Chapter 38: Chapter 38

“I told grandma the truth about my curse.” Shia said, confirming his thoughts.

“And she’s alright with that?”

“Yes, she is.” Shia said, avoiding his gaze altogether, making things seemingly awkward between them.

“Uh, I want to show you something,” she replied, changing the subject. “When I got home today, Mage Silas was here. I spoke to him about everything, and he made a promise to help us.”

“I see...” Langrion replied. “Actually he came to see me too...”

“Oh, he did? So, you knew already? He said he will help me discover more about Freya’s magic and memories since that will help us a lot. He did start telling me something important though. Take a look.”

Shia fetched a pen from her desk. She tipped the pen in the air and swished downward as if she was writing a line.

“Did you see that?” she asked Langrion.

“I didn’t see anything...” he said, trying to peer as hard as he could at the tip of the pen.

Shia swished the pen again, writing a line downwards in the air. “Take a look at the line. Do you see it?”

Langrion blinked. He did see something. It was a tear, just like what one would see from a piece of paper. This time though, the small tear ran across in the air. It flickered for a second before it disappeared again.

“What was that?”

“That was a portal to a void. Mage Silas explained to me how I was able to get us out of the void this morning. He said that the original power that was used to make this tear came from Freya’s own powers. If I can direct light into an object like this, I can make a portal to the void come and go as I please,” she said, beaming. “I think this piece of magic might be useful someday for us, so I’ll work hard on perfecting it. I can’t seem to make the tear bigger, though, unlike what I did this morning.”

“Alright, but I think you should only practice when Mage Silas is around. Who knows what kind of portal you might open?” Langrion said, laughing at his own silly, idea.

******************

The next day, Shia bid an early farewell to her grandmother and the baroness and boarded a carriage going to the Rubiyah Manor.

Donned on her best daytime clothes lest she would suddenly encounter the snotty Edelfina, Shia stepped down on the carriage and went inside the manor. She went there on the pretense of paying Langrion a visit, but she already knew he was not there. She knew this would be the perfect time to talk with her real target: the other Imperial Prince, Danterion Alexy Romualdi.

Shia vividly remembered the Mark of the Beast appearing on a different body part for two times now: the first was on the body of his family’s murderer, and the second was on the body of his night time attacker. If those weren’t proof enough of the existence of another possible Demon King, then she might as well know what it is.

She knew that the best person that could clear her suspicions will be Danterion himself. When she spoke to Langrion the night before and presented him her hunch, however, he did not look quite convinced about her plan of approach.

“You will find Danterion a hard man to talk too, Shia – or at least for me, he was always a hard person to talk to. He has a way of twisting your words to fit into his, so a direct confession might be out of the question. If I were him, I would never reveal to anyone that I am a cursed one or that I murderer someone’s parents too, wouldn’t I? But if he truly was cursed like me, I’d like to ask him something very important.”

“What’s that?”

“How does he control his powers? I have never seen his eyes glow or turn someone into stone all my life. If he bears the same kind of curse then, I’d really love to know how he could hide and control it.”

The servants at the Rubiyah Manor greeted Shia upon her arrival. She asked them where Langrion was, and they informed him that his majesty was out. But would she consider waiting for him to come home comfortably in his bed room?

“Alright then,” Shia sweetly agreed. “But, can I wait for him at the library? I think a good read will make the waiting much shorter.”

The servants escorted Shia to the manor’s library – a room filled with rows and rows of bookshelves that were twice as long as Shia’s height. She entered the room and clicked the heavy door shut, filling the air with a thunderous echo.

Langrion told him that this was the best place where he could find Danterion, apart of course from his own bed chambers.

“Danterion’s nine year old personality always likes hanging around by the library. Funny how he never really liked books when we were younger,” Langrion remarked. “There is one book he particularly reads over and over again. If you find it, you’ll probably find him too.”

Shia did not know where to begin in the huge room filled with stacks and stacks of books. The one that Danry likes to read, according to Langrion, was a children’s fairytale. Shia decided that actual children would never be able to climb and reach at the topmost part of the shelves, so it must be placed somewhere more accessible.

After a few minutes of searching in vain, Shia gave up. It seems like the room itself was a maze of some sort. Books were not arranged in a coherent order and that made the search for Danterion’s favourite book almost impossible.

Exhausted, Shia climbed a small staircase leading to the second floor of the library, hoping to get some fresh light and air. As she made her way up there, she froze. There by the side of steps, next to an open window, was none other than Langrion’s twin, Prince Danterion.

He looked up to her with his dazzling ocean-blue eyes that seemed to sparkle even more against the sunlight. Up close, he was as comely as Langrion, and maybe even more so since there was no mask to obscure his face. He tilted his head into one side, surveying Shia.

“Nana?” he said tentatively, “What are you doing here?”

Shia heaved a sigh of relief that it was Danry whom she had met. She smiled her best smile and sat right next to him.

“I was looking for that book, but I see you are already reading it.”

“The Swallow’s Nest, do you like this too?”

“Yeah. It’s got a good story and ending, don’t you think so?”

“Uh huh,” Danry said, nodding his head down vigorously. After overcoming her initial shock of seeing a fully grown man act this way, Shia was beginning to discover that there was something quite endearing to this side of Danterion. She began to think of Langrion and the way he would sheepishly grin at her sometimes. Would he look this adorable too if he acted like this?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Danry said, catching her off-guard as she drifted deep in her thoughts. “Did I do something funny?”

“No. Actually, you look quite cute. You remind me of your brother.” Shia said, stroking the top of his head and ruffling his jet black hair a little. As she did, she remembered that he was actually older than him and that he was a prince after all; Shia began to blush in embarrassment.

“Yeah. That’s what Fina said too, but I look way better than Langrey, do I not?” he asked innocently.

“If you say so, but don’t tell Langrey I agreed with you, alright?” Shia said, positively amused. “I’m not Nana, by the way. You can call me Shia.”

“Shia,” he said, “Alright, Shia. Do you like to read this book with me? Fina is always too busy to read. She just hangs around when Danterion is here, and the Tainted One hates books, so I can only read when he’s asleep.”

“Sure, I’ll read with you,” Shia said holding the nearest end of the book in her hand, while Danry held the other. Remembering the name that had piqued her interest, she began to ask, “The Tainted One, who is that?”

“He’s a nasty old guy that always talks with Danterion. He’s mean to me, so I don’t like him.”

“How is he mean to you?”

“I don’t know... He looks at me like I’m an insect, and he has a mean laugh. He hurts people too, so I hate him.”

“He hurts people? Like whom?”

“Just people. Bad-looking people just like uncle.”

Shia wanted so much to agree with him on that, but she held her tongue. “Why do you call him the ‘Tainted One’?”

“Because he’s marked.”

“Marked?”

Danry began to raise his hand to point somewhere. “Yeah, he has a mark right -” Suddenly, he stopped.

“Oh, I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone...”

“Why not? We’re friends, right?” Shia asked, trying to coax him further.

“Really? Do you mean it, Shia? I have no friends other than Fina and Langrey. But Langrey hates Danterion and Fina now, so he’s not always around...” he pouted.

“Yeah, we’re friends now, so you can tell me. Where is the mark of the Tainted One? And what does it look like?”

“Okay, I’ll tell you, but you have to read to me first,” Danry said as he trusted the whole storybook into Shia’s hand. Suddenly, he put down his head on her lap and started to close his eyes. “Read me a story, Shia. It’s been a while since Nana has read me a book like this...”

Caught by surprise at the childish prince’s action, Shia’s face turned as red as a beet. She looked down at Danry’s angelic face and remembered how her grandma had told her about the twins being as close to her as if they were her own children. She began stroking his hair, as she covered her face with the book and started to read a few lines.

After a few more minutes of reading, Danry began to coil his arms around Shia’s waist, and he stirred up, pushing her closer to him.

“Edelfina,” he began to say in a deep but soothing voice, “how come you smell so much enticing today?...”