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3.3% Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son / Chapter 26: Black Smoke

Chapter 26: Black Smoke

When the queen's lady-in-waiting entered her chamber to inform her that the Minister of Foreign Affairs sought a private audience with her, Queen Niobe wasn't surprised. He must have heard of the news regarding the prolonged stay of the King of Megaris and had come to ask for her next orders. 

Lord Darus bowed to the Queen, who was sitting regally in her chair. 

"Your Majesty, according to our sources, the Third Princess's servant, Martha, has left the palace," the minister informed in a humble tone. 

His words brightened up the Queen's eyes, and this piece of news improved her already good mood.

"You mean, that witch is alone now?" the Queen asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Why, suddenly, good things are coming. It seems like that witch's fate is against her this time." The Queen smiled in schadenfreude.

"I congratulate Your Majesty in advance. Even the gods are helping you succeed. The only thing that hinders your plans now is the presence of Sir Berolt. His men are strictly guarding that tower," Lord Darus added.

"Create something to keep him busy," the Queen ordered.

"As per your order, Your Majesty, but in the absence of Martha, I doubt the King would let Sir Berolt be away," the minister replied.

The queen agreed to it, "Then you need to invade the tower's security by all means, and this time I won't accept any excuse."

"Yes, Your Majesty." 

Even after the minister left, Queen Niobe had busied herself in making sure that her schemes against that witch would proceed without a problem. 

------

At noon, the entire royal palace was busy as usual. With most of the delegates from other kingdoms gone, those working inside the palace had resumed their normal chores. The guards and maids who happened to be nearby the Third Princess's tower heard some disturbing noises. This caught their attention, and soon, they saw thick black smoke coming out of one of the windows in the tower. 

One of the guards immediately left to inform Sir Berolt and the King. As minutes dragged on, the servants in the palace had gathered to see the black smoke, but no one dared to come close and inquire about the situation as fear enveloped them. 

Soon, even the people outside of the palace saw it too. The tower was tall, and it was easy to see the thick black smoke under the clear, bright sky. The entire capital was gripped in horror as tales of the incident spread widely.

"The witch is up to something this time."

"She must be practicing her black magic."

"Stay inside at home and don't come out."

"Don't know who will die tonight."

The news of something unholy happening had spread everywhere, and soon, the streets went empty, and the capital became a deserted land. 

---------

Drayce and Arlan were riding their horses along the riverbank outside the walls of the royal palace. Drayce was scouting the area, wanting to take a look at the places around the Third Princess's tower so he could plan his entry without anyone noticing.

Just as they reached the backside of the palace, Drayce heard a disturbance and then saw thick black smoke behind the tall palace walls. Arlan followed his sight and was startled.

"What's going on there?" Arlan exclaimed as he continued looking at the black smoke moving towards the sky. It didn't stop coming out from the window of the tower. "Did the tower catch fire? No… it seems something is burning?"

Drayce didn't seem to hear him and was focused on something as he eyed a particular window of the tower. A light smile was painted on his lips.

"What are you smiling about?" Arlan asked. 

Drayce looked at his confused friend. "And why are you looking anxious?"

"I was wondering if what people say about the witch is true. They say when she does black magic, something like this tends to happen."

Drayce gave him a questioning look. "Something like this?"

"This black smoke and…."

"Who knows? Might be a witch who is hungry and trying to cook on her own," Drayce commented as he signaled his friend by raising his hand to keep quiet.

It seemed like Drayce heard something again, and this time couldn't stop laughing a little.

"What?" Arlan asked, feeling all puzzled. "Did you hear something?"

Drayce nodded. "Quite unexpected."

"Tell me."

"Use your own ears."

"I am not gifted like you with a high sense of hearing."

"Then that's your fault," Drayce countered, not willing to tell him anything.

Arlan made a face at him, which he ignored. They continued to ride along the riverbank around the palace, and when they returned to the palace, as expected, everyone was whispering among themselves. Of course, Drayce could hear what they were talking about.

"Don't know what this witch is planning this time."

"Should we leave the palace?"

"She must be practicing some black magic."

"Look at that smoke. It's not stopping even after a long time. It looks like she is planning something dangerous."

Drayce could only smirk at them. "Idiots!"

-------

Not only the common people but also the royals within the palace were worried about what the witch was doing. News had traveled everywhere like a wildfire. 

King Armen was aware his people were in a panic, but he knew the truth wasn't as scary as everyone thought. He called Sir Berolt, who had just returned after checking on Seren. 

"Is she fine?" King Armen asked.

"Apologies, Your Majesty. We can't enter inside the tower because of Martha's magic," Sir Berolt informed him after bowing.

This worried the king. "Try to find a way to know about her condition. If you can't, I will have to enter the tower personally."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sir Berold bowed again. 

Sensing the worry of the king, Lord Eudes suggested, "Your Majesty, this happens every time Martha leaves the palace. There must be nothing to worry about."

This worried the King even more. "Keep the security tight, and don't let any of the Queen's people close to the tower."

"We have already taken full measures, Your Majesty," Sir Berolt informed.

King Armen looked at Lord Eudes. "Minister Darus Count?"

Lord Eudes understood what King Armen meant and replied to his unspoken question, "He went to see Her Majesty, Queen Niobe. The visits are frequent these days…."

"They must be up to something again," Sir Berolt said coldly, his eyes showing how he was annoyed with this politics and how he wished to use his sword and finish everything at once.

"That's why you need to be more alert this time," Lord Eudes said as he looked at Sir Berolt.

"This time, I won't go easy on them," Sir Berolt hinted at his intentions. As a knight, it irked him every time he had to let them go because the schemes concerned the Queen and to keep the peace between the nobles; the King could never openly punish the Queen for her small dirty tricks. 

After all, because of her identity, even if not the Queen, there were other people who would create troubles for her. All King Armen could do was to protect his daughter. 


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Chapter 27: Hunger

While the entire capital was gripped in terror about what evil schemes the witch was up to, inside the tall tower still emitting thick black smoke, there was one poor princess who was sitting amidst the mess she created in the kitchen, her dirty face almost on the verge of crying.

(Seren's POV)

"Ahh! These boring books. Why do I have to even read them?" I closed the book in my hand and leaned back in the chair. 

With no one to talk with, I had nothing else to do other than be in my bedchamber and stare out from the window. I did try reading some of the latest geography and history books sent by my father, which I found boring. I wasn't in a mood to tend to my garden nor paint.

However, there's nothing else here I could entertain myself with, so I was stuck reading these books.

Leaning back further in the chair, I closed my eyes, only to hear something annoying. 

Rumble! 

"Huh?" I opened my eyes and looked at my stomach annoyingly. Rubbing it with my hand to calm it down, I asked, "Are you already done with what we ate?"

I looked outside the window and realized it's just early noon. The last I ate was just a few hours ago. Before Martha left, she prepared morning snacks for me, but I already finished them all in one sitting.

Rumble!

My stomach growled again, and I sighed. "These books are really boring, and my brain has burned everything I ate trying to understand them." 

I put the book aside, went out of my bedchamber, and headed towards the stairs that led to the lower floors. The empty tower was filled with nothing but the sound of my footsteps, and it made me miss Martha more. 

Once I reached the ground floor, I made my way towards the biggest room further inside the tower.

It was my personal royal kitchen where Martha cooked food for both of us. This was also where she taught me, a princess, how to cook. It was all because other royal servants and maids were not allowed to enter my tower as decreed by the King, leaving all the chores—from making meals to educating me—to Martha.

Martha had always made sure to cook the best food for me, the same quality and variety of food that other royals in the palace ate. She was not an expert like the royal chefs in the main palace who prepared food for the King, but her food was always tasty, and I loved it. 

"This is when I miss you the most, Martha," I mumbled as I wondered when this old woman would be back.

"What should I cook?" 

Knowing, I had no other option but to make my own meal, I looked around and saw the fresh vegetables and fruits kept in the bamboo woven baskets. 

With a smile, I picked up an apple from the basket. "Eating fruits will do. No need to cook." 

Standing by the window side, I finished the entire apple and looked at my stomach as I rubbed it again. "Are you happy now?"

I was about to leave the kitchen but…. Rumble!

The happy smile on my face disappeared as I retraced my steps back to the kitchen. "Only fruits won't do."

Feeling helpless, I went towards the containers having various grains and cereals inside. 

"Let's make something easy." 

I opened the container of rice. It was the easiest thing I could cook. I was aware of where I could find what I needed as Martha had shown me everything in the kitchen during my cooking lessons...Tsk, I hate those forced cooking lessons.

"I can't eat plain rice," I mumbled and looked at the vegetables.

I chopped some vegetables to add to the rice as I had never liked to eat plain rice. Plain rice made me choke with the lack of some nice taste.

I washed the rice and reminded myself, "Now, I need to cook it." The most annoying thing I had yet to do. "Fire?" I could only sigh but had to do it. 

The biggest task was to start the fire and keep it continuing till the cooking was done. Lifting my skirt and tying it, so the hems don't catch dirt, I kneeled in front of the square-shaped mud stove and put tiny wood blocks and thin dried tree branches in it through the circular hole made at the bottom of the mud stove.

I managed to make fire the way Martha taught me, and it felt like a big achievement. Compared to the past, I certainly improved. "Well, that was not difficult." 

"Where are those pots now?" I found a stack of different-sized metal pots and chose the one that I was familiar with: around, heavy iron cooking pot.

I put it on the mud stove and added rice, water, vegetables, and a few spices into the pot all at once, thinking it silly how Martha added them one by one. 

"In the end, they will be cooked together. Why waste time?" I felt happy at my thoughtfulness about fast cooking. 

I waited next to the mud stove for the rice to cook faster, but it was taking time. 

"What's wrong with it?" 

I checked and realized it needed stronger fire. 

"Let's add more to it." I added more dried branches and tried everything Martha taught me but couldn't make the fire grow. Instead, the more I tried, the flames on the wood only got smaller. 

Feeling annoyed, I looked around the room, and my sight caught the palm-sized bottle kept on one of the shelves. 

"Ah! Flammable oil!" 


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