May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 44: Henerick

After laying down the groundwork for the offenders, Aila went to her villa with peace of mind. To those who are unaware, they might only think that she only received a gift of sorts to be this happy. But Cindy, who was with her the whole time, has a complicated feeling as she accompanies her master to the residence.

“Cindy. Not a word to my parents and friends about what happened there.” Aila ordered her lifelong servant. “I will personally talk about this to them someday. But as of now, just keep it between us. I trust you will not betray my expectations.”

“Of course, young miss.” Cindy easily let go of her nervousness. Seeing how Aila addressed her in the same tone and the same way they used to, she was assured that her master had not truly grown in ways she had not noticed.

Cindy was a servant trained by the last generation(her parents and her grandparents) to serve Aila. It is not an exaggeration that she and Aila were raised together to have a better rapport with each other. Their relationship was better than most siblings and Aila and her family never treated her anything less than kin. Although their time together had greatly reduced as they grew up, their relationship was good enough for them to continue their communication outside of their status of master and servant.

She was the first one Aila had confined to her rebirth, the only person whom Aila had no qualms about instructing to do things on her behalf to make sure that everything went well. Aila let her do things in the background for the betterment of everyone. Under the name of a servant, Cindy can get away from many things.

Cindy realizes that although aware that her master has changed in some ways, she cannot help but fear that at some point she does not know her young miss.

“Cindy, I know you are not comfortable.” Aila was full of guilt in front of Cindy. The girl has always been loyal and single-minded, pouring everything into what she was raised to be. In her last life, Aila was not able to return to the villa. Cindy's future was unknown to her, but she was sure this loyal servant of hers had suffered so much without her knowing.

“Things will get better.” Aila met Cindy’s eyes to see the confused and concerned emotions inside of the other. “Though I cannot promise a peaceful life, I can do my best so at least we are stable enough to live in this hellish era.”

“I know,” Cindy replied in a typical way she was trained in. “The world has changed and we have to adapt to it as much as possible. We servants are not lacking in strength and ability, but we worry about you, young miss. We are afraid that you will lose sight of yourself because you are too focused on things we do not know.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Aila’s eyes were on her family and friends. Her tone was noticeably lower as she said her next sentence. “As long as I have everyone I care about, I will never lose sight of myself. That includes you and everyone here. I hope you will take care of yourselves if you care about me.”

“I understand.” Cindy said nothing more about it since then.

After that talk, their way to the villa was quiet and peaceful like usual. Cindy then excused herself to do her other duties, leaving Aila to her parents and friends.

“What did you do?” Judith asked as she approached her child. “Something happened right? Cindy was uncharacteristically weird just now.”

Smiling Aila replied that nothing had happened. Cindy just reported to her some things that needed her immediate attention. Assuring her mother that nothing was wrong at all. To avoid more of this topic, Aila skillfully changed the subject to the child they picked up.

Judith was quick to be distracted by the child's matter, Aila managed to avoid some of her questions this way. Then she accompanied her mother in thinking of a name for the boy. Up until now, the child is nameless as he cannot talk and with his current age and experiences, they doubt whether the child can tell them his name. Considering that they cannot always call him child or boy, Judith decided to give him a name.

In the midst of her thinking, she manages to bring the whole gang to think of what is suitable for the boy. Jerome, who has less tact, carelessly says that he is yet to become a father. Why must he have to think of something like that so early? Liza could only twist the other’s ears for his insensitivity.

“Regardless of what the child’s name will be, one thing is for sure.” Jerome patted his stinging ear as he took the now awake child in his embrace. Among the hyenas, he is the only one the child has opened up to. “He will be loved by many. It matters not if I call him Henerick of the Larksons or you call him Hercules or whatever, what matters is that he could recognize this as his. Aren’t I right, little Henerick?”

The child smiled happily at his words. He gave Jerome a pull on his hair as he giggled at the other’s pain. This did not escape the eyes of others.

“You said that you are not a father, but the child was named by you.” Liza pouted as she mocked angrily and glared at Jerome. “He liked the name you called him.”

"Well, seeing this lovely scene, I changed my mind about adopting this child. Instead, let him be a child common between you children." Judith said like a lightbulb suddenly lit up in her brain. "Like Jerome said, it doesn’t matter what little Henerick will be. He'll be a child of all, not needing to compromise with the notion that the era ended. Let him be the mark of the new beginning we will all share.”

“Now we sound like some old family from an old ancient era,” Alexa said, as everyone laughed at her remarks.

“Well, considering that we are all actually of some origin comparable to those old and traditional families of olden age, it has some truth you know.” Eugene piped in his piece. One by one he pointed out each of them: “A family of doctors, soldiers, businessmen, politicians, fallen royals, aristocrats, artists, researchers, and scholars.”

“And warriors,” Aila said as he pointed out. “Justines were a warrior tribe before we were anything else.”

“And warriors.” Eugene added generously. “With this around him, what will he be?”

“He’ll be an excellent healer should he want it,” Travis said as he materialized a stethoscope. “A scholar like Harry if he wanted to be a knowledgeable man.”

“He could be an incredible leader with all the grace and poise from us,” Alexa said as she pulled Albert and Bella on her. “We definitely could do a good job teaching a thing or two.”

“If he wanted to be a man with great strength, he could be under our guidance,” Felix said as he joined in with amusement in his tone. “A child has always been a ray of hope. Stranger he might be when he came to us, but he is a symbol of a future we cannot see.”

Everyone felt their spirits rise as they talked so light-heartedly about possibilities. The child’s name was settled in such a manner, and as they joked and said at that time, Henerick had not failed them at all. When everything calmed down, he was the person who would stand above the ground and not let their care and love down. But this is a story set in the future. Let’s just focus on the present at the moment.

They had some dinner after that before they hit bed. Though Aila’s night was destined to be sleepless.

She first contacted her relatives and gathered enough news from them. She also called for Honeylet and Jemma. Asking about their situation and at the same time knowing about the situation in the city. Like a little worker bee, she buzzed all night just to coordinate everything to be a comprehensive report by the morning.

Cindy, who was aware of her new habits, came to bring her some snacks and refreshments for her. Together they sorted out what should be sorted. It was great to have someone to share the workload with you.

“Thank you for helping me out,” Aila said to her servant.

“It’s my pleasure,” Cindy said with a smile. “This reminds me of the old days when the old madam and the old master were still alive.”

“Those days when I have to stay awake longer than I should be asleep.” Aila smiled at the memory. “Too bad things did not stay like that for long. I wonder if their death did not happen, would you have met my friends earlier and be part of our clan of hyenas?”

“Who knows? Though I am more of a wolf than of a hyena,” Cindy said, handling Aila the papers she was working on. “Even if we did meet and become friends. This does not change that I am your servant, young miss. I cannot stand in the same position as you. It is best not to treat me to someone outside of the identity I have.”

“Not exactly true,” Aila retorted at the comment of her Cindy being a wolf. “ You're more of a sly fox in the forest, scheming your way to surviving. Besides, what is that being only a servant? You are family. My friends and my parents think you are family. One way or another, others will approach you and befriend you, making you a member of our group of mischief. I hope you will not shy away from them when the time comes.”

It might not seem obvious, but her friends are more or less aware that Cindy was someone Aila values. And if nothing unexpected happens, the hyenas will abduct her from their group with the ferocious power of a storm. Regardless if she identified herself as a wolf. This was how they operated anyway, bandit-like and by the orders of the females of their group.

“Whatever you say,” Cindy said as she bid Aila good night.

“Good night too.” Aila said. Cindy was about to open the door of her study. “Henerick can be an all-rounder too.”

“He can be anything he wants to be with you, there to be there for him,” Cindy said, not turning around to Aila as she left the study, much to Aila’s amusement and joy. Cindy’s response tells her of a good life for everyone.

Aila did not turn up in bed even after Cindy had left. Instead she coldly read the now assorted information laid in front of her. Slowly a manic grin formed on her face.

“As expected, there are more survivors over there.” Aila was genuinely happy at what she could imagine with the information at hand. “Although Alfred had changed the fate of the city, there were still so many zombies that overwhelmed the city. Good thing Jemma and Honeylet have followed my council. What awaits them now is a much more comprehensive rescue from the military. Though Alfred would have to deal with the stubborn fool of a commander this time around.”

Resting her head on her hand, Aila eagerly imagines how chaotic things are over there. With the deaths, her friends have arranged to clean their identities and the top there will suffer some losses. For some families, like Bella’s and Alexa’s, it is only a matter of time for a storm to descend. The infighting will be fiercer than her past life, no doubt. Alfred might experience some unexpected gains in this storm, but overall it will buy them some time to develop their base.

Give it a few more weeks, bases will spring up like mushrooms after a thunderstorm. Stability will be ushered in for a short time before everyone starts fighting each other again. Resources will be the cause this time around, and their base is a fat sheep indeed, like she had told those rebels awhile ago.

When the time comes, she wants to defend their turf well while raising their lethality towards any threats to their lives. The brief window of stagnantness is what she needs to meet all sorts of needs their base is currently lacking. The raiders will take second thoughts about provoking them after she is down with her plans.