Alethea and Cedric sneaked into the the compound through the back gate, and they successfully got into the house without being seen by anyone.
It was Alethea's first time being at the house, so Cedric was the one who took the lead, and brought her directly to William's room.
Alethea slowly walked into the room, seeing William asleep on his bed, looking so sickly. It looked like there was no blood running through his veins, and this made Alethea suddenly emotional.
She sat next to his bed, and placed her hand on his. "Big brother. How did you end up like this?" She said, as her eyes got teary, "Please wake up, William."
William stirred in his sleep, and Alethea perked up as relief washed over her. "William! Are you awake? It's me, Alethea!" She said, as she tried to hug him, but William pushed her away from him, shocking her.
William had a terrified look on his face like he had just seen the devil himself. "B-begone… begone, you foul creature!" He stuttered in fear, while pointing at her.
Alethea was surprised at the way he was acting, and it was like her dam was broken as tears began to flow freely from her eyes. "Big… brother." She said with difficulty, thinking her brother found her to be scary because of her ash-colored hair.
Unknown to her, William couldn't even see her. What he was seeing instead, was the horrifying looking person from earlier.
"Please… please, please go away! Please, leave me!" He begged in tears, "I… I want to live! I'm telling you, I really want to live!"
Cedric immediately regretted his decision of bringing Alethea over to the house in the first place, and quickly went to her. He held her by the shoulders, and said, "Let's take our leave, Alethea. Come on, let's go."
Before Alethea could respond, the door to the room opened, and William's mother who was holding a tray of food, walked in.
On seeing Alethea, she was shocked, leading her to accidentally drop the tray of food to the floor. "You witch! How dare you come here!" She yelled as she ran to her son, who was still shivering in fear.
"Mother." Alethea could only say, as she continued to shed tears.
"This is because of you!" The woman yelled, as she hugged her son. "This is all because of your damned curse! The fact that William became like this is due to you and your stupid curse."
Alethea's jaw dropped, left speechless by the accusations coming from the mouth of the woman she called her mother, while Cedric could only stand there, feeling very foolish for bringing Alethea there.
"This is why I couldn't bring myself to love you as my own daughter, Alethea. You should never have been born. You should never have come into this world." She continued to say, and then she went on her knees, rubbing her palms together. "I'm begging you on my knees. Please, just disappear. Please go far… very far away from my William. I beg of you." She begged in tears.
The door opened once again, and Ronan came in together with the other initiates. He had heard everything, and he had a look of disappointment on his face, as he looked at his wife. "Take Alethea away!" He ordered, and Cedric bowed, and immediately took Alethea who was now a crying mess, out of the room.
Ronan exchanged looks with his wife, as if conversing silently. The look in his eyes was questioning why she had done this, while she just gave him an uncaring look, as if saying she didn't give a fuck.
Meanwhile, Cedric took Alethea with him, and they had passed the gates, when Alethea suddenly pulled her hand away from his grasp.
"Let's go, Alethea. Come on." Cedric gently said to her.
"Sir Cedric. How can I get to the Oakwood temple?" She asked as she faced him in despair. "I'll go there, and I'll do anything I'm told to do. So please, save my brother."
….
Back inside the house, Ronan and the other initiates had come out of William's room, and one of them said, "Sir, we cannot delay this any longer. We must get Alethea to the temple as soon as possible. It's now or never."
Ronan was about to respond, but one of the menservants in the house, came to him, bowing as he said, "Sir. A person from the castle has come to see you."
Ronan exchanged looks with the initiates, as they all already knew exactly who that person would be. "You all should go ahead and leave for the Oakwood temple with Alethea. I'll follow right after with the Spellbook of the damned." He ordered.
"Yes sir!" They all nodded and left.
After they left, Ronan then went to see the visitor, and it was indeed whom he had been expecting.
"What brings you all the way here, Nimueh?" He asked in an unwelcoming tone.
Nimueh smiled, and bowed her head. "I came here to apologize to you for underestimating you." She said, and then looked into his eyes. "But who could I possibly blame? It's all my fault. When you readily agreed to kill the Princess, eighteen years ago. I should not have let myself be easily fooled by you. You are Ronan Silvermist, after all." She called his full name for the first time in years.
Ronan appeared unbothered by her words, and just simply said, "What is it that you want to say?"
Nimueh frowned and went straight to the point. "Where is the Princess? You didn't kill her." She said, "It may have been because you felt sympathy or pity towards the child. I completely understand. However, you must tell me now: Where did you hide the Princess?"
Ronan didn't show any emotions in his eyes, as he answered, "The Princess… is dead. You saw it with your own eyes, did you not? She was burned to death that very day in front of you, and your assistants."
Nimueh smiled. "Ah, so this is your answer? Very well then. I'll be going now." She said, and bowed before exiting the room.
As the she passed the hallways, she happened to pass by William's room, and she heard the sobbing of a woman from the room.
She then paused, and stood in front of the door, as she could sense something familiar.
"What is it?" Ronan's voice sounded in the hallway, as he approached her. "The exit is that way."
Nimueh turned to face him and then spoke with an intentionally loud voice. "Sir. If the Princess is actually still alive, you will be guilty of blatantly disobeying the Queen Dowager, and taking the Crown Prince's life. And you will be charged with these crimes."
Then she made her voice even louder. "Also, whoever that's child's curse is transferred to, will be bedridden for fourteen days, before dying a very brutal and pain filled death."
"But I'm sure non of those things will happen, because surely, you didn't do such a thing, as someone who treasures this country the most. Am I right?" She tauntingly said before she then finally went through the exit, leaving the house.
As Nimueh came out of the gates, and headed into the streets, she then heard someone call out to her. "Excuse me!" The person had shouted, and Nimueh smirked as she turned to face the person.
"Lady Silvermist. I'm very sorry for visiting without bothering to say hello." She said, referring to Ronan's wife who had rushed out of the house to come see her.
Lady Silvermist sighed, as she got closer to Nimueh, and said without hesitation, "There's something you must know."