The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 321: Something Was Amiss

Chapter 321: Something Was Amiss

Instead of Nikolai traveling all the way to Ebodia, Ezekiel suggested that he should be the one to travel to Valcrez instead and personally discuss matters with Nikolai. Her brother also wanted to personally meet and talk to Zoran, knowing how Zoran had served the demon king before.

Mineah was so excited to see her brother again, knowing that Tarah would be with him. According to Nikolai, Ezekiel would be traveling with Tarah and the Wizard Lurio through the latter’s teleportation spell.

She was in the middle of discussing something with Zaila while sitting on one of the tables near the inner courtyard of the palace when Nikolai reached out to her through their bond.

[Ezekiel is here, Mine. Let me come and pick you up quickly,] Nikolai informed her and before Mineah could even protest, Nikolai was already before them.

"Your Majesty," Zaila politely greeted him and then quickly excused herself to leave. MIneah nodded.

As soon as Zaila left, Mineah stood up and Nikolai quickly carried her in his arms. In a flash, they arrived inside the secret and private chamber where her brother and the others were.

"Big Brother!" Mineah exclaimed, quickly greeting her brother with a hug and exchanging courteous greetings with everyone.

Nikolai also formally introduced Zoran to Ezekiel and the rest

"I know him. I almost killed him and roasted him alive on the battlefield if not for Tarah who had stopped me," Ezekiel stoically commented. His gaze turned dark and menacing as he fixed it on Zoran, prompting Mineah to pivot and trace Zoran’s line of sight.

She found Zoran keenly staring at Tarah. "Have we met somewhere?" Zoran asked, his gaze unwavering, fixed on Tarah, "You look familiar."

"Is she?" Ezekiel interrupted with a grim face. Mineah frowned at the tension that her brother was exuding. Unfortunately, she was unable to read Ezekiel and Tarah’s thoughts but the same couldn’t be said for Zoran.

’Her face looks somehow familiar... Where did I see her? I’m sure I have seen her somewhere. Was it in Helion? Damn, did Devon also mess up with some of my memories aside from Dahlia?’

Zoran’s thoughts were all over the place as he tried to recall where he could have possibly seen Tarah.

"Enough staring," Ezekiel calmly said, but his voice was firm and Mineah knew this to be dangerous.

"Zoran," Nikolai interrupted and it was only then that Zoran averted his gaze from Tarah. Then her husband looked at Ezekiel and said, "Zoran is now my Scion and his life is now in my hands. He was no longer under Devon’s spell and contract."

While Nikolai explained Zoran’s situation to her brother, Mineah’s gaze shifted to Tarah who had started to look uncomfortable.

"Tarah," she called her so that she would look at her instead of looking down.

"Would you like to come and walk with me outside while the men talk? I actually want to have a private word with you as well," Mineah said with a kind smile.

Tarah turned to Ezekiel first and the latter gave her a nod. Mineah sensed that there was something between Tarah and her brother, but she was in no position to pry into their personal affairs.

"It would be my pleasure to accompany you, Your Majesty," Tarah hummed, and with that, Mineah gave Nikolai a knowing nod before she and Tarah left the chamber.

There was a table and chairs outside the hallway, which was where Mineah walked to and decided to sit as it was near the fireplace. Tarah followed her, and Mineah signaled a servant nearby to serve them some tea. Once the tea and snacks were served, Mineah dismissed the servants ensuring that she and Tarah would have enough privacy.

"Are there any updates with my curse?" Mineah started.

There was a terse silence in the air, and by just reading Tarah’s expression, Mineah could tell that she had something to say to her. But Tarah was obviously hesitating.

"Tell me, what is it?" Mineah asked. Tarah fidgeted some more, which led to Mineah’s eyebrows crinkling. "Tarah, I want to know what’s in your vision about me. Like you said, not all your visions play out exactly the same way in which you see them," Mineah reassured. She was determined to know everything, even if it was not something good. That way she could think and plan ahead of time and do what was needed to make everything right.

"I saw another vision, Your Majesty... In that vision, I saw you stabbing His Majesty, King Nikolai with the dagger residing in you... Doing this will end your curse, and it will happen inside the Kingdom of Helion and Devon’s Palace soon." Tarah said in a low voice.

Mineah’s face paled. She thought she had readied herself enough to hear the worst, and yet this... She would stab her own husband? That couldn’t be all for sure. There must be something more to this...

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Tara asked.

"I am fine," She weakly muttered as she clutched her chest. She felt as if she was losing air inside her chest. Her heart was pounding so hard and it was aching at the same time.

"Is there more to it Tarah? I’m sure that’s not what is going to happen. Something is very wrong in that vision. I would never do that to my husband!" She firmly stated as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I’m truly sorry, but you might be right... Perhaps there’s a larger picture here, and I’m only seeing a part of it." Tarah commented as she stood up to hug her.

Mineah couldn’t contain the tears anymore as she burst out crying. The thought of her stabbing Nikolai was really too much for her.

"That chaos inside your body... Had you any idea that it would bring death to humanity should you take your own life and die?" Tarah asked as Mineah continued to sob. She didn’t know that.

"I received a message from a Seraphim in my dreams about it. I wanted to tell you all of this myself, which is why I asked King Ezekiel to bring me with him," Tarah added.

Mineah let out a wry chuckle as she murmured, "Is that their way of giving me a warning? It’s not like I have any intentions of killing myself just to end this curse. I know well enough that doing so would condemn me to hell and that would only bring great sadness to my family. Taking my own life has never crossed my mind because it has never been a solution for me, in every trial and difficulty in my life no matter how hard it has become. That vision... I will never let that become a reality."

"I’m glad that you’re so strong, Your Highness. And as you said, there’s probably more to this vision... King Ezekiel was right. You’re a strong woman who refuses to give up on things and will always be optimistic even though it seems as if there’s no way out." Tarah commented as she gently backed away from her.

Mineah wiped her tears and said, "I’m ruining the mood. Go back to your seat Tarah and thank you for comforting me. It’s quite hard for me to accept that vision Seer Beirut had and what you have just shared with me now. It’s painful because all I ever want is to protect Nikolai and be his strongest supporter no matter what."

She took a deep breath and released a heavy sigh as she composed herself and quickly changed the topic. "How about the plans to infiltrate Devon’s Palace? Are you still adamant about it?"

Tarah nodded and said, "I don’t feel good about it."

"Did you also have a vision about it?" Mineah curiously asked.

"I didn’t... Which is also the reason why I don’t feel good about it." Tarah whispered. She looked keenly at her and asked, "Do you think you can persuade King Ezekiel and King Nikolai to not go through with this? I have a feeling that something bad will happen if they decide to proceed."

"I tried but my husband won’t budge, Tarah. And knowing Ezekiel, he won’t budge either on this because he’s always wanted Vulcan out of his body." Mineah replied. It was futile because both men had their valid reasons to get those magical books.

"Don’t worry, Tarah. I’m sure things will work out just fine... Zoran will come with them and he can easily teleport all of them back to safety if things don’t go as planned." Mineah reassured.

Tarah didn’t say a thing and simply released a sigh.

"By the way, have you and Zoran met before? He seems to recognize you from somewhere." Mineah brought up, she suddenly noticed how Tarah’s face paled, although she gave her a timid smile as she said, "No, I don’t remember meeting him before, Your Majesty."

Mineah decided not to prod any further, but for some reason, she felt Tarah’s unease. She had a feeling that Tarah was lying to her right now about Zoran. Something was amiss...