"Young master, you don't have to go to the ceremony if you do not want to. I am sure your parents will understand if you want to skip the ceremony today."
The crown prince gave his retainer a dismissive frown. The man had been trying to make him back down from going anywhere near the temple grounds since yesterday.
After he had been punched and left in shock, the crown prince had been quickly sent home by his retainer.
He had been asked to sever times what had caused his future wife to injure him but Adam had no answer for them. His retainers had even suggested that his parents break off the engagement to such a troublesome person.
The king had refused that offer. No other child in the crown prince's age range showed such potential as that young Eve. And she also had the added benefit of having noble blood in her veins.
'She's the one who will web my son and I will not have any of you say otherwise,' was what the king had decided on and no one could change his mind on this topic.
Not even his wife's words swayed his decision.
The only one who could get the kind to agree to break off this engagement was the crown prince. And that was what the retainers were trying to do - get the crown prince to back off.
"Young master, that lady is not suitable for you. I'm sure your father would agree with you if you want to skip this ceremony."
The crown prince heard the same purpose for the eighth time that evening. His face still supported the redness of getting punched.
"I am no coward. If that girl punched me to get me back down, I will not let things go her way. No one has ever been rude to me before and I will make sure she will be the last one to do so."
"But my lord, there are better ways to make sure someone pays for their crimes. You can always get that girl assassinated. I know of a few decent assassins that will do the work without leaving evidence and-"
"Don't you dare! She is my prey and only mine. You are not allowed to mess with her."
Being a royal retainer, the man had seen a few dangerous things in his life. There were things in the royal family that needed to be kept secret and every inner-palace retainer had a spell of secrecy placed upon them.
As such, the young retainer could boast of having seen all kinds of scenarios but none had filled him with such fear.
The golden-eyes child no longer had his round pupils. Instead, they were narrowed in slits, not unlike a lizard. But something about them took the retainer's breath away.
He had known that the royal family members had dragon's blood inside them but this was the first evidence the loyal retainer had seen.
As far as he knew, even the current king was not able to access the dragon's power in the royal blood. The crown prince was different indeed.
"Hey, did you understand my words? Or will I need to look for another retainer? Remember, I am not a patient, so don't make me repeat myself."
"I understand. I will make sure other retainers leave the lady alone."
"You better do. I don't like people playing around with my prey."
The child looked satisfied after the promise. The retainer could not help but compare him to a satisfied cat who had gotten its way after misbehaving.
Having seen the crown prince grow up, the retainer could tell that the lady had caught the crown prince's interest. This was the first time he had seen the crown prince take interest in anything beyond his weapons and magic.
'I pity the child who has to be the objective of Adam's obsession. I hope she will be able to last long enough to make him lose interest.'
The retainer could only prey on the young lady but he was not going to stick his neck out for her. Adam was scary for a six-year-old brat. And he was just going to get stronger from here on.
_____________________________________
The morning sky was dark. Clouds dominated the sky and made it impossible to see the sun.
But it did not matter to the temple attendants who had already prepared for the solar eclipse ceremony.
"Elysia, come and have your breakfast. The royal retainers will arrive here soon so you need to be prepared beforehand."
Elysia quietly took the offered seat beside Eve but her appetite was gone. She had not been able to get a good sleep last night and it reflected on her face.
"What's wrong? Are you scared? Or tired? If you are tired then I can take over your part for you. Yohan has been teaching me for some time now so I can be of help."
Elysia quickly picked up her head at Eve's reassuring tone. But not because she was happy to hear those words.
She could feel Brother Yohan's scary glare being aimed at her. The man was telling her to choose her words wisely and not make Eve worry needlessly.
"A-Ah, I am not worried. I was just excited and a little hungry. See, I am alright after I have eaten a little."
Elysia forced herself to sound cheerful. It was not difficult for her since being happy came naturally to her as a child. Her face looked natural even when plastered with forced emotions.
"Ooooohhhhhhh. Here, you can have this as well if you are hungry and-"
"Eve, sit down and eat your food. Elysia can ask for more food if she feels hungry. You do not need to share your food with her."
It was Brother Yohan who interrupted Eve's overly enthusiastic actions. His frowning face was full of disapprovement.
"But she's hungry and I can help and-"
"It's alright. See, I am eating and I'll take more mashed potatoes."
Elysia made a big show of taking more food into her plate. She did not have an appetite but she forced herself to finish under Eve's and Brother Yohan's watchful eyes.
She excused herself with the excuse of 'preparing' herself only once she was finished eating.
Surprisingly enough, Brother Yohan stopped Eve from following after her when she told the duo she was headed toward the purification pool.
"But why can't I go with Elysia?"
"You cannot go there because you are special and pure. You are different from everyone else which is a good thing-"
Elysia left the duo before Brother Yohan could finish his explanation.
She did meet the head priest on her way out but his expression was filled with sympathy when he met Elysia's eyes.
However, he did not stop her from leaving the hall and Elysia did not stop moving either. It was clear to her that the head priest did not want to risk talking to her in an open space like the dining hall.
She watched the head priest call out to Brother Yohan but she did not stick around to find what they were talking about.
After all, Elysia had a ceremony to prepare for and it would require a lot of time for her to get ready.
_____________________________________
Brother Yohan saw the head priest head his way with a complicated expression and he knew it was about yesterday.
A few sisters had seen him exit Elysia's room, so he knew that the news must have also reached the head priest.
This was a talk that was bound to happen sooner or later so Yohan dismissed Eve before she could get caught up in this mess.
"Eve, go and fetch my files from my room. I will meet you in the prayer hall."
"Alright."
The head priest did not question why he had sent Eve away. He just took the recently emptied chain and put up a silencing spell.
"You want to know what I talked to Elysia about yesterday? You do not need to worry since I did not threaten her life. I merely told her the reality of how special Eve is and what she should do for Eve."
"I did not ask you anything. And Yohan, Elysia is also a six-year-old child. You should not treat her like a threat."
The head priest had a heavyweight in his voice. But Yohan could hear the cracks in his voice.
"You say that but even you feel uneasy around her and her aura. And you are not the only one who sees her and thinks 'evil.' I am just trying to ensure a bright future for us all by leashing that beast early on."
"Yohan, she is a kid, not a monster. You are not even trying to see her as a human."
The head priest sounded angry but he did not take any action.
"No, it is you who refuse to see her as a monster she could become. All you are doing is repeating the same mistakes of the past. We will all be in danger if she turns out to be anything like her parents. This country was almost annihilated because of them and-"
The head priest stopped Yohan from finishing his sentence. His raised hand stopped Yohan from making any more comments.
"I know that I will not be able to change your mind Yohan, but I still want to ask you one thing. Give her a chance to be human and be happy. I need you to promise me that you will take care of her properly if something happens to me."
The head priest looked dead serious in his words. His eyes shined with a knowing light that gave Yohan a bad feeling.
"Don't talk like you are planning to die. I won't accept your death under any circumstance. You need to live on, alright?"
"I will try my best to live but life is unexpected. That's why I want this promise from you. I will take care of Eve as well if something happened to you so it's not a one-way deal."
The head priest was fighting dirty and he knew it. Still, Yohan decided to humor him this time and make the promise.
"Alright. Stop trying to be this stubborn. I promise you to look after Elysia if something happened to you."
The head priest gave off a devilish smile before he took out something from behind him. The stack of papers was unexpected but Yohan understood what it was as soon as he saw it. They were emergency custody papers.
"Good, now sign these papers and we are done."
"When did you even prepare them? Did you have this idea from the start?"
Yohan was suspicious but he took the offered papers anyway. It was also insurance for Eve's future since he knew that his brother was not one to discriminate. Eve will be happy with him if something happened to him in the future.
And with that, the pact was sealed.