Finally! I'm done with my sickness and now I can get out of bed and play all I want. No matter how much I kept my mind busy with studying and all, It was still tiring to lay in bed all day. So I made my way towards my little flatmates.
"I'm here to play, Boys!" I was excited as I slammed the door open. But that excitement died soon and then calmness followed before it turned into anger.
"Mother!" Noah and Cleo were happy to see me but all I could see was the mess behind them. The books in their study were torn and so were the chairs and cushions. The decorations were ripped off. The wallpaper had claw marks. And there were two wolves the size of a full grown pomeranian, one snow white and one pitch black. They caught sight of me as well. As soon as they met my eyes, maybe they sensed my anger, but they bared their teeth and growled.
"Don't growl at mother!" Noah snapped but the wolves were unperturbed.
"Dogs that don't listen to their masters have no place in this house." I spoke slowly as I glared back at the two wolf cubs. No matter how I see it, they are dungeon wolves.
"You two." I walked to the wolf cubs and the two finally cowered. "How dare you destroy the rooms? My sons' precious space." I picked the two cubs with the scruff of their necks and they struggled in my hold. Their claws were out and began scratching at my hands drawing blood.
"No! Stop it! Ares!" Cleo tried to stop but to no avail.
"Mother, You are hurt!" Noah was fussing over my bleeding wrists.
I lifted them towards me and, "If you scratch me one more time, I will bite your heads off!" I growled with my face a little close to their snouts, looking directly into their eyes. Those two cubs immediately froze and whimpered. Feeling satisfied, I walked out of the room with the cubs hanging in my hands.
"Find the priests, Hurry!" Noah ordered and the maids scurried to the infirmary.
"Where is your father?" I asked.
"He left the day before yesterday morning. He should be back soon." Cleo pondered out loud.
"Alright. I will wait for him then." I said amiably. So I sat in front of the palace gates and waited for my dear husband to return.
* * *
After a few minutes of waiting, The butler and the head maid learned about the commotion and hurried to the palace gates only to see the grand princess sitting in a chair looking pointedly at the gates. As if she wanted to burn the gates down.
The young lords were also sitting beside her with their maids and knights standing behind. Lady Ellie, Ivy, Reese and May were also standing still in silence behind the grand princess. They made no attempt to persuade the princess to go back inside despite the brewing storm above.
"Your Highness, It seems like it will rain. Why don't you wait inside the palace?" The Head Maid asked.
"I do not mind some rain, Anna. If it rains, have the young lords escorted inside." Came the reply from the Grand Princess.
Her Highness was sitting in silence for more than an hour. She dropped the two wolf cubs beside her chair and the two unruly cubs were sitting obediently beside her chair whimpering in silence. The young lords also sat and didn't dare make a sound as they sneaked glances at their angry mother from time to time. She has been staring… glaring at the palace gates for more than an hour now.
"Your mother asked me to give you both a pet friend. So I brought you two dungeon wolf cubs. They might be unruly but once they recognize their master, they are the most loyal. Give them names and make them serve you." Their father instructed them before leaving for the dungeon conquest a few days ago.
It was their mother who told him to give them the wolves, so why was she angry at the first sight of them? The children couldn't understand. Maybe it was because the wolves destroyed their room. They came to a conclusion.
So they sat beside their mother waiting with her. After three hours, they could see the horses approaching the palace gates. The twins stood up as soon as they caught sight of their father in the front of the groups of knights. It was their father's cadre for dungeon conquests.
"Your Highness." It was the knight captain who greeted the Grand Princess. The Grand Prince however was silent. The Grand Princess nodded in acknowledgement and turned to look at her husband who didn't even look her way.
"I've only heard stories but you look way worse." She said, looking at the two whimpering wolves. The dungeon wolves, like her, sensed the danger. A predatory and murderous aura coming from Seth.
High-class magicians, especially a Disaster-class like Seth, need some time to calm down after clearing a high-class dungeon. Over the years, Seth's cadre got slowly used to his murderous aura and him to their weak lives, Like a dragon ignoring the harmless critters flitting around it.
"Your Highness, It is better to stay away. It might be a low tier but it was still a high-class dungeon. So it isn't ideal to approach his highness at the moment." The Captain explained.
"I thought, you weren't supposed to leave the dungeon premises until he calmed down, so Why is he still like that?" She asked the Captain that greeted her.
"That…" The Captain didn't know what to answer. His Highness was in a hurry for some reason and they couldn't go against his actions in that state. So they have no choice but to follow after him in silence.
But before he could answer, She felt goosebumps all over her, it was the feeling of being the singular object of attention of a murderous intent.
"You must leave, Your Highness! Now!" But the Captain was too late. Seth was already in front of the Grand Princess, glaring down at her. Among all these people, he felt she was the most dangerous. He realised that she was a threat to him.
"Mother!" Noah and Cleo felt it as well, Seth's animosity towards her.
"Sir Finn, Sir Nash, escort the young lords into the palace. It's awfully late and they need to have their dinner soon." She said, trying her best to control the tremors in her voice. She felt Seth's presence at their first meeting but that was nothing compared to this. If that was a tiny ripple in the waters then right now it was like how she imagined standing in front of a tsunami wave felt like.
Maybe because they are similar to Seth and the Peregrine blood in their veins, the two boys left without making a fuss. As if trying not to agitate the beast standing in front of their mother.
She sent prayers of gratitude unconsciously because by the time she felt long calloused fingers coiling around her neck, the boys were already out of sight. She didn't want them to see this.
"Why are you so angry, Your Highness?" She asked meekly. The fingers twitched a little before tightening their grip on her neck.
"If I die…ugh….d..on't blame…your…" She tried to speak but her face turned red and her nose and eyes felt like they would burst out of her face.
"Your Highness!" The Captain and the rest of Seth's cadre moved to stop him but the clouds overhead that gathered above them was thunderous as lightning struck Seth rendering him unconscious.
That was the last thing the grand princess was aware of before she too lost consciousness because of Seth's hand around her neck.