The Crown and The Rose
Chapter 19: The Q&A

Chapter 19: The Q&A

The Crown

"You are burned so badly..." Edward blurts out as he inspects my scorched skin.

I take in a deep breath to calm the nerves that are storming inside me. The fight was intense. I have never gotten this serious in a fight. Seraphina really is a formidable opponent and this is what makes her even more scary. I managed to push her off this time but I don’t know what will happen if she gets serious. I can’t even use my actual magic here and earth magic is a very low profile magic. I don’t know how am I supposed to live here with the petty magic tricks.

I need to get out of here and soon...

"Ouch." I yelp as Edward’s fingers touch my burned skin to heal them. Judging by the raw sting of my skin, I’m definitely scorched. My upper body is raw and flushed. It hurts like hell.

A soft green glow casts out of Edward’s palms and a sudden soothing warmth smooths my burned and tensed muscles. My body relaxes a little. Healing magic works better when your and the healer’s skin is connected.

"Your Highness, what should we do now?" Edward asks softly to avoid anyone from hearing.

I look around everyone is watching the new fight, and no one seems to be paying attention to us. But to be more careful, I whisper back, "Let’s get done with this lesson then talk about it."

Edward nods in approval. The warm glow of Edward’s healing magic seeped through my skin, unraveling the tight knots in my muscles as if the pain itself were being woven away. I exhale a breath as the burn slowly disappears and a new layer of skin starts to form on my body. When Edward is done healing me he takes his hand back from my side.

"How do you feel now, Your Highness?" Edward asks, concern and worry evident in his expression.

"I am fine." I grin. "Do you have anything I can wear for now?" I ask him looking down at my bare body.

"Oh yes, let me get you something wait here for me." Edward jogs to the professor who is still diving in his scroll.

I meanwhile untie my hair and start to retie it. Thankfully they didn’t catch fire. I would be damned if they did. I love my hair. Edward approaches me with a plain navy blue shirt and sand it to me.

"Here, Your Highness."

"Thank you." I take it from him and instantly put it on. It’s freezing here. And I never want to catch a cold here when I know there is a tigress waiting for me to let my guard down and then stab my guts.

A few fights later a demon challenges Edward and he goes for his own challenge. It doesn’t take him too long to defeat his opponent then himself yielding and then getting out of the mat unscratched. Now it makes me wonder if I am a bad fighter.

***

We are now on our way back to the dorms. The class went on for straight five hours and now we are on the way back to the dorms. I haven’t seen Seraphina since the fighting session. I wonder where she drifted off too.

"So, what do we do, Your Highness?" Edward asks.

"Simple." I drawl, "I am getting out of the dorm again at night and going to interrogate Erick."

"I see." He acknowledges.

Suddenly something bumps into me and I stall. A smaller male figure has suddenly bumped into me. This male demon is surprisingly small to be a demon. He is even smaller than me. He is at least five to six inches shorter than me.

"I am sorry!" The figure exclaims an apology as he backs down a little. "I was in a rush. Are you okay?" The man has brown eyes and has equally dark brown hair. He is tiny and has a nice face.

"Yes I am okay but why are you in a hurry?" I ask with a question mark on my face, "The curfew is about to start."

"I know." He is looking very tense, "But I need to do this or he will...he will not let me go." He hesitates a little and then answers, there is a slight tremor in his limbs and his breathing is slightly rushed."

"Who are we talking about here?" I ask despite knowing that I have no place to ask such a question. I don’t even know this dude’s name, "And you should calm down a little." But I can’t help it something about this boy doesn’t ring the bell.

"I am sorry!" The boy suddenly bolts past us, "I need to go!"

I am stricken speechless, "What the...?"

"Your Highness, I think you scared him," Edward remarks his posture as straight as an unbendable stick.

"What did I do now?" I pout.

Edward eyes me for a moment before shaking his head, "Nothing. Let’s go, now." Edward starts to walk toward the dorm buildings. "The shower time is about to start you need a proper wash up after the long day."

"Hmm?" A playful smirk tugs at my lips, "Edward, do you want to take a bath with me?" I nudge his shoulder with mine.

"What? No!" Edward looks utterly horrified and it makes me want to tease him even more.

"What really?" I taunt him further, "But I thought my loyal servant wanted to wipe my back for me."

"Your Highness, please stop it." A soft blush starts to creep up Edward’s neck and he is utterly embarrassed.

I grin, loving the effect I have on him, "Okay, I will stop but tell me you really want to rub my back, don’t you?" Edward sighs and my grin widens.

***

Seraphina doesn’t return to the room and that makes it easier for me to sneak out of the dorm. I have no idea where that crazy demon woman ran off to. Maybe she has committed suicide because of the shame I gave her today. And I could care less about that. I would be rather happy if she did something like that so that I wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble to kill her.

I slowly open the door of the room but my heart stops as I see Seraphina standing outside the door, her arms folded over her chest.

"Where do you think you are going, Your Highness?" She asks, raising a brow.

"Umm, I need to use the bathroom." I lie and it is evident that I am lying.

Seraphina scoffs, "Do you think I am an idiot?" She takes a step closer to me but I don’t back off.

"Seraphina, let me go." I narrow my eyes.

"And what if I don’t?" Her gaze doesn’t waver either.

"I will make you move out of my way if you don’t move," I say, there is no sign of my usual goofiness in my voice. It’s now calm and cold.

"Your Highness, I think you underestimate me." Seraphina’s signature smile starts to return to her stern face.

"It doesn’t seem so." I counter, my resolve steeled.

Seraphina’s fist darts out and I reflexively catch it. I instantly realize that if this fist were to slam into my face then I would have a bruise for at least a few days or weeks. My finger flexes around her fist. Seraphina tries to pull out her fist from my clutch but I hold it firmly and then with a quick, fluid motion, I wrench her arm behind her, I cast an instant binding spell over her then turn us around and kick her inside the room and lock the door behind her. I do all of it so quickly that Seraphina doesn’t get even a chance to react.

I quickly slip out of my dormitory building and sneak into the boys’.

"Your Highness you are late," Edward states stoically.

"I have a tigress for a roommate it doesn’t matter if I took a little bit time more than expected." I wave at him and grin brightly. "Now let’s get to work."

"Yes." Edward acknowledges and starts to lead the way.

I pull my backhanded tick again and unlock the door of the room where we have Erick grounded. Erick is dozing off while bound with the chair.

"Hey, buddy." I flop down on the bed in front of him. "What’s up? Feeling bored?"

Erick instantly snaps out of his dilemma, his eyes darting around the room warily before falling upon me. His gaze instantly sharpens, it could cut through the still.

"Hey, buddy relax." I say enthusiastically, "We are here to play a game of question and answer. If you answer our questions as we expect you to then you will leave and we will let you go after we are done with our task but if you try to deflect any question or don’t truly answer them then I will have you executed." I hum like a bird, enjoying the moment as much as possible. "Here comes your first question: How do you know who I am?" I pull down the cloth concealing his mouth so that he can speak.

"Your birthmark."