Cyfrin stared at the door again. He wanted to leave after exchanging a few pleasantries but the duke was keeping him busy more than he had thought.
"I did not remember anyone with such a strong power of the earth element in a long while. After your wife passed away, her body was never found, right?" he asked after a pause when he saw the expressions of the man turning completely.
He was only trying to irk him so that he would let him go but looking at his expression, as if he had caught someone red handed.
"Whoever the person was.. He or she was trying to take revenge on your family. Everyone knew that things between your first wife and you did not end well. Do you think she came back to get revenge?" he probed with a tilt of his head when the duke was infuriated.
"What are you trying to say, your highness? I apologize but this fellow has failed to understand you." His voice had a hint of warning as if he was giving last chance to take his words back but the young boy just smiled.
"It is an open secret that your eldest daughter is not treated well in the house after the death of her mother. If i would have been her mother, i would have come to take revenge on those who had made the life of my daughter, hell." he said with a slight smile on his face but at the same time he was not.
His bright eyes were emitting chilly coldness that did not give chance to the duke to refuse him when he looked away.
"This is all your assumption. There is no proof to it. So, it would not mind your speculation but it had been ages since my wife died. If she would have come back, she would have met me or her daughter first before starting her revenge." he cleared his throat as he stood up but Cyfrin felt like the duke was hiding something.
Nonetheless, he wanted to be free and now he was. He did not force the duke anymore as he stood up and slightly bowed his head.
"I understand your condition, my lord. I will not take much of your time but I hope that you would think about it again when you feel better." he stood up and left with a slight smile on his face that was carefree but it forced him to grit his teeth as he had the same thought.
That was the only reason he went to see the house that belonged to his wife.
As Cyfrin walked out, he realized that when he was trying to heal Althea, he had felt immense power coming from her. He would not have been surprised if she would have been the predator but with her current state, it was impossible. But if it was true that her mother had returned, the condition of the empire would change completely.
His heart stirred just by the thought of it. But to know the truth, he had to heal Thea soon.
"Your highness, your majesty has called for you. He said the matter is urgent so you return as soon as you receive the message.'' Just as Cyfrin walked out of the meeting room, a servant was waiting for him, making him frown.
He had come so far only to meet Thea but it looked like there were so many hurdles. He thought for a second before taking out a paper out of thin air and writing some words on it and then passing it to the servant.
"Alright, but I want you to send the letter to the elder daughter of the duke without anyone knowing about it." He was not afraid that the message might be leaked because he had placed a spell on it.
If anyone else except Thea tried to read it, they would only see a jumble of mess rather than words.
Once the servant bowed his head, Cyfrin performed a spell and disappeared from there. But in reality he was running at the lightning speed that he could not be seen with open eyes.
The servant went to look for Thea who was returning from the library and bowed his head respectively and passed the message to her.
Thea opened the letter with confusion but was surprised to see that Cyfrin had remembered about her problem, "I did not get the chance to heal you todah, but it is good too since your family would know what I am doing.
Meet me at the foothills after midnight with these things. I need it for your treatment." The letter was short and concise, just like the man when she smiled. A thrill filled her as she wondered what else she would be able to do once she was treated.
But what surprised her was, he asked her to bring the herbs instead of bringing him himself like last time.
"He must be showing his misery now that I had asked him for money." she shook her head as she read the list again.
"The dragon grass, enchanted leaves, at least a hundred years old gleaning wood and …." Each of the items in the list is rare and hard to come by. Where was she going to find such things before midnight?
The only way to find them is to search the whole hills but even then it was not surety that she would be able to get everything.
But.. she had to.. She wanted to be a strong person. She clenched her hands into a fist as she decided to go and check the mountain since she didn't have money to buy so many things.
"I am going to rest in my room. I want you to guard the door and not let anyone in.'' She warne the maid as she had already decided what she needed to do when the maid bowed her head but fate was not with her today.
"Why are you resting in the middle of the day? You are not an old woman."