Seed of Possession

It’s another day waking up in the gloomy atmosphere of the Monteverde Main Mansion. All is silent and quiet. No noise can be heard inside, and outside, only the wind can be heard rustling through the trees.

Inside a room, a tense exchange of cold gazes is taking place between Xander and Giselle. Giselle slowly taps her fingers on the wooden armrest of her chair, indicating that time is running out for Xander. Giselle’s gun rests on the side table, ready to be used at any moment, especially against Lorenzo, a potential suspect in her child’s kidnapping.

“It’s already morning, Xander. You only have 18 hours to find my daughter,” Giselle says blankly. Xander gazes at her with a worried expression, unsure if he can locate her daughter in such a limited timeframe. Every second is crucial, but he’s struggling because there are no clues to the kidnapper’s identity.

Xander has already investigated Lorenzo and his associates and utilized his powers to search for leads, but he hasn’t found anything. Someone with high standing and significant influence, like the head of the powerful Monteverde family, can make people disappear without a trace, just as his grandfather did in medieval times.

“Grandfather?” A sudden thought electrifies Xander’s mind.

“Giselle, do you have any clues about your daughter’s kidnappers?” Xander asks, hoping Giselle might possess information he lacks. He’s already looked into the orphanage, but there are no CCTV footage or witnesses to provide any leads.

“I have one,” Giselle replies, tossing something to Xander.

Xander skillfully catches what Giselle throws to him. “This is what Bryan sent to me last night,” Giselle adds.

Giselle observes Xander closely, trying to gauge his reaction to the item Bryan gave her the previous night. Bryan personally delivered the item and obtained it from the orphanage director, who received it from a beggar.

“Where did he get it?” Xander asks, examining the item he received from Giselle.

“He got it from the orphanage director, who accidentally took it from one of the kidnappers when he grabbed their sleeve. It appears the kidnappers are well-dressed, wearing suits while abducting children,” Giselle calmly explains.

“This is somewhat familiar. I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before,” Xander murmured, making Giselle stand up from the chair.

“You’ve seen it before?” Giselle asked, and Xander answered by nodding his head.

Xander closed his eyes, trying to deeply remember where he had seen the cufflings before. He was sure he had seen them when he was young. He thought and thought until a flash of a scene came to his mind.

Giselle watched Xander slowly let go of the coupling from his hand, and the object dropped to the floor, producing a small sound. At that moment, Giselle knew that Xander had remembered where he had seen the couplings.

Maxine was running all around the mansion, searching for her mother. She had heard from Chandrea that Chantal had already left the mansion without taking her.

“No, Mom will surely bring me with her!” Maxine said as she ran to Flora’s room.

“FLORA!” She called out as she barged into Flora’s room. Flora innocently looked at Maxine, who was now flushed from running through the mansion.

“What are you doing here, sister?” Flora asked Maxine, who was now red in the face from her sprint.

“Did you see Mother?” Maxine asked Flora.

“No, I didn’t see her. I tried to find her, but I couldn’t,” Flora calmly answered as she continued what she was doing before Maxine burst into her room.

“Why are you so calm when we don’t know where she is?” Maxine furiously asked Flora, who responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Trash,” Maxine commented before she left the room in frustration. After Maxine left the room, Flora looked at her closet and made a hand gesture, indicating that Maxine had already left. After a few seconds, the woman Maxine had been searching for earlier came out.

“Thank you, darling,” Chantal said as she came out of her daughter’s closet.

She weakly walked to the door and locked it. She is hiding in the mansion from her husband and daughter. Giselle tried to get her out of the mansion and bring her to the hospital, but Chandrea returned to the mansion earlier than expected, and the servants loyal to her husband are outside the mansion, guarding the surroundings. Their plan to escape is impossible for the time being. Right now, her body is weak, and her mind is still dizzy, feeling floaty due to the effects of the drugs.

“Don’t let your sister know where I am, okay, Flora?” Chantal asked Flora.

“Okay! I promise,” she answered as she continued to play with her toys.

“Thank you, darling. I know that I can count on you.”

CHANDREA IS WALKING in the east part of the mansion as she’s going to the painting music room to look for Maxine, as she’s going to order Maxine to search for Chantal. Chantal is just walking when she sees two men wearing black suits and black sunglasses going in her direction.

Chandrea wrinkled her forehead as she’s curious about what the business of the men with her is. The two men stop in front of Chandrea as they stand up straight.

“Ms. Chantal Serdaun, your presence is invited to the Juicio de Emergencia of the Head Master. You need to come with us right now,” one of the men said as he quickly grabbed Chandrea’s hand.

“W-what?! What is that?” Chandrea blurted out in panic as she tried to pull her hand away.

“Hey! I am the guest of Lorenzo Monteverde, the next head of the Monteverde family! What do you think you’re doing?!” Chandrea screamed as she fought against the two.

But the two men are silent as they grab Chandrea by force, ignoring her protests.

MEANWHILE, XANDER looks at Giselle. He is about to say where he saw the couplings when three men in black suits suddenly barge into their room.

“What? What are you doing in our room? Who gave you permission to enter our room so easily?” Xander asks in surprise because of the sudden entry into their room. Giselle looks at the men who suddenly barged in the middle of their conversation. Giselle looks them up and down. Her eyes narrow when she sees something familiar about those men.

“I will go, help me stand up,” Giselle said as she raised her right hand, waiting for them to help her stand up. Xander’s eyes widen in surprise because of what Giselle did.

“What are you doing?! We don’t know what will happen to us if we go with them!”

“Can’t you understand and analyze what is happening right now?” Giselle said as she carefully stands up from her seat, touching her belly before looking at Xander.

“The Head Master of this family is calling us,” Giselle adds. Xander looks at the two men, and he silently walks toward Giselle.

“I understand it now,” Xander whispers to his wife as he helps and supports her to walk out of the room.

MAXINE IS OUTSIDE the room of her uncle Xander. She is just around the corner, watching what is happening and curious about the two men who barged into the room without permission.

“I need to tell Father,” Maxine determinedly said as she ran to her father’s room. But from afar, she already saw that her father is being dragged by the two men who look similar to her uncle Xander and Aunt Giselle. The situation is different; her Uncle Xander was peaceful and quiet, but her father was in chaos and cursing because he doesn’t want to go with them.

Maxine quickly runs toward them as she goes straight to her father. “DAD! What’s happening?!” She cried as she looked at the two men who are now struggling to control her father using their elbows.

“Call for help, sweetie!” Lorenzo said as he is having a hard time breathing.

“It’s okay, Miss. Maxine, your father will just attend an important meeting with your aunt and uncle. This thing will be explained to you when you get older,” one of the men said before they walked away from her, dragging her father to the west annex of the mansion.

Maxine was left dumbfounded by what happened as she tried to absorb what is happening right now. In the morning, she was just trying to search for her mother, and now? She is seeing her relatives being dragged by unknown men that she didn’t see before.

“Is it Grandfather’s doing?” Maxine asks herself as she watches the two men walking away from her.

ALL OF THE PEOPLE who are part of the battle of succession are in the secret room of the mansion. This room is enormous and can accommodate 500 people. It has a design from the medieval period with a mix of wood elements, and now, in this room, the trial will begin.