A huge mansion stood at the farthest side of the forest. It was in an enclosure of trees, tall trees, and bushes which would never make someone suspect that there was a mansion of this stature situated there.
The front of the mansion was bare with no flowers or anything. Just bare land and coupled with the blue color of the mansion, it gave off the rooted feeling of unease.
Inside the study of this mansion, two men stood in front of the sleek desk. One had a bulky body and the other, a lean one, and they all seemed like battle-hardened men but at this moment, fear and reverence cohabited in their eyes.
The fear was not the mundane one people felt towards Kings; rather, it was a deep-rooted feeling in their bones which forced out a unique kind of reverence for the man sitting inside in front of them.
The man sighed and his long fingernail tapped the table as though it was a countdown for an execution. "What? Cat got your tongue?" He questioned. Even though his entire upper half was covered in shadows, one could tell he had an exasperated expression.
"Su..Supreme... I..." The bulky man stuttered. A sharp contrast to his stature.
"Do you want me to wring your heads off before you speak clearly?" The shadowy man asked with a calm tone, but the threat was very clear.
The lean man's legs began trembling in fear, but for the sake of keeping his head, he took over. "Su...Supreme, the mission failed."
After the lean man ended, the room became silent. Hell, even a graveyard was noisy when compared to the silence in this study room. Both men tried unsuccessfully to calm their hearts, but they couldn't. And could they be faulted? They were dealing with a man who could snap off their heads if he felt bored.
Unexpectedly, the man took out an apple and began skinning it off. "An apple is a sweet fruit, but do you know that according to those religious fools, the first human was tempted with a mere apple?" The question was directed to them and they had to answer, but before they could, he continued.
"How stupid, the apple led them out of paradise. Oh! And another fun fact, when skinning an apple and enough care is not taken..." He made a sequence of flashy moves and the full apple turned into a deformed one. "...it turns to this."
The two men gulped in fear as they stared at the man whose face was indiscernible because of the darkness creeping in. Their basic instincts screamed at them to run, but common sense told them to stay. And the worst thing was, they couldn't comprehend what he was talking about. The man chuckled when he saw the fear written on their faces, and even though the shelf cast a shadow on him, they could vaguely see a creepy smile.
"Tell the General to begin with the second phase of the plan." He waved them away, and as quick as lightning, they both vanished from the room.
Outside, they breathed in relief as it only occurred to them that they had soiled their pants but that wasn't as important as keeping their heads.
Inside the room, the man fiddled with a phalanx in his hand as he stared outside the window. "Oh, how long is it till the birthday party?"
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Elyptis was a beautiful country which was situated in an enclosure of a series of mountains. The mountains rolled a couple of thousand kilometers away and at the farthest place, a waterfall could be seen flowing freely. The buildings of the people were constructed with bricks, and they had an envious economy as even the poorer district was pleasant to look at.
At the four cardinals, there was a huge gate each, with the one facing the south being the biggest of all.
Being situated in the middle of a range of mountains, the Elyptisians took advantage of it and maximized tourism and also security.
From afar, watchtowers could be seen on every mountain range, including those that stretched outside the kingdom's boundaries.
After all, Elyptis wasn't that large and the next kingdom was a few kilometers away.
But don't be deceived by their moderate size because their army was nothing to joke about.
On this day, Ely stared at the rest of the kingdom from the rampart. The stone pathway was enclosed by well-trimmed flora while the castle gates stood a few meters away.
Away from these gates, people went about their daily activities and Ely had a day off today. She wasn't thinking about anything and neither was she bothered about anything. She was just admiring nature.
Her workaholic conscience chastised her a lot, but she didn't pay it any attention because today, she just wanted to do nothing.
How funny, doing nothing also felt like a chore. She smiled and let the wind ruffle her hair.
The past month had been demanding but she was able to finish it all in time before her father got off his sabbatical, and oh, guess the event tomorrow?
It was Philip's birthday, the planning had all being worth it.
"Princess Ely, the King calls for you." A guard said with his head bowed low in reverence.
Ely turned and looked at him. "Okay, I will be there soon." she responded with a smile.
She walked towards the inner gates if the castle and crossed the courtyard to finally get to the courtroom.
The herald bowed before announcing her arrival and after receiving affirmation, the guard opened and allowed her to enter.
Her father was seated on his throne at the highest level of the room, and... oh, there was a visitor.
She stared at him no more than a minute and then bowed towards her father. "You called for me, father."
King Alfred stared at her with his tired eyes which showed hint of love amid the sea of feral aggressiveness.
"Yes, I did. We have a visitor." His hand pointed toward where the visitor sat and she also stared in that direction.
He was an exquisite creature with sharp jaws and eyes of an eagle. His thin lips were naturally curved into a sinister smirk and his mesmerizing eyes were of a black color. The darkness contained in it seemed to be weaved out of a mix of evilness, mischievousness, and madness which made his eyes irresistible and alluring. So much that it was capable of hypnotizing a person. He was tall and he wore two black earrings which evoked quite a feeling. One being a pure heart with a bit of taint and the other being a heart which is burning.
"The Duke of Sindelworth. Silveria Sindelworth."
King Alfred's voice pulled Ely out of the trance she was in. She stared at him once more and gave him a nod because it was not appropriate for a Princess to bow to anyone apart from her monarch.
Silveria's lips curved into a satisfied smile and he walked towards her. Every step of his was filled with confidence and decisiveness.
He stopped a feet away from her and bowed slightly with his hand raised up. She slid her hand into his, and he kissed it
.