The Flower of Separation

But knowing her father, he is not the type of man who would do this for a sweet sibling reunion. Indeed she watched as a pained expression appeared on Jorah's face. "Brother, you're alive?"

Ah, now she is starting to get a clear picture. She knew there must have been a backstory to why the uncle became the head of the Bonavento family and not the son. They must have used the Ageha family's power; her father must have helped the uncle out. It would make sense for her father to help since it would mean replacing the powerful head with a weak one.

The phoenix family controls the southern ports, which is a good place to do illegal trading and business. The head before Richardo was a man her father did not like. Even though she was young when that guy died, Lillian recalled the days her father's plans would not work out.

He would throw a tantrum and lash out at anybody who came near him. So Richardo must have sold his brother out just so he could become the head. Then what happened to all of the children? Other than Orion, as far as she recalled, there should be a daughter and another son.

Suppose Jorah was the daughter, the other son. She tapped her fingers against the wall as she recalled the features of her new guard. Do they look alike? It is a bit difficult to say. She would need them to stand next to each other to be able to tell.

"I think you are mistaken. My sister passed away several years ago."

"Are you..saying you aren't my brother?"

"Correct."

..

The moment Jorah left, she watched Orion sink to the ground. "Should I praise you for your lying abilities or for letting me discover an interesting secret?"

Orion sighed. "You didn't know?"

"I did think there was something unusual about her. My father normally wouldn't invite a commoner to the hunt, so I figured there must be something strange about her family circumstances. But who would have thought?"

"Your father invites her because he knows her real identity, damn that man. Even though it was because of him…."

Lillian could not miss the hostility in his voice.

"Apologies, I do not mean to insult-"

She shook her head. "You can insult him as you please; after all, he is trash."

"It seems you have your fair share of problems." Orion's gaze fell on where Jorah disappeared into the crowd. "It is good to see her doing well. But I was not aware that she married the Empress niece."

"Does that bother you?"

"If possible, I would like it if she has nothing to do with the imperial family or any noble." Orion trailed off. "After that terrible incident, I wanted her to live like a normal girl. I left her at the hands of a young commoner couple at the inn we fled too."

"Your father turned crazy and started to kill people-were those rumors true?"

Orion nodded. "It happened one night seven years ago; he suddenly started to act oddly. It happened during a meeting. I noticed his odd behavior, so I sent everybody away. When the last person left, he laughed like a maniac and started to slaughter the servants one by one. Mother heard that he was behaving oddly and came by with some soup she made for him. She stumbled on the scene of him trying to kill me and naturally tried to stop things."

Lilian could imagine what happened next. "How did Jorah and you escape?"

"We had another brother; he said he would keep father occupied."

"Did he survive too?"

Orion paused. "I do not know. Jorah and I managed to escape; we found a nice place to stay. It was quite far from the main city. After staying there for a good half-year, I heard rumors about what was happening at home. It seemed like Uncle's family took over everything. Based on the timing, I found it very odd, so I decided I would head back."

"You left Jorah with that family?"

"I saw how attached she became with those people. They, too, seemed to treat her like their own daughter. When I considered the possibility of what was happening back home I decided it would be best if I sort things out first then I would come back for her.

But when I returned, I realized how bad the situation was. It took some time for me to deliver a letter since they monitored me closely. I managed to see Jorah one last time, and hen told them to take her with them and never come back."

So it was something like that. If Jorah has the Bonaveto family, then it makes sense. This family has many people with high-level magic. The girl's father was a talented magician; it seems Jorah inherited that.

"Jorah runs a shop in the imperial. As for the family you mentioned, I do not see any signs of them, nor has she mentioned them."

Orion's gaze dimmed. "Somebody must have found out, and then--"

"Do not jump to conclusions. My father is a ruthless man, but he is a smart one; he carefully chooses his prey. He will not randomly hurt innocent civilians. If you give me a description of these people, I can find out what happened in just a day."

Lillian noticed Orion's gaze on her, and she blinked. "Is there a problem?"

"Perhaps I have misunderstood you. I was under the impression that you were an evil woman."

"That is not wrong; the rumors you hear about me are real."

"Like how you torture even children?"

Lillian nodded. "Correct."

"And yet," Orion extended his hand out and grabbed her arm. "I do not see you as a bad person. You may have committed evil deeds, but you still have a compassionate heart."

For the first time in so long, she felt strange. Huh? What is this guy talking about? A compassionate heart?

Orion chuckled. "It seems you do not recognize it, but the fact that you listened to my story when nobody else did is more than enough."

So is he calling her kind just because she listened to his story? But anybody can do that. Besides, she only listened so she could get some more information out of him.

After all, she has plans regarding Jorah. At first, she wanted to confirm a few more things, but she will not hold back now that she knew the truth.

"Lilian, Orion!"

Lillian looked up at the source of the voice only to find Ramon rushing over. She blinked, surprised at his presence. "I thought you-"

"Well, somebody has to represent the blank family." Ramon trailed off and bent down. "After what sir Lucas did to Seira, father and brother are keeping her home."

She rolled her eyes at those words. It was only a little slap; why are they making such a big deal?

"More importantly, sir Orion and you haven't seen each other in a while-"

To her surprise, however, the ginger head man was walking off. "I have some people to greet. I can catch up with Ramon another day."

Ramon nodded. "Right, we can do that."

Lillian looked back at the two of them with an odd gaze but simply sighed. Well, she supposes she shouldn't understand them. After all, they are merely pawns on a chessboard for her.