Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

Her lack of remorse angered King Armen. He stood up from his chair, wanting to order his knights to seize Martha and punish her, but his rationality returned, and he managed to stop himself. He glowered at the old woman standing before him. "How can you say that? For her own good? Can you even hear yourself? Do you even know where we have to send her? Away to Megaris! Our efforts to protect her all these years went in vain!"

"I won't be able to protect her after this anyway, so it's good she is going away from here."

Her response shocked everyone in the room. Regarding his daughter's safety, King Armen would not dare let himself be dragged around by his rage. He sat back down on his chair as he took time to calm himself.

"What do you mean?" King Armen asked. Cian, who remained a quiet bystander to their conversation, was equally eager to know what it was.

Cian knew Martha was not simply his sister's nanny but her protector, though he was not sure exactly how or why. Only his father knew the truth. Since his father trusted her, he also chose to trust Martha when it came to his sister though this old lady never allowed him to meet his sister without their father's permission. She was the biggest hurdle for him whenever he tried to go to Seren.

"I would like to have a word with Your Majesty alone," Martha said. Sir Berolt immediately left the room, and her gaze then went towards the Crown Prince, patiently waiting for him to go.

The King waved his hand. "It's fine. You can talk in front of Cian. He already knows most of these things."

Cian was inwardly relieved. Though, even if his father had asked him to go, Cian was determined to hear everything related to his sister.

Martha nodded. "Your Majesty, we have kept her inside that tower all these years so that those people wouldn't be able to track her whereabouts from the essence of her suppressed powers. Till now, I have done my best to hide that essence by using whatever means I could, but that tower and my magic spells wouldn't be able to suppress her essence for long. Her powers have been growing stronger day by day. Even If I stay with her, I am afraid I can't hide her anymore."

"Powers?" Cian asked.

"Why do you sound confused? It is not a secret that your sister is not someone ordinary," King Armen replied to Cian before looking at Martha. "Why are you saying this suddenly? Did something happen?"

Martha nodded, "Your Majesty, we know when she will turn eighteen, those supernatural beings will try to claim her powers. She is seventeen now, and they have already started to sense the essence of her powers which are getting stronger even though her powers are suppressed. Once she turns eighteen, the suppression will no longer be effective.  After she comes of age, her essence will be too strong to hide, and I will no longer be able to do anything."

King Armen was stunned by this news, while Cian found himself at a loss. He couldn't understand the entire thing, although he gathered enough to know that his sister would be in danger once she became an adult.

Cian asked with a frown, "If you alone can't protect her, how about the entire kingdom? Can't thousands of soldiers, even hundreds of thousands of soldiers, protect her? We have a strong military and—"

Martha looked at him. "Your Highness, ordinary humans can't deal with supernatural beings."

King Armen, whose mind was occupied with the worry for his daughter, asked, "If you can't, then how are we going to protect her? You need to find a solution. We need to search for something to protect her."

"Drayce Ivanov, the King of Megaris," Martha replied.

The father and son never expected that Martha would mention his name.

"King of Megaris?" King Armen asked to make sure.

Martha nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. He can protect her."

A strange silence enveloped the room. Cian was speechless, as it didn't make sense to him. If they couldn't protect Seren, then how could the King of Megaris even protect her?

On the other hand, King Armen had calmed down enough to realize what Martha meant. They forgot his other identity—the son of a devil. Only then did they remember that Drayce possessed inhuman powers.

However, Cian refused to back down. "How can you say that he can protect her? Do you know him?"

"I don't know him, but I had seen him once outside the palace when he protected the Third Princess."

"Tell me the reason for you to think like that then." King Armen instructed.

Martha answered, "Since the day the King of Megaris arrived in Abetha, not just me but even the Third Princess sensed the presence of certain energy in the palace. During the engagement ceremony of the Second Princess, I sensed it again, but I decided to avoid its source and took the Third Princess away as I was not sure who the person was and if he was someone who could harm her. Later in the marketplace, I saw the owner of that energy, and that was the King of Megaris. He personally protected her at that time."

The two knew about the incident and they were thankful to Drayce for protecting Seren.

Martha continued, "Back then, she sneaked out from my watch. When she ran away, I couldn't track her. Her essence was suppressed by some strong power and I couldn't reach her. Later, I understood that the owner of that energy was the King of Megaris and he holds a kind of power that can protect her. If his presence by itself can make me unable to track her, then I am sure if he actively uses his power, those supernatural beings can never find her. If we want to suppress the essence of her powers after she comes of age, our only option is to keep her by the King of Megaris's side. His abilities are much stronger than mine,  and at this point, he is the only one we can rely on."

King Armen thought about what Martha said while Cian was not one to be assured so easily.

Cian countered her explanation and suggestion, "From what you and Father said, I understood there are some supernatural beings who want something from Seren. And from what you said about King Drayce, he seemed to be no less than any supernatural being. What if he tries to harm Seren to get what other supernaturals are trying to get from her? How can we trust him?"

Cian's questions made sense. Nobody among them could vouch how trustworthy the King of Megaris was. Drayce Ivanov was infamous for his battle strength and military achievements, but his reputation was also terrible and his personality unreasonable. King Armen looked at Martha. "Cian is right. What are we going to do about it?"

Martha had already heard about the incidents in the palace and about Seren's wedding being fixed with the King of Megaris.

"We can only hope for him to be on her side as he is going to marry her. There is nothing else we can do but expect him to be a protective husband."