Chapter 550 - Five Hundred And Fifty: Reformat Akim
The third point of view:
They drove off to the palace, each in their respective cars; Niklaus sat with his wife; the triple threat all together; Anabelle and her boyfriend; Isabella and Pedro.
Unlike everyone else who was deep in conversation, Pedro and Isabella were busy with their mouths and it took their driver everything not to crash into the next car. Children nowadays, he shook his head sadly.
The palace was lavishly decorated and the spirit was high, supposedly because of the upcoming wedding and the new wave of guests from all over the country, it was almost as if Christmas came early.
"Welcome to my humble abode," Judy was the first to gladly receive them as soon as they arrived at the palace.
"Hi man," Niklaus chuckled, patting Judy on the back as they hugged each other. It was funny how they had gone from master and subordinate to best friends and in-laws. Who would have thought they would come this far? Certainly not Adam who had looked down at their humble beginnings. They were survivors who have seen hell and returned, scarred, yet, still positive for the future.
While both men exchanged pleasantries, Akim appeared to his cousins who were excited to see him.
"How has my favorite cousin been?"Isabella, who normally showed little emotions, hoisted the boy up and carried him in her arms.
Akim went red in the face, he was a prince that acted demurely neither did he see that one coming. Isabella was ... caring but she was a little frigid and he was used to it. This sudden lovingness was foreign to him. Thankfully, Isabella put him down just as the twins rushed to him.
"Akim, you look good," Ailee looked at him all over. He was healthy, unlike the last time they saw him.
"You don't look bad either," Akim replied, and the twins sensed a hint of Lincolnshire accent in his tone. Seems he had settled in quite well.
Suddenly, Akim's eyes rested on Neon, and his brows raised in curiosity. He had heard and seen Neon in pictures and video calls but they hadn't met face to face until now.
Of course, Ailee, the more social one, placed her hands on Neon's shoulder and pushed him forward, "And this is our latest brother, Neon. Neon, this is Akim, our cousin,"
"Nice to meet you, Neon," Akim stretched out his hand for a handshake.
Neon eyed that gesture, he never expected that Akim would accept him that easily.
"Neon," He accepted his handshake, grinning sheepishly. He has made a new friend, a royal one.
"I'll have the maids help you all settle down in your respective rooms and you will be served refreshments. My mother would accept visits afterward," Judy announced, just as the servants walked in with their pieces of luggage to put them in their assigned rooms.
"Oh no, we barely met and we're separating again?" Anabelle pouted her lips, displeased at the thought of leaving Julie. She had missed him.
Julie chuckled, caressing the top of her palm, "Pedro told me I'm sharing a room with him which is just rooms away from yours so I'm not really going away," he assured her.
Anabelle sighed, "I'm sharing a room with Isabella as well,"
"Or," Isabella chimed in, "We can make this easy on ourselves by sending you..." she pointed at Julie, " to her room while I share Pedro's. Problem solved, right?" She came up with the best solution.
"Good plan," Julie taunted her, "Only that you forgot that royalties are supposed to act decent, so yeah, your plans of a semi-honeymoon are as good as dead," He was glad to dash her hopes into nothing.
But Isabella was not disappointed, "I'll always find a way out," She smirked at him and followed after one of the maids to her room.
Something changed about Akim, the twins could sense it. He wasn't as playful as before although Akim has always been the responsible one among them - he was an old soul - but right now, he seemed regal. He carried himself with rare grace and aura that commanded respect. Even right now as they spoke, his attitude was not the same anymore. It was almost as if the boy had grown up.
"We are going to have so much fun today," Allen told him excitedly.
However, his response from Akim was, "I'm sorry, Allen, but the purpose of you guys coming over is not just to play around but to join in celebrating the holy matrimony of my parents,"
Ailee laughed at Akim, "Silly, it's no longer a 'holy' matrimony since your parents have eaten the forbidden fruit,"
"What's forbidden fruit?" Akim and Neon asked at the same time in confusion.
Allen and Ailee stared at each other in confusion. Their cousin was ignorant of that as well? It made sense that Neon knew nothing since he had been sheltered from the "bad" things of the world since he was a baby, but Akim? That one was shocking.
The twins were born into such an awful society - it wasn't exactly possible to retain their innocence in a gang full of violence and sex. Yes, their mother Reina had sheltered them the best she could but they had inevitably picked on some bad characters from gang members such as swearing. Now both began to wonder how they were going to explain this one to these babies - Akim and Neon - without tainting them.
"Well…" Ailee looked to her brother for help, but the boy turned his face the other way, whistling. That's on her.
That asshole. Fine, she can do this!
"Just think of children, that is us, as fruits our parents picked from a tree,"
Allen snickered.
Ailee glared at him, what other choice does she have?
"You're saying I'm a fruit?" Neon was aghast.
Allen facepalmed.
"I said, think of yourself as one," Ailee clarified the misunderstanding, " Our parents need to pluck the fruit at the right time and in the right procedure. But then, your parents were in so much hurry and picked you,"
Although Akim had a feeling that wasn't exactly the meaning, he went along with it.
"So taking the fruit in a hurry, your parents tainted the holy part. Hence, it's just matrimony, not a holy one," Ailee concluded without giving too much information. Phew! That was a narrow escape.
"Ooh," Akim nodded his head in understanding although it was a bit confusing. Well, what could a seven-year-old know already?
Seeing this, Allen and Ailee exchanged looks, smirking at each other. It seems that their cousin was still susceptible to information, which seems this rigorous part of Akim could be reformatted. Before they leave, they will surely have back the Akim they once knew.
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