The Grand Princess was making her way to Seth's main palace in high spirits as she just finished getting the twins ready to send them to their swordsmanship classes. She wanted to ask Seth about the tutor recruitment and how far it had come. If he had found any promising candidates. As such thoughts filled her, she reached Seth's main palace only to catch sight of two groups of people that caught everyone's eyes who also entered her line of sight.
A man with long soft black hair and white temple robes lined with Gold. He was followed by a group of people, all in white lined with silver, regardless of gender. He was a handsome and serene-looking man. The Grand Princess couldn't help but think of hugging him and think that it would be the most warm and comfortable hug she would ever get. He was exchanging greetings with a young man.
This young man had bright orange hair that stood out in the morning sun, looking like the sunset. And the feature that stood out more than his sunset hair was his opal-green eyes. They were like finely polished marble that would be cool to touch, and weightless but had a satisfying presence when held in your palm.
"How old are you?" The Grand Princess startled the man in temple robes with gold lines.
"I'm thirty-nine, Your Highness." The man replied with deference.
The Grand Princess whistled like she took a liking to his face and couldn't help but act like a roadside hooligan messing with a shy maiden.
"Seth! A handsome old man is standing in front of your house!" She shouted and followed with delighted laughter. She was thoroughly having fun with this situation. Until her eyes strayed to the man's body silhouette and the smile disappeared immediately like it never existed in the first place.
"You." Her voice was cold as ice. "Who are you?"
Before the man could answer her, She spoke again. "Did the Sage send you?" She took a step closing in on him with an imposing demeanour. The man unconsciously took a step back as his heart thumped in unknown fear.
The man caught sight of Seth walking out of the palace in a hurry as he heard along with the Crown Prince of Verdant, One of the two saints of the Holy Empire standing outside. As soon as he caught sight of the Grand Prince, he let out a sigh of relief unconsciously.
"May the Sage's blessing and the Dragon's favour stay with you." The thirty-nine-year-old man greeted the Grand Prince despite the cold look he was getting from the Grand Princess. She was waiting silently and patiently for him to answer her question but he had a mission and by the end, she would know his identity anyway.
"What brings you here, Your Excellency?" Seth questioned before turning to greet Bastian, who was there all the time had never been noticed by the person he was waiting to meet today. His sister, Viviana, who heard of his arrival made haste to come here as well. She stood beside him, clinging to her brother's arm, as she heard every word the Saint uttered since Seth's arrival.
As soon as the question left Seth's lips the Saint and his retinue stood straight as the saint opened a golden-lined turquoise velvet sheet before speaking in a loud yet serene and commanding voice.
"I, Saint Niven, stand here as a messenger of the Great Sage to announce that the Grand Princess is to take after the name of the great sage. She will now be and forever known as Maia Soleil and upon her marriage to Seth Peregrine as Maia Sol Peregrine." Saint Niven's words were a shock to everyone but for a certain someone, who would now be known to everyone as Maia Soleil, was a death sentence.
Maia didn't waste a second as she grabbed the message from Saint Niven's hands and activated a fire-making rune to everyone's surprise. It burned her hands but all she could think of was to burn that damn message to ashes. Seeing that the fire wasn't doing anything she began absorbing more mana from surroundings which burned her whole body. The people all around her felt the disorientation of being sucked of mana from their bodies along with their surroundings. Especially for Seth, The Verdant Royalty and Seth's aide Jasper Fox. The most powerful people besides the Saint and his fellow priests, both the ones who came with him and the ones who came with Seth. It was a sudden feeling and those who lacked any combat experience or mana practice, like the Grand Prince's maids, fell to the ground gasping for air. Squire Basil however stood his ground clutching his sword in a white-knuckled grip.
Maia began to sweat and soon her nose started to bleed but the message sheet was as intact as ever. Not even a scorch mark was made on it despite her ability to burn a whole village with what she just did.
"Wife!" Seth was frightened to death as he saw her nose bleeding. But Maia, unable to even make a tear in that velvet sheet, shoved it into Seth's chest.
"Burn it." She ordered. The look in her eyes was one of terror. Like her whole world was crumbling right before her eyes but she was unable to do anything. But behind that fear was a desperate cry for help.
"With hell fire, demon fire or something! Please." She begged him, searching his eyes for a positive reply.
"You can do that, right?" She held onto him. "Tell me you can." Seeing that he was silent, "You promised!" She screamed. "You promised to help. Hm?" Her pleas went from ordering him to screaming and then begging for him to do something.
"I can't." Seth's voice was a whisper. He truly couldn't. He never tapped into his demon powers again since the massacre of his parents. It would be the end of him and everything he built so far. And to burn the message of the Great Sage who allowed him to keep this life, whose power allowed Seth to be a normal human at least on the outside was something he could never imagine even in his wildest dreams. Even if he wished to risk everything for her, he couldn't, for he was unable to go against the Sage himself. But that small reply felt like the sound of the last string snapping. She stumbled a step back dizzily and the message fell to the ground. Seth stretched his hands to steady her but she was already inside the palace in a hurry.
Seth felt an ominous feeling as he immediately followed after and the sight he came to was like his own death sentence. There she stood with a sword that was supposed to be on the wall in the reception room. It was like time slowed down as he saw her lifeless eyes as she held the blade to her neck. It was as if she was already dead before the blade was even drawn from its sheath.
"Wife! Stop it! Please!" He felt his world crumbling right before his eyes.
"Maia!" He shouted like a dying man before his last chance of survival. But he was too late as she already ran blade through her neck. All Seth felt was the warm blood that seeped onto his skin as he held her falling body.
"H…help…" His voice was a wavering whisper at first. Even when he was at death's door because of the severe wounds inflicted on him, Even when his limbs almost got severed, Even when he killed his parents, he never sobbed in his entire life like this. He wanted to call for help but he could barely make out a proper word.
His trembling hands tried to cover the deep ragged cut on her neck as if to stop the bleeding. As if he wished to push blood back into her lifeless body. As if it would bring her back to life.
"Your Highness!" Jasper was at the door.
"Jasper…help." Jasper Fox stood beside this man since they were children. He was there when the late Grand Prince and Princess made Seth stand in front of the other nobility just to put on a show. He was there when Seth was trying to cover the bruises in a hurry. He was there when Seth tried to resist his demon blood. He was there when Seth attacked him because he was too hungry. He was there watching Seth tearing apart the people who hurt him brutally. Even though one could say that those are Seth Peregrine's deepest, darkest and most sensitive memories. Jasper never thought of Seth neither as ruthless nor pitiful. But now, his eyes stung to see him like this. He gritted his teeth, swallowed his emotions and willed his body to move.
"Saint Niven!" He yelled desperately. The person who brought life to his master's eyes for the first time couldn't die. Jasper didn't even want to imagine what would become of his only friend if she was gone.