Chapter 6 In White Robes
The next day, Jagan did not hesitate to retirn to that bake shop. He stood in front of the shop and took a deep breath before he entered. The bell rang as he opened the door and as usual he saw no one inside the shop. He looked around for a while and waited for the at least the butler because he knew that that man was not fond of meeting people.
But his expectation was again crushed as he heard an abnormally cheery voice coming from behind him. "What a rare sight, what does a warrior if your calliber don\'t ng here?" The voice asked and he could do nothing but to turn around and face Cygnus.
"Where is your butler?" He did not meet the man\'s eyes and instead tried to look around.
"Oh, I sent him on an errand," Cygnus chuckled when he saw how the other was avoiding his gaze. "Why don\'t you take a seat while I go and prepare a cup of coffee and a plate of cookies for you?"
The gaze from the man made him shiver but he did not have the power to resist the man\'s words. He wanted to leave but his feet had started to walk towards the usual table that he takes whenever he visited the shop.
Jagan silently sat down while he obediently waited for the man to return. He looked outside the window and wondered why there were no customers whenever he visited but before he could think more about it, a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee was placed on the table.
"Thank you...Wait, what are you doing?" He looked as the man took the empty seat in front of him. He thought the man would leave after giving him the cookies and cookies since it was his style. He never spoke to anyone and would stay in the kitchen, so this action was out of character for him.
Cygnus laughed out loud and even tapped the table while doing so. "You are really amusing, I can read everything from your face alone. You must be wodneeing why I am being out of character, am I right?"
Jagan\'s eyes widened but he did not answer the man\'s question. He stood up and was about to leave but after only one step, he stopped. His body could not move then he was slowly pulled back by an invisible force until he was sitting down again, face to face with the man who was smiling at him.
"Where are you going? I thought you came here to talk to me? Is this about your nephew yesterday?" Cygnus picked up a cookie and took a bite. The crunch echoed through the silence that persisted between them.
"How come you are suddenly asking me so many questions?" He did not answered as he asked him with gritted teeth even his fists were tightly clenched on the table. He should have not come here but it was already too late for that now.
"Because I am curious why a person of your aptitude is not serving the royal family and is instead living in this remote place with your nephew?" For some reason his voice softened at the end but the fear he felt from it was real. With his voice he could only plant this hideous feeling in his heart.
"You don\'t have to, my family\'s affair is of no concern to you," Jagan steeled himself and resisted the control that was being exerted to him. He was a amage and a warrior, it would be a blow to his pride if he could not even defend himself from the controlling words of this person. He would not let that incident happen again.
Cygnus leaned on the chair with the smie on his disappearing. This man was stubborn and even had the will to fight his control, exemplary. "Alright." He raised his hads in surrender and stood up. "Yes, you are right, this is not my concern but I\'ll be watching this play until the end."
He disappeared behind the curtains again while Jagan was left staring at his muddy reflection on the coffee before he too stood up and left, leaving his favorite cookies behind.
That day, Ezio was able to get over from what happened yesterday and was now watering the vegetables that his uncle planted. There was only the tomatoes left when he was suddenly interrupted by a voice calling out his uncle\'s name. He put down the watering can and went around the house towards the front and found three people wearing white robes.
"Uhm who are you and why are looking for my uncle?" He asked while cautiously looking at the people but he could not clearly see their faces because the hood of their clothing was covering half of their faces.
The people in white robes was a bit stunned but their hidden eyes were now locked on the teen that was also curiously looking at them. It was good that they finally found this person.
"We are his colleagues and we are here to visit him," the man in front answered with a soft voice.
Ezio looked at them and the man\'s voice gave a positive impression to him. Although they looked mysterious, they were still his uncle\'s colleagues and this was the first time that some other people came to see him.
"But my uncle is not here today and I\'m not sure what time he will be back." He answered because he was unsure of what to do. He could not let them enter their home easily as instructed by his uncle, no matter who they were.
"That\'s okay, we will just wait here. Can we ask you some questions while waiting?" The same man asked, they knew why he was hesitating and they could not afford to be pushy if they want this child to warm up to them.
"That\'s okay, but do you wantt o come in for a while?" Ezio offered even though he was still unsure since it was rude to turn away any guests but the man shook his head.
"You don\'t have to, we are okay with waiting here since your uncle might not be comfortable to see us because it has been a long time since we last saw him." The other two behind him nodded and Ezio can\'t just force him so he agreed.
The other reason why they can\'t enter Jagan\'s home was because it was surrounded by a barrier that rejects them. It was so like Jagan to set up something like this just to keep them at bay.
"Have you been living with your uncle ever since you were child?" He carefully asked because he needed to know if this was that child.
"For as long as I can remember and he is the only relative that I have," Ezio did not hesited to answer because to him it was only an ordinary question so there was no harm in giving them an answer.
"Your parents, where are they?" He again asked but the teen did not give him any answer.
Ezio\'s parents were already dead and his uncle never talked about them. He had asked him so many times in the past but Jagan was firm with not telling him what really happened. The only time he can remember was that time when his uncle slipped up and told him that his parents were killed bad people so whenever he was asked that kind of questions he instinctively remained silent.
The man noticed this so instead of pressing the teen for an answer, he instead changed his question, "Can you use magic?"
Ezio laughed and shook his head, "How I wish I could answer you with yes but sadly I\'m an ordinary person and even my fighting skills are average."
A frown appeared on the man\'s face amd the other two looked at each other. If he can\'t use magic then he was not he child not unless Jagan has found a way to hide the teen\'s potential but the man in front had obswrved him the moment he appeared and he could tell that the teen was indeed of no talent.
Before they could continue to ask him questions, a loud voice bellowed from the side. "What are the lots of doing here?" Jagan\'s eyes were red with rage and the veins on his head were popping up.
He walked towards the group of white clothed people then took a stand in between them and his nephew. Jagan turned around to look at his clueless family and could only close his eyes in frustration.
"Go inside the house!" He commanded. Although he controlled out his voice it still came out a little bit rough. Ezio was stunned at the sudden turn of events and of his uncle\'s fuming visage. He did not have the heart to argue any longer so he took a step back then turned around to leave them be.