“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
“Edelfina,” Shia heard Langrion’s twin say as he stirred from her lap, “how come you smell so much more enticing today, hmm?” He raised his head until it was eye level to Shia’s own brown eyes while his hands continued to rest around her waist. He must have been as surprised and as embarrassed as Shia was since his cheeks and ears turned crimson like hers. They just sat there, seemingly frozen and saying nothing to each other. They simply gazed in each other’s eyes for a long, long time. After what seemed like an eternity, Danry – or whoever he was that had been presently in possession of the prince’s body – started to close in the remaining gap between them and started to descend upon her. He continued to stare deeply into her eyes, and he started to come even closer and closer towards her, making her feel more and more uncomfortable, although she tried her best to hide it by keeping her ground. When he was just an inch or two away from her face though, Shia
‘Galahad... Why did I call him that?’ Shia frowned immediately. She was caught by surprise as she spoke her words to Mage Silas earlier. “You knew my answer all along, Galahad...” Suddenly, a memory flashed in her mind, a memory that seemed to be coming not from her own but from the deepest corners of someone else’s mind. ‘Could it be... Freya?’ The memory came to Shia as if she was an outsider seeing everything that was happening around. A slim, fair girl with golden, flowing tresses was sitting amongst the court, looking downcast. The crowd murmured around as a group of serious-looking elders convened in one corner. Suddenly, the leader of the court pounded his large fist at the golden table. “Silence! The Head Gods have decided. Now, we will deliver the verdict. For the crime of abetting the dark deeds of the Ancient Evil, Sirion de Luca, we pronounce you, Freya Leyla Ava, Goddess of Light, guilty of all charges. You will be st
“What?! I can’t believe I missed all of those happenings, Shia! How come you’re only telling me about all of these now?” Khailis said exasperatedly. This important talk had happened one night before the debutant ball. Shia and Khailis had been practicing their dance inside the hall that had been set up for their etiquette classes. The baroness had left them on their own to prepare for dinner and that gave Shia and Khailis plenty of time to talk about the things that had bothered Shia, especially about the prince and the mage. “So that was why you were making so many excuses not to see Langrey? And now you can’t talk with the mage too. That’s so insane!” “Yeah... ‘Insane’ might be an understatement. I don’t really know what to do!” Shia said as she lay down on the floor, exhausted from the dance and more so from too much thinking. Of course, Shia did leave out some information from Khailis, like the fact that she and Langrion had shared a kiss. It was one of t
“Tell me the truth; why would you two pretend to be in love? What could be the reason other than that?” Shia heard a familiar, seductive voice say these words. Sure enough, as she peeked inside the dressing room, she saw her – Lady Edelfina Nanris. Her arms were lovingly tangled around Prince Langrion’s neck, and she was caressing the back of his head. Shia had half-expected Langrion to act hostile towards her, but he was not pushing her away. In fact, it seemed like he was looking intently up to her, focusing his attention to the playful way she said her words against his ears and the way her long, beautiful lashes brushed against each other whenever she blinked. Shia watched as Langrion moved closer to her face and said his words in a half whisper. “It’s because of you, Edelfina. You are the reason, the one and only reason why we needed to pretend...” Shia wished she had just turned around at that point, but she stood there seemingly frozen, and as
After hearing the trumpet signalling the start of the debutant ball, Shia went back arm in arm with Prince Danterion to the pavilion’s backstage. “So what do you say? Would you like to change partners for the night so that we can show the two of them how dashing we would positively look as a couple?” Shia smiled softy and nodded. Prince Danterion was indeed an excellent tactician as Langrion had told her in the past. Who else could come up with a revenge plan that quickly right after getting hurt? “Great! I’m going to show you how this game should be played,” he said, kissing her hand. The prince quickly went to the masters of ceremony to inform them of the change in partnership. Shia looked over to him and realized that Prince Danterion did not seem like a bad person at all - except for the fact that he might be the real Demon King based on what Danry had revealed to her in the library. Earlier, when Danterion had proposed the plan of switchi
Shia’s face turned deadly white as she called the name of the Ancient Evil. “Si-Sirion?...” As if by cue, the sounds of the debutant waltz began, and Prince Danterion - no, Sirion de Luca, the arch nemesis of the gods of Teotroly and the love of Freya’s life – started to twirl her around on the dance floor. She called his name once more as she landed in his arms and moved her closer towards his left side, embracing her tightly. “Sirion!” “Who is Sirion?” the prince began to ask. Shia peered at Danterion’s face, only to be greeted back by the sight of his worried-looking ocean-blue irises. She began to look back at her left wrist, and nothing was there; there were no tattoos, no swirling marks, and no burning sensation of any kind. Did she just imagine all of those things? “I-It’s nothing...” Shia replied back, faking a smile in her lips. Her heart raced. What did that vision mean? “Are you sure, Lady Shia? Are you sure you are
It was difficult enough to face Langrion, but it was equally difficult to say the words that had loomed all along at the back of Shia’s mind. “You can’t get hurt by someone you don’t love, right? And I agree...” she began to say. The prince blinked back at her. Perhaps he remembered that he was the one who spoke these words to her at the halls of the Rubiyah Manor. At any rate, Shia did not want to hear him speak. She began to fill in the silence for the two of them. “I saw you and Lady Edelfina at the dressing room. You looked good together. It looked as if she still had some feelings for you. It seems like you still like her a lot too. I’m sure you’d make a great couple, if you choose each other now.” She began to turn her back away from him, but Langrion held on her shoulders fast. He was still unable to speak. His silence felt like hot steel rubbing against her bare skin. Shia couldn’t bear to look back at his eyes lest she starts to cry.
Sweat poured down generously at Caldwell’s body when he reached the Rubiyah Manor. In a feverish haste to get away, he had forgotten that his presence was still badly needed at the pavilion and that it would look suspicious if he did not go back and showed himself again. However, after what had happened back there, he could not possibly bring himself back to face the crowd, especially Shia Hyanessa Andry, Tristal’s granddaughter and Langrion’s fiancé, who most certainly will be there. He was supposed to give his blessings to her and his nephew during their formal engagement ceremony, and he simply did not have the guts to do it. As soon as he reached his residence, Gascone’s present king and Imperial Ruler, Caldwell Nanris, collapsed on the floor of his room and nervously cupped his head in his palms. ‘Why?! Why?! Why?!’ he screamed at himself. Out of all people, why must it be Tristal?! Why must it be his Tristal who should come and face him to reveal what he had tr