Chapter 17.

A frustrated sigh left Master Valentine's mouth, as he walked down the spiral staircase coming from the tower of the castle. His mind was in a swirling wheel of thoughts and worries. He felt as if the present incidents would just age him faster than any dragon.

He let out yet another sigh. Lately, the young prince had been in numerous attacks. As he was reaching the age of maturity the attacks kept growing. First inside of the castle now outside of it. It was becoming a problem for him as he had been scrutinising each and every Dragon Guard and with more than thousands of them, Master Valentine's work increased tenfold. He didn't know when he had taken his supper and enough rest.

It was fortunate for the Prince and Seraphina that he was near Rockmond, otherwise, it would have been fatal. Speaking of fatal, Master Valentine had felt his heart jumping to his throat when he witnessed the attack on Prince Demian. Had he not deployed a few Shadow Guards to watch over the Royals, Prince Demian and his bride would have been ended up in the Dragon Graveyard.

Moreover, he had been investigating for the culprit who had the nerve of harming His Highness. It was a disappointment that the enemy could track them down even with Shadow Guards. The men from that Guard were best in everything yet, even they failed to notice the approaching threat. A thought struck him and he halted immediately. 

Was someone from inside the castle informing the enemy? Who could that be? He had selected every man carefully even taken his time to search for their background. There were many Shadow Guards among the shoulders, secretly watching them. He knew his selected men would not dare to defy him and he had fully trusted them but who could be so cunning playing the strings even after his surveillance.

Besides, other than Billard, no one knew about his Shadow Guards. Billard would never try to kill his own brother. Was it because of the curse? Did the enemies found out about it?

So many questions came all at once and he found himself unable to answer any of them. As he reached the end of the spiral case, a hard wooden door blocked his way. 

He knocked two times and waited to knock three times again. Three knocks came from the other side followed by two as the door opened. The guard's eyes drifted behind him for an inspection then he gave a curt nod and stepped back as a tunnel appeared behind the guard. It led him down another spiral staircases into the womb of the castle. He went down as the darkness of it grew along with the thickness of the air. The burners stayed attached with the stone walls maintaining a great distance as he crossed all of them and finally reached his destined place. 

Upon hearing the door's creaking sound, a man turned toward him. He kneeled on his knee and greeted, "Master Valentine."

"Reginald, how come you didn't see an approaching enemy? You have the best sense out of all of them." Master Valentine's voice hard, a hint of disappointment visible in it.

Reginald Bertrand began, his voice had no trace of emotions, "I apologise for that as I failed you, the enemy had been following them but I could not sense them. However–" 

He halted and Master Valentine's brows shot up, "Finish your sentence, Reginald."

"Shall I tell Master Valentine what I truly sensed?"

"Pray, tell me."

Reginald tilted up his head, his eyes cold as ice and dark as night, he said, "There was an unusual scent I caught. I never had smelt it. It was difficult to know in the market but as I neared it, I found it was moving."

"Moving?"

"Yes, Master. Until I found it was the last man I killed."

Master Valentine's brows shot up.

"It was the same smell as Princess Seraphina's."

A gap parted his lips as he took his time to register Reginald's words. He was the only soldier who had a sharp sensory ability, a rare dragon. He excelled in everything and it was why Master Valentine chose him as the young Prince's secret guard. 

Wizard?

Master Valentine's right hand reached his chin as he scratched it. No wizards could enter a Dragon territory with an exception of Seraphina as she said she had lost her powers or sealed...

"Did you find anything else?"

"No, Master Valentine. There was no trace nor the bodies had any marks that would define their origin."

"Clean attempt." He hummed. It was obvious they were sent as a suicide group. Even if they were to be caught, they would end their own lives. 

"Don't tell anyone about Princess Seraphina's scent. No Shadow Guards but you, pray, only one to know that she is... different."

He bowed his head and said, "I will do as you command, Master Valentine."

Master Valentine knew he had already came to know about this secret even without telling him but he would not spill anything even if he was being tortured to death. Shadow Guards were trained for this purpose, they were trained to become emotionless puppets of the royals. Even if they were caught they would die taking the secrets to their graves.

The only remaining obstacle that arose was whether there was a wizard who helped the enemies to attack Demian inside the palace or not? If that was the case then it certainly would be very troublesome to find out. He had heard about Unique Wizards and it could have been possible to the wizard might know how to hide. His mind went to Seraphina and his stomach churned. 

Was it Seraphina? Maybe she lied about her powers... He saw her powers before however, the informer confirmed it was her. 

While Master Valentine's mind formed various notions, something inside of him whispered, 'How could she? She was injured badly. She had taken the damage for the prince.'

The more he gave it a thought the more he found himself hanging from the cliff with a thin rope. 

He shook his head and said, "Search for any unusual behaviour in the guards or anyone. I want a detailed report on this."

He bowed as Master Valentine exited. It was time he should have a talk with Seraphina.

****

A groan left from Seraphina's mouth as she fluttered open her eyes. Her head felt heavy and she never felt weaker than this. As she sat upon the soft mattress, she found Celia against her bed, leaning on it as she was sitting on the floor as if she had fallen asleep after treating her wounds.

Seraphina looked around the room, it was dark and a slight scent of ointment lingering in the air mixed with the metallic scent of her blood. 

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, her stomach rumbled and her thoughts went to Demian. How was he? Was he safe? 

Then a few images came to her mind as her chest lightened. She remembered a guard had appeared. 

Seraphina didn't know how many hours or days she had been sleeping and Celia had been treating her. Her lips pursed in a thin line as she found dark circles nested under the poor maid's eyes. She must have had it rough. 

Seraphina stood slowly and reached for a duvet to cover Celia, careful to not wake her up. And slowly, she reached for the door.

As her feet lightly padded against the stoney path, she headed toward Demian. She didn't know why but she wanted to see him. See for herself if he was okay and her rumbling stomach was long forgotten. 

Taking a few turns, she finally reached the door of the prince. The two guards were still stood by the doors, their eyes wide at her as she neared. 

"Princess Seraphina?" One of them said, clearly startled at she came in her weakened state. She was barely standing still swaying from left to right on her axis.

"I want to see Prince Demian." She stated weakly and her head throbbed painfully. 

The guards exchanged a look then nodded as they cleared the path. She entered and was invited by the darkness again. But she knew where Demian was. The heat of his burning skin could be felt from afar. She followed it and reached him. 

He was cocooned in the sheets, his boyish face twisted in pain and the inks glowing over his skin. 

Seraphina's heart clenched and brushed her hand on his head. As if feeling her touch, the tension released from Demian's body. 

She heard the knob twisting and tilted her head to find it was Master Valentine. The guards must have informed him. 

"Princess Seraphina..." He said, his voice low.

"Was he hurt?" She asked, her stomach tightened at the thought of Demian being hurt and rage unleashed from her core. Who were they? What did Demian do to them?

He was only thirteen years old and still in his learning age. He could not defend himself yet, what did he do to become a subject of their hatred?

"No... He wasn't but you were." 

"It was foolish to take him outside of the castle, wasn't it?" She asked humorlessly as her eyes stayed on his sleeping figure. 

"It was and the crown prince was furious of the foolish act—"

"Then I shall take any punishment he has to give me for I did take him out of the castle," she said, the anger burning her from her inside. She could feel her flames around her heart burning deeply and dangerously to turn everything into ashes who dared to cross path with it. 

"Nonetheless, Prince Demian took all the blame and now his actions will be closely monitored."

She shot her head toward Master Valentine, shock imprinted on her face. "D—Demian took the blame, why?"

"He said he enjoyed it and if it was for a little enjoyment, he shall take any punishments..." Valentine's eyes stayed longer on her as she registered his words. As soon as she did, butterflies fluttered inside her belly followed by a blush. 

"I—I should have never taken him..." She repeated her words.

"That shall be decided by the young prince, now, I suppose." Master Valentine said and added, "However, I have a question regarding the attack."

"Who were they? And why they were attacking him?" She asked.

"It's yet to be confirmed but, did you feel something unusual in their behaviour or appearance?"

Her hand scratched her chin for a moment and she said, "Yes... I wanted to tell you before, but I passed out..." She added as she recalled the ground swallowing them, "yes, there was a wizard among them."

Master Valentine nodded as his brows ceased together on his forehead, the worried face of him was hard to ignore. Seraphina was certain there was something wrong with everything. She had no recollection of the rules but even a commoner could tell a wizard would never enter the Dragon's Land. Was the situation that dire? 

"It was fortunate that one of my guards was there. But I would like to show you my deepest gratitude for you had risked your life to save His Highness." He said and her cheeks heated up. 

Gratitude? Nobody had ever said that even when she had saved many, instead, they were always scared. However, she did cause some damages. 

As Master Valentine left, she crawled up on the bed, beside the young Prince and wrapped her hands around him. Demian, in his unconscious state, leaned further against her warmth as Seraphina drifted off to sleep forgetting all about her hunger.