Chapter 123: Chapter 123

Stepping back inside the cell, Sara stared at the darkness with an expressionless face, but it wasn’t as cold and confused as before, she was feeling nothing, but it was not like that numbness that consumed her in the shack or the cave, it didn't feel like drowning, Instead, she felt at peace, and her mind, for the very first time since a long time, was peaceful and quiet, not bitter, not hateful, not vengeful, not guilty, she was just, at peace.

She always thought, since that night in the shack where she found her father dead, that revenge was the only thing that was going to give her the piece of mind she desired, however, looking at Eren at that state, she couldn’t bring herself to kill him or leave him to die, she didn’t know if the compassion she felt for him right them was temporary due to the latest events or not, but she didn’t hate it, if anything, it gave her the peace and calmed the darkness inside of her, for she felt at last free from that cloud, from the trap of the past.

She was free, and for the first time in so long, she managed to smile.

With her smile still on her face, Sara walked to the bed, took few sips of water, and laid on the rough mattress, and slept peacefully...

....

"Locked up?" Eren tried to keep his tone as neutral as he could, even when his blood was boiling with rage at his friend’s unreasonable statement.

"Yes." Henry replied nonchalantly, totally oblivious of the death glare Eren was giving him.

"And why is that?"

"Why are so interested?" Henry crooked his neck while standing in the room's balcony staring at the shadows’ lord in bed, everyone was worried sick about him, one hour he was dying and they had to summon the magus of the dark forest, but in the next, he was as good as new, his heling rate was unbelievable, and everyone thought it was due to the creation energy inside of him, not knowing that it was his beloved hybrid’s blood that healed him.

"I want to know what would make the great and just Henry punish the person who saved his sister's life." Eren asked, still holding back his anger, telling himself that this was his friend and throwing him off the balcony before rushing to where Sara was should be his last resort, not the first.

"You saved Nara, Not her" Henry shrugged, unable to ignore Eren’s weirdness anymore.

"The her you are talking about was the one who saved your sister and got her out of the danger zone, all I did was fight, and as you already know, that is not something hard or special to me." Maybe it shouldn't be the first nor the last, second or third sounded fine as well.

"She failed to protect my sister in the first place." Henry walked to sit on a chair while crossing his arms, feeling the hidden rage in Eren’s words.

"And so did you, And so did your soldiers, And so did Rima, And so did her demons, And so did I, that result was inevitable, especially since the girl we are talking about is a mere human against the demoness who managed to defeat the ice queen herself."

"My, it is amusing to see you defend someone so profusely, did you take a liking in her or what?" Henry mused, but seeing the seriousness on Eren's face he let it go.

"It is not about the attack nor about her "failing" in her duties, Is it?" Eren asked directly, not beating around the bush any longer.

"That girl is not who she claims to be, Eren, She is a liar and a murderer."

"What do you mean?" Eren felt the hair in the back of his neck rise for what he just heard; he didn't know what was the meaning of Henry's words.

"You see, I had my doubts about her since the first time I saw her, I mean I can't be blamed for that, the girl is pretty weird, So I had some of my men investigate her."

"And?"

"And nothing, not a single information was found, that was until one of my men accidentally met a merchant in a bar, the merchant was drinking heavily and eventually my man had to take him home, Where he met the merchant's wife, who hated her husband, and according to him, she was a feisty one."

"So, some drunk merchant's woman was whoring around with one of your men, I don't see the connection between that and the girl... "

"Well, The woman was from a little village at the border called Omran village, she married and moved with her husband ten months before we headed to the center, And guess what, it is the same village Dahlia claimed to be from, but the woman never heard of a girl with that name nor those critiques, she said she knew everyone in the village, and the girl was definitely not one of it habitats, she even told us about few other individuals from that village that we could ask, and guess what, None knew who Dahlia was."

Seeing the silent frown on Eren's face, Henry continued with his explanations, " I was alarmed when I heard about this, but I still chose to give the girl the benefit of the doubt, So I ordered my men to ask around about a girl that matches her description, And guess what, She was a ghost, she didn't exist in any of the birth registers of any of the towns and villages, until my men reached this inn run by an old lady whose husband was two years ago, While her little relative, whose name happened to be Dahlia, was abducted and never found by a stranger wrapped in dark clothes, a female one, the woman said that she didn’t see the stranger’s face, but I am sure she can recognize her voice, that is why I am keeping her locked up until proven innocent, and guilty, if the later…" Henry explained with his eyes fixed on Eren, his friend was acting strangely, and he couldn't help but to think that the black haired girl had something to do with it.

"So, you are telling me, You threw the girl in jail, the girl who happened to save your sister many times from what I’ve heard, the girl who saved so many of your people and helped them restart their lives, the girl who held your kingdom together while you were not here, the one who planned the last war with two kingdoms and saved you from a great loss, the girl who offered us the perfect solution for a peaceful life for demons and humans, just based on some testimonies from random people?! How grateful of you, Your Grace" Eren gave Henry a sharp pointed look, already thinking of how can he convince Sara to leave this place with him, so he can take her elsewhere and give her all the love and respect she deserved instead of being locked up and doubted by her own ungrateful siblings.

Henry on the other hand raised a brow at Eren, a little amused by his friend's solid defense over a girl he barely knew, maybe his friend did take a liking in the black haired girl after all.

"You surprise me, Eren, I've never heard sound so aggressive and protective over anyone but.... "

"It is not just Nara's life that the girl saved, but mine as well, I was out numbered, she drew attention to herself, even cut her own wrist, In a fucking cave full of bloodthirsty demons who had their battle spirits up and were more than willing to devour anything to gain back their strength, Especially if it was a juicy untouched young girl's blood who willingly cut her wrist to distract them, knowing well it could have got her killed, all to give me the opportunity to strike back those who cornered me, Now I don't know whether your pieces information were correct or not, But I don't care what are the girl's origins, and neither should you, considering the fact that she proved herself to be trustworthy in the amount of time she had spent here, Oh, and one more thing, if someone's past mattered that much, You should know that neither me nor Rima had a clean one, the girl killed some old inn owner for reasons you still don’t know? Well, I killed thousands and so did Rima, and still, you don't seem to mind that."

"That is because none of you lied about your past, you are what you are, you never tried to fake your identity."

"That is because I had nothing to lose, I couldn't care less if you liked me or not, but maybe it is different with her, maybe she had a reason to hide her true identity, but as long as she didn't harm you, or anyone at that, you should set her free immediately and apologize, because I really don't want to step over you and go break her out of there myself..."

"Easy there, you are my friend Eren, and I owe you so much, but remember that this is my kingdom and..." Henry was irritated by Eren's words, mostly because they were true, However, Henry's motives came from his worry over those he loved, he didn't harm the girl just yet, all he did was keep her locked up until he finds out the full truth about her and make sure she was not a threat to those around her.

"And you are my friend as well Henry, and you are one of the very few people who have my utmost respect, But I cannot just stand by and watch you make a mistake, same as I cannot forget my debt to the girl and watch her being mistreated without doing anything." Eren stared at Henry with the same intensity in his eyes, he wished he didn't have to lie at his friend but the truth wasn't his to tell, it was Sara's and he didn't want to take another thing from her.

"Why don't I just name you husband and wife already and shove her in your bed..." Henry scoffed while trying to break the tension between him and his friend who just rolled his eyes at him, Henry knew Eren had a solid point, especially when the girl did nothing but help them through all this while, He just couldn't overlook the fact that she lied, and with how hard the shadow demon himself defended her, his suspicions only increased.

"Okay, I will not stop investigation her though."

"I'm willing to help if you needed" Eren smiled back at his friend.

Giving an order to one of the soldiers to bring the girl where they were, he looked back at Eren

"What? I told you I will name you husband and wife, you make a lovely couple I must stay, Weird and weirder... "

"Better than you, Dull and duller..." Eren acted annoyed while in reality, he was smiling internally at his friend's suggestion, He doubted Sara was still willing to marry him, it was still a warm thought though that brought him some imaginary happiness.

Eren and Henry were both pulled back from their thoughts by the soldier who walked back alone to the suite with worry evident in his face...

" Your Grace, the girl is not waking up..."