Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

When the performers concluded the folk dance, applause and cheers could be heard from that part of the plaza. Some even threw flower garlands towards the dancers, and then the crowd started to disperse. Esther realized that the Crown Prince was no longer behind her and he had left the area. Only after making sure he was truly gone did she feel relieved and allowed herself to breathe.

Just then, her senses captured a faint yet strange dissonance in the air. Her eyes observed around to find something. The expressions on her face changed and she moved away from her friends to search in the direction of that dissonance.

"Prince…The Prince is here…Is it for him?" she mumbled as worry enveloped her mind. "Wait, why am I worried for him? I don't care about him—but what if it's truly here to hurt him? The Queen, she would be sad if something happened to her son. Yes, I'm worried for Her Majesty…"

However, although she knew the general direction of that strange dissonance, it felt faint and she was unable to pinpoint where it was coming from. She started searching for the Crown Prince among the crowd, but since people were starting to gather, it was not easy to do so.

The lantern celebration was about to start, and people were heading towards the harbour.

Suddenly, the royal servants of the Queen noticed that Esther was not with them.

"Where is Esther?"

"She was just here beside me a while ago."

"Oh, no. We must have lost her in the moving crowd!"

"Let's search for her. She's not familiar with the area, and it would be sad if we continue lighting lanterns without her."

"Let's separate into groups of threes and look around the plaza area first. I will personally head towards the harbour, just in case, Esther heads straight there. We can meet back in the carriages after an hour. We won't go back without her or Her Majesty will punish us all."

The ladies grouped themselves and started searching for Esther.

On the other hand, Esther was starting to wander away from the crowd. She thought the source of the strange dissonance was heading for the part of the harbour where people would be lighting up their floating lanterns, but the longer she followed it, she realized that the people walking around her were lessening.

'Where is it going? It is going opposite of where everyone is going. Am I mistaken? Maybe…maybe it is not here to harm anyone.' Just as she had those thoughts, she noticed a familiar young man walking towards what seemed like a small pier quite a distance from where the populace gathered in the river.

It was precisely Prince Theron. He didn't go to where everyone was going, but rather, he was going in the opposite direction of the crowd—which also seemed to be the direction of the source of the strange dissonance. Behind him, there was another young man, who she recognized to be one of the knights normally accompanying him.

'Only a single escort? I don't think that knight can buy enough time for the Prince to run away.'

Esther ran towards them as she was sure whatever she sensed wanted to hurt the Crown Prince.

At her level, her instincts were sensitive enough to warn her that the source of that faint energy was hostile towards the Crown Prince, even though it was yet to show killing intent. Esther had pledged to live like an ordinary human and never to use her powers, but when it came to saving someone's life, she could not help but use it.

'First the mother, now the son. It seems like I have a karmic connection with the Ivanov Family.'

Although the pier was far from the main area where the crowd gathered, it was still a public place, and there were still plenty of people in the surroundings. If there would be a need to attack, she had to be careful so that others could not get injured. She began to run towards the Crown Prince when she saw him standing at the edge of the extended wooden platform standing above the water,  which looked like an ideal spot to watch as the people released their floating lanterns.

Soon, several bright lanterns could be seen going up towards the sky, while more could be seen floating above the river, twinkling like stars against the black surface of the water.

Sir Galien could not help but ask, "Young Master, do you wish for me to go and purchase a lantern so you can light one as well?"

"I can make my wish on the third day," the Crown Prince said softly, as if his words were being carried by the wind. "I am only here to watch. Isn't this spot perfect? No one is here to disturb me and I can admire the darkness lit up by the wishes of my people. I prefer it like this."

His guardian knight bowed his head as he admired the sentiments of the future ruler of the land. The two still didn't know what was coming to them.

----------

"Ouch! My shoulders—"

"Hey, look where you're walking, lass!"

"I apologize!"

Esther was running along the riverbank, and she sometimes bumped into the crowd walking the opposite way, but she was in too much of a hurry and could only throw an apology towards them without stopping. Her instincts were screaming at her to hurry. Only after she reached the connecting bridge of that small pier did she notice that the strange energy had grown considerably stronger. The source was coming towards the small pier as well.

"Your Highness!" she called as she ran towards the end of the extended platform.

Prince Theron and his guardian knight were both startled by her shout. They turned towards the source of the voice and saw the young lady with honey blond hair at the other end of the wooden platform running towards them. Her delicate face looked anxious and scared, as if someone was chasing behind her.

Sensing something was wrong, Sir Galien drew his sword from its scabbard and stepped in front of his liege. Prince Theron did not move and only looked at the empty space behind the young lady running towards him. There was nothing there, but the expression on her face seemed to imply otherwise. She was glancing behind her as if she was seeing something they couldn't.

"Your Highness, you are in danger!"

Esther was about to reach their side of the wooden platform, and the knight thought she was the threat to the Crown Prince, but suddenly, they witnessed something inexplicable.

Esther was falling forward—no, it was as if she was thrown into the air by something unseen behind her,  as if she happened to be blocking its path from letting it reach the Crown Prince. The impact was so strong that even though the Crown Prince caught her body, he too lost his balance and fell on the wooden platform. However, Prince Theron was experienced in combat and immediately used that force to roll his body and managed to end up standing on his feet, cushioning Esther from the brunt of the force.

It was so sudden neither of the men knew how to react. Esther then left the Crown Prince's arms and firmly stood in front of them. Before the two young men could gather their senses, they felt it too, the invisible attack. The unseen force pushed all three of them back even though Esther had experienced the strongest hit.

The Crown Prince caught her again, and this time, he held her firmly in his embrace. He could feel her weight leaning against him, and if he were to let her go, she would fall to her knees. "You—what's happening? Are you injured?"

Esther appeared exhausted. Panting heavily, she opened her eyes and looked at the empty space somewhere in front of them. "Y-Yes, Your Highness. I will keep it occupied, so you should run away from here." Her head then turned as if she was vigilantly staring at something.

The Crown Prince and his guardian knight followed her gaze but they could see nothing.

"What is it?" Prince Theron asked her. He looked around to look at an escape path the three of them could take, but they were at the edge of the small pier and that invisible attacker was blocking the only way back towards the riverbank.

Before she could answer anything, her eyes widened and she held the Crown Prince tightly, as if to protect him with her body. Once again, there was a strong unseen force that attacked the three of them. Sir Galien lost his balance and fell on his back, but the ones who received the core of the attack, Esther and Prince Theron, were thrown in the air… and fell into the river.