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0.89% Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son / Chapter 7: The Pair Of Purple Eyes

Chapter 7: The Pair Of Purple Eyes

The engagement ceremony between the Second Prince of Griven and the Second Princess of Abetha finished without a hitch. While the guests were excited about the occasion and busy showering praises on the couple, Drayce had no interest in it. He simply watched from his seat and waited for the celebration to be over, so he could leave to search for something that was stuck in his mind.

After the official ceremony, King Armen invited him for a special banquet along with the princes of Griven, the representatives from other kingdoms, and the Abetha's royal court.

"So how was the journey, King Drayce?" asked the man who introduced himself as Abetha's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Darus Count.

Drayce only looked at him and then picked up a finely crafted silver wine glass to continue drinking. He didn't find the question worth answering, and it was the knight behind him who spoke mockingly in his stead.

"Everything was fine till a group of soldiers wearing Abethan military clothes attacked us in the mountain ranges bordering your kingdom."

"Soldiers with some sloppy skills," added another Megaris knight. His eyes carried the same type of pride as his King's, looking down on others.

This declaration surprised not only King Armen but also the rest of the special banquet attendees. The officials of the royal court of Abetha turned silent while those from other kingdoms whispered among themselves.

With furrowed brows, King Armen looked at the Military General who was also present there. "Is this true?"

The Military General stood up and bowed to the King. "Your Majesty, as per my knowledge, there was no such movement from our army stationed at the borders."

The King of Abetha looked at the Minister of the Royal Investigation Bureau and ordered, "I need the full report about it by tomorrow!"

"King Armen should calm down," said Drayce. "As my knights have said, those men wore Abetha's military clothes, but their skills were sloppy. From what I heard, Abethan soldiers are one of the most well-trained armies renowned for their combat skills."

King Armen was surprised by the praise. "Still, we need to investigate this properly to give you and your men an explanation."

"Your Majesty, according to our analysis, those men are highly likely rebels or thieves hired to create misunderstandings between our kingdoms," said the knight accompanying Drayce.

"Why would someone do it?" asked a minister from Griven Royal court.

Drayce looked at him and smirked, "I'm sure there is a good reason."

The way Drayce looked at the minister made him wary of this young king who looked like he harbored evil thoughts in his mind all the time.

The atmosphere within the banquet became uncomfortable. Drayce decided to drop the subject.

"I am still curious about that particular incident that welcomed me in the great hall," he said with a light smile before turning to look at his friend, Arlan. "Aren't you?"

Arlan could see his friend was in a playful mood and sided with him. He looked at the King of Abetha. "I am sure your Royal Investigation Bureau must have solved the mystery by now."

"King Drayce was indeed right about the flammable oil," King Armen replied.

"I just thought to check the credibility of that young lady's statement. Indeed, her nose caught the right thing," Drayce commented.

King Armen didn't react to his response as he didn't wish to continue on this topic. Not only him, but the rest of Abetha's nobles avoided talking about the Third Princess.

Arlan looked at Drayce. Only now did he understand why his friend brought up the burning curtain incident when he never liked to meddle in others' business even if someone was about to die.

However, Drayce ignored the discomfort of the crowd and insisted, "I am curious who the lady is."

"It will be better if King Drayce won't ask more about her," said the oldest-looking man among the court ministers. From his expression, he seemed not to like the identity of that accused lady. King Armen chose to remain silent. He had his reasons.

"May I know why?" asked Drayce.

"Your Majesty, she is the... our Third Princess," King Armen's adviser clarified before the old minister could talk. "Misunderstandings are bound to happen within the royal family, and it is not polite for us to talk about internal affairs of the family."

"There is no misunderstanding! She is a witch, and we all know that!" the old minister rebuked.

"The Royal Investigation Bureau has evidence that it was not her doing. Therefore the Third Princess is innocent." Although the King's adviser replied politely, he was chastising the old minister with a glare.

Drayce found their bickering interesting.

"Witch?" Drayce mumbled and looked at his friend. Hearing this, he understood why Arlan was reluctant to tell him things about Abetha's Third Princess.

Drayce's sight shifted to the old minister who couldn't keep his mouth shut, much less restrain his disdain in front of the royal family. He could not tell if the older man was simply brave or if he had gone mad.

"Why shouldn't I know about her?" Drayce asked.

"There is nothing good about witches," the old man replied simply.

"What about devils?" Drayce asked, a light evil smirk painted on his lips.

Everyone knew about the King of Megaris being rumored to be a devil's son. Gossips had been going around in the palace since he arrived, but as this was a reputation he deliberately maintained, he did not shirk from it. In fact, he tacitly acknowledged it as a powerful tool to intimidate his opponents.

The change in these snobbish people's expressions upon hearing him say the word 'devil' was something he enjoyed.

'No wonder that girl could outsmart these idiots.'

His red eyes scanned their twisted faces while enjoying his wine.

Because of his words, hushed whispers about witches and devils filled the banquet. Everyone's expressions looked highly disturbed.

Even the King of Abetha, who was known for his calmness, was no exception. Though he did his best to hide it, Drayce had observed that the older man had a complicated look in his eyes upon the mention of his third daughter.

'It's making me even curious about her,' Drayce smirked.

"I hope King Drayce will enjoy the food." King's advisor tried to salvage the awkward atmosphere as he pulled out a light smile and diverted the topic.

Drayce could see the adviser trying his best to talk instead of King Armen, especially whenever it was about the Third Princess.

The feast was concluded after the guests and officials found their bearings back and talked about the various issues regarding their kingdoms and how they could solve them together.

Afterward, the royal family arranged for Drayce and the representatives from other kingdoms to stay and rest up. Drayce stood at the balcony of his room, looking outside and observing the part of the palace grounds visible from there.

His sight shifted towards the large winding river that flowed beyond the castle walls. It reminded him of something, and he stood staring at it in a daze.

"What are you thinking about so deeply?" a familiar voice asked behind him. It was Arlan, who did not even knock upon entering his room.

"A pair of purple eyes," Drayce replied, still looking at the winding river.


Chapter 8: The Mysterious Woman

"Purple eyes?" Arlan repeated only to make sure.

Drayce nodded lightly, still immersed in deep thoughts. "Such mysterious eyes."

Something came to Arlan's mind as he had heard something about it before. He then looked at Drayce and noticed how serious he looked. His friend definitely had something more going on in his mind.

Arlan decided not to pursue the topic. He understood Drayce—if he thought to go after something, he would never give up chasing. However, what his friend was searching for at the moment was not something good.

After a minute of silence, Arlan could not help himself, "You must have made a mistake. No normal human can have purple irises."

"I am not a normal human either, so I do not think that's abnormal," Drayce countered.

"I keep forgetting who my friend is," Arlan commented. "You should rest. You didn't rest after the previous night's battle."

"Who was the one who insisted for me to be here?"

"I only wanted you to visit the side of the continent you have never been to," said Arlan.

"Or you wanted your friend here so you won't get bored on your own."

"My bad. Now rest."

Drayce removed his outer cloak and threw it towards the bed. He was ready to strip, but raised an eyebrow seeing his friend remained idle inside his room.

"Leave, then. Don't stay here to stare at my handsome face."

"I prefer pretty faces," Arlan scoffed before he left the room.

After fixing himself, Drayce lay on the bed with scattered thoughts. He did not know how long he had stared at the ceiling.

He was sure, what he saw was not an illusion but reality.

"Who is she?" he continued to ask himself before he finally closed his eyes.

---------

The previous night, when Drayce was busy fighting suspicious men disguised as Abethan soldiers, he suddenly heard a woman's voice out of nowhere.

'Who are you?'

Startled, he ceased his attacks and turned to look at the source of the voice. All he could see was a face with its lower half-covered with a veil and a pair of purple eyes, and the image vanished in the air the moment he blinked.

He felt like it was an illusion and must be because he was tired and didn't get enough sleep. At that time, he didn't have much time to think about what happened because he had to get rid of the enemies.

Once that small battle was over, he and his men rode straight towards the Kingdom of Abetha. However, the distance towards the capital could not be covered within a few hours. It was a long overnight journey, so they had to halt somewhere, not to mention, some of his soldiers had been injured, and they needed rest.

At dawn, his men set up camp in the wilderness along a river bordering the capital of Abetha. From where they stopped, they could see the sight of the city, as well as the Royal Palace of Abetha. The main palace shone under the moonlight, and there were torches ignited everywhere on the castle walls.

Just as the mild sun rays touched the sky, Drayce thought that it would seem unruly to enter the capital looking travel-worn. Besides, the river looked inviting; thus, he decided to go for a morning swim in the cold freshwater. However, just as he went deeper into the river, he saw something floating in the water.

'What's that?'

As the sun had not completely risen yet, his vision was not good underwater.

He swam towards it and pulled it to him. To his surprise, what he held was actually a maiden's hand. He realized that the figure underwater was a woman who seemed unconscious. He could only look at her in shock when she opened her eyes.

In the dim light, he could see nothing but her glittering purple eyes.

'It's her.'

He could forget anything but those pair of purple eyes as well as the veil covering half of her face.

The woman panicked and moved her hand towards her face, but he held it and stared into those enchanting eyes.

She stared back at him, not looking scared at all. The initial anxiety in her eyes turned into curiosity as she continued to stare at him without a tinge of fear.

'Amusing,' he thought, but the next moment, she disappeared again.

"What was that? Where did she go?" He looked around, but there was nothing around him underwater.

"Is it an illusion again?" he wondered and then looked at his hands. He could still feel the warmth of her skin in his palms. "No. It was not an illusion this time." He was sure.

He swam to the surface and came out of the river fully drenched. He could not help but look towards the Royal Palace of Abetha in the distance.

"Your Majesty, if we leave now, we can reach there on time," one of his knights said as he approached his King, who was staring at the castle in a daze.

After not getting a reply from his King, the knight asked again, "Is there something that's bothering you, Your Majesty?"

"Something is strange about this place," Drayce replied, his eyes still not leaving the sight of the palace.

"Is it about the previous night's incident?" the knight asked.

"Hmm," Drayce nodded subconsciously.

"We will enquire about those attackers," said the knight.

Drayce sighed but did not correct the knight. He was not referring to those attackers but to that mysterious woman; he kept seeing the moment he entered the boundaries of the Kingdom of Abetha. Moreover, there was always some unknown force that kept pulling him somewhere which he could understand. His sight fixed on the Royal Palace; he felt it coming from something within those castle walls.

When he arrived at the main gates of the Royal Palace with his soldiers, his friend Arlan was there to welcome him; after all, it was this man who was responsible for calling him there.

The moment Drayce stepped inside the palace walls, he felt that unknown force grow even stronger, and it only kept going stronger the closer he got to the main palace.

"What happened? Why do you look so serious?" Arlan asked.

"Nothing." Drayce had nothing to say as he himself was not sure what it was.

What happened after he arrived at the ceremony hall pulled his interest into one more thing, that bold and confident young woman.

--------

After the small nap, Drayce was ready to go out and roam around the palace. However, instead of enjoying the scenery, he was more eager to know if he could find the reason for the strange unknown pull he could feel coming from this place.

"Where do you want to go?" Arlan asked, playing host to guide his friend as he was very familiar with the palace grounds. Their own knights accompanied them as they walked.

"Anywhere," came his cold reply.

"Don't blame me later," Arlan said with a chuckle and they left to go out.


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