"You're right," Yuga's whispered, her gaze fixated upon the massive mansion standing tall before them. "There's no way this place can be used as a hideout,"
Misha, who at some point had also came out of the van to stand by Yuga's side was also stunned into silence.
"Maybe... General Rudrakshi hid here as a simple noble man," though it seemed like a statement, Veeyan's voice carried a sense of hesitation.
"Even for a noble man, this mansion is more of a call for attention than a place to hide from murderous assassins. It would have been more plausible if they claimed he had taken refuge with a noble clan instead,"
"Right!" Misha snapped her fingers, her face instantly brightening as if her mind that had been shrouded in fog was cleansed. "That actually makes a lot of sense than the general building this himself," Misha whole heartedly agreed with Naresh's version of truth. "But who could be powerful enough to shield the general from the emperor? Didn't the people of Vaeryan..... nobles and commoners alike treated the emperor like his a deity or something?"
"Nope. That's not Vaeryan but the Dheepo Kingdom," Yuga said, her focus successfully shifting from the opulent front of the mansion. "They believed their King's a reincarnation of some deity to guide and protect them,"
"But... that's not the question we should be asking right now. What we really be should be asking is how come the mansion of this scale was hidden out right from the public and even was dismissed as mere hideout for the general? It just doesn't make sense,"
Naresh listening to the side scoffed, "It's nothing surprising actually. History has always been written by those who succeed. It's not that hard to suppress if the right people were involved,"
Aadhira had let them all speculate, not bothering to clarify despite understanding the burning curiosity hiding within each of their heart.
Not because she doesn't have the patience - but because she has her own growing concerns that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.
"Excuse me," she called out, her every move screaming awkward hesitation.
And yet, she still has to force herself to have this conversation. If not her conscience will definitely torment her.
"Yes, Ms. Aadhira?" The passenger agent straightened up before passing the carry-on in his hand to the driver agent beside him. "Is there anything that I can help you with?"
"It's... I just wanted to ask about our accommodation," noting the light tremor in her voice, Aadhira tried to clear her throat - expelling the slight discomfort. "You see... I paid the deposit for a village house by the beach... I don't think that the meager deposit could cover our two weeks stay here at the General's mansion itself...,"
The passenger agent smiled, his whole person relaxing to the point even Aadhira could see it clearly. "You don't have to worry about this, Ms. Aadhira. Our Chief knows what she's doing,"
"As for the rest of the details... you can discuss them slowly with Agent Neela after she arrives. She's the person in-charge for this whole thing... and she knows much more than what we do, actually,"
"But...,"
"Aadhira," Haranya called out as she came to stand by her side. "Let's go inside first. We can deal with the rest later,"
Aadhira's gaze locked with Haranya's indifferent ones; a silent battle of wits ensuing between them.
A few minutes of tense silence later, Aadhira unable to withstand the glaring contest conceded first by averting her eyes downwards as she grumbled under her breath, "If you're so fond of spending your money, fine.... who am I to stop you, right?"
Even her dissatisfied comments ceased the moment she noticed Haranya's sharp gaze and her perfectly arched left eyebrow raised in a quiet challenge.
She would never be able to win against this woman. Ever. So, like a proper coward... Aadhira kept her head down as she walked a few steps forward to stand by Misha's side - perfectly forming a horizontal line like kindergarteners waiting for their teacher.
"Alright," the passenger agent clapped his hands once, grabbing the attention of the group who were still enthusiastically discussing about the fallen general. All six of them turned at the same time, facing the agents who were still by the van's side, their luggage and backpacks neatly arranged by their feet. "Since, Agent Neela hasn't arrived... both of us will lead you all to your respective rooms first-,"
"Wait-" Veeyan took a step forward. "Respective rooms... as if in each of us get a single room to ourselves?"
"Is... that a problem?"
"Just... give me a minute," Veeyan's hand shot out, aiming to catch Aadhira's hand.
But of course, before he could do so - his cousin, who was still by Aadhira's side slapped his hand away.
"If you have something to say... just say it. What's the need for you to pull her away?"
Veeyan scowled but before he could say anything to argue Aadhira had already cut him off. "What do you wanted to say?"
"You see... I don't think it's a good idea to get separate rooms for each of us. After all, this is our first time here and there's so little information about this place out there. It's safer for us if we could share a room... easier to look out for each other," He even shot a disdainful glance towards Haranya before he quickly schooled back his expression when he addressed Aadhira. "At least, the girls can share a room together while the boys can stay in a separate but nearby one. Easy to reach each other if the situation calls for it,"
"If I may, dear guests...," the passenger agent called for their attention again, not bothering to wait for them to finish their discussion. "Our rooms are wide enough to fit a maximum of two person because we can only offer a queen-sized bed. Four people will definitely be too crammed. The mansion wasn't initially opened for the guests stay at all... so, we couldn't prepare much in a limited amount of time,"
Aadhira could only massage her throbbing temple, her expression twisting into one of frustration.
Next time, even if they pay her to be the leader in these type of trips - she's not going to agree!
Finally, Aadhira and the group settled with three rooms, each for two person.
She didn't even have the heart to take in the extravagance of her idol's living home by the end of this entire ordeal because of exhausted she felt at the end of this journey.
The group silently followed behind the agents, as they passed through corridors that lead them to the hidden left wing of the villa before taking a spiraling staircase.
All of them were awe-struck by the time they gathered between six guests rooms facing each other.
Although this wing of the mansion doesn't have the similar decor and aesthetics of the main house, the design itself was still well thought of.
The duo agents also didn't stay after pointing out the rooms, not wanting to meddle with the guests any longer.
Aadhira understood the duos agent deeply. She wasn't so well equipped with dealing with so many people either. So, she politely saw them off before letting Misha, Yuga and Haranya choose their partners instead of making a fuss.
In the end, Yuga - citing that she's only familiar with Misha among the group chose to room together while Haranya ended up rooming with Aadhira at the further end of the corridor.
Aadhira, with her sleep-addled brain didn't say another word before quickly stepping into the assigned room with Haranya.
It wasn't until hours later when the sun had almost sunk did Aadhira had groggily woke up; her mind still fuzzy with fragments of memories and dreams alike.
"Awake?"
Aadhira turned to face her right where she heard the voice call out, her gaze inevitably falling on Haranya.
The young woman's hands deftly folded the clothes from her luggage, arranging them neatly inside the cupboard made of wood. It's glossy appearance a sharp contrast to the rest of the roo's ancient decor excluding the wooden vanity and desk.
Rubbing her weary eyes, Aadhira nodded her head though it wasn't clear if Haranya who had her head down noticed her small movements or not. "What time is it?"
"6:30," Haranya said, as she closed back the now empty luggage and placed it in the bottom compartment of the cupboard. "The Neela person you're looking for had come... but since you were sleeping so soundly, she said she'd just meet you during dinner,"
Aadhira covered her mouth, muffling the yawn that had come uninvited. "Okay,"
In one swift motion, Aadhira rolled of the bed and stretched lazily. Without another word, she walked off towards the bathroom with a change of clothes in hand.
***************************************************************************************
"Ms. Aadhira," Agent Neela offered her hand, the wrinkles by her eyes crinkling along as she her lips corners lifted into a friendly smile.
After exchanging a few pleasantries and the introductions, Neela ushered them all to the back courtyard of the villa where a long wooden table laden with all kinds of seafood and meat dishes were arranged. The enticing aroma of the meal overwhelming their senses to the point where they could even ignore the scent of sea salt clinging to their noses.
They happily began to dig in into the meals after being seated; the day's exhaustion and anxiousness completely vanishing along with the cool breeze of the night.
"I deeply apologize for the mishap earlier, Ms. Aadhira. It wasn't our intention to have let you suffer under that heat... but alas, circumstances had forced us," Neela's voice carried deep remorse, her regrets was clear as day. "But you need not worry though. I'll make sure that the rest of your stay is a pleasant one and that you'd be able to get what you're looking for,"
"If you don't mind me asking, Ms. Neela... may I know what exactly had happened? We tried asking about it but everyone here kept a tight lid on it and refused to say anything," Misha, while carefully peeling off the shrimp's shell asked - the flicker of curiosity in her gaze couldn't be diminished at all. "Is it something that cannot be shared or-,"
"No, Ms. Misha... you've misunderstood," Neela shook her head. "The people you asked, including the two agents before are local contractors we found temporarily among the local villagers... and usually such contractor are barred from any internal information of the agency. Their unaware of half of the issues that's happening in the agency... so naturally, they won't be able to provide you with answers either,"
"The truth is.... a few village houses that we had contracted for tourism and such had suddenly caught fire. The village house we initially prepared for your group's arrival - including several of our contractors home were severely damaged and as the person-in-charge of this area... I had to personally deal with the aftermaths of this matter. Thankfully, no lives were lost although most of our contractors needed to take leave to handle their own accommodation problems,"
"If it wasn't for the village chief, offering us the general's mansion to use as a temporary solution for you all to stay... I really have no idea how I could have overcome this mess,"
"The village chief?"
Neela nodded. "A kind-hearted old woman and a descendant of the fallen empire. She said her great-great grandpa was one of the few people who was helped by General Rudrakshi after he came here. She claimed that it was General Rudrakshi who passed the deeds and key of the mansion to her great-great grandpa personally to be taken care of until his return. Since he never came back to reclaim the house... the deeds were just passed down through the generations and now, it's hers,"
The explanation was so long winded that Neela had to pause in the middle to grab her glass of wine and took a delicate sip to soothe her burning throat. Only after releasing a satisfied hum and placing the glass back on the table did Neela raised her head again to notice the various level of curiosity in each person's eyes.
But surprisingly, the person with least amount of curiosity is none other than Aadhira herself.
"You don't seems so surprised by this news at all, Ms. Aadhira?" Neela asked as she took another sip of her wine at a leisurely phase. "Perhaps you already investigated everything there is to know about this place, already?"
Aadhira waved her hand, "How could that be? I came here specifically to experience and see through the place General Rudrakshi had stayed during his last glory days to improve my script. If I knew everything already... there's no reason for me to come here specifically to spend my sponsor's money, no?" Aadhira tossed a playful wink at Haranya who was calmly de-shelling a crab's leg, her flushed cheeks and beaming smile particularly radiant under the fairy lights glow.
"So, Ms. Neela.... since we'll be imposing on you for at least two week, mind telling us about all the fun activities of this place? If I didn't have my quality outing time, I might just die out of boredom unlike these few people from the fossil era,"
Naresh, sitting to Veeyan's left shoved his shoulder harshly though there wasn't any real force behind his action. "Who the hell are you calling fossil?! I'm just two years older than you, okay?"
"But didn't you complain about your back aches and cramping legs back in our room, bro? I'm just looking out for you... lest you strained your old, aching body more... I'm just concerned as a sincere, younger brother of yours,"
The four of them teased and laugh, sometimes also roping in the aloof Haranya, quiet Aadhira and even unfamiliar Neela into their machinations. The lively atmosphere brought warmth into each of their hearts; bringing them closer to each other as they celebrated their first night at Myrvelk Island - a place far from Vaeryan Empire yet had remained the heart of its core history.