Dappled rays of the sun filtered through the curtains and hit Atropa's face. Because of the light, Atropa stirred.
Her head throbbed as she tried to get up. The witch stopped short when she felt the soft duvet.
"Where in the world am I?" Confused, the witch observed her surroundings.
Gone were the dusty floor and the dreary prison like casern. Instead, she was placed in a rather luxurious room and was laid on very soft bed fit for a princess.
Although the room was lovely, Atropa was quite surprised to notice that she had been encased in a gilded cage which barely fit the room.
"This is an unfamiliar place. How did I get here?" she asked herself as she tried to touch the enclosure.
"Owww!" She pulled her hand when she felt shocks coming from the metal.
She tried to recite a spell to get her out but it did not work.
"Anti-magic or dispel." She muttered as she scrutinized the runes which were placed cleverly placed as decorations on the walls. "I'll be damned!"
Since she could not break free, she gave up and fell back into the soft bed. The witch then tried to recall what exactly happened before she had lost consciousness and had been thrown inside this room.
She vaguely remembered infiltrating Formosa and she was set on stabbing the king.
But it seemed that she had failed.
Memories from that time started pouring in.
Before her knife could come into contact with the intended target. A ribbon of darkness shot out and held her captive.
As she struggled, her foot had hit the chair with which the former king of Azalea had been sitting.
Without any resistance, the former king suddenly fell off the chair. Bulrush then remained motionless on the dusty floor.
Atropa stopped struggling in shock as she saw the appearance of king.
The witch had failed to notice it earlier. The stench of death was all over the place, so she had assumed that the foul odor had been caused by the sacrifices done in that casern.
The former monarch's body did not smell. It had been camouflaged by the pungent odor scattered around the place, However, his visage suggested that he had been a cold corpse for more than a day.
And although she could not touch him to confirm whether he is dead, she knew that he had had already undergone and past the stage of rigor mortis.
The corpse was on the putrefaction stage. There was discoloration on certain areas which suggested that the king was killed for several days already.
"No way…" Atropa shook in a mixture of anger, frustration and disappointment. "How come you are already dead?!"
"What will happen to my revenge?!" She cried out while trying to free herself from the shackle of darkness. Lumina in response to her distress glowed.
However, Lumina seemed to have been overpowered not only by the darkness surrounding the place but also the growing darkness in her mistress's heart.
"Who killed you? I am supposed to be the one to kill you." The witch wailed in anguish. She wanted to lash out but she could not free herself from her restraint.
The darkness embraced her rather firmly and the more she struggled, the tighter it wound itself around her body.
Atropa even failed to notice the presence which had entered that chamber.
"This is quite a show." The familiar male voice got the witch's attention.
"Reed." Atropa hissed at her childhood friend.
The dark-haired current king of Azalea drew near her. The witch could sense that something was off.
"I cannot believe that you would be brave enough to actually try and kill the former king of Azalea." His voice was cold.
"I wasn't the one who killed him. He was dead by the time I got here." She argued.
"LIES!" He roared. "You are the only one here."
Atropa sworn that something was really going on with Reed. He wasn't like this when she last saw him.
She wanted to break away and argue back, but the darkness coiled tightly around her. The darkness was trying to cut her air supply hence she could barely breathe.
"Since you are caught killing the king of Azalea. I will have you thrown into prison and decide your punishment later." Those were Reed's words before her consciousness faded.
"So, why am I not in prison?" she asked while trying to look for away to get out from the gilded cage.
"Instead of putting me in a prison, why enclosed me in this bird cage and provide me with such a opulent accommodation?" she wondered.
"Because you are Lily…" came the answer.
Atropa froze when Reed suddenly emerged from the door.
What was more disturbing for her was the fact that Reed was able to recognize her.
"I am not Lily." She insisted while glaring at the king. That was the time that she notice the darkness around reed.
"I cannot believe you would really kill my father." He muttered while taking a seat before her. "This is vengeance for your parents and the Kingdom of Marjoram."
Atropa did not answer. Instead she tried to figure out what had happened to this king.
"I am quite relieved that you have gotten rid of such nuisance." He smirked as he said those words.
Atropa's eyes widened. 'Reed isn't like this before. How come he had changed.' She thought to herself.
As far as she knew, Reed is the loyal and filial son among the two princes of Azalea. So, it was unsettling to see him scorn his father like this.
Lumina gave a very faint glow.
Atropa was taken aback when Lumina provided that answer that she sought. 'What? So, you mean they took him in my stead?'
Before Lumina could answer, Reed said something that caught the witch's attention.
"You are quite a tough one. You never give in to my temptation. I even have to find another vessel for my plans. But since you have voluntarily approached me this time. I will not let you go."
Reed's eyes glowed like obsidian.
Atropa then realized what was going on. "I am in trouble…"