Chapter 2 – The Secret
"Hey, isn't that Kael?"
One of six children pointed toward the lone tree standing on top of the grassy embankment that ringed the lake.
"Yeah, that's Kael! Come on, let's see what he's doing," another boy shouted, already sprinting up the hill toward the tree.
"Hey, don't go near him," warned a taller boy, maybe three years older than Kael. "Just let him be. He never wants to play with us."
"Hey, Kael! Don't you wanna play with us?" The running boy had reached him, calling out without a care for his friend's warning.
"No. I've played enough with my dad," Kael replied flatly.
"Why not?" the boy asked again.
Kael didn't answer. He closed the book resting on his lap and looked at the boy with a calm, unreadable smile before reaching for a thin fishing rod lying beside him.
"Oh! You're fishing? Have you caught anything yet?" the boy asked curiously, watching him lift the rod.
"No."
"Then come play with them instead." The boy pointed toward the five others still running and laughing in the distance.
Kael didn't respond. He simply began packing up his line with deliberate movements.
"Hey… I've been wondering," the boy said, unwilling to give up. "Why don't you go to school?"
"Do I have to?" Kael replied without turning.
The boy brightened, sensing Kael wasn't shutting him out completely this time.
"Well, yeah! Kids our age are supposed to be in school already. How come you're not? Are you lazy?"
He grinned mischievously. "Teacher Reynold says if a kid's too lazy to study or play, their life's gonna be super hard later. I don't really get it, but it sounds scary, right?"
He went on chattering—jumping from topic to topic, like only talkative children could.
Kael stayed silent, methodically winding the line back onto the reel.
Finally, he interrupted.
"Can you tell me more about that rule?"
"Huh? Which one?" the boy blinked.
"The one about school."
"Oh… you mean when kids are supposed to start? Around four years old?"
"No."
"Then what? What we're taught there?"
"Yes."
The boy tapped his lip thoughtfully, eyes squinting. "Hmm… let me think. At first, they teach counting and stories about Arka, and then they show us how Arkanum works. Are you… interested?"
He grinned, proud of his knowledge. "But now it's getting hard—too many theories. We have to analyze batik patterns using math! It's crazy. Math alone's bad enough, but math and art? Ugh!"
He ran a hand through his messy brown hair and sighed dramatically before adding, "Still, it's not that bad for me, hehe." He tilted his chin up, boasting.
Kael didn't respond. He only studied the boy quietly, his mind drifting.
[ "Maybe I should try going to school. There might be something to learn besides the books Mom gave me." ]
"Kael… Kael… Kael!" The boy's voice rose, assuming Kael hadn't heard him.
Kael blinked, coming back from his brief reverie. The boy was staring at him expectantly.
"So? Are you interested?"
"I don't know." Kael stood, clutching his book in one hand and his fishing rod in the other, then started walking away.
The boy—Ruby—watched him go for a moment, then decided to follow.
He talked endlessly as he trailed behind, repeating things his teacher had said at school. Kael gave no answer, his small steps steady toward home.
"Ruby! Where are you going?" one of the five children called out.
"I'm persuading someone!" Ruby yelled back with a grin, glancing sideways at Kael, who didn't even turn his head.
Ruby's brown hair gleamed under the sun, his sharp yet honest eyes full of stubborn determination—the kind that came from spending too many hours beneath the open sky.
When they reached Kael's house, a woman was outside shaking freshly washed clothes dry.
"Oh… isn't this Ruby, Mrs. Lina's son?" Selaphine greeted with a warm smile.
"Yes, ma'am," Ruby replied politely.
"Were you just playing with our Kael?"
Ruby hesitated. He wasn't sure if what had just happened counted as playing.
"No, Mom," Kael interjected before he could speak, walking straight inside. "I don't know why he keeps following me."
Selaphine chuckled softly at her son's bluntness. She approached Ruby, took his hand gently, and led him inside.
"Have you eaten lunch, Ruby?"
Ruby just laughed awkwardly. Selaphine understood immediately and guided him to the table.
"Then sit. Eat something before you go. Don't be shy—your mom often gives me ingredients when we meet at the market," she said, placing a plate in front of him.
As they ate, Selaphine talked kindly about Ruby's mother, Lina—praising her warmth and generosity. Ruby listened, pride blooming in his chest. Kael, seated quietly beside him, didn't say a word, only listened while finishing his meal.
When lunch ended, Ruby stood to leave. Selaphine walked him to the front of the house and smiled.
"Ruby," she said gently, "try to convince Kael to go to school, will you? And keep inviting him to play."
Ruby puffed his chest, grinning wide. "Yes, ma'am!" he said cheerfully before running off down the road, laughing under the afternoon sun.
---
The house grew quiet again. Kael hadn't seen his father all day.
"Mom… where's Dad? I haven't seen him since morning," he asked as Selaphine rested in the living room.
"Didn't he tell you last night?"
"No."
"He got a job in the capital city of Lumora."
"Lumora?"
"Yes. Down south of the Republic. Haven't you ever looked at the Republic's map in one of our books?"
"No."
"Oh no…" she said in mock shock. "Where's my little Kael who used to love books so much?"
"Why didn't Dad tell me? Or… take me with him?" Kael's voice trembled slightly.
"That wouldn't be possible, Kael. If you went with him, would you be able to help with his work?"
"Yes! I could! I'm smart, and I'm strong too!" Kael said, half-pleading, half-declaring.
Selaphine laughed softly. "Then listen. Your father left one message for you—if you want to follow him…"
Kael's eyes lit up. "What is it?"
"You have to go to school first. The world isn't as simple as reading books or swinging a sword."
Kael frowned.
[ "Why does that sound so familiar?" ]
Selaphine only smiled, pulling him close to sit beside her. She began talking about lighter things to ease him away from the topic—but her mind wandered elsewhere, back to the memory of a few weeks before.
That afternoon, she had seen Arda outside, staring furiously at a small package in his hands. She hadn't dared to ask then, but the next morning, while he read a newspaper on the terrace, she couldn't hold her curiosity any longer.
"What happened yesterday, love?" she asked, taking the seat beside him.
"About what?" he replied without looking up from the paper.
"The package."
"Oh, that. Nothing important." He smiled faintly, folded the paper, and picked up his cup from the small table between them.
"Kael's at the lake. There's no one here but us. Tell me what you received," she pressed gently.
"What does it have to do with Kael?" Arda chuckled nervously, trying to deflect.
"Are you not going to be honest with me?"
"Honest about what?"
"I can already guess the outline. But if you don't trust me, then forget it—and stop calling me your wife."
"Hey, hey, hey… how does that even connect?" Arda laughed nervously, half in fear, half in play.
Selaphine only stared into his eyes, calm and sharp.
Arda sighed, defeated, setting his cup down. "Fine. Follow me."
He led her into the kitchen. Silently, she followed as he began moving certain objects, placing them with meticulous precision.
Finally, he picked up a cup—metallic, engraved with faint batik-like lines. It looked like stainless steel, but the weight told otherwise.
He placed his closed hand above it. The cup's patterns began to glow, and faint blue markings appeared on the back of his hand.
He opened his palm—thick red liquid poured from it, filling the cup like blood.
Selaphine didn't flinch. She simply watched.
[ "So this is what you've been hiding from me." ]
Then, the tool rack above the stove began to shift. The counter, the stove, even the stone beneath them—all moved with a smooth, mechanical rhythm.
A square opening emerged in the wall, revealing a narrow staircase spiraling downward.
They descended into a hidden room lined with shelves of old books and strange artifacts unlike anything from the Republic of Karvanta.
"This is the package I received," Arda said, handing her a small rectangular device from a pile of unfamiliar tools.
Selaphine blinked. "Isn't that just… a phone?"
"Try turning it on."
"It doesn't work."
"Inject a bit of Arkanum into the power button."
As she did, a symbol flickered on the screen—ancient, glowing. Selaphine gasped. "This symbol…?"
"Yes," Arda replied. "It only activates with a precise Arkanum injection—far beyond normal control. It displays nothing but that sigil, and no other function works. I've tested everything. Do you understand what that means?"
Selaphine nodded slowly. "Yes… but what are you going to do about it?" Her voice trembled—fear and confusion entwined.
Arda didn't answer. He took the phone back, placed it carefully among the other relics, and turned away.
"I don't know. Not yet."
He walked out, Selaphine following silently, her mind tangled with unease.
[ "This isn't just technology… it's something else entirely." ]
As they climbed the stairs, Arda waved his hand behind him.
The furniture slid smoothly back into place—the racks, the stove, the counter—until the kitchen looked utterly ordinary again, as if nothing had ever moved, as if the secret below didn't exist.
—To be continued—