Chapter 72: Chapter 72

Is Danterion making a cruel joke? Did Edelfina hear him say his words correctly?...

She did not have to ask him to repeat his sentence. He pulled her arms gently upwards and made her look at his face while saying in a low voice. “Come on, you’ve got to go... You’ve got to go right now...”

“W-what?... Why?”

She was afraid that the man with violet eyes would come and face her, but it was her Danterion – her lovely Danterion with his soft, ocean-blue eyes that held her up.

“The Ancient One, I cannot stop him... He will send you to prison no matter what I do...”

Danterion’s face was pained and anxious. She had never seen this side of him before. The Danterion she knew had always been cool and collected. Even when he would receive severe punishments from his deranged father in his youth, he didn’t show any emotions like this... But now, how come he looked so fearful?

Suddenly, his words became clearer to her as he repeated them, shaking her slightly.

“The Ancient One, Fina, the Ancient One, he resides in my body... He has become so powerful that I cannot control him any longer... You have to stay away from now, hmm?... You have to get out of here at once. I will join you once everything is settled, alright? For now, you have to leave...”

Edelfina’s head was full of worries and questions. “The Ancient Evil... Do you mean to say you are the D-demon King?!”

His Danterion is the Demon King - how can that be? He is not cursed! Only a cursed prince would be the probable Demon King!

“I have no time to explain all of it. To be honest, I am not sure if I really am the Demon King; all I know is that the Tainted One is after you, and I won’t let him hurt you or our child! So, please, Fina, get out of here. I will ask a few knights to escort you. You have to move to a village somewhere, probably outside of Gascone for now. Stay there until I say so. I’ll make sure that everything will be straightened out before you come back...”

Two fat drops of tears rolled down Edelfina’s beautiful eyes. She couldn’t contain her emotions anymore and began to sob, “I-if I leave, then I might never see you again... I don’t want to be parted away from you!”

Just like her birth mother and Langrion, Danterion was going to leave her too... Just like everyone else she had loved, he was going to leave her all alone...

“Nor I you, but didn’t you say you are carrying our child? By the gods, I want you and our child to live! I know that the Ancient One’s plan is to make you the scapegoat for the king’s death! I cannot watch him do that!”

“B-but why?...”

“He sees you as a threat... I cannot fully comprehend it myself, but I know the end can’t be good, so please do as I say, Fina... You must escape today, while I can still take hold of this body...”

“Then resist him, Danterion! You have to take over this body firmly and resist him! Can you not do that?” She hugged him even tighter as she sobbed, his inner shirt getting drenched by her tears.

“I will... But right now, I am not strong enough, so please leave for a while. Leave for now so that you and our little Harrien can live in peace.”

“Harrien?... You mean -”

He stroked her belly, which was still too flat, not looking like it there was a child inside it at all.

“Yes, Harrien – that’s our baby’s name. Whatever the baby’s gender is, let’s name the baby Harrien – just like your mother’s name...”

Edelfina continued to sob. She had only disclosed her mother’s name once to Danterion, but he had remembered. He had remembered what she said before that when she becomes a mother, she wanted to name her first child ‘Harrien’.

Truly, how can her parting from him be easy after all this?

“It’s just for a while, Fina. I will bring you back here. I will make you my queen, and I will bring you and Harrien back into the castle, alright? Don’t fret... Don’t be like this... I don’t want our parting memory to be this bitter...”

As he spoke, Danterion moved his head closer to Edelfina’s lips and kissed her as tenderly as he always did.

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

Danterion could only watch as Edelfina’s back walked slowly away from him, leaving with a child – his very own child inside of her.

Edelfina’s painful slap earlier enabled his consciousness to take hold of the body he shared with the Ancient Evil. This had given him only enough time to take seize of it, so he used his time the best way he knew how.

He knew he would probably suffer the Ancient Evil’s indignation once he regained control of their shared body, but he won’t regret it. What’s important is that he was able to send Edelfina far away for the meantime. The Ancient Evil was only pissed towards her because of what happened to Shia; The Ancient Evil has a lot of business to take care of in the Capitol; he probably wouldn’t go to the ends of the world to punish Edelfina. She should be safe for now...

By the blasted gods, why did all of this have to happen during this time?! Danterion was only going to wiggle out of his relationship with Edelfina slowly to make way for the Ancient Evil’s plans. He didn’t expect him to send her to prison, and he had never expected her to conceive his child at this stage of their plans. Now that she’s of child, how can he abandon her so easily like this? Even a beast like him who thirsts for power still has a heart...

He didn’t have to marry Edelfina, as the Ancient Once wishes, but he would protect his child at all cost. He will not let his unborn baby be disregarded like trash, just as he had experienced.

Danterion took a quill in his hand and scribbled a note. To be able to protect the child, he needed help from some unlikely people – people whom he knew could challenge the power of the Tainted One.

Just before he had finished scribbling the note, a thick collection of fur brushed by the side of his legs. He looked down to see who it was, and he was right.

Chibi, looking forlorn and lonely, whimpered by his side. The furry pet was closer to Langrion, but he had stayed with him after Langrion was thrown into prison. The thing would cower in fear or bark at him ferociously when the Ancient Evil is in control of his body, but once he comes back as Danry or Danterion, he would be sweet and docile like so.

“Chibi, you’re a good boy, right?” he said, finding a small purse with a string inside the tumbled drawers of his room and attaching it to Chibi’s neck. “Take this letter, will you? Find Langrey, Shia, or Khailis, and send them my letter. You can do it, right? You’ll be able to find them in time, right?...”

The golden mowngry, whom he had raised with his brother from birth, looked back at him with such tender eyes. He licked Danterion’s hands and face several times before he excitedly jumped out of the window, which was three stories away from the ground.

Seeing that his pet was still alive and well after jumping from such height, he felt relieved. Hoping that he had really understood his instructions, he watched as the mowngry trotted away without a care in the world.

In the ancient manuscripts, mowngries were said to possess the most sensitive sense of smell among mythical creatures, and they can track preys from several miles away. The gods of Teotroly had used them as pets and even in the battlefield. Although Chibi had been domestically raised, he should be able to track his brother, Khailis, or Shia should he send him out, right? Langrion himself had gone to his little adventures with Chibi often before, so he probably can survive and do as much as to find them. Danterion had never tried giving him such a task before, but he had to risk it. He could be the only one who would be able to help him now.

Unable to feel the prying eyes of the Ancient Evil in his mind at that rare moment, Danterion heaved a slight sigh of relief. He was going to be a father soon, but his heart and spirit couldn’t find time to rejoice. If his unborn child would be put in danger, he needed to make plans for his or her safety. He cannot fully go against the Ancient Evil’s plan, but he would at least secure Harrien’s welfare before the breaking of the world, if everything should come to that.