Chapter 10: Ardenia

Far away from the kingdom of Neblon was another kingdom whose territory supersedes Neblon. The kingdom was blessed in terms of mineral resources but they lacked the high-quality weapons that Neblon had. Which would be difficult for them to conquer the latter.

There was a huge wall, very tall and built with melted iron surrounding the kingdom and keeping them away from external attacks. There were guards on horses patrolling the entrance of the kingdom, while some stood by the gates, inspecting the passerby as they entered their land. To ensure they are not bringing in anything dangerous.

The castle was in the middle of the city, highly built and covered in gold. A black flag on top of it, wafting due to the breeze. Another set of guards was by the large door, they were dressed in emerald green regalia and golden laces. Their faces were stiff and by their sides were their weapons, a glance at them could make you admit that they weren't messing around.

In the large castle, the king was sitting on his throne and his stubble fingers were caressing his temples as he listened to the cries of his queen, the first wife.

He wondered why she was wasting her precious tears over that nuisance, King kodiak knew how much of a threat his son was to his throne. No, not his son! He would never call that devil's associate his son. He deserves to die wherever he is.

King Kodiak was comfortable now that Zephyr wasn't around, because whenever that man was here, the castle would be controlled by him automatically, no one dared to refuse him, not even the king dared to refuse him.

Whatever Zephyr wanted was always going to happen and king Kodiak didn't want him to ascend the throne after he was gone, he could not leave the future of his kingdom in the hands of that man!

"Oh, my poor baby" Davina cried out, her hands clutching the picture frame that had zephyr's picture.

"Where are you, mama's missing you already" She spoke, tears rolling down her cheeks and landing on the picture frame.

"Kodiak, why aren't you doing anything to search for our son?" she questioned him, tears in her eyes as she gazed at her husband. She saw the way his eyes rolled to the left. "Why don't you care about that boy, don't you want to know his whereabouts?"

The King sighed, "I do care about him, Davina, and mind you, he is a man already! He can take care of himself" He spouted, trying to knock some sense into his wife's head.

But she would have none of it, she was impatient, she wanted to see her son, speak to him, and hug him tightly.

"Didn't you see when Dorian came back home, he was injured and it took him five days to get back to his feet" She reminded him, her hands dropping the picture by her side, she hurried to him and held his robe.

"What if the same thing had happened to my poor son? Please send your guards to look for him" she pleaded, her wails becoming louder and unbearable for Kodiak. He had no option but to yell at her.

Firstly, he yanked his robe away from her grasp "Your son is strong, what makes you think that something will happen to him?, Believe me, he is fine and he would come back" He gritted his teeth at her. His tone was firm, ascertaining that he wasn't going to entertain any form of nonsense.

Davina wasn't surprised by his outburst, she knew that he despised Zephyr and today she was going to get the reason from him. She stood up from her seat aggressively and rushed to his front, her eyes glaring at him. King kodiak took the newsletter beside him and started reading, using it to block her view from his.

"I don't know what my son has ever done to you, why do you treat him like a refuse?" she started, "You are the same person that is responsible for his trauma, if not, he wouldn't have been so heartless and merciless as he is today"

"You are blaming me for your son's devilish traits? Davina, do not make me angry more than I am, I don't want to say things that would hurt you" He countered with a loud snarl.

"As if you haven't said the word already!" she yelled in exasperation.

"Devilish traits? Who did he get it from, you or me?" questioned Davina.

The King shrugged at her indifferently, "Whoever is the father of that man" He answered plainly.

A frown was slowly coming to form on her face as she pondered on what he meant and when it finally registered in her brain, her jaw dropped open in surprise, he was saying that? He was saying that to her when he was the one who had impregnated her?

Davina looked around the castle to see that it was only her and her spouse, the guards standing in the castle were like statues so she didn't count them as living things.

"You mean to tell me that you're not the father of my child?" She was lost for words as she gazed at him. King Kodiak didn't bother to respond, he had said it once and he wasn't going to repeat himself.

Suddenly there was an announcement, "General Neo is here" The doors opened and a man in his early thirties, dressed in titanium armor, his hair pulled up in a ponytail on his head, appeared before the King and Queen.

Seeing him, Davina composed herself and sat beside the King. He was her son's general, she hoped that he was bringing her some good news.

"Your majesty, my queen" General Neo fell to the ground and crossed his arms.

"Greetings Neo, have you gotten any news about my son?" Davina hurriedly asked, Kodiak glanced from the side and rolled his eyes.

"No my queen" He shattered her hopes into pieces, and Davina shook her head. Trying not to be convinced that her son was gone and she wasn't going to see him again. A deep pain reverberated in her heart and she clenched her chest. This information was too excruciating, she didn't want to hear anything again. If nobody was going to look for him, then she would. After all, she was his mother and he was her son!

"But I do have something that might help us find him if only we can get the truth", He explained calmly.