She Belongs To The Devil

After meeting her brother, Adeline went to her quarter to find that Theodore was already sitting on his desk and was going through some papers that he had asked from the Generals.

A soft smile crept on Adeline's lips seeing her husband all serious and working. Her feet automatically led her towards Theodore and she stood behind him to peek over what he was working on.

"Oh, so you're getting yourself acquainted with the Wyverndale army?" she asked while wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her head over his.

Theodore smiled and replied, "Yes, the sooner we start the training, the better. And I wanted to see how we could divide the soldiers into groups to make the training effective and worthwhile."

Adeline brought her lips close to his cheek and kissed him. "I will make sure to prepare a room for you to work in by today."

Theodore looked at his wife and put his demand, "Make sure my workroom is right next to yours… so that I won't have to teleport every time I want to see you."

Adeline giggled and kissed him again, "Sure, love."

---

Adeline got a hold of a court maid on her way to her workroom and ordered her, "Prepare the room that is next to my workroom by sundown. Prince Theodore will start working from tomorrow morning so make sure that he will have everything that he will need."

"Yes, Your Highness."

After giving orders to the court maids, Adeline went inside her workroom and sat down. She was going through the reports that Bennett had prepared for her. He had summarized everything that she had missed during the past few weeks that she spent in preparation for her wedding.

"Ugh! There's so much to catch up on." She felt a small prick in her heart and gently rubbed over her chest. She sighed and mumbled to herself, "Argh! The workload is giving me physical pain now."

She bit the stomp of her brush while recalling what she had to do, "I have to attend the meeting with all the Generals after lunch. I have to formally introduce Theodore to them. And I need to slowly break to them about the existence of werewolves."

A small frown appeared in between her brows. For some reason the pain in her heart was persistent. But she ignored that thinking she was just getting anxious because of all the difficult tasks that she needed to do.

She fisted over her chest and thought, "I need to mentally prepare the Generals so that they won't be shocked when the wolves attend the training tomorrow."

Adeline hurriedly began shuffling through the pages of the report in order to finish reading them faster. But suddenly, she gripped the cloth that was over her chest and grimaced. She leaned down a little and groaned, "What is wrong with me all of a sudden?"

The pain that she felt in her heart had now increased significantly. She wasn't able to ignore it anymore.

She breathed in through her mouth while lightly beating her chest. "Is it because I didn't eat properly for the past two days? And I didn't even get to have a proper breakfast this morning."

Adeline sighed and grabbed the glass of water on her table. She gulped down the water but the pain didn't seem to go away.

She got up and began taking in deep breaths. "Maybe I need to take a stroll and get some fresh air... and maybe eat something."

She gritted her teeth and flinched when she felt a sudden increase in pain again. "Maybe I should go and see a healer. I think I need some medicine rather than just fresh air and food."

Adeline took a few steps towards the door but then her foot stopped midways. The prick in her chest changed into pangs. She felt as though something was stabbing her chest. Her breathing got heavier and heavier. She clenched both of her fists on her chest and couldn't help but make a series of painful groans.

She was already drenched in cold sweats by now. Even breathing became painful for her. She wanted to go back to her chair and sit down for a bit but her legs refused to move an inch. Nor could she crouch down.

It was as though she had been paralyzed by the stinging pain in her heart which was slowly spreading throughout her body.

"Is anyone there…" she tried calling for help but her feeble voice couldn't pierce the thick walls of her room.

And as if the pain wasn't already enough, it kept on escalating even more. Her heart became so bitter that she felt like scratching all over her chest and pulling that bitter pain out of her body.

Then as though that was the only option that she was left with, Adeline pressed her trimmed nails over her chest and tried to dig in.

Something unexpected happened when she did that.

Her eyes widened when she saw the orange glow being emitted a few inches above her heart.

Adeline furrowed her brows and whispered shakily, "What? The magic circle… that binds my demonic power?"

"What is happening to me?" Adeline swallowed forcefully and tried to touch that magic circle with her trembling hand. She desperately tried to push that magic circle back inside her chest but her hand was passing right through.

And instead of returning back to her body, that circle began to shake. "No… This isn't supposed to happen!" Adeline clenched her jaw and tried to think of something that she could do to free herself from the pain. But nothing came to her mind.

The shaking became so violent that it looked like the demonic power that was sealed by that circle was fighting to break through and merge with Adeline's body once again.

Adeline's quivering knees finally gave out and she collapsed to the floor. And her whole body began to shudder in response to that magic circle.

That violent shaking of that magic circle made Adeline go through the worst pain that she had felt only twice before. One time was when her life was about to slip away after getting bitten by Rebecca, and the other time was when Azriel had cast this inscription spell on her.

"Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh…" the room and the hallway were now filled with Adeline's gut-wrenching screams. It sounded so raw and painful that she finally caught the attention of Bennett and a few guards.

They all barged inside Adeline's workroom only to see the pitiful state of Adeline, soaked in sweat, crying in pain, and trembling as if she was possessed.

They would have known that something magic-related was affecting Adeline if only they were able to see the glowing magic circle that was performing a deadly dance on Adeline's chest.

Bennett was the first one to sprint towards Adeline. He gently patted Adeline's cheek and looked at her with great worry. "Princess! What's wrong?" he asked as if she was in any condition to answer him.

"Aaaahhhhhhhhh…" her screams filled the room once again when suddenly her back popped and arched.

A loud crack sound was heard by everyone. It sounded as though she had broken some bones in her back. But in reality, it was the sound of the magic circle cracking.

Adeline kept on arching her back. Her head and heels were supporting her whole body weight while she writhed in agony.

"I think we need to take Her Highness to the healer," A guard urged Bennett who had been staring at Adeline cluelessly.