She Belongs To The Devil

After having a meeting with Adeline, Prince Edwin returned back to his workroom. He paced back and forth in the room for a while. He was thinking about all the preparations that he needed to do from his side for the fateful day of his mother.

He sat down on his chair to recollect his thoughts. And he scribbled some points on a sheet of paper as he spoke, "So, I will have to confirm again that mother will come with me on that day. I finally got some excuse about why Joyce cannot come along, thanks to Adeline. And… I guess I will have to lie some more today."

He heard a knock on the door and already expected who they were. It was already starting to get dark so he knew that it was the Court maids who were outside his door.

"Yes, come in," he then watched the maids coming in with lanterns in their hands.

When he saw the lanterns, he suddenly remembered something important that he had to do. So he asked one of the maids, "Can you bring me a bin to burn some papers?"

"Yes, Your Highness," one of the maids immediately left the room while the others lit up the candles and lanterns that were in the room.

That maid returned back with a container made out of iron. She placed it beside the Prince\'s desk.

And when the maids were done lighting up the candles and lanterns, they all left for the other rooms of the Court.

Edwin got up from his chair to make sure that his door was properly locked before he burned the evidence of his \'betrayal\'.

He then took out the letter that he was keeping in his pocket. He stood in front of one of the candles and then burned the letter along with the envelope. When the fire was about to touch his fingers, he threw the letter in the bin that the maid brought earlier.

Edwin sat back on his chair and his eyes fell on what he had scribbled on the paper absent-mindedly. He had basically written how he was going to betray his mother.

Thus, he hurriedly grabbed that paper and burned it as well. And he threw it in the same bin.

After burning all the pieces of evidence of his dual role, he sat to finish something that he was working on during the day. However, he could not concentrate at all.

A lot of things were in his mind. Like how there were so many things that could go wrong on that day.

And he was talking to himself like a madman, "What if mother insists on bringing Joyce no matter what I say to her? And her guards… I hope that they will just give up rather than losing their lives protecting someone that unworthy."

"And my guards… I will somehow have to convince them not to interfere no matter what happens that day. I hope that nobody who is included in the plan will get sick on that day, especially the witches who are supposed to take on my mother." Edwin kept on blabbering for quite a while.

He suddenly slammed on his desk and got up from his seat. And he scolded himself, "For the love of God! Shut up, Edwin! Why the hell are you behaving like this? You never used to feel so anxious before! What happened to you now?"

He took a deep breath in and tried to calm himself down. "I guess I should just give our mother a visit. I don\'t think I am going to be productive if I keep on staying here."

Edwin then headed out of his workroom. On the way, he asked some of the maids to put off the candles in his room and lock the door. Then he continued to head towards his mother\'s quarter.

However, before he could reach the end of the Palace boundary where his mother\'s quarter was, he met his brother.

"Hey, brother! I was just heading towards the King\'s Court to meet you," Alan greeted his brother with a soft smile.

Edwin stopped in his tracks although he was in a hurry to meet his mother. "Oh, is that so? Was there anything specific that you wanted to say to me?"

Alan put his arms behind his back and asked accusingly, "Isn\'t there something that you would like to say to me?"

Edwin blankly stared at Alan not knowing what he had done to anger his brother. "Er… is there something that you wanted to hear from me?"

"Why are you playing so dumb? I thought you have changed when you came to meet me with those sweets that our grandmother made. But you are still that heartless arsehole!" Alan scoffed and then tried to jog his brother\'s memory, "Why didn\'t you tell me that you were planning to go to Frostford along with mother?"

Instead of answering Alan\'s question, Edwin furrowed his brows and asked his own question, "Wait! Who told you that I was planning to go to Frostford?"

Alan raised his brows and asked angrily, "Does this mean you were deliberately trying not to bring me along with you? Why? Do you plan on getting all the love and eating all the food alone? Is that why you are trying to avoid me?"

Those jealous sentences from Alan prompted Edwin to burst out into laughter. And he asked while still laughing, "Brother, why are you behaving like a two-year-old? What is wrong with you?"

Alan sneered and kept on glaring at Edwin for excluding him from the plan.

After getting a good laugh, Edwin looked around to check if there were anyone who shouldn\'t be listening to their conversations. He didn\'t see anyone.

So he stepped a little closer to Alan and then tried to make him understand why he was excluded while still trying to protect the secret, "Alan, a lot of things are going on in the Palace right now. And I am not going to Frostford to eat and enjoy. I am going there with some important task."

"Yes, mother suggested bringing you, and Juniper and Joyce as well. But I don\'t think it will be a good idea to take all of you there. So, I didn\'t tell you because I don\'t want you to get caught up in the middle of all those things." Edwin then pursed his lips a bit apologetically.

Alan sighed and nodded his head. He thought that his brother was already back into doing some bad stuff again. He glanced at his brother and asked again, "Will that important task land you in prison again?"

Edwin smiled and replied confidently, "No, it won\'t. I am done staying in the prison. It\'s really boring."

Alan chuckled softly and warned his brother, "I hope that what you are saying is true. Because if I find you involved in something which is against the law again then this time, it will be me who will put you in prison."

Edwin chuckled and jokingly raised both of his hands in the air, "I won\'t let that happen. I will surrender myself before you can catch me."

Back at the King\'s Court, someone was lurking around the King\'s Court in the dark. That person took out a bunch of keys and opened the lock of Edwin\'s workroom as quietly as possible.

That person tip-toed inside Edwin\'s workroom and frantically looked around for something. After rummaging through the bookshelves, desks, and drawers, that person\'s eyes finally fell on the bin which still had the remnants of the burned letter.

That thief\'s eyes sparkled after seeing a few pieces of paper that were unburnt. In one of the pieces, it was written – "… be discussed about the war… contact Prince Edwin…" and in another piece, it was written, "lure mother alone…"