The Devil's Temptation!

Why should she be scared about his Highness’s threat when she has no hand in this? She certainly has nothing to do with Anna’s absence and it’s not like she got kidnapped, Anna had left the palace by herself, she saw her leave with her own two feet so she won’t just stand and let his highness accuse her for any of this.

Staring at the crumpled note in her opened fair palms, she placed it before the burning candles and fed it to the flames, watching the sides burn into ashes as her devious actions reflected before her own eyes.

She wasn’t sure why Anna would want his Highness to meet her at the old Hollow tree, but if she plans on fleeing with his Highness during the event, then there was certainly no way she was going to let Anna succeed in her plans.

Scanning through the rest of the notes and confirming that there were no other messages left, she quietly stepped out of the room while masking her expression with a look of concern, pretending to actually be worried about the disappearance of Anna and Gemma.

At the banqueting hall that led to the ballroom, Roshan’s guards had mixed themselves with the crowd as they searched for Anna and Gemma, but they did their best not to alert the guests present while dedicatedly continuing their search.

However, the rest of the family weren’t blind to notice the guards and unlike the guests who would assume this to be a normal routine, Lady Odette and the rest could sense something was off, that was until Roseline made her way down the stairs and joined them with a smile.

Melrose squinted her eyes cautiously, looking unsure of what to expect from that smile on her sister’s face, but Letitia wasn’t caught up for the fake smile and asked in a whisper,

“Where did you go? And what’s with the guards?”

.....

“Why don’t you ask His Highness Roshan?” She responded softly with a toned whisper, keeping her smile intact and making it look like they were all just having a normal conversation.

“Roshan has refused to come down the stairs,” Evan added with a look of disappointment, “sometimes I wonder if it’s necessary to put a leash on that demon to reduce his stubbornness. We’ve been waiting for his presence and we sent Azazel to go get him, but even Azazel is nowhere present.”

“Something isn’t right.” Lady Odette finally concluded before shifting her gaze up the stairs, her eyes staring intently at it before averting her gaze with a more calculative look.

“Does Anna have anything to do with this?” She asked Roseline who kept wearing a smile when deep down, she was nowhere settled. In Fact she wanted to avoid all the questions that came with the human maid but it seems that girl’s name has a way of getting into the mouths of people.

“You guessed right Aunt.”

~

After thirty minutes of searching the palace ground, Roshan stood at the balcony while staring ahead of him. The rage in his glinting hazel-green eyes was a complete contrast to the look on his face and when his grip tightened against the edge, they cracked due to the power of his grip before he finally exhaled to stabilize himself.

“Where are you Anna?” A look of worry contorted his facial features before spreading into his eyes.

“Your Highness!”

A guard suddenly called, snapping the glacier back to reality. Roshan turned around to look at the guard who called for his attention, and to his unexpected sight, they held Freya captive in their hold, dragging her forward with her hands already chained to her back.

“We caught her stalking around the room of the missing maid, your Highness.” The guard immediately informed, leaving Roshan’s gaze to darken immensely and before Freya could say a word to the glacier, he was standing before her and the next thing she felt was the inability to breathe as his hands clutched her neck, choking her and rendering her painfully breathless.

“I let you go and you dared to come back!”

“Can’t..... breathe..” her hands immediately reached to unclaw Roshan’s hold on her neck, but his grip was too strong for a weak demoness like her to fight off.

She tried to speak but her throat was closed and she violently gasped for air while trying to free herself from his clawed grip.

“Listen...” she shut her eyes tightly as black dots were starting to paint her vision, but before she could breathe her last breath, Roshan’s hold around her neck lessened and he withdrew his hand, as though he already sensed she would die if he held her in that position for much longer.

Freya immediately sank to the ground as her knees gave out, deeply gasping for air while placing her hand on her neck that was once held so violently like he wanted to crush all her bones.

Roshan crouched down to her level, staring at her with cold hazel-green eyes that she immediately realized that this person before her wasn’t Roshan. It was a heartless demon that had the intention to kill without batting an eye.

“Is your presence a little surprise from dear Uncle?” He asked sardonically, watching her try to catch her breath and Freya shamefully lowered her gaze at his heartbreaking question, shaking her head in response before lifting her head up to meet Roshan’s stare.

“He... he doesn’t...” she paused, trying to catch her breath, “he doesn’t even know I’m here.”

“Then why are you here?!” Came his demanding question that made Freya flinch, and the guards who brought her in took a step back, giving the two some space.

“Taking lives has never been my problem, and if you have no wish to become a scapegoat tonight, then I advise you to start talking!”

“It’s about Anna.” She began, “I’m here to...to warn Anna.” She informed him with all honesty. Roshan remained mute for a few seconds before leaning in like a devil ready to seek out its victim.

“Warn Anna about what?”

His way of questioning made Freya feel like she had fallen into the pit of hell, and she could feel the volcano waiting to erupt at Roshan’s call.

“To warn Anna about Luderick,” she said, almost breathlessly due to the pain that stung her throat. His harsh hold was still affecting her but she knew if she doesn’t speak now, she might as well be ready to receive a treatment far worse than this.

“Luderick... he’s... he’s planning something big, something chaotic and I don’t know what it is, but in order to commence his evil plan, he needs a special blood, he said he needed Anna’s blood to do some ritual..I... I don’t know much since he refused to tell me in detail, and he plans on striking tonight, that’s why I came to warn Anna about it.”

At the mention of ritual, Roshan’s face paled gravely for the first time. His hands balled into fist and when he slammed them to the ground, a crack sound could be heard as tiny cracks split themselves with the aim of breaking, leaving Freya’s eyes to horrifically widen and Roshan returned his gaze back to her.

“Where is Luderick?”

“I don’t know.” She honestly responded, “he didn’t take me with and that’s why I came here, to warn Anna before he does something to her.”

Tears swimmed in her eyes the more she spoke, “I don’t care if you kill me now, but Anna saved me once with the pill and I’m just returning the favor, she doesn’t deserve what Luderick plans on doing to her, you have to save her before she gets to him, please.”

She sniffed, hoping Roshan would understand that she meant no harm towards Anna.

It took a while before Roshan finally stood straight, and instead of killing her like he originally planned, he left her for the guards who were still present with him.

“Keep an eye on her.”

“Yes, your Highness!” They all bowed before Roshan exited the balcony.

Downstairs, Azazel and Levi were also helping out with the search and most importantly, Azazel had done a scan amongst the people to figure out if they were any odd ones, but just like Levi, he got unlucky.

“Did you find them?” Levi asked after catching up with Azazel in the courtyard, but the white-haired demon shook his head, to Levi’s disappointment.

“No sign of them.”

“Gahh!!” Levi groaned in frustration while running his fingers through his hair, “this is getting complicating by the minute, where could they be??”

“Attention!”

The deep voice that resonated from the ballroom to the courtyard instantly drew Azazel and Levi’s attention, making the two Demons exchange glances at the same time.

“Is that.....”

Like they both thought of the same thing, they left the courtyard in a flash and showed up at the ballroom where everyone had gathered, and just like they had thought, the voice that spoke belonged to the the glacier who stood at the top of the stairs, staring down at the guests who have long been waiting for his presence.

“Sorry to ruin the fun, but the party is officially over.”