She Belongs To The Devil

"Why don\'t you help Wyverndale instead?"

King Leonel was left dumbfounded by that question of Edwin for quite a while. He had agreed to help Mihir during the war because Lillian had been persistent enough and had made Leonel believe that that was the right thing to do for the sake of Frostford and also for Edwin.

Leonel had believed that Adeline wouldn\'t make a capable Queen and he was willing to end the treaty with Wyverndale so that he could get support from the \'stronger and more capable\' ruler, namely Reginald.

But now that Edwin was telling him that he was basically going to give a death sentence to his nephew by siding with Mihir, he felt guilty for blindly believing in his sister.

However, he was not satisfied to know that his nephew had abandoned his mother because he was now cursed to share the lifeline with the Future Queen who both of them hated. And Leonel hated it even more that all that Edwin could do was give up his potential throne and beg for that very person\'s life who had snatched the throne from Edwin.

"Edwin, isn\'t there a way to remove that curse from you?" Leonel asked his nephew thinking that Edwin had been cursed by some dark witch or wizard.

"Didn\'t Lillian try to help you with that? She is one of the most powerful witches, she should have been able to undo any curses. If the curse is removed then we can go through with the original war plan. That Vampire King was immature to attack like that but they would make great allies in the future."

Edwin pressed his lips into a thin line and sighed, "I was cursed by the Dragon Immortal. And I don\'t think anyone can undo the spell that the Deity himself cast on me."

Leonel raised his brows in surprise after hearing that. And he greatly wanted to know something, "What the hell did you do to piss off the Deity?"

"Er…" Edwin gave an accusing chuckle and replied, "That was also my mother\'s fault, more or less. The Deity got angry that I was alive even when I had no lifeline. And to make the matter worse, mother had transferred the life force of two of the maids to me just a day before the test."

He cleared his throat and also accepted his mistakes, "And the Deity also saw through me. He knew that I had sinned a lot and… he was furious at me. So he bonded my lifeline to the future ruler of Wyverndale and asked me to stay loyal to the future ruler. I am glad that he didn\'t kill me then and there in the test. He gave me a glimpse of Hell though."

Edwin glanced at his uncle and said with all sincerity, "I want to walk on the path of virtue from now on so that I don\'t have to spend my afterlife in Hell."

Leonel cleared his throat and straightened his back after hearing that Hell was real. But he still narrowed his eyes and asked, "I\'m not against you for trying to be good but... isn\'t it better if you live the rest of your life away from forced loyalty? Maybe there is someone powerful enough to undo the curse by Deity as well. I can help you search for such sorcerers."

Edwin smiled and shook his head. "I have seen the extent of Dragon Immortal\'s powers. And I can guarantee that no mere mortals can break his curse except him."

And Edwin also added very calmly, "Though I was forced to be loyal to Adeline by the Deity, I don\'t regret it now. Adeline could have made my life a living Hell right now if she wanted to, but she has been so good to me when I had done nothing but torture her in the past."

Leonel gently touched his chin with his finger and thought for a while. In the ceremony, he had seen how Adeline and Edwin looked close to each other. At that time he had thought that it was pretentious smiles and talks from both of them. But now that he heard Edwin taking the side of Adeline, he knew that those happy faces were not pretentious.

"Well… if Adeline is treating you well then I don\'t think there is any reason for me to worry about you." Leonel took in a deep breath and then asked his nephew, "So tell me, what do you need me to do? Though I believe that siding with Mihir would be beneficial for Frostford, I don\'t think I can risk the lives of my nephews and their families for a few more trunks of gold coins."

Edwin clapped in his mind after finally hearing what he had wanted to hear from his uncle. "Uncle, you already know that we humans are no match for those vampires. And I know for sure that they are not going to stop the war. If Wyverndale has to fight those vampires then there is a very slim chance that Wyverndale would turn out victorious."

Edwin gave a pleading look to King Leonel and asked him, "The witches and wizards of Frostford are the only matches for those vampires in terms of power. So I want to ask for your help in the war. Please help Wyverndale instead of Mihir."

Leonel folded his arms and replied somewhat reluctantly, "Not everyone in Frostford has magical powers, you know that. If that was the case then we wouldn\'t have been forced to take sides of one of the biggest nations. What if those vampires attack Frostford first?"

"Then I will ask Adeline to send soldiers from Wyverndale to support Frostford. She will help." Edwin shifted to the edge of his seat and said, "But I will make sure that Frostford won\'t get attacked. Mother had introduced me to the King of Mihir through a letter. And I will make sure that no harm will befall Frostford. I will think of a way."

Both of them went quiet for a while and Edwin suggested an idea, "Frostford doesn\'t need to explicitly deny helping Mihir. You just need to pretend to help them when in reality, you will be helping Wyverndale. That way we can ensure Wyverndale\'s victory without bringing doom to Frostford."

Leonel lightly nodded his head and gave it some thought. Edwin also kept quiet so that his uncle could ponder upon it and give him an answer that would be favorable for Wyverndale.

With every second that passed, the nodding of Leonel\'s head became faster and faster.

And he replied in the end, "Well, if we do as you say then I will support Wyverndale. But on one condition, Wyverndale has to win the war no matter what. I don\'t want to face the wrath of those vampires. If Wyverndale loses and they find out about our betrayal, they will wreak havoc on Frostford as well."

Edwin beamed with happiness and said, "If Wyverndale is to get support from Frostford then I am sure we won\'t lose the war."

Leonel smiled and then said, "Then we have a deal."

After a while of talking out the details, Leonel took a sigh and asked Edwin, "And what about your mother?"

Edwin exhaled noisily and replied, "I think Wyverndale will be safer if she stays in the dungeon.. I don\'t want her to singlehandedly massacre everyone in this Palace."