Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 236: A New Target

Chapter 236: A New Target

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Taking a stroll along the empty hallway, Duncan let out a soft sigh as he eventually found his way to the opened courtyard. Behind him stood one of his trusted companions– his guard, who didn’t fail to notice the sudden pause in his Majesty’s gait. Daring to lift his head up, he could see the sunbeams stretching towards where Duncan stood, and the minute the light came in contact with his boot, a sharp sizzling sound could be heard, followed by the instant retreat of Duncan’s leg.

Unlike everyone else, he couldn’t step out in the sun without the necessary protection, nor did he feel like making use of those protections today. Despite almost burning himself up, Duncan’s demeanor hinted not a little of his pain, and most of the times, this worried his loyal companion who dared not speak, especially when not asked to.

"Where is Ivan?" Duncan finally questioned his guard as he took shelter in the shade, and the vampire guard lowered his head deeply before speaking,

"He must be with the guests downstairs, do you need me to–"

"No." Duncan refused the idea before his guard could bring himself to say it, "I shall see him in the evening then. Find Ivan’s butler and relay the message to him, he will pass it on to Ivan. I don’t need him scheduling his evening for something else. Leave."

"As you say, your Majesty." Affirming his Majesty’s order, the guard turned around to execute what he had been ordered to do, leaving Duncan to stand in the shade while he gazed serenely at the courtyard. His head was tilted slightly as he observed the courtyard that had been brightly occupied with sunbeams, and he hardly remembers the courtyard looking as vibrant as they did now.

"The exiled princess of Caledonia." He murmured quietly, unsure of how he would bring up the topic to Ivan. He hadn’t forgotten what Ivan said to him, about opening up to him if he needed assistance in getting better, and according to the prophecy from Caledonia’s priest, he needed to find the exiled princess of Caledonia, the girl who was wrongfully sold off by her family before his parent dominated the land and took over. According to Caledonia’s priest, the exiled princess had the power to make him feel better.

How?

He did not know, but he was going to find her no matter what.

The last information he could recall about the exiled princess was that she was sold off to someone in GreenHollow. Whom she was sold off to and where she presently stayed remained unknown to him. Finding her and bringing her back to Caledonia was said to heal him from this ailment, and he was slowly running out of time.

It isn’t his intention to bother Ivan, another reason why he never spoke about it, but since he was assured of any type of assistance, he had decided to inform Ivan tonight. Exhaling through his parted lips as his shoulders eased, he turned around and was returning back to the Piano room, but, on his way, he halted when his crimson caught sight of a little boy hiding behind a flower vase.

His little hands had covered his mouth as he stifled a giggle, and it was rather obvious he was playing a game of hide and seek with someone. Duncan had turned around to follow a different path when something ominous went through his already weak heart, whilst causing him to halt as he painfully clutched his chest. The feeling came too quick, so sudden, as if a lightning had struck him from his back all the way to his heart, and when he looked back at the little boy, his crimson eyes widened.

On the floor, beside him was the same piece of crystal Ivan had shown him earlier. The energy pulsating through that crystal was intimidatingly strong, however, the little boy seemed unaware of the crystal’s deadly energy and had bent to pick it up. In a flash, Duncan was next to the boy’s side, and he quickly bent to pick up the crystal before the little boy could.

Little Alain’s eyes looked up immediately to see someone had taken hold of the pretty crystal he was about to pick. He gazed at the man whose hold around the crystal turned firm, and he was made to tilt his head up when the young man rose to his full height. Alain curiously kept his gaze on the man who finally met his own, and then he smiled.

"Good morning sir." He bowed his head politely in greeting, "is it yours?" His chirpy voice inquired from Duncan who gazed at him blankly. Before Duncan could respond to the little boy, he could hear two feminine voices calling out to someone.

"Ali?"

"Ali?" When the owner of those voices came into view, Alain’s eyes widened at the thought of being caught. He had forgotten about the hide and seek game, but before he could make a run for it, his Mother had swooped in on time to grab him, giving him one of those adorable back hugs that had Alain trying to squirm free.

"Gotcha!"

"Mom!!" He wailed meekly, as if embarrassed, and his face bloomed when his Mother gave his rosy cheeks a peck.

Beside Madeline was Lucy who had been a participant of this game, but her expression immediately flushed red at the sight of King Duncan. When he glanced in her direction, Lucy immediately lowered her head in a polite bow. Madeline, who was also taking notice of the gentleman in front of her, decided to follow Lucy in curtsying. It was her first time seeing a face like this in the Palace, but from his manner of dressing, she could tell he was a significant person.

"Your Majesty." Lucy was the first to speak, but Duncan simply averted his gaze elsewhere. He felt uneasy, extremely uneasy, and whenever he felt this way, the only thing his troubled mind could think of was the piano room– his sanctuary. Clearing his throat and hiding the crystal piece inside his sleeve, he acknowledged both their presence with a curt nod before turning around to take his leave.

"Bye bye." Alain’s voice made him halt for a second, and when he stole a glance at him, the boy was waving at him with a smile on his adorable face. Unaware of how to respond, he simply turned back and left.

Lucy’s gaze lingered on his retreating figure, and she sighed to herself, her shoulders slumping at the mere thought of his distance with everyone.

"Mama, he has hair like yours." Commented Alain whose little fingers reached out to toy with a strand of his Mother’s hair. Madeline silently agreed with her son, but his personality exuded a creepiness she could hardly compare.

Back in the piano room, Duncan closed the door and took his seat in front of the grand piano. He brought out the glowing crystal he hid in his sleeves, and his eyebrows creased dubiously as they looked the same as the ones Ivan had shown him. But how did it get there? It wasn’t there when he laid eyes on the boy but the minute he turned around to leave, the crystal was right in front of the little boy.

He would have asked how the little boy got a hold of something so diabolic, but with the arrival of his Mother, he couldn’t do it.

Scrutinizing the glowing crystal, Duncan wasn’t one that could easily fall into its intimidation, thus, he decided to view where and how the crystal ended up in the boy’s clutches. Tightening his hold on the crystal, his eyes narrowed into concentration, and something mystical shimmered in his crimson eyes.

The images that enveloped his thoughts were quick, so quick that he could compare the speed of the images to that of a lightning bolt. Eventually, the fast-forwarding images paused, and from the crystal’s point of view, Duncan was able to see through his mind the empty hallway he had passed not too long ago, but there was someone else there, an unknown figure, and he was holding the crystal.

"It is almost time..." he heard a dark voice speak, and it was a voice containing loathe, and an edge of possessiveness as the figure prawled through the empty hallway. He could not see this person, nor could he tell what the person looked like as he could only see through the crystal’s view, but then all of a sudden, the figure halted at the sight of a little boy who hid behind the huge flower vase.

Although he was standing quite close, a few feets away from the boy, no one seemed to notice his presence, as though the being was mysteriously veiled from their gazes. It suddenly occurred to Duncan that he never saw this being despite watching the little boy himself, but when he turned to leave, the sudden pain that struck him didn’t happen due to his illness but– he felt beings’ presence.

In its hand, the crystal piece glowed.

"Come to me, little one." He heard the voice speak again, and the crystal vanished from his hand only to materialize in front of Alain who hadn’t noticed it yet. Due to how the crystal was bent on the floor, Duncan was able to catch a glimpse of this unknown person.

All he could see was a tall man dressed in a black cloak. He could hear sizzling sounds, as though the dress was about to catch fire, but the being remained unaffected by the sizzling and sparks emanating from its outfit. When the image before him cleared, he lost connection with the crystal. Opening his eyes, he looked at the crystal in his hand to see the glow fading, the same way it did with the crystal Ivan gave him.

"Who was that? And why did it target the little boy?"