Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

Seren had never seen the waterfall before, but she recalled seeing a similar image in a picture story book. 'There is a waterfall in this part of the river? Why did Martha never bring me here?'

There was something soothing and musical about the sound of falling water. Seren was thoroughly fascinated with this new experience.

"It looks better than in the books," Seren could not help but whisper in wonder, observing the beautiful waterfall.

Cian heard her and agreed with it, "Hmm, it's really beautiful."

The young prince was satisfied with simply observing his delighted sister.  In his eyes, all he could see was a carefree little girl bouncing in excitement on her first trip outside. She was such a beautiful sight, the colorful flowers surrounding them seemed to pale in comparison.

'They call her a witch but just her simple smile can turn this place as lively and pretty as this. They don't know what they are missing by pushing her away.' Cian couldn't help but pity the thinking of other people and wonder if they could see how innocent she was and how much they had hurt her.

Seeing her eyes fixed on the waterfall, Cian asked, "Do you want to get closer to it?"

His words almost made her squeal a 'yes!', but then she forcibly calmed herself and asked hesitantly, "Can I?"

He nodded with a pleasant smile. "Let's go."

They leisurely strolled towards the waterfall through that green field. Two knights walked ahead of them to clear the path, while the others kept their distance as they followed behind. Under the morning sun, everyone found the walk more pleasant than they imagined. The flowers blooming everywhere had made everything look even prettier.

When they neared the waterfall, the ground became rough and uneven, filled with rocks and slippery stones. Cian offered his sister a hand. "You should walk carefully here."

Without hesitating, she accepted his hand and walked along with him slowly while handling her dress's skirt with another hand.

The two finally reached the waterfall where Seren could clearly see where the water was falling. From where they stood, the water drops from the waterfall could reach her and she liked the refreshing sensation spraying on her skin.

"Have you been here before?" she asked.

"Hmm." He nodded. "I thought about bringing you here before but could never do it. But I hope it's not too late now."

"Thank you," she smiled. Though he couldn't see her smile, her bright eyes were enough to let him know what his sister was feeling.

Cian let her enjoy the scenery for a while before offering her his hand again. "Let's have a morning meal first."

She looked at him in surprise as if asking, "Here?'

When she turned around, she saw that the knights were arranging chairs and a small table for them on one side, even setting up a small shade to shield them from the sun.

'Brother planned all this?' Seren had never tried eating outside in the open before. This was another new precious memory she would keep close to her heart.

"Shall we?" Cian asked, and she put her hand back to his as he helped her down towards the flatter ground.

The brother and sister had a pleasant meal while enjoying such a peaceful view in front of them. There were no sounds other than the musical sound of splashing water and the birds chirping from the trees around them.

Seren realized she had probably never smiled as much as today in her entire seventeen years of life. She could not help but bitterly question why she was only allowed to taste this kind of happiness and peace now when she was about to be sent away?.

A trip outside the walls of her tower, a warm meal with family, if everything was like this from the start, she would have never thought about running away from here. Funny, she was allowed to go out like this because these were her last few days in Abetha before her wedding.

Before, she was already determined to escape, and after today's experience, she was even more motivated to run away. There was no way she would go to Megaris and be a prisoner of some stranger, probably to experience a repeat of her life in the tower. She would rather prefer spending her life somewhere far and alone in the wilderness.

---------

Drayce was with his knights in their quarters.

"Your Majesty, the things we have asked from Megaris will be here a day before your wedding," the captain of the knights informed.

The young king gave a sound of approval before saying, "We will be leaving on the same day of the wedding, immediately after the ceremony. Make sure everything is arranged in the right way and there should be no disturbances during the journey."

"Everything has been planned accordingly, Your Majesty."

Their conversation paused when they heard exclamations from some of the knights who were pointing outside the windows. Everyone witnessed the supernatural phenomenon of plants around the military barracks blooming flowers all at the same time.

Drayce knew what it meant and mumbled, "Seems like someone is happy after going out with her brother."

Despite experiencing it for the second time, the captain of the knights still found the scene marvelous. "Your Majesty, is this kingdom a magic land? The next day after we arrived at the capital, the same thing happened as well. I once heard from a passing merchant that Abetha has a place called 'A City Where No Flower Blooms', so I am not surprised if they also have a city where flowers suddenly bloom." He laughed a little at his own pun."

"Soon, Megaris will turn into a magic land too," Drayce answered.

The knight couldn't understand what his king meant. Before he could ask anything, Drayce stood up to leave and the captain could only bow to his retreating figure.

Two knights followed behind Drayce as he left the military barracks to go see Slayer.