The Devil's Temptation!

73 Her Mission

At the Euphrasia palace at noon, Adrian stared warily at the long silver sword placed on the table before him.

He was currently sweating due to the fact he just finished training swordsmanship with a few guards and now, he was back to the Valerian sword.

He gently reached for the hilt and tried to unsheathe the sword with all of his strength but it barely made a slight movement, one would think the sword was glued to its holster. He didn’t stop and continued to the extent his veins began popping out on his forehead and when he finally stopped to no avail, he let out a frustrated groan.

“Why won’t it open!”

He’s been trying to unsheathe the sword for weeks now but yet, it refuses to give even the slightest budge.

Calista strode past the passageway in silence, heading to her chambers after the unexplainable journey and forgetfully branching by her parents chamber’s to see them. Adrian caught sight of her as she wandered past like a forgotten creature.

“When did you get back?” His untimely question caused Calista’s feet to come to a halt, she let out an exhaled breath before turning to look at her brother who stood before the Valerian sword at the courtyard, staring at her with his arms folded.

“Just now.” Her response came out clear and short.

“Oh, how’s Archer then?”

.....

‘How’s Archer?? Don’t I matter as well?’ she wanted to say, but swallowed it instead.

“He’s well and his family sends his greetings to everyone, do deliver this to father for me, I’m feeling a little unwell after the journey and need to rest my head for a couple of hours.”

She smiled reassuringly, even if he didn’t ask about her well being, she wouldn’t want to worry anyone about what happened at the forest and besides she’s alright. She just wished she saw the face of whoever saved her so she could thank him properly.

“I’ll_ I’ll take my leave now.”

She walked away, only to run into the physician along the way and she smiled warmly at his presence.

“Greetings princess Calista.” He dipped his head in a little bow, “it’s a relief to see you’re back safely from the hollow town.”

She nodded, “thank you for that.”

“How was your journey?”

“It was quite hectic to be honest, I’ll just take a little rest and I’m sure I’ll regain my strength back.” She softly said to him, tiredness lingered in her tone and the physician willingly cleared the path for her by moving to the side.

“Don’t let me stop you, go have your rest.”

A grateful smile crossed her lips and she walked away. The old physician didn’t utter a word and just turned to keep moving. He caught sight of prince Adrian struggling to unsheathe the Valerian sword and he shook his head in pity.

“Prince Adrian, I see you’ve been overworking yourself these days. When are you going to let it go?” Asked the old physician and Adrian finally paused. He turned to look at the old white-haired man who stood at the doorway, watching him.

“When I finally unsheathe the sword that can end the Demon race, only then will I let it go.”

The physician shook his head yet again but said nothing, he was getting too old to explain things to anyone and hopefully, the right wielder of the sword will come back to take what’s rightfully hers. Only she can do the sword justice.

~

The moment Azazel appeared in the grand hall at Viscarrian palace, Levi hurried towards Azazel with his arms wide open.

“Azazel! So glad you’re back!”

He gave Azazel an unexpected hug, startling the young man who just returned from the human world and squeezing him in a tight embrace.

“How sweet.” Came the usual sarcasm from Azazel as he nonchalantly rolled his eyes in their socket.

“Let go before I send you walking through the valley of dead shadows.”

Levi immediately let go as the thought of it brought back his senses, he really couldn’t get why everyone enjoyed torturing him.

Azazel wanted to walk out but got stopped by Levi.

“Hold on, I have something to tell you!”

“You have sixty seconds.”

“Sir Mateo is Anna’s father!”

“I know.”

“I know right? And_” he paused, his brain finally registered Azazel’s response and his brow knitted, he knew??

“How come you knew?”

“Where do you think I’ve been, you fool?” He flicked Levi’s forehead, causing the demon to grimace a little as he rubbed off the sting.

“Harsh!”

“I understand everything now.” He uttered, causing Levi’s face to be contorted with curiosity.

“What?”

“Her rebirth, the reason why her soul left the limbo untimely, it all makes perfect sense now.”

Levi’s eyes widened in anticipation, “Tell me.”

“During the war after sir Mateo’s death, Anna wasn’t born yet, her soul hadn’t left the limbo either.”

“And....”

“Roshan was maneuvered and he got trapped, that’s how he ended up at the forbidden temple and he would have been trapped forever....until Anna came along.”

He turned to meet Levi’s innocent stare and the naive Demon was cracking his brain to understand what Azazel was trying to portray.

Azazel sighed as he watched Levi scratch the back of his head, “You still don’t get it.”

“I’m trying to.”

He shook his head and cursed the fact that he was the only smart one around here, “there was a ninety percent chance that Anna wouldn’t have been reborn since she had a special soul, being in a limbo meant she could be reborned but there was a great possibility that she would be different. The clash at the limbo, it was caused by her soul so it could escape and she didn’t come back as a demon, but a human.”

“So you mean, her soul leaving the limbo was deliberate?”

“Yes, Anna’s mother became pregnant after Roshan was secretly sealed. There was no way Roshan could have escaped and Demons couldn’t go near the temple cause we were at risk of being magically sealed if we stepped into the temple.”

“Wait, so that means Anna’s rebirth had a reason?”

“She came for a purpose and that purpose was Roshan. She doesn’t recall a thing but yet, fate guided her back to Roshan and something tells me she couldn’t have done it alone.”

“She came back for Roshan? That means she came back to free him from the temple.”

Azazel nodded, “Yes, but her mission isn’t only to free him from the temple, she’s going to free his heart as well.” He turned to look at Levi, “Roshan has a scarred heart, his feelings are trapped and it has been that way ever since Aveline died.”

Levi’s expression turned into one of empathy, he still remembered when Roshan wasn’t always so cold and merciless, he fought with his Demons countlessly so he wouldn’t go crazy but everything crashed after he lost almost everyone that mattered. His family and Aveline.

Like that wasn’t enough torture, he got sealed in a temple for something he didn’t do. Why wouldn’t he seek revenge? And his father... What else could he expect from a devil? Roshan’s father was a man who walked around with no heart.

“He’s afraid of opening up his heart,” Azazel continued, “his memories of Aveline disappeared due to his trauma, and with Anna’s presence, she’s suddenly a threat to his control, his power and his heart, but he has no idea how much.”

“That explains a lot about something!” Levi exclaimed and met Azazel’s blank stare.

“What?”

“The poison, I think Roshan bit her and took some of her blood to ease the poison in his system and now, she’s marked.”

“Huh?”

“Roshan made her his mate... accidentally. Wow, so this is how fate works, despite not remembering anything, they were brought back... together! So Anna is really Aveline??”

“Slow down, don’t forget Anna has the meteor birthmark.” He reminded the already excited demon, “I don’t think she plans on staying.”

“Staying? What do you_”

“I think she wanted to free Roshan, her soul knew it wasn’t going to last long on Earth but it took that risk. The moment she’s done accomplishing that wish to free Roshan from his burdens, she’ll be gone.”

“But Roshan promised_”

“I know he did, but there’s no possibility he can stop her from dying once her time comes, her soul took that risk and there’s no solution for it. He’ll have to let her go if he doesn’t plan on bringing primal chaos to the world.”

He took a step forward, staring out at the window with a look of forewarning, “remember the rift between realms, if her soul doesn’t return, the horrors of the ancient ones will gradually awaken and everything forbidden will draw our attention.”

Levi didn’t know what primal chaos awaited them since the rift hadn’t been cleared but it frightened him.

“Where’s Roshan?” Azazel asked, turning to look at Levi.

“In a council meeting.”

“Is it that bad?”

Levi shrugged, unwilling to say as he knew what Azazel meant.