Witch, Devil And The Rat

The entire night, Drayce and the combined troop of Abetha, Griven, and Megaris continued to move towards Hatha. From there, the battalion of soldiers were left to capture and reinforce Abetha's northern fortress. 

The elite squad sneaked past the battlefield and crossed Hatha's border at midnight as planned. Around dawn, they stopped and camped in the forest deep inside the Kingdom of Hatha as they needed to rest after riding for a whole night. 

"This forest is safe as they don't keep watch here due to threats from wild animals," Sir Berolt informed the weary men.

Arlan sighed as he commented, "Humans are scarier than wild animals, and they act scared of the poor things."

"True!" General Cavrois agreed and spoke as he looked at everyone, "We need to get the exact location of the place where they had kept the Crown Prince. Our spies haven't sent any communications yet."

"Considering it's only been three days, they wouldn't have taken the Crown Prince too far. They must be somewhere close to the Hathan and Thevailes border.

"Their military border base which is close to the northern Hathan border," Arlan concluded.

Drayce nodded, "Hmm! By how fast we're traveling, when we reach there, it will be daytime, so we need to wait till the night to sneak in."

"Till then, we will get his exact location," the military general added.

Tents were set up, and everyone went inside to rest except for those stationed to patrol the area. Drayce and Arlan had to share the same tent.

"Today, you are fortunate to share the bed with me," Arlan concluded as he started to remove his dusty armor.

"If you do something to trouble me, your thing won't be that fortunate," Drayce countered as they were about to enter their tent. 

Just then, they heard something, and both held onto their swords to pull them out of the scabbard.  From beside the campsite, there was a rustling of dry leaves. 

Squeak!

They heard the familiar sound and realized it was only a rat. Drayce couldn't help but smile.

Arlan noticed that wide grin and asked, "Are you so tired that you're already happy to see an ordinary rat?"

Drayce couldn't explain why he smiled but said something the next moment that shocked Arlan.

"I am the devil. I can burn you."

Arlan gave him an awkward gaze as if he was disgusted with it. "Are you showing your power to that poor thing now?"

"Doesn't it sound good to the ears?"

"My ears felt disgusted," Arlan said as he went inside the tent. 

Drayce continued to look at the rat that quickly disappeared within the bushes around them. 

He couldn't stop but remember those lines Seren said every time to scare anyone whenever she was cornered. 

After quietly laughing, Drayce went inside the tent where Arlan already got his place prepared. He stretched his body to relax it. 

Noticing the smile on Drayce's lips, Arlan deliberately shifted to one side. "You seem weird today. Better stay away from me."

"Rest assured. I prefer to embrace one rat instead of you."

With a scoff, Arlan turned to one side, his back facing Drayce. 

Drayce lay down as he stared at the center of the tent, still thinking about those rare purple eyes before he fell asleep soon.

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(Seren's POV)

The next morning, I woke up in my bed with a lazy smile, stretching my arms and legs leisurely. Martha was not here to nag me, and I could sleep till late. But the next moment, I realized something and sat up in my bed. 

I looked around and touched my face and hands and thought, "I am alive! I thought I won't wake up after having that meal." 

Being alive was a happy surprise. 

"Is Martha back like last time and has cured me?"

I jumped out of my bed and went to Martha's room to check if she was there since she was not in my room. Her room was empty. I went down to the lower floors of the tower to check and even went out to see if she was in the garden, but she was not there either. 

"Kitchen! Ah, I forgot to clean it yesterday. She must be busy cleaning it." With a smile, I walked towards the kitchen on the ground floor. "I hope she won't scold me for burning everything."

However, Martha was not there too, and the entire kitchen was still a disaster. 

"Did she go to visit my father?" That was the only other reason I could think of as I returned to my bedchamber. 

"I should get ready and welcome her nicely. She might spare me from scolding." Just as I moved towards the bath, I heard some noise coming from my window. 

Turning around, I saw the same eagle with a similar square-shaped thing wrapped in blue silk cloth. 

"Again?" 

It came as a big surprise, seeing that I initially thought it was sent last night to harm me, and Martha must have treated me. 

However, if the food was to harm me, there was no need to send it again. The person would think I am dead by now, or were they trying their luck again thinking I didn't eat last night's food?

So many questions arose in my mind, but the fact that troubled me more was that this meant Martha had not returned yet. If she was here, no bird or anything would have dared to come here.

I went to the window, and that bird fled away like it did yesterday. I looked at his vanishing figure and mumbled, "Who is sending you to me again and again? Is it my father?"

Lost in my own thoughts, I took the warm wooden box inside. I was saddened by the fact that Martha was not back, and I didn't care if there was poison in this food. 

"She should get punished for leaving me like this."

Only after I had a bath and fixed myself did I open that box and emptied the treat of a royal meal for breakfast.