Chapter 18

The peach sky and the light breeze accompanied their rest time while enjoying the freshly brewed tea.

A white pigeon flew down to her arm and she took the small paper that was tied on its leg. A message from the king of Axteg. A smile was carved after she read the letter, Eclara found a good news in it which was Claire and Nyxon made peace.

"I heard that you want to annul the engagement with Joshue. Why? Did he mistreat you?" The queen dowager started the conversation.

Eclara only stared at the yellow floral cup in front of her, her fingers rubbed the tip of it. While exhaling a heavy breath, Eclara raised her eyes and looked straight into her mother's eyes. "He mistreated me. But when I mentioned the annulment, he began to change. He started to obsess with me, became more possessive of me. He would put up a fight with my brother just to capture me even by force. In people's eyes, that's a rebellion. But in father's eyes, that's only how a husband would do anything to get his desired wife. While there's no love between us, Joshue mistook his feelings for love but actually that's a toxic behaviour just to keep something only to himself."

Her aqua blue eyes didn't waver as she talked about her deep emotions. And Meldiana was speechless by those words, only to realize how much her daughter had suffered from a man who she didn't love.

"Alright, you can do what you want. Make sure announce the reason of the annulment, because Marquis Jude will not agree to it." She sipped the tea as she smiled, delighted for having a brave daughter like Eclara.

"I understand, mother. Thank you."

And the two of them switched the topic until they're closed enough like a real mother and daughter. Even Ronea was surprised by the fact that she's able to talk with the queen dowager.

As the evening curtain was pulled down, Meldiana was called for an unexpected event and she had to attend it while Eclara went back to the palace by herself. But on her way there, she encountered with the woman who's known as Joshue's scandal, Tiara.

"I heard it from Joshue, you're trying to break up with him, right?" She said, crossing her arms while tilting her head like she can threaten Eclara.

But Eclara only stared at that woman without blinking, slightly let out a heavy sigh, Eclara pinched her head. "Isn't that what you want? Him too. You're the lovebirds who can't be separated and I am generous enough to let you have what you're not supposed to have which is my fiance. But I'm not supposed to have him too."

"How dare you talk like that about him? What if Marquis Amegos hears you?" She smirked after grabbing Eclara's collar.

"So what if he heard? Tell Charles? Shame on you, he's dead already, wench." It's Eclara's turn to laugh cynically that she couldn't cover her satisfied expression after remembering King Charles' death.

"You're crazy... He's your father!"

"Father? I don't have one."

"Looks like you're possessed by demon, I notice the change in you. But Joshue failed to recognize and fell for your sinister."

"Yeah... Something possessed me. Woman, I warn you to back off before I snap your neck." Says Eclara while stepping forward, passing by Tiara who's furiously glaring at her and stomped her foot while leaving. But Eclara couldn't care less about her anger, she was only thinking of Claire now that she arrived in Axteg.

But little did she know, there's only disaster that she will be encountering.

Her hair was grabbed by someone she didn't know, a man with an incredible strength lifted her up on his shoulder but Eclara struggled until he had to knock her off. But it's not enough to make her faint, she only stayed still as to pretend that's she's actually fell unconscious.

Later she found out that she was sent to a pretty steady old cabin in the forest that far from Axteg.

The man was gone after he put her there and tied her up on a wooden pole with a thick rope. Then another man entered the cabin after the kidnapper went out. He's so familiar that Eclara threw him a deadly stare as she recognozed the man.

"You don't learn, right? Collins."

Collins scoffed at her as he sat on a wooden chair, crossing his legs while looking at his sister who bared her teeth towards him. Like a cat that would hiss at its enemy.

"Do you think Joshue will come here and help you? No, he's busy with his woman. What about our brother the king? Of course no, since he's always stuck with his works in his office. So, who's going to save you know?

She didn't reply, but her glowing blue eyes were as if threatening that man from doing anything stupid.

But he couldn't care less of what she told him, Collins walked closer to her and slapped her hardly that the silent was too loud after the sound of the slap. Only the fire crakled at the fireplace.

"You're not regretting it anymore? Bxtch." Eclara didn't stay still, and she bit his hand that almost hit her again.

The harder she bit, the louder Collins screamed. Finally, he knocked her head with his elbow and she didn't want to lose, that's why she ripped off his skin with her teeth. As her eyes glowed intensely, Collins witnessed Eclara became more and more like a predator. Not a prey he used to prey on.

"You witch! I will sue you for this, even if Calamir is the king now, he will not close his eyes at something like this!" He said as he stared at his bleeding hand, gritting his teeth while holding in the pain.

"I don't freaking care, dumbass. If I get to be beheaded, it's my lucky day to be separated from you." She grinned like she enjoyed tormenting Collins' mentality.

"Fine, I will make you suffer now."

He pulled a log from the fireplace using a blacksmith tongs. And stomped it on her foot.

The pain grasped her whole body as her foot was tortured by an incredible heat that resulted it to a scalding. Gritting her teeth while holding in tears from crying, she didn't bat her eyes from glaring at Collins who took his time to enjoy the view of the woman he hated currently crumbled.

"I told you not to mess with me. You're maybe my sister, but in gender and strength, I won." He put back the log on the fire but he pulled it back and slammed it on her other foot.

Now both her feet scalded so bad from the blazing embers at the end of the log.

Clenching her teeth so hard till they bled, but Eclara didn't show any sign of wanting to beg for forgiveness from Collins. It's not about her ego or pride, but it's all about she knew who will fall at the end.

"Now, let's ignite the cabin. With you inside, the warmer it gets."

He had a psychotic smile on his face before spreading the fire with the burning log, he threw it on the wooden floor. Of course, the fire spread a bit too fast on the floor since the it was made by spruce woods.

The flame lightened Collins' satisfied expression while he was opening the door.

"You're done as my obstacle. Next is the rumored future duchess of Hellian."

Eclara almost fainted from the thick smokes, but she widened her eyes when she heard Collins said that. Even her toes were being fed to flames, she didn't even care about anything except for Claire.

'What to do...? Someone please save Claire.'

*

He pulled my clothes as he stared at me, his eyes were pure green like the man I saw before I died.

"Let's go somewhere else and talk." Lefka whispered. Glancing at Nyxon and Calamir who watched the two of us bending at each other while whispering.

"Sure."

I pulled his hand and stepped out of the throne room, maybe it's good to see how crowded the room was. It's the first banquet after Calamir became the king, it's held on purpose of celebrating war against Dimagne country. The only country that opposed of Calamir became the new king as they actually support Claudia and her sons.

"Ronea is in danger."

My eyes almost fell out from the sudden report, and I looked at Lefka who looked more serious.

"How do you know, Mr. Dragon?" I lightly pinched my temples after feeling bloods rushing.

"Remember when I told you that I gave something like pendant to her? That's the thing that told me."

"Ah, that! So, how is she?"

"What do you mean? She's on her way here, ah, that's her." Says Lefka as his index finger pointed towards a beautifully messy lady who walked this path. It's actually Eclara who looked a bit dirty and messy but she's still looked so stunning.

"Ronea, where have you been? I thought your mother told you to go back first. But did you get kidnapped or what?" I slowly dashed at her while holding her cold dirty hands.

Slightly shivering out of coldness, she held my hands back as to reach the warmth.

"Bingo, my dear. I bet you can guess who." She giggled.

"Hm... It's the same man who abducted me, right?"

She nodded.

"But how are you here safe and sound? There's a heavy smoke smell on you. Did he try to burn you alive?"

She nodded again. "When the flames reached out to me, the pendant that Lefka gave me suddenly shone. It's the green light that healed my great wounds and injuries, in result, I was saved by it. A dragon's power, I guess?" Eclara glanced at Lefka, and he nodded.

"Thanks to that, you're saved. Now go change yourself, the banquet is about to start!" Says Lefka while pushing her upstairs, leaving me behind only to realize that Nyxon was staring at me the whole time he was standing at the door.

"Did I make you wait?" I touched his hand.

"Did something happen to Ronea?" He asked, he entwined our fingers.

"Yes. It's related to Collins."

"Again?"

"Who?"

We looked at the low rage voice, and it's Calamir who overheard our conversation. His ocean eyes shook as he heard the same name of the same person who kept messing with his beloved.

"Where's that bastard now?"

I could see him clenching his teeth, while his eyes filled with murderous intent. But Nyxon calmed him down.

"Be patient. He'll be here soon enough, don't act too rash because Claudia might have a backup plan. If you're chasing him right now, you're only the pawn of that woman's strategy." Says Nyxon, his hand didn't stop from tapping on Calamir's shoulder.

He was almost blinded by his own dark side, fortunately there was his best friend who put him in a normal state.

"Let's start the banquet first." I softly pushed Calamir upstairs so that he can come down to make an entrance.

By the time it's started, all the aristocrats enjoyed the meals and they danced with each other while finding their children's soulmates. The chandelier was looking lovely as ever with yellow and white lights on it. The music was played from the moment Calamir ended the speech, and now the people were waiting for him to accept someone as his dance partner since no one had asked for him yet.

"Don't tell you don't have someone you desire, Your Majesty?"

Nyxon squinted his eyes as he looked at the lady who suddenly came near Calamir. "Be careful with what you say, Angela."

Angela smiled affectionately towards Nyxon after she heard him saying her name. "My apologise, Your Majesty. But Lord Nyxon, you're so majestic like always." She raised her head after bowed down towards both Calamir and Nyxon.

People could see there's a heart sign in those eyes, and acknowledged her passion towards the mighty man named Nyxon.

But when she landed her eyes on me, Angela frowned. But she did it only in a second, and she turned the frown face to a genuinely smiley face. But I know it very well, that smile was meant for me to stay away from Nyxon. And I gave her the 'I don't give a damn' face and wrapped my arms around his neck.

Nyxon who actually turned red while covering his face, his hand unconsciously climbed onto my waist.

Of course that princess let out a menacing aura through her eyes. Even for someone who's beautiful like her would still look pretty in angry. Angela's possessiveness over Nyxon was beyond everything, and that's when I realized that she's quite a red flag woman.

But Nyxon noticed at how she left me a threatening stare, he pulled me closer to his chest and gnarled at her with his crimson eyes.

"Just you wait." She left with wearing an evil smirk on her face. But before she turning head, she took a glimpse at Nyxon and her lust was showing in her eyes. That's the amount of an unhealthy love she got for him.

I glanced at Nyxon who's still looking at her, and shifted his gaze to me. "I smell trouble from her. Be careful, honey."

Well, I always knew that one day Angela would bring me a chaos. But it's too early for that, until I saw her jealousy became more uncontrollable every time she saw Nyxon and I were together. I didn't even care of what will happen to me because my priority was Ronea's life.

"Excuse me, may I be your dance partner?"

A random noble guy appeared before me while reaching out his hand to me, smiling tenderly as he asked for a dance.

"I-"

"I am her partner." Nyxon showed him our interlocked hands, his eyes was twitching as he felt so annoyed by a man who suddenly approached me.

Feeling scared, he stepped back after apologized. And Nyxon looked at me. "Don't tell me you're actually considering it?? Excuse me, My Lady??"

I chuckled as I realized that he's jealous of that man. It's cute, but I don't think he'll be cute if he's in a possessive and aggressive phase.

"I did not. I only have my eyes on you." I softly pinched his nose and went upstairs to look for Eclara. I wasn't surprise to see her sleeping in that beautiful pink dress since she went through hell before coming back here. All because of Collins, but I didn't see him anywhere inside the hall.

Letting her sleeping in peace, I changed her clothes to a white gown. After tucking her in a blanket, I opened the door to go back to where Nyxon was.

But suddenly there's a smell of a flower that lingered in the room, and the scent was too strong that it made me dizzy and nausea. My body fell on the floor as my heartbeat became strange. I rushed towards Eclara and covered her nose with the blanket, as of me, it's too late. But anything will be fine as long as Ronea can be saved.

Then I saw something on the white blanket, a red stain. I just noticed that my nose was bleeding.

That was pretty bad.

And that's when Lefka slammed the door opened, seeing me in a bad state, he ran towards me and held me in his arms. The fear in those green eyes was real, his voice couldn't be heard by me anymore. But he yelled calling me while shaking my body with his trembling hands.

*

'Why is she taking so long to check on Ronea? Are they talking?'

Nyxon kept staring at the doorway if Claire would come out from there. But his expectation failed him, that's why he decided to chek on her himself. Before that, he told Calamir that he's only stepping back for a few minutes as of dragging Claire back here.

'I bet that Ronea is asleep and Claire tries to wake her up.' He smiled a little just by thinking about those best friends.

But his heart immediately dropped when he saw Lefka was holding Claire in his arms while crying. The pendant he gave to Eclara was clenched by his shaking hands, but Eclara did not wake up from the weeping Lefka let out.

Nyxon was scared for the first time, he witnessed the bloods kept flowing from his lover's mouth and nose. Lefka did all his best to heal her but his dragon power was limited as he was also cursed. Only the jade pendant that kept her from danger even though she's already in a brink of death.

"Go check on Claire."

The tap on his shoulder made him startled, looking at Calamir who's also surprised by what happened, he rushed towards Eclara who's sleeping like a log.

His legs were shaking badly as he closed the distance between him and Claire.

He clasped Lefka's shoulder, and made him looked him in the eyes. "Who made this?" His voice cracked, and his eyes slowly glimpsed at Claire.

Lefka shook his head. "I smell a sweet poison on her...".

He widened his eyes after hearing that, he bent his body towards Claire to smell the scent but he couldn't and started to wonder. "Why can't I smell it?"

"Because it was meant for them both." Says Calamir who clenched his hands as he stared at Eclara's pale face. To think Claire did her best to prevent Eclara from the fragrance, but in the end the prevention failed.

"It's the curse flower, Vorax Blossom. It kills its smeller."

They turned their heads at the calm voice, it's belonged to Atharis who just entered the room. He quickly checked on Claire's pulse, and he went to Eclara next.

"For Eclara, there's special herb that grows in hidden groves, and guarded by mystical creatures like elves. Calamir, go there and pick up some herbs called Elysian Balm. Now."

Obeying his uncle's words, that king quickly went to the destination. While Atharis' eyes shifted to Claire, he felt pain in his chest as he gazed at that dying girl.

"As for her, I think it's better for us to send her to her father."

"Her father? You mean Helron? But I have no power left to go there... It's so far, you know, Athar?" Lefka started to panic again as his hand didn't stop from caressing Claire's head.

"I will call Eldric." Says Nyxon as he called Eldric in whisper.

And puff !

Eldric appeared before their eyes, with his waist leveled black hair and lavender eyes being attractive enough to make people captivated.

"Do you have enough mana to teleport us to the magic tower?" Asks Nyxon, there's still a slight of anxious expression on his face.

"I do. But we have to hold hands so that I can make it fast." Says Eldric as his hand held onto Nyxon's. Of course, he didn't stand still and he took Atharis' hand while Lefka reached out for Eldric's other hand as he's still holding onto Claire's body.

A purple coloured magic circle was seen under them, a medium sized circle that filled with many rune spells on it. And in a second after Eldric done chanting, they disappeared.

"I remember how much you love rain. Maybe if we meet again, I will watch you dancing in this rain."

The lowered gaze that softly landed on the tombstone that carved a beautiful name on it. The raindrops soaked the grass that grew on the grave. He touched the tombstone before leaving the beloved wife's grave. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you again, Cerliserra."

Just after the beloved wife left him because of the curse kept tormenting her life, this time he witnessed something alike was happened towards his daughter. The pain in his chest grew stronger every time he caressed Claire's pale face.

"Helron, someone did this to her, right?" Asks Lefka with his shaking voice. Nyxon and Atharis were waiting Helron's answer too without even taking a seat.

"I... I know this magic aura." His grey eyes lowered for a bit on Claire's hands. "It's the witch you once encountered with, Yvalaefkar."

Both of Calamir and Nyxon looked at Lefka who's slowly making a fierce expression. His pupils slitted like a real dragon, even his fangs were showing as he gritted his teeth.

Atharis was surprised by those features suddenly appeared, what about the curse of human, the Despised Morph curse? Did Lefka break it? With what? Atharis was too speechless to interpret of what happened to Lefka.

"Calm down, you shouldn't act so rash. That witch might be weaker than you, but her spell is already on Claire, she could do anything to this body if she feels threatened." Says Helron, and he looked at Nyxon. "Can you please lift her up and carry her to the top floor. There, you will encounter with a female elf. Tell her that I send you to enter the room."

Nyxon glanced at Claire's face before nodding, and he gently held that fragile body.

Lefka wanted to stay, but Atharis told him to go with Nyxon. So he did, while Atharis stayed with Helron. Eldric also followed Nyxon and Lefka to the top of the tower.

"There's something about this witch that you know, right?" Atharis stared at Helron who leaned on the wall. But he didn't reply. "Was she the one who put the curse on your wife?"

Helron's eyes lowered, he gazed on the wedding ring on his finger. Reminded him of Cerliserra who was the one to propose to him. "I should at least settle the longing case. Carliserra might be happy too if I do this for our daughter."

Atharis just stood there, only to watch a fully grown man wiped his tears because of the woman he loved the most. And now, his daughter was about to be taken away with the same curse as his wife. Will he be given another chance to save the daughter? Or will he fail again like he was in the past?

'If... If Lefka is the one to be in Claire's place... What would have I become? No one knows if he's actually immortal or not, even Lefka himself. And that's the scariest fact I fear so much...' The teal in Atharis eyes started to fill inside, showed how much he's in fear and anxious.

"Atharis, Yvalaefkar almost broke his curse just now."

He looked at Helron with a surprise face. So it's true what he's thinking after all. "How? I mean, what is the key?"

"The key? There's something might have triggered him... It's possible that something is actually related to Claire."

What's on Claire that would break Lefka the Jade Dragon's curse?