The day was greeted with a cold breeze as clouds began to be painted with gray streaks. A small town a few meters away from the palace gate was bustling with people preparing for the upcoming frost. Two people were heading towards the grave site as the temperature begins to drop.
âHave you halted the burial of Elin, Rand?â, a man dressed plainly with hood covering his head seem to be wary of his surrounding.
Edric tried to keep a low profile eventhough he was using a drop earring to change his identity.
His bright golden hair that shines like the dazzling sun turned to caramel brown that peeked out from his hood and his scarlet red eyes that glow like a blazing inferno changed to marble gray. Scarlet eyes were a unique characteristic of a Royalty.
âDonât worry, Edric. I already did that even if you didnât tell me beforehandâ, Rand followed behind him trying to hide their tracks.
Edric stood still has they arrived at their destination where a coffin was waiting at the middle of the cemetery. Rand opened the casket and revealed a horrid looking corpse.
âRand, why didnât you stop my brother?â, the prince said while clenching his teeth at the sight of his friend burnt down from head to toe.
âYou know I cannot do that, Edric. I do not have the power and authority to do soâ, Rand was saddened by the fact that he let Prince Ansel do what he wants.
âThey didnât even perform a proper burialâ, Edric said with a mournful face. He touched the area where the sword of Orcus pierced her flesh.
The Prince winced at the sight of the wound. Its damage was so deep that the sword seemingly pulled the flesh apart looking for more blood to spill.
However, it wasnât the depth of the wound that disturbed him. That deep wound he saw was just a normal wound and not a wound pierced by the sword of Orcus.
Whenever the sword pierces an individual, it leaves a mark when a person dies. A pattern of a tree will appear when someone injects his mana unto the wound. Its glow screams both of victory and sorrow. For the earth replenished your body and your body shall return back to earth as the cycle of life will move forward.
âItâs not herâ, the prince stood up and his eyes shined with hope.
âItâs not her!â, he repeated while his smile radiated happiness.
âIf itâs not her, then where is she?â, Edric was perplexed by the sudden realization.
âShe gave me a letter saying goodbye. Did she knew such event concerning my brother will happen for sure?â, Edric seemed to have more questions in his head than answers he can come up with. He stared at Rand for some advice.
âYes, yes. I know what youâre thinking. Weâre going to look for her. I think sheâs still here in the Kingdom hiding unless she had her ways to our neighborsâ, Rand just sighed at the thought of searching the whole place just to look for Lady Elin.
âI knew I could count on youâ, Edric put his arms around the back of Randâs neck as they left the place. The prince seemed to be overjoyed as he was lost in thought while grinning from ear to ear.
âWhere do you think youâre going?â, Rand was baffled as the Prince led the way.
âTo look for Elinâ, Edric smiled as if it was a common thing to do.
âNO! NO! NO! I only cleared up your schedule for just a few hours. You still have a lot of paperworks and meetings to deal with. The nobles are eager to do business with the palace. An envoy just arrived from the Kingdom you just visited. We still need to control the rumours of Lady Elinâs death within the palace. AND, we do not even know where to begin with. So, let us look for her a few days from now. We canât just aimlessly search for the Lady. Now, come along!â, Rand grabbed Edricâs arm and dragged him back to the palace.
âFine! If Iâll be able to finish early, then weâll look for her immediatelyâ, Edric grumbled as they went back home.
They began to walk towards the secret passage they always use to go out without anyone noticing.
âWhy did you leave me, Elin?
Why?
I thought I told you that I will be with you even if the world becomes my enemy. So why did you still leave?â, Edric thought to himself as he kept on remembering the letter Elin gave to him.
âI will definitely search for you
and when the time comes that I will see your face again, I will hold you tight and never let you go
even if it means locking you up in my roomâ, the Crown prince smiled as he thought of Elin getting flustered with her cute expression and cherry red face as he daydreamed of pinning her down.
Edric stopped for a moment as he face his aide. He gave him instructions in preparation for 'The Grand Search for His Femme Fatale'.
âRand, Iâll be fine dealing with the matters in the palace. Just go and look for some information about the whereabouts of Elin. Be inconspicuous as possible. We donât want to alarm my brother, do we? Heâs been very active at keeping us under surveillance lately. Does he want the crown so much?â, Edric snickered at the thought of his greedy brother.
âYes, Your Highnessâ, Rand replied
âAlright then, BROTHER. You seized what was supposed to be mine before. Now, you dared to exploit my beloved.
If you really want to play the tug-of-war that much,
then a Real WAR. You. Shall. Receiveâ, he mumbled to himself as his expression turned hostile while oozing a threatening aura.