184: She Is Fine

She Is Fine

Arlan clenched his fists. "Should we kill Samer and spare us all this trouble?"2

"I would have done that myself had it been that easy," Drayce commented. "Now you know how I felt every time Seren was in danger." 

The ambitious Kingdom of Thevailes had long been a thorn to their side, but Arlan had never shown such immense hostility towards them until now. He knew Arlan's displeasure was mainly due to Oriana being put into harm's way.

Arlan could only swallow his anger. "If there is even a scratch on her, I will make Samer and Zaria pay for it.

"There are few other things I would like to discuss with you, but now is not the time. For now, tell me what happened in the conference when I was gone."

"That bastard Samer acknowledged that banned herbs were being smuggled into Thevailes," Arlan replied, "but he presented it as if it was someone else's doing. 

"He claimed that they caught those herbs being smuggled in his kingdom and burned them all on the spot. There was no public trial since the smugglers were beheaded as soon as they were found. He also got the excuse of being a newly crowned king who is yet to get a good grasp of all the problems his predecessor left behind, saying some nonsensical promise that he would put a stop to it as soon as he returned from the summit." 

"It was nothing unexpected. For now, we have to think of a way to destroy the secret alliance between Othinia and Thevailes. We have to force Othinia to stop trading banned herbs, or at the very least, have them destroy their plantation. The King of Othinia and Samer played well destroying evidence and covering their tracks, but as long as the plantation exists, we can hold them accountable. We have to find exactly where they are growing those herbs."

"You can use your powers to hunt during the night and comb this kingdom inch by inch. Use them for a good cause for once."

"You can try using yours as well."

"I am a human. You want a mere human to slave away, walking around in the middle of nowhere every night, oh Almighty Red Dragon?"

Drayce knew Arlan would never accept that dragon, but he could see soon it might change like how it changed for him.

While they were in the middle of their conversation, Rafal and Oriana entered the guest mansion. Upon learning that Arlan was inside, the two hurried towards the drawing room. 

Rafal clearly was visibly injured, while Oriana looked fine, except for being a little pale and dirty. The two of them were visibly surprised to find the King of Megaris inside, but both the knight and attendant hurried to bow.

Arlan's gaze scanned her head to toe as if he could not miss any detail.

Drayce offered him a meaningful gaze. 'I told you she is fine.'

Arlan gazed back. 'Will you trust my words when it's about Seren and won't check on her?'

'So admit that she is as important as you the way Seren is important to me?'

Arlan frowned, 'I don't like it if someone else hurts my possession.'

"You will make me sick with those same words.'

"Greetings, Your Highness. We have come back from our city trip," Rafal's words distracted them. 

When Arlan told them to rise, Oriana inevitably glanced towards Drayce. 

'When did he come here? I clearly saw him sitting in the carriage with his wife. Didn't their carriage head towards their own mansion?' Oriana was not aware of Drayce's powers. She didn't even know that the King of Megaris was not human, and using his powers, he had long left that carriage. It had been empty all along.

"I came to report about the incident," Rafal said. Though his knowledge was limited, as he was a person serving under Arlan, it was his responsibility to inform him of the matter that occurred inside the Ancient Citadel of Nefer.

"No need." Arlan looked at the bloodstain on his knight's light armor. "Get yourself treated first."

"It's just a small injury. I am fine, Your Highness."

"He is not fine at all," Oriana interrupted, no longer minding how rude it was to speak when not permitted. "I can tell Sir Ahren has internal injuries due to impact and he has trouble breathing."

Rafal glared at her. "For a knight, these are small injuries."

She glared back at him. "For a physician, they are serious injuries. You need to get treated and I am going to treat you."

"You—ugh!" 

The woman lightly tapped his chestplate. Rafal felt a jolt of pain and stopped arguing with her. 

Drayce was only initially watching from the sidelines. His red eyes flashed as he saw wisps of black energy lingering around the knight. He had been too worried for Seren to care earlier, but now he had room to move, he noticed that Rafal's body had been contaminated by black magic. 

It was faint, probably due to Yorian helping expel the majority of it, but only a person with darkness attribute like Drayce could truly eliminate the black magic from the knight's body without side effects.

Drayce patted the knight's shoulder, casually sending his power inside Rafal and absorbing the traces of black magic from his body while he said, "You did well protecting the group, and I thank you on behalf of my wife, Rafal. But this is not the time to be stubborn."

Draven's stealthy action only noticed by Arlan. The prince sent a grateful look towards his friend. Though he could also see the remnant magic corroding his knight's body, he did not have Drayce's exquisite level of control over magic. He was unable to deal with it himself. How could he as he never wanted to embrace that power?

Oriana pleaded at Arlan, unaware of the silent exchange between the two friends. "Your Highness, please allow me to treat Sir Rafal."

Rafal spoke up, "Your Highness—"

"Listen to what Orian says," Arlan interrupted Rafal. "It's my order for you to follow his treatment."

Rafal could only give up. "Yes, Your Highness."

"Then I will start right away," Oriana said, receiving an approving nod from Arlan. 

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