Chapter 196: Volume 2: The hive link - Is taming the ant queen possible (1)
"T....o!.... Theo!..."
"Ughh." Theo’s head was spinning, yet some sounds almost felt like someone was calling for him.
He struggled to open his eyes, and when he did, the blurriness kicked in.
Yet he could still see many silhouettes all around him, almost sitting.
’Am I lying down?’ Only after thinking about it did Theo finally realize that he was lying down on a soft surface, which nostalgically felt and smelled like his bed.
Theo felt a tug on his shoulder, and before he knew it, he was sitting upright with his eyes half closed.
When he tried struggling to keep his eyes open, he finally saw the silhouettes clearly up. The face he saw right in front was the baron, which almost made his eyes widen before they closed again.
"Don’t push yourself, Theo. Take your time." The baron spoke, and Theo nodded slowly.
He felt a hand caressing his back gently and couldn’t help but feel it was his mother.
"What happened, Theo? Are you feeling dizzy?" he heard from the side before the baroness started speaking again, "Let’s get the physician back. Lucien, go get him."
"Yes, mother."
When Theo heard his brother and that he was going to leave for the doctor, he finally spoke up.
"I am okay, everyone. Just my head is hurting a lot. Sorry for worrying you all." Theo spoke in a low voice.
Theo finally opened his eyes as it was less pressuring now, finally seeing everyone who was around.
There was Clara and Elias on his left, the baron in the front, tand he baroness standing beside him to the right.
Lucien was in the center of the room near the table, looking at Theo in worry.
"Theo."
Theo heard the baron speak, making him focus on him.
"How are you feeling right now?" The baron asked; there was that rare worry on his face.
"I am feeling alright, Father. Just a little tired is all." Theo stated, making Elias’s eyebrows twitch, and Theo noticed that.
"Elias got you on the bed after he saw you unconscious in that... room of yours. I checked it for the first time." The baron spoke in a calm manner.
"It’s almost like an infestation in there."
"Aldric, we will talk about that later." The baroness spoke in seriousness, making the baron quiet down.
Theo knew she was way too serious right now as she called the baron by his name, which was normal but not that common in their house.
"Theo, what happened in there? The physician told us there was no poison or disease from those bugs in you. What really happened?" The baroness asked while caressing his head this time.
Theo couldn’t lie; he liked that safe feeling of her caressing his head.
But his mind was in a dilemma right now.
’Should I tell them the ant queen was the reason? That message in the end... That’s it.’
His eyes flashed in understanding, making many in that room realize that he was not going to tell the whole thing again.
"I... broke through level 5 before getting unconscious," Theo spoke, making many jaws fall to the ground.
"What?" The baron’s eyes were fully open in a rare shock.
Lucien also made his way to the bed with an excited face, while the baroness was just in plain shock.
Elias and Clara just looked at each other.
"Level 5? But you only got that quest a few days ago... And how can a breakthrough make you go unconscious, Theo?" The baroness spoke in an urgent tone.
"Calm down." The baron spoke with a deep breath and stared at Theo with intensity.
"What we just heard should not leave this room. If it leaves, I will know who did it." The baron spoke in a threatening tone, which made everyone other than the baroness feel tingling on their skin.
Everyone nodded while the baroness kept gently caressing Theo’s head.
"I told you to slow down, Theo. Completing the breakthrough could have been done later too. You have all the time in the worl—" The baroness stopped in between when she remembered that conversation between them almost a day ago.
She looked at Theo with a loss of words while Theo was still in his own thoughts.
’That stare... no... stares...’ Theo thought, making his concern creep over his face before he returned his poker face.
No one in that room wasn’t close enough to not notice that.
"Theo... don’t you dare keep things from us again... I know you’re hiding something." The baron spoke with his stare intensifying.
Theo felt a lot of pressure under that gaze; it was as if he was adding pressure to the physical world itself.
"I... I am not comfortable telling the whole thing right now, Father. Please understand." Theo spoke while averting his gaze. "Please give me some time, and I will tell you everything that is happening," Theo said.
A vein popped in the baron’s head, and he was going to speak again before he felt a hand on his hand. He looked at the baroness, shaking her head with watery eyes.
"Fine, do whatever you want." The baron got up, making Theo open his mouth to speak, yet his mouth closed right away.
Getting swayed by emotions was only going to make things worse. Knowing his father, he would definitely kill all the ants in the terrarium in anger if he knew it was able to literally ’invade’ the bond between him and the mantis.
He could not have that.
"I am proud that you broke through the quest at just 9 years of age. That’s younger than anyone in the Merrick family, and I am talking about generations." The baron spoke, yet soon he sighed deeply, "Unfortunately, I can’t let others know of this right now. Your achievement will be praised but not publicized yet."
"I don’t care about others knowing, Father. I did it for myself and my future, nothing else."
Hearing him say that, almost everyone went into thought. Theo was too mature for his age, and it was getting hard to keep looking at him as a child anymore.
Yet those were just thoughts that did not make them think that he had reincarnated. That was a very ridiculous idea that wouldn’t even come to mind.
But that was the day many in that room started looking at him as the young genius of the Merricks.
The baron left the room with conflicted emotions, and so did the baroness after instructing Elias and Clara to stay with him.
Lucien didn’t leave but sat at the tea table and looked out the window. Another conversation was coming up, and Theo braced himself for it.