The Royal Mark-Chapter 390: Mermaids and Pearls
It was already dinner time when Marina arrived at Elsa’s house and went straight to the kitchen.
"My God! What is the heavenly smell?" Marina praised as she walked inside.
"You’re late! You said you would help me unpack. Where have you been?" Elsa questioned while stirring the beef stew that she was cooking.
"I know, sorry love. It took longer than expected. The buyer of the house that I was selling was so picky and detailed. My lawyer and his lawyer are having a hard time because of him but thank goodness everything is done and we sealed the deal."
"Congratulations! So you’ll have more money to spend on my kids, yay!" Elsa jested making Marian laugh.
"Of course, I will shower them with gifts so when you get mad at them they will go to Auntie Marina instead of Grandpa," Marina quipped.
"Tell me, just what will you do with all your money when you grow old? I mean, I do understand that you don’t want to get married and I already gave up on setting you up with every guy I meet but don’t you want to have at least a child of your own?" Elsa asked.
"Why should I when I have your kids? It’s better that way so I could skip the hard part and just have fun with your children. I’ll make them my beneficiary don’t worry."
"Are you sure about that? How about your relatives? After I came back and you changed your looks, you never talked about your family anymore. You’ve also changed, a lot," Elsa pondered.
"Girl, I told you before that my father was not close to them and did I. So when he died when we got into an accident, I never really had any interest in getting in touch with them. My focus was on repairing my damaged face, because you know, your bestie should become beautiful again," Marina winked at Elsa before opening the fridge and getting two sodas.
"I still can’t believe I missed a lot in two years. I just hope that someday my memories will return... Ohh! Now I remember..." Elsa suddenly exclaimed startling Marina.
"What? What?!" Marina’s heart pounded. She wondered if Elsa did remember something in her past.
"Earlier something flashed in my mind. I asked my dad since I was sure that it was part of my memory but we got interrupted by the kids, so he was not able to answer me."
"What is it? What did you remember? Tell me!" Marina urged making Elsa chuckle
"Wow, you surely are excited to know. Well, I am not sure, but I think I killed someone."
Marina dropped her jaw and thought, ’Did she remember the war?’
Elsa continued, "Well, not intentionally but in the scene, I hit someone who was crossing the road. He was on the ground wounded and covered with blood."
"And?" Marina urged her to tell more.
"That’s it. That’s all that I can remember."
’Shoot! I think that’s Chris. I remember Elandir telling me a story that sounded just like that.’
"Hmm, none that I can remember. Maybe it was not you, or maybe it was a story from one of your patients and you got it mixed with your memory," Marina said.
"Yeah, maybe that’s it. Because if I was the one who hit him then I should have records or perhaps went to jail, but my records are clean. Maybe you’re right. Come on let’s eat. Help me set the table, I’ll call the kids."
When Elsa left the kitchen, Marina slumped on a chair with her hand on her chest.
’Gosh, that was intense. First the wolf, with the same name as Chris’ wolf, and now her memory of their first meeting. What the heck is going on?’
Marina let herself breathe in and out deeply several times before setting the table up.
While everyone was eating, the twins, Daisy and Rosey, looked at their Aunt Marina with wide eyes. Daisy spoke up first.
"Aunt Marina, do you believe in mermaids?"
Marina choked on her food, her eyes wide with surprise. Elsa quickly handed her a glass of water and turned to the twins.
"Why are you asking that, sweethearts?" Elsa inquired.
Daisy grinned. "On TV, they said mermaid tears become pearls, and Aunt Marina has lots of pearls."
The twins giggled, and Rosey asked, "Aunt Marina, are you a mermaid?"
Marina laughed, recovering from her surprise, but cold sweat appeared on her forehead. "No, I’m not a mermaid, silly. I just like pearls."
"Then why do you have so many?" Daisy insisted.
Marina leaned closer, her eyes twinkling. "Because I have friends who are mermaids, and they give me pearls whenever I help them."
The twins’ eyes grew even wider. "Really?" they whispered in awe.
Elsa chuckled and shook her head. "Alright, enough with the mermaid talk. Finish your dinner, and then you can ask Aunt Marina all the questions you want."
The twins giggled again and eagerly returned to their meals, while Marina and Elsa exchanged amused glances, both relieved and entertained by the children’s wild imaginations.
"So, your friends have come here too?" Rocco suddenly asked while eating his food causing Marina to choke once more.
"What do you mean, darling?" Elsa asked.
"Aunt Marina said the pearls are from her friends, but there are no mermaids here. So, they must have come from a faraway place," Rocco nonchalantly blurted.
"Honey, your aunt was just joking. Mermaids are not real. They only exist on TV," Elsa explained.
"Yes, they are real. Yakobo said so," Rocco replied.
Marina chuckled but she was really getting nervous. If these kids could see through her disguise then it is also possible for others to discover her.
Hera told her that in Novus, their tears would turn into pearls and it’s of high value. Her sadness had helped her become rich. When she arrived in Novus, Ambros let her stay in Elsa’s apartment in the city.
She was so sad and heartbroken that all she did all day and night was cry, letting her collect a lot of pearls with different colors. Ambros introduced her to a broker who handled the selling of her pearls which made her rich and the rest was history.
Marina made a mental note to see the puppy later when the kids went to sleep so she could really see if that pup could really talk to Rocco.
