231: Watch Your Mouth

Watch Your Mouth

Drayce observed the conflicted emotions on the young woman's face. 

"Your master, Erich Winfield, also stands by that belief—that any patient must be treated without bias. But," Drayce paused, as if to highlight the importance of this matter, "but the delegates in this summit should be an exception. Nothing in this summit is a coincidence or an accident. Unless it is an unexpected life-and-death situation in front of you, I advise you to seek our opinions first, before interacting with others. 

"The King of Thevailes is related to the attack that happened in that temple. Thevailes is hostile to Megaris and Abetha, and both kingdoms are allies of Griven. With such a relationship, it is suspicious their servants asked for you. You are probably lured by them due to your performance in the temple. You are a Black Witch with divine power, and it's more important for you to be careful."

Oriana felt speechless. She was merely a commoner, a human at that, before all these happened and thus her way of thinking was simple. It seemed that this new world she entered—a world where royals battle with wits, and supernatural beings fight with power—was beyond anything she imagined it to be.

"Tell me everything that happened from the moment you stepped inside that mansion. Do not leave even a single detail."

Oriana obediently narrated everything to him, and she even told him about the time she spent with Rosetta.

"Lady Rosetta?" Drayce repeated, puzzled. From Oriana's description, she must be a noble lady with a high status, but he could not recall any high-ranking official with such a name. "What's her position or title?"

"Umm, I am not sure, but she seems to have the authority to even challenge a knight. Seems like everyone obeyed her words there."

"Just by checking your pulse she got to know you are a woman?" 

"Yes."

"Did you sense anything unusual around her?"

"You mean magic?"

"Yes, the same type of feeling you get from me and Martha—the resonance of our race.""

Oriana shook her head. "I didn't. If I had sensed anything, I would not be so foolish to enter in the first place."

"Alright." Drayce nodded, somewhat deep in thought. "What happened, happened, but now, you are not allowed to leave the mansion without our permission. Especially if you are going to the guest mansion of Thevailes."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You may withdraw. I'm sure Martha is impatient to talk with you."

Oriana smiled, looking a little tired. "I am thankful for the generosity, Your Majesty, but I have recovered. His Highness is correct. I am his personal aide. As long as I wear this uniform, it should be him, my master, who I should be serving. I should return to my job as his attendant."

'You have recovered, but my friend is in a bad state because of you.' Drayce sighed inwardly. "Your master will summon you when you are needed. Go now."

Oriana could not disobey Drayce's order.

Once she left, Drayce went to Arlan's bedchamber. The moment the red-eyed king entered the chamber, eyes flickering between gold and red were glaring at him. "What took you so long to send her away?" 

Arlan was in the lounge area, frustration all over his face. The golden scales on his skin were yet to fade, his hands gripping the arm leaving deep imprints  in the wood.

Drayce raised a brow at him. "We reversed our roles today. I'm not used to playing the sympathy card while you do the tough approach. I just realized how hard it is to play nice."

"That's why I am the one good at interrogation, and not you."

"You play the devil well."

"You hardly count as an angel."

Shaking his head at their banter, Drayce sat on the chair opposite Arlan. "Are you alright?"

"Can't you see already?" Arlan sounded annoyed.

"She is gone. You will be fine."

"Fine you say?" he scoffed mockingly. "Do you know what happened just now?"

"What?"

"I wanted to disappear the moment I stepped out of the study so that I could get as far as I could from her, but that thing didn't allow it! For the first time, he stopped me from using my powers to disappear. He wanted us to go back to her. I had to drag myself away with so much difficulty with the help of Imbert—"

"That is praiseworthy," Drayce commented.

Seeing the growing irritation on the prince's face, Drayce explained, "You didn't return to her. It means you are still stronger than him when it comes to taking control of your body. Think of it as a positive sign of our trail and error."

"I don't know. Just keep her away from me till she stops bleeding. I don't want to harm her."

"I will keep her away from you for time being," Drayce assured but next words took that assurnave back, "except for once."

Those golden-flecked eyes narrowed in his direction. "What do you mean?"

"Oriana is going there again tomorrow."

"There? You mean to Thevailes mansion? Not a chance! Don't anger me by saying more of such crap."

"First, calm down and then listen to me. Her scent is fading already. Get a grip on your emotions."

Arlan frowned as he leaned back in the chair. He closed his eyes and mumbled, "I feel like a dog being trained by his master."

"Even if you are a dog, I would never want a troublemaker like you as my pet. I have Dusk already," Drayce replied with a light chuckle. "Get rid of those scales quickly so I can tell you the plan."

After a while, Arlan had calmed enough for all the scales to disappear from his body. His eyes had returned to their deep blue hue.

"This better be worth it," Arlan muttered, displeased.

"Send a visitation notice to the guest mansion of Thevailes."

"Are you insane?!"

Drayce had an uncharacteristically innocent expression. "Just a friendly meeting between delegates from two kingdoms."

"If you hate me, you can directly tell me so. No need to send me to a piece of trash with a flag of non-existent goodwill. I would rather befriend those drunkards from the taverns than socialize with that psychopath."

Drayce commented, "Are you the one with the plan, or am I the one?"

"Alright, say it."

"Today, you are sending a message to Samer Vailes that you want to explore the possibility of friendship between your kingdoms."

"Friendship, my ass." Arlan almost felt like rolling his eyes and spoke, "You want me to go there and investigate. Griven, at least on the surface, is a neutral nation, not to mention I am merely a prince so it doesn't lower my prestige to seek him out. Since they dare ask the help from my personal aide, they also don't have a right to deny my request for a friendly visit to their mansion. Isn't it?"

"As expected of the smart Crown Prince of Griven." Drayce offered him a teasing smile and continued, "Oriana promised a Thevailese noble lady she would return to check on the patient. If we prevent her, then they might raise their guards and do more drastic measures to gain what they want. It is better to play along for now, otherwise, they might think of harming Oriana—"

"They can try."

"I do not doubt your ability to protect your mate, but we need to let this summit finish successfully for the sake of a few years' peace on this continent," Drayce said. "Going with her will also put you at ease that she is safe."

Arlan silently pondered over Drayce's plan. "I see the benefits of going but…"

"You have to bear with it. I will ask Yorian if he has anything that can help you deal with her scent." Drayce then  teased, "We cannot tell the Thevailese delegation to wait a couple more days, the reason being your aide is yet to stop bleeding." 

Arlan glared at him. "Be careful, you know who you are talking about."

"Who? If it's about your mate, I'll shut my mouth, but if it's about your aide, then I don't have to watch my mouth."

"I suggest you to shut your mouth."

Drayce smirked, as he understood the indirect meaning of his words.0

----

Oriana retuned to Megaris guest mansion. On the way back, all her thoughts circled around Arlan's behaviour towards her. 

'Why do I feel like he only gets angry whenever he sees me? As if he wants nothing but run away from me. I must have made a mistake today by going to other kingdom's mansion without his permission, but he's been like this since even before. What did I even do so wrong for him to treat me like this? I...I don't understand. How much I think about it, there is no answer. Is it really because of that kiss? Not like I am asking him for anything or blaming him. Can't he just mature a little more and let it go? This prince needs to grow up and let go of such things. I don't even remember that kiss or whatever. I have more important things to do."

She sighed as she stepped inside, 'I miss those days with him when he was a brat prince. His bratty side is better than his scary side. I wish if we can go back to being like in those days before I leave. Seems impossible now.'

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