Helanie:
I was so nervous. I sat anxiously in their shared office after placing the pregnancy test on the table.
"I’m so excited," Maximus said, but after getting a harsh look from Kaye and Emt, he settled down.
"As long as she’s okay with it, we’ll be happy. If she’s not, then rember, it’s her body, not ours," Emt said firmly, staring into Maximus’s eyes.
I had overheard them once before, while I was in the bathroom. Norman, Emt, and Kaye were actually scolding Maximus for being too excited. They said it might pressure into feeling like I had to be happy just for their sake, especially Maximus’s.
"But fine. You know what? I’ll tell you why I’m so happy. Because there’s good news, or maybe not," Maximus said, placing his hands on his waist.
"Rember I had been researching Emt." As soon as Maximus said that, I looked at Emt, who frowned and narrowed his eyes.
"I didn’t know you were so impressed with ," he said.
"Actually, yeah. You’re my brother, the jerk who always helped but stayed in the shadows, making it seem like you didn’t care." It was nice to see the brothers being more open with each other than before.
"What did you find out?" I asked Maximus. Since he said it was good news, I wanted to know quickly.
"Rember I said I was collecting footage from the bars where Emt was found?" Maximus started pulling out his phone.
"Wait, what are you talking about? You were researching ? Investigating ?" Emt asked, still confused.
Norman gestured for him to stand back.
"It’s for your own good. We thought maybe you were innocent, that maybe your curse didn’t cause everything," ss Norman said, I saw Emt look even more lost. He ran his hands through his hair, clearly confused.
"What is this?" I asked Maximus as he turned the footage toward .
And then we saw it. Two warriors were dragging an unconscious Emt into the bar. They placed him in the exact seat where he was later found and poured alcohol around him. They even forced him to drink a few sips before leaving, making it look like he had been drinking the whole ti.
And not just that, they left Azura’s pictures around him, along with her bracelet and everything. I felt like my whole world had collapsed.
"Wait! I didn’t do that?" Emt said, pointing at the footage.
"Well, there’s more. This was from the night you were supposed to marry Helanie. I don’t know how they found you, but this is why you didn’t make it to the wedding," Kaye said.
Emt started to tear up.
"So I didn’t miss the wedding? Fuck it," he groaned, stepping away.
I felt horrible. He had been punished for sothing he never did. Soone had been manipulating him all along. And all he got from were angry stares. None of us stepped up to defend him.
"And that’s not all. Rember the night you supposedly pushed Helanie into the well?" Maximus said. At that, we all stared at him even more intensely.
Emt sighed, placing his hands on his waist, his neck stretched upward and eyes closed.
"Please tell I didn’t do that," he almost pleaded.
"You didn’t," Maximus said, making Emt snap his head toward him. He held up more footage.
It was the sa two guards, again dragging Emt.
"You didn’t just push her and go off to drink," Maximus explained, shocking all of us again.
"But then why did I write those things?" Emt asked. I could tell this was the first ti he was relying on soone else’s information. Usually, he was the one who did the research, acted like the professor, gave lectures, but I guess this topic was too sensitive.
I slowly looked down, feeling embarrassed. Even though he was still processing everything and had just found out he was innocent, he gently pulled closer, wrapped his arm around , and rested my head on his chest. I instantly hugged him, hiding my face in his coat.
"Tell ," he insisted, but his voice was much softer now.
"Because you heard the Zharns whispering in your ears." As soon as Maximus explained that, I lifted my head slightly and looked into Emt’s eyes. He quickly glanced down, then looked back at . He lowered his face and kissed my forehead before turning his attention back to his brothers.
"Zharns? How do you know that?" he asked.
"Look at this," Maximus said.
I turned and watched the footage. Emt was walking out of the woods, stepping from behind the trees toward the academy. We could see several Zharns surrounding him in a circle, and he looked like he was sleepwalking.
Emt stared at it for a few seconds. At the sa ti, I let go of the hug. I watched the clip too, feeling like we had all let Emt down. He was always there for us. Whenever sothing happened, we knew Emt would show up and help, even before we asked. But when he was in trouble, we didn’t even notice. We just let it happen. Even though he told us so many tis that he didn’t rember. Instead of realizing sothing might be wrong, since he was only supposed to forget temporarily, we didn’t help him.
"I’m so sorry, Emt," I said quickly. "I had no idea."
"I wish we hadn’t been going through so much and had focused on you," Maximus said, reminding us that things were so overwhelming, there was no way we could’ve thought through everything.
"It’s okay. I’m not blaming anyone, except the person who literally planned it all against ," Emt added, confirming it again and again. But I guess the guilt was so heavy on my chest, I couldn’t do anything but apologize again.
"Emt, I rember I hurt you so much when I accused you. But then Azura ca through and took your side. You must hate so much for it, don’t you?" I said, feeling so low right now.
And I was so glad that while we were doing nothing for Emt, Maximus went ahead and did his own research, the kind that actually turned out to be useful. As I watched Emt’s face, I noticed he pouted just a little and nodded.
"Well, that’s true. Azura did take my side."
The mont he said that, confirming what I had feared, my lips started to quiver.
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