CHAPTER#12:Zavaikal

Jafar explained the situation to Luciana who patiently listened to him.

"We were ordered to kill any imposter by his highness. They will come after you and then wage war against Amenécer. The demons will devour the light of your empire."

She didn't know how to react. She could not find the right words to respond to this situation.

"The contract will have terms and conditions that will favor both of us. And the wedding will be held briefly in this fortress. Everything will be arranged by us."

Erebus held out the contract and placed it on the table.

She picked up the dull sheet of paper and held it near the candlelight to get a better look at the conditions.

Her hand slightly trembled. She was not as naive as they assumed her to be. For a person who participated in diplomatic and economic fields with more than six years of experience, she knew that the contract was more in the other party's favor.

She placed down the contract and let out a soft sigh and looked them in the eye.

"Please give me some time to think about it." she requested them to give her some time to take it all in.

"How long?"

"Pardon?" she looked up at the man who was more serious than her about this contract.

"Three days!" she blurted out

"Make it two."

She insisted that the time was too short for her to give it a proper thought but he only continued to shorten it down.

"Please!... I beg of you. Two days." She trembled.

"My lord..." Jafar nodded and picked up the sheet and left the room.

"If there are any changes you want to do to it you've got just two days to ask for them. After the contract is finalized there will be no chance to alter it."

"The wedding dress...!" She arose from the sofa remembering the dress she wore when she departed from Amenécer.

Erebus looked confused when Luciana tried to explain to him about the white dress from where she was abducted.

"Oh, the one that the brat kept clinging to?" he remembered when he saw the small figure trembling on the bed back when she lost consciousness in the inn.

"He kept calling out for you so we had no choice but to take him with us."

She remembered the child she saved back at the village. Without a second thought, she asked about the child that startled him.

She begged him to let her see how he was doing.

He was left with no other choice but to take him to where the child was kept.

The sky dawned with the thin rays of the golden sun as he led her to a room on the second floor. She could hear the cries coming from one of the rooms and ran towards the door at the center.

"He won't stop crying." They heard the maids complain over a weeping child. Erebus opened the door and found the maids who were having a hard time tending to a three-year-old kid. He clung to a white cloth and wouldn't let go even if they tried to take it away from him.

"M-master!" They were surprised to find him in the place where he showed himself the least.

Luciana entered the room as Erebus inquired about the fuss caused in the room.

They complained about how he wouldn't stop crying even after trying their best to cheer him up.

Luciana gracefully knelt in front of him and gently stroked his head. He looked up tearfully at the kind face of the woman who protected him from a group of rowdy men.

He let go of the white dress and hugged her with his tiny hands and wept until his eyes dried out.

"Hush... Now. No one will hurt you." She hugged him and gently rubbed his back and started to hum a lullaby. She recalled how Avlynn wept when she was departing from Amenécer.

That nostalgia would creep into her mind yet again.

Erebus dismissed the maids rendering them useless for being unable to execute the task they'd been assigned.

"He's asleep?" He stood and watched the soundly sleeping kid in her arms in wonder.

She nodded and continued the lullaby until he went into a deep sleep.

After some time passed by she tucked him into the bed and drowsily looked at Stygian who was leaving the room after Jafar arrived to get him to attend the meeting.

He glanced at them one last time and found Luciana dozing off to sleep on the bed with the child.

-"A woman who was scared until last night could be this comfortable in this demonic domain. Interesting" He scoffed and left.

Jafar left for the imperial palace early in the morning to report the situation of the 'failed task' upon Stygian's command.

-"I hope he's convinced of this." he clenched his hand tightly as the faint view of the imperial palace appeared as he flew in the thick mist that engulfed the Palace.

The guards at the rear signaled him to land in front of the palace gates to prove his identity.

They let him enter the 'Spider Lily' palace. Also known as the empress's palace that was handed over to the crowned prince after the death of the empress.

He walked briskly with two servants and guards followed by him to the office of the crowned prince.

A man with tanned skin and dark like that of his master stood near the window with his arms crossed. His attention was not on him but on the garden where the spider lily buds were about to bloom.

"Jafar of Stygian domain greets Crowned prince Zavaikal, new darkness of Wahrheit on behalf of Commander Erebus Stygian."

"I've been expecting 'your' visit."

He slowly turned around as his golden eyes glistened with eagerness.