status, all those that wished me or my mother harm now doesn't exist anymore, I can dare say that my authority could now even rival that bastard...."
Reaching here a certain gleam hit Catherine's eyes as she continued,
"It's been years since he even looked at my mother, and I have grown to accept to live with what I have, while my past was bad, I made my own future, that's what matters....."
