[Poor poor fool. How can he be fooled by such a demon even though his outward appearance is so ruthless? Ha ha ha! But, well, there has always been nothing good about love.
[By the way, the Prince is great too for not being fooled by that demon. He saw him often, right? Instead of being fooled, he managed to protect others from the demon. Hmmm, should I be afraid of that Outcast Prince?]
As it always been, Rheannon ignored the voice. Her mind and eyes were only fixed on what was in front of her at this moment.
Axelle with his tools was carving a log of wood.
He looks very focused.
[Hey, little girl! You're ignoring me on purpose, aren't you?! You better tell me something about that prince!]
So focused, Axelle didn't even feel Rheannon's presence. He only realized it when Rheannon fell and make a sound.
"Lady!" Axelle exclaimed in surprise. He immediately left his job. "Why not make a sound to call me?"
Having managed to get up and be seated, Rheannon pointed at Axelle's work and said haltingly, "Se-ri-ous."
Axelle immediately understood what she meant. "I don't mind being bothered when I'm serious," he said earnestly. "Please don't walk alone. Lady Rheannon was just able to walk three days ago. Your body is still not strong enough to walk far."
Being lectured like that made Rheannon frown. Axelle snorted in amusement.
"So why is the Lady here?" asked Axelle then.
Rheannon didn't answer and instead looked around her.
From what he tells, Rheannon knows that Axelle enjoys doing art activities. He had a lot of free time, so Axelle often spent it painting and carving, occasionally writing as well. However, Axelle has never taken a special course, so his work is mostly seen as amateurish – so he said. But according to Rheannon, Axelle's works are pretty good.
Coupled with his divine power, Axelle's work has its own "plus value". If one day the Palace stopped giving Axelle a living allowance, Rheannon thought, Axelle could still earn money by selling sacred items.
"When you are healthy enough, I will teach you how to paint and carve," Axelle promised. "Now we should get out of here first. The wood dust is not good for you."
[Yes, yes. Right. Let's get out of this place. The air is suffocating. Just like a temple.]
Rheannon agrees with that. The air in Axelle's art room did feel like a temple. If the entire small castle feels like a temple, then this art room is already like a holy room to face God.
"Temple?" Rheannon asked, pointing at Axelle.
"Why didn't I join the temple?" asked Axelle to be sure. Rheannon nodded. "Because the temple… doesn't feel like a temple anymore."
Rheannon's brow furrowed at this. She demanded an explanation from Axelle.
So Axelle explained, "Graduating from the temple academy back then, actually I did intend to join one of the temples. Serving in the Holy City of Zion feels good to me who has been an outcast. But the Palace rejects the idea." Axelle was silent for a moment. "In exchange, they offered me to serve the Beulah Sacred Temple… But that place…"
Axelle's voice floated in the air and disappeared. For some reasons, he didn't continue his explanation.
Rheannon did not ask for further explanation. She just smiled at Axelle.
[What a smart move. This Prince is indeed a great man. He even knew that there was something wrong with the Beulah Sacred Temple. Ha! Indeed from the beginning the temple was full of rotten people.
[Oh, it's really sad to know the place that the self-righteous people glorify becomes a demon's base. Hahaha!]
"Ah, it's not like I want to talk bad about Beulah Temple and the Palace," said Axelle hastily.
Rheannon held Axelle's hand to calm him down.
Axelle let out a long breath. "I'm sorry, Lady. That's true. Since what happened ten years ago, a lot has changed. I… can't believe and believe anything anymore outside my castle. Even with a place that is said to be the House of Gods."
"N-no," Rheannon said. He grabbed Axelle's hand.
It doesn't matter. There was nothing wrong with suspecting the Beulah Sacred Temple andtThe Palace at this time.
***
Summer means Princess Lucielll Rexton's birthday. Princess Lucielll Rexton's birthday means summer.
As a kingdom that has relatively refreshing summers, Rexton almost never gets into any trouble when summer comes. Therefore, since King Rexton V ascended the throne, the beginning of summer will be greeted with great fanfare. It's his daughter's birthday. Folk Festival! Firework! Party at the Palace for a week!
People are excited for summer!
Especially in the capital city, the streets are decorated. Seasonal traders appear. The children were running around happily. Laughter was heard everywhere. Everyone was happy except for one of the boys dressed in all black who stood awkwardly in the crowd.
"Hey, kid." Someone pulled his clothes back, just as a carriage rushed fast. "Don't daydream anywhere. Where are your parents?" asked the helper.
The man was also dressed in all black. But he knew for sure he was wearing it as a family identity, not out of mourning.
"Not here," he mumbled later.
"Huh?"
"They no longer exist." The boy wrung the hem of his shirt. "Already dead."
To his surprise, that person didn't show the slightest concern or a hint of pity for him. Something that surprised the boy because almost everyone actually felt sorry for him.
"Then who did you come here with? Your guardian?"
"With my uncle."
"Who?" he asked again. "You're lost, aren't you? Let me take you to your house," he said, as if bringing lost people home was his job.
"I'm not lost," said the boy.
The man dressed in black raised an eyebrow. "You ran away?" guessed it. He chuckled then. "Boy, life outside is crueler than anything that's happening to you right now." He took the boy's hand and half dragged him to walk. "If you don't want me to take you home, I'll take you to the security post."
They had just walked for a while until someone called out to them.
"Desmond!"
The boy automatically frowned. He hastily hid behind the all-black person.
"Huh? What the hell?" Again the man chuckled. "So the uncle you're referring to is Marquess Hadrian?" Desmond nodded. "Hey, Sir. If you take children on a walk, please be more careful," he then said to Hadrian.
"Lord Chas Colton, thank you," Hadrian replied earnestly. He turned to Desmond. "Desmond, come here. I won't be angry."
"Yeah, the Marquess shouldn't be angry because it's your fault," Chas grumbled. "Why are you bringing a child into such a crowd, anyway?
Hadrian patted Desmond on the head once. "This will be his social debut."
Chas stared at him in disbelief. "He's still such a kid! Moreover, it looked like he was in mourning. You're not his parents either."
"Soon Desmond will be my son. I'm working on the papers."
"What?"
"It's a long story, Lord Chas. Not something that can be explained by standing on the side of the road like this."
"That's not what I meant. I thought–wait–I thought one day the Marquess would propose to Princess Lucielll, get married, and have a child!"
Just at that moment, Hadrian grabbed one of his heads. He groaned. He looked in pain.
"Uncle!"
"Marquess Hadrian!" Chas immediately panicked. "Hey, are you okay?! If you're sick, why did you even come out for a walk?!"
Meanwhile Desmond was already in tears holding back tears. "Uncle..."
"I'm fine," Hadrian said with difficulty. "Lord Chas, if you don't mind, could you please call a carriage for us?"
"Oh my!" Despite that, Chas still went to get a carriage for him.
Desmond himself shuffled backward. He was afraid that something bad would happen to his uncle. A thick, dark aura surrounded him, fighting to get in, but something prevented him. Hadrian's body seemed to reject it so he was tortured by that dark aura.
What can Desmond do? He doesn't dare say anything to his uncle. What if his uncle doesn't believe him?
"Hey, you shouldn't be far from your uncle, right?" Chas scolded, then quickly helped Hadrian into one of the benches and gave him some space to breathe.
Chas turned back to Desmond. "You needn't be afraid, boy. In fact, your presence is needed by him," he said.
Desmond's eyes widened. "My Lord can see it too?"
Chas smiled lopsidedly. "Of course. I borrowed power from someone."
"Could this someone help Uncle get better?"
For some reason, Chas became sad.
"The person who lent me the power is now gone as well. But I hope I can still meet her."
Yes. Soon.