Chapter 62: Chapter 62

Shia had mixed feelings as she sat by the table for lunch that day. Because of her inability to control herself in front of Lady Edelfina, she had lost not just the whole afternoon to sleep yesterday but had been aggrieved when she remembered that her wedding with the blasted king was quickly inching itself forward. Really, the pressure of fleeing and breaking away from everything was building up inside of her.

“Shia, you can’t crack under pressure,” Khailis said, exasperatedly to her early that morning.

Khailis had deliberately tried to wake her up before the start of the day by stripping her blankets away, making her feel extremely cold. Although dazed by her actions, she was grateful. Time was running out for them. The sooner she gets out of bed, the better.

The morning time flew by swiftly as they entered Mage Silas’ void and practiced wielding swords. A part of the deal that Shia made with the king was that Khailis wasn’t permitted to carry a sword anymore. After losing access to precious weapons, they resorted to using swords that Shia had made using Freya’s light power. Shia struggled until she was able to use Freya’s power and transform it into metals.

Her tenacity paid off well. The swords she fashioned looked amazing, although making them used a tremendous amount of energy. They were light, but very sturdy. Her designs made it easy for her to master a few sword wielding techniques.

Following her session with Khailis was her magical lessons with the mage. After ingesting poison yesterday, it seemed that her sensitivity to the power of light has improved a lot. She can use a tremendous amount of light magic without feeling fatigued. The only thing left was to execute the whole plan to perfection when the right time comes.

After all their practice, Khailis had questioned her fiercely what happened in Edelfina’s chambers. Shia timidly told her the truth. She asked her too if she remembered anything after passing out.

“I think I saw someone by the hall, but I’m not sure. I could be hallucinating.” Shia replied. The truth was she remembered seeing Langrion, but she doubted Khailis would believe her. She probably would just dismiss her answers as delusions.

Khailis inhaled deeply. “Actually, I think Prince Danterion found you at the hallway...”

“Is that so? Then I surmise he was the one who sent me back to my chambers. That’s a good thing.” Shia replied. So she did not dream Langrion’s face then? It’s just a pity it wasn’t really Langrion that she had seen but his twin. Hopefully though, she did not say anything funny to him.

Khailis stopped midway as if thinking of something unpleasant, and then she said. “Shia, I know you think you can trust Prince Danterion, but he’s too sneaky. Whatever deal you have with him, just be careful, alright?”

“Why, did anything happen yesterday?” Shia said, feeling a bit alarmed. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Langrion as she slept. They even kissed in her dreams. Did she perhaps act strangely yesterday while she was with Danterion?

“No, nothing happened...” Khailis said, averting her gaze.

Shia didn’t see this though. With the wedding looming like a death sentence, she didn’t care much about trivial matters, such as whether she should trust Danterion or not. Whatever it was that she had done after being poisoned, it may not have been that grave enough to make a fuss...

Suddenly though, her thoughts came back to Langrion. Shia remembered how Langry said the same thing about not putting her trust entirely to his brother before.

The truth was she did not personally feel that anything was wrong with Prince Danterion. If it wasn’t for the fact that his body was being used by the Ancient Evil, maybe he would have turned out to be a good person. She had started to develop a good impression of Langrey’s twin ever since he had helped her at the debutant ball. She even thought that Danry wasn’t so bad and couldn’t understand the fact that people took his sickness as such a bad thing.

In reality, the one she detested the most was Sirion, and it was his possession of the prince’s body that had killed her family. It was just a pitiful thing that Danterion had succumbed to Sirion’s powers so easily. Knowing this made Shia feel a slight sympathy for Langrion’s twin. If the tragedy towards her family had not happened, she did not think she should be as cautious as they say about him.

However, the fact still remained that she had only known him for quite some time while Khailis and Langrey had known Danterion all their lives. It still wouldn’t hurt if she was a little cautious about him, especially whenever he was possessed by Sirion.

Now, at lunch time, if she could only get the king’s approval to visit Langrion, all would be well...

She wrung her hands together. She couldn’t even bring herself to eat well as she thought of the best approach to ask the king to grant her request. She had rehearsed this scenario inside her head a couple of times last night, but why was she so nervous?

At last, before the king stood from the table, she was able to straight-out say what she had wanted.

The king became wide-eyed for a second.

“Alright. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to say goodbye to him today. But right after, I would like to see you in my private chamber, so you must go straight away to see me.”

Shia’s face lit up when she was granted her request, but she instantly turned pale when the king mentioned the condition attached to it. This old fart was really sly!

“Alright. I’ll do it,” Shia said, gritting her teeth.

“Glad to hear that. Lord Fincher will accompany you as you speak. Remember to be mindful of how you wag your pretty tongue, love. Otherwise, he won’t see the light of day...”

Shia curtsied before him in submission. The old king is really detestable to the core!

A few minutes after the king had left, Shia’s heart throbbed in excitement. At long last, she would be able to see her Langrion! All would be well once she talks to him. All she needed to do was to let him know of their plan...

Two loud and rough coughs escaped the moustache-covered lips of Lord Bragford Fincher. After losing herself in daydream about seeing Langrion again, Shia failed to notice that the despicable knight had taken a pose next to her. He started to cough out roughly again when he saw that Shia did not budge from her seat. It was actually intentional. She was thinking of the best way to communicate to Langrey, so she needed some time to think. All would be well as long as he remembers...

After rising up from her seat, Shia was escorted by the knight to walk towards the castle’s front entrance and accompanied her as she walked into a carriage. When he tried to board the carriage together with Shia, she gave him a fierce stare that made him stop at his tracks.

“Use a horse. I don’t want to share a carriage with you. I am not a prisoner, and you are my escort, not my friend.” Shia sneered.

The burly guard’s eyes showed a flash of fury after hearing her say those words. She never really liked this man, and Shia knew that the feeling was mutually shared. The knight bowed down to her, and after fetching his own horse, she rode with Lady Shia towards the courtyard prison.

The courtyard prison was a well-guarded facility located in the heart of the palace. It wasn’t actually a formal prison for offenders; to be more exact, it is a temporary holding chamber built primarily for cursed ones. King Caldwell had erected it within the palace walls so that he could keep cursed ones secured within a place that was heavily donned with guiding stones. Of course, what other strong facility could beat the palace itself when its very foundation was made of a pure piece of guiding stone?

It was not a big place. At most, it could probably hold only five prisoners inside. The king did not need a large venue to keep his prisoners anyway since the cursed ones that were surrendered to the Capitol were usually executed on the same day. The only exception for this was its present occupant – Prince Langrion.

Therefore, the trip was actually just a good ten minutes. This did not give Shia a long enough time to prepare her best tactic, but she was ready. Shia felt all the muscles in her body began to tense in anticipation of finally seeing Langrey.

There were numerous guards posted at the very entrance of the rather small facility. As soon as Shia descended the carriage, she felt that her breathing had become a little laboured.

She knew this could happen. The walls of the place were made of pure guiding stones. She had only managed to escape from the headache by using the power of Freya to mask her curse. Shia thought of how wretched Langrion must feel being kept in a place like this, and her heart immediately fell.

Shia was made to pass several gates before she was allowed into a small room that contained a single wooden chair and a table. By this time, Shia had been so uneasy that she wanted to vomit. She started to fidget violently at the signet band around her left ring finger. Would she really be able to see Langrey? Will he remember? She couldn’t contain her excitement and anticipation. She prayed to the gods and goddesses of Teotroly, especially to Freya that he would remember what they had talked about before.

At long last, the head guard had given her and Lord Bragford a signal that they could enter. She collected her skirt and walked towards the passage where she was shown as hurriedly as she could.

The scene that had greeted her, however, was not a very favourable one.