Chapter 2

In a lavish room made of intricate designs and filled with one-of-a-kind art and jewels that made it look like a mansion—the light was coming from the window and from the beautiful chandelier made of glass—which shone in different colors as the sunlight fell on it—there were currently 4 people standing there nervously, watching a 10-year-old kid sleeping on the bed. 

Tension filled the room, and there was a thick sense of heaviness in the air as everyone could feel the constant pressure coming out of a beautiful lady standing there, near the bedside. 

Her beautiful black eyes shone in different colors as the light from the chandelier fell on it. But no one standing in the room was in any mood to appreciate the beauty of it. 

She was Artemis Raven, the duchess of the Damascus city of the Schilla empire. She is known as the shadow sword of Schilla, an S-rank adventurer. In the entire kingdom, few could fight her head-to-head and come out unscathed. 

She is as deadly with a sword as she is beautiful without it. 

Her face was filled with anger, and a slight bloodlust was leaking from her aura, which scared the people guarding outside. She wasn't trying to scare them on purpose, but it was hard to control her emotions seeing the state of the person currently lying motionless in bed. 

How could she control herself when her only son was brought home unconscious? 

When she first saw him in that state, her S-rank mana pressure flared, and it nearly made the soldiers who were standing outside tremble in fear. 

They all had sweat dripping out their backs, as they couldn't even imagine the bloodbath that would follow if anything happened to their future heir. 

Currently standing beside her was a man with royal bearings. One look in his eyes, and the person standing in front of him might just kneel directly. He had a muscular build and was tall, standing near 6'5". He had white hair with slightly brownish eyes. He was the Duke of Damascus City. S rank climber, also known as sword king of Schilla, owner of Shade. 

Duke Agnus Floren tried to calm down his wife, but it had no effect. He could understand her feelings, but there was nothing they could do except wait. They already tried the healing magic and fed their son all kinds of healing potions, but it had no effect. 

One high-grade healing potion could easily heal all the mortal wounds and normally even save someone from the brink of death, but even after drinking several Aish showed no signs of waking up. 

That was what worried Artemis more, as that meant only one thing—Aish was cursed. 

Her son, the future heir of Damascus, was cursed in her own house, and she couldn't prevent it. The disappointment she felt in herself, as she thought that she failed him as his mother, was making her furious. 

Curses originated from black magic. They are banned from every kingdom. 

Usually, curses only get practiced by followers of the church of Evil's Scion. They are followers of the Demon King Detail, who was defeated and sealed thousands of years ago in another realm by God Apollo himself. 

After that, anyone found using them or practicing them would be killed or imprisoned for life without any exceptions.

And the fact that someone from Evil's Scion was able to infiltrate the Floren mansion and curse the future heir was an insult in itself. 

But nobody in the room was currently worried about that. As their son's life was hanging on the thread. 

They have tried to identify or remove the curse, but without purifying magic, it was not possible, and anyone with that magic was associated with the church. 

"Why hasn't anyone from the church arrived yet?". 

Duke Agnus asked his guard, who was standing behind him. 

"We've already informed them, and currently high priest Andreas is on his way here. They could be arriving any minute now." The soldier replied hurriedly, as he didn't want to anger the parents more. 

"Is brother alright?" 

An 8-year-old girl pulled her mother's dress and asked her in a cute voice; her eyes were getting misty looking at Aish. 

Her name was Amelia Floren. Princess of Damascus, the little sister of the person lying motionless and the daughter of Duke Angus and Duchess Artemis Raven. 

"He's fine. Don't worry, he'll wake up soon. Okay," Artemis tried to coax her child, as she didn't want her to be worried. 

Everyone in the mansion knew just how close both brother and sister were, and she knew if she didn't say something, this little girl was going to start crying; for a fact, they knew that no one except Aish could stop her tears. 

After hearing her mother, little Amelia didn't doubt her words and went near Aish's bed and held his hand. 

"Wake up, lazy brother. Or I'm going to oversleep tomorrow." 

Hearing her sweet words, a little smile formed on everyone's face in the room. 

Just then the door opened, and a guard announced the arrival of High Priest Andreas. 

Andreas wore a white dress with a symbol of the sun God Apollo, which shows his affiliation with the church. He had two golden strips going down his shoulders and a book in his hand. He had a tattoo of Lyre made on the back of his hand. 

"Greetings, Duke Agnus. Lady Artemis. " He bowed slightly to the Duke and Duchess, who nodded their heads in response. 

Andreas came near Aish to check his condition without waiting for further instructions, as he was already informed about the situation. 

He checked Aish's condition and started chanting some spells in ancient language. 

Some black lines started getting visible on Aish's heart and started spreading towards his head. 

The Duke had a hunch, and after seeing the curse lines appearing on his son's body, his face grew even more worried. He could tell it was a Seishus curse, which could affect his son's mind and even take his life if not removed successfully. 

"How's my son? Is everything okay?" 

Artemis, who was now holding Amelia, couldn't hold herself back as well as Angus and asked about her son's condition. 

But after Priest Andreas reassured her that the curse wasn't fully placed and he could remove it successfully, she took a deep breath. 

Priest Andreas took out a flask filled with holy water and made a lyre mark on Aish's chest. He then started chanting his spells, and seeing him, nobody said anything lest they interrupt him. 

After 5 minutes, the black lines started getting drawn to the lyre mark and later disappeared in smoke. 

At the end, a white light engulfed Aish's body, and Andreas informed everyone about the curse's removal. 

"The curse is lifted now; he just needs rest." 

Hearing his voice, everyone had a smile on their face. 

Duke Agnus and Artemis started talking to Andreas about the details for the curse and who could've done this. 

"Mama, brother, he's _ he is."" 

As they were talking, they heard the voice of Amelia, who was screaming and tears running down her eyes. 

Seeing her cry and hearing her, Artemis came back running to see Aish's body convulsing on bed. He was shaking, and tears were coming from his eyes, and it looked like he was in a lot of pain. 

Artemis nearly lost control for a second after seeing her son in that situation, and after calming down, she came near him and started to check his condition. 

Just then Agnus and Andreas came too and saw Artemis holding Aish's head. 

"You said the curse was lifted." 

Artemis said while glaring at Andreas; her black eyes were getting bloodshot now. 

Andreas didn't reply to her and started his spells to see Aish's condition again, but he didn't find anything wrong.

Andreas had a frown on his face. 

"What's wrong, Andreas?" Duke Agnus asked, and he too was getting impatient now. 

Never has he in his life felt as helpless as he feels now. Watching his son writhing in pain and not being able to do anything. He swore to himself that once Aish was fine, he would eradicate all of Evil's Scion from his city. 

Andreas looked at him and informed him that "Aish was fine, but unlike what they thought, the curse wasn't placed recently on him, but it's been affecting him for a long time, and it was just after effects from suddenly removing it completely. His body is that of a kid and is still unawakened, so his energy is drained along with the curse, and that's why he's in pain." 

Andreas gave Aish some potion, which he took out of his storage ring, and after that, Aish's body stopped shaking, and his face, which was pale till now, had some color, and he looked to be resting now. 

Andreas informed the Duke that he'll probably wake up tomorrow morning after his body completely absorbed the potion, and till then they should just watch after him. 

Andreas was planning to go back to church, but Artemis stopped him till Aish woke up, and seeing the look in her eyes, he too didn't argue with it. 

Aish was thus said to have been left alone in his room, but Amelia and Artemis refused to go out and stayed with him. 

Amelia, whose eyes were swollen from crying now, was sleeping with her brother while holding his hand. 

While Artemis was sitting on a chair, thinking about everything that happened today, as she remembered the look of pain on Aish's face after the curse was removed and his shaking body, she didn't want to imagine what she would do if she lost her son. 

But now her son was fine, and now she was planning to make the people who did this to her son pay the price.

There was a murderous look in her eyes, and if anyone from Evil's Scion saw this, then they would've realized how badly they have messed up by going after the son of not only the current sword king but also the retired shadow sword.