***
After days, finally, Rion and the three others arrived at Green Castle.
That night, Odette couldn't sleep, her whole body felt sore from the very long journey. Feeling very uncomfortable, she decided to get up and walk to the window.
Instantly, she was flabbergasted when she saw the rose garden spread out in front of her. The roses moved gracefully as the wind blew and she smelled a sweet and very soothing fragrance.
Odette had never seen a rose garden so beautiful.
'Is this… the rose garden that Anwen meant? A rose that can grant wishes?' Odette wondered in her mind. Out of curiosity, she jumped out the window, intending to take a close look at the flowers.
She was so mesmerized by the sight in front of her that she subconsciously began to daydream. However, suddenly, the sound of someone's footsteps made her wake up from her daydream.
Her eyes widened as she turned her head to see who it was, suddenly her neck was strangled very strongly.
"Ri-Rion…" She looked at the gray-haired man who was currently choking her. His hazel eyes looked very sharp and also very cold. Odette still clearly remembered that gaze. It was exactly the same as the gaze of the man who once pointed a sword at her.
"I-it hurts." Odette winced in pain as she felt her body lifted and her feet slowly left the ground.
"Le-let go." Odette grimaced and panicked as the oxygen pathways inside her began to narrow. She tried to release the man's grip but she was too weak compared to him.
Rion, who saw Odette in pain, smirked.
"A very beautiful suffering face," he said coldly.
Odette's eyes bulged. She trembled for a moment before her body was thrown against the wall.
"Ahh!" The skull of her head shook as it hit the wall. After a few seconds, a red liquid came out and turned her hair color dark. Blood came out profusely, seeping down the collar of the shirt she was wearing but he was still conscious.
With shaking hands, she tried to get up from her prone position. She had to run away immediately to save her life but how could she do that? When she got up and turned her head, she felt Rion's presence nearby. She was wide-eyed when she saw the sword swinging toward her.
"Aaaahh…!!" Odette screamed while moving spontaneously, protecting her head with her hands, but once again, God saved her life.
Someone came on time.
With her heart pounding so hard, Odette opened her eyes and saw two swords criss-crossing in front of her and found Trish standing next to her.
"Huh. You bastard," Rion is grinning again
Trish didn't give any response. His eyes stared very intently at the king's hazel eyes.
***
The servants, who were talking about the fight between the king and Knight Trish, woke Anwen from her slumber. Anwen sat up while listening well, and to her surprise, it turned out that she had not heard wrong.
She rushed off the bed and ran outside, following the maid who was running ahead. After a while, Anwen finally arrived at the back door of the castle. At every door, servants and guards peeked into the backyard.
Anwen approached one of the doors and the people gathered there immediately made way for the princess. Anwen's breath hitched and her eyes widened when she saw her brother and Trish dueling, while not far from them was Odette standing with her head bleeding.
Anwen ran fast to catch Odette's body that looked like it was about to fall.
"HEY! WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE! COME HELP ME LIFT HER UP!" Anwen shouted to the soldiers and servants who were just watching. Odette was carried by two maids and Anwen immediately followed her, but Rion who had been fighting with Trish suddenly threw his sword at Anwen.
"PRINCESS!" Trish screamed in panic. Odette, who was still conscious, was shocked, and tried to open her heavy eyes while everyone was wide-eyed.
Hearing Trish's scream, Anwen immediately turned around and could only freeze when the blade of the sword slashed a few inches beside her neck.
After that failed attack, Rion was about to lunge at Anwen with a killing intent. Fortunately, Trish quickly thwarted his attempt by slashing Rion's leg.
"PRINCESS, GET OUT OF HERE!" Trish shouted but Anwen didn't move at all from where she was standing. Her eyes were blank. She was in shock at what had just happened. The older brother she loved and missed so much wanted to kill her.
The young girl's face was deathly pale and her body was trembling.
"PRINCESS, GET OUT OF HERE!" Trish shouted while continuing to block Rion, and this time the scream made Anwen wake up from her reverie. But, just as she was about to leave, Rion threw Trish against the wall.
"TRISH!" Anwen screamed in panic. Everyone was shocked and the two maids who were supporting Odette froze in their place. Trish fell on his knees, he felt pain in his back but there was no time to lament about it, he had to get up soon.
"TRISHY, WATCH OUT!"
Trish was surprised to hear Anwen's shout. A second later he saw a sword raised in the air and ready to slash him. Luckily, Trish had good reflexes. He immediately slammed his body to the side and rushed to his feet.
Trish's eyes went wide as he saw Rion jump while performing a slash aimed at Anwen. At that time, Anwen could only stay silent with wide eyes and….
STAB!
Blood spurted out.
The wind blew, moving the roses in the garden.
Silence.
Everyone forgot to breathe and became a statue for a while.
"Tri-Trishy?" Anwen's body shook violently when she found Trish suddenly hugged her tightly, and got slashed by Rion's sword.
Trish's shoulder was bleeding profusely while Rion was grinning.
"As always, you're impressive, Dog."
"Brother…" Anwen looked at Rion with trembling eyes. Her whole body was covered in cold sweat and her heart was beating so hard as if it was going to burst out of her chest.
What happened to her brother? Was the man standing in front of her right now her older brother? This must be a dream! Her brother couldn't possibly want to kill her!
Anwen refused to believe it. But…
"Snakes and calamities like you must be killed," said Rion showing a devilish smile.
No! Anwen must have heard wrong. Without her knowing, tears were already running down her cheeks. Rion's words were very painful to hear.
"Get out of here, Princess," Trish whispered in Anwen's ear then turned to face Rion.
"Trishy..." Anwen spoke softly. She was very worried to see Trish's condition.
"Get out of here, Princess. NOW!" Trish repeated his words, and he said his last words in a slightly elevated tone. After that he also asked Anwen to order everyone into the castle.
Anwen's mind was completely fogged. Because she was so scared to see her brother, she couldn't think. She didn't know what happened to her brother that made Trish fight him. And her brother? Did her brother really hate her and want to kill her?
"But Trishy, your wound?"
"Don't worry about me. Everything will be fine, go back inside with the others," Trish said. His eyes stared intently at Rion who was under Lucifer's control.
Of all the 'evil spirits' in the king's body, Lucifer was the most dangerous because he did not hesitate to hurt and kill anyone. Even though the king had given authority to Trish to do anything to stop him when he was overpowered by Lucifer, Trish would never want to hurt the king.
"Be careful," Anwen said, then left with Odette. She also told everyone to go in as Trish said.
While on the way into the castle, Odette turned and saw Rion. Her eyes looked sad. Rion didn't seem to be aware of what he was doing at the moment. How would he feel when he woke up and found out that he had injured Trish and nearly killed Anwen?
He must be feeling very guilty.
After everyone left, Trish stood opposite Lucifer. A gust of wind ruffled their long hair.
They glared at each other and then started fighting again. The first attack was opened by Lucifer swinging his sword, but Trish immediately ducked and kicked Lucifer in the stomach, causing Lucifer to be pushed back a few steps.
Before Lucifer attacked again, Trish quickly took the sword that Lucifer had thrown at Anwen, and they were back at the duel.
Meanwhile, Odette was being treated by a healer. Her head had been bandaged and the wound had been treated.
"Rest well, Miss Ody," said Anwen as soon as the healer finished treating Odette's wound.
"You too, Anwen."
Anwen nodded with a smile but her eyes looked sad. That incident must have shocked Anwen. When everyone had left, Odette thought of Rion. She remembered the time she woke up in the morning in the cave. At that time, Rion asked Odette if he had hurt Odette the night before.
The man was very afraid that he would hurt others without him knowing it. He asked that to make sure that he didn't relapse.
Odette looked sadly at the ceiling and remembered Bee hugging her tightly, and then Rion barking at her at the bottom of the slope. If it was true that Rion had dissociative identity disorder, it meant that there were a total of three personalities that Odette had seen.
"A life like that must be very tiring. Isn't that right, Rion…?" she muttered then closed her eyes.