The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 322: A Fated Seer

Chapter 322: A Fated Seer

The discussion between Nikolai, Ezekiel, and Zoran took so long that they were still not finished by the time Mineah and Tarah returned to the secret meeting chamber. Shortly after they arrived, the two ladies took their own vacant seats and simply listened to their discussion with wizard Lurio. Abel and Fritz were also already present, participating in the discussion by giving them their input, suggestions, and opinions.

Lounging in her own seat, Mineah let out a deep sigh the more she listened. Zoran was apparently a living map of Helion, seeing as he knew every secret passage and chamber in the castle.

"He always keeps all the magical and ancient books there. It’s protected by a spell that he thinks no one could break through, but that’s just what he thinks because I managed to sneak in and open it. However, doing so would take half of my inner energy," Zoran informed them with a sigh. "If things ever get worse, then the only thing I can do is to create a teleportation portal to bring us all back to safety. You will have to protect me at all costs if that ever happens."

"Don’t worry. You’ll be unscathed," Nikolai reassured him.

Mineah narrowed her eyes as she chimed in. "Don’t you find this weird though?"

"What is it, Mine?" Nikolai asked.

"I mean, how come Devon kept Zoran’s memory about everything intact instead of simply erasing it all along with Dahlia?" she pointed out with a frown. "What if this is a trap? What if... Something seems off."

A terse silence followed, and the men in the room all fell into a deep thought about the idea presented. After a while, Ezekiel broke the silence as he looked at Tarah and said, "Tarah saw a vision where we succeeded in getting those books from Devon."

Mineah raised her brows as she turned to look at Tarah as well.

"Yes, I did," Tarah whispered. "But like I’ve always said, not every vision I get would happen exactly the way I saw it..."

"Nonsense. Everything still happened the same way you saw them," Ezekiel rebutted. "It may not have happened as exactly as you saw them, but as a whole, all of the visions you saw came to pass."

Mineah couldn’t help but agree. That was true... Even what happened to Zoran was a testament to how Tarah’s visions were reliable like Beirut’s.

A few seconds passed, and Mineah noticed how Ezekiel’s gaze at Tarah wasn’t wavering as he spoke. "She’s the fated Seer of Ebodia. Her visions and dreams are bound to be Ebodia’s guide for it not to fall... I trust Tarah," he firmly stated. He then looked at Nikolai and Zoran and said, "The map Zoran made is enough for me to infiltrate Devon’s lair alone. I will understand if you two wouldn’t want to join me on this mission."

Mineah shifted her gaze back to Tarah. For some reason, she felt bothered by the tension between her and Ezekiel. There was something here, but she didn’t know what.

But back to the discussion, Nikolai looked at her, and Mineah could only let out a frustrated sigh as her worry started showing up in her expressions. In response, her husband simply winked at her before turning his gaze back to Ezekiel.

"I need to personally destroy Vulcan’s soul, so I need it outside of your body," Nikolai stated. "I also want to have the magical chronicles of fallen angels, so I’ll go with you from that alone. And since I will go, Zoran will have to come too."

"That’s no problem for me. I’m practically a dead man already if not for our King and Queen, so I have to make sure King Nikolai succeeds in his purpose," Zoran firmly declared. "I have to deliver him to the Queen in one piece anyway."

Mineah turned to Tarah and whispered with a frown, "Did they really succeed in your vision?"

Tarah gave her a reassuring smile. "In my vision, some unexpected things could happen, but one thing I can assure you of is that I saw you standing strong and firm in your decision to do what you think is best and right," she told her. "I see you succeeding, Your Majesty. Everything will fall into the right place..."

Mineah couldn’t help but give her a half-hearted smile. That smile was reassuring, and yet she could feel this uneasiness inside her. Her instincts have never once failed her, right now it was telling her that Tarah wasn’t telling them everything just yet.

Eventually, the planning and discussions finished, and it was now time for Ezekiel to leave. He bid her farewell, and he hugged her just as much as she hugged him.

"They’ll all get mad at me if they ever find out about this," Mineah couldn’t help but complain to her big brother.

"They won’t get mad, my little sister," Ezekiel chuckled. "I’ll come back safe and sound. They won’t even notice that I was away for too long."

"You’ll hopefully give them a believable alibi," she remarked with a frown as she tried to convince him again. "You should really share this burden with the whole family and not just with me, you know."

"Hmm... But Xenia’s pregnant right now, and you know how mother isn’t in good health at the moment," Ezekiel reminded her. "You know how those two ladies could get once they find out about this. They won’t stay idle..."

"And do you think that I will?" she retorted with a dim face.

"Your husband’s assistance is enough, Mineah," he chuckled back. "Let’s just stop this discussion already, please?"

Shaking her head, she could only let out another sigh of frustration as she muttered, "Fine... But..."

She let out another sigh as she hung onto her words. She should just stay positive anyway, so she decided not to give him another reminder of what could happen if things went wrong... Still, she wouldn’t stay idle after all of this. She would surely go to Helion to do something and save them even if she had to do it alone!

"See you again some other time then," Wizard Lurio told her before the older man created a teleportation spell. From there, a huge hole appeared in a white light, and the wizard waited for Ezekiel and Tarah to step in before stepping in himself.

However, just before Tarah stepped forward, she suddenly turned around and hugged Mineah as she whispered, "No matter what happens, you must stay strong. Remember that you’ll succeed in ending your own curse, so don’t hesitate in the decisions you have to make in the near future, Your Majesty." She then gave her a smile as she added, "I will do my best to always be beside you along the way."

Mineah frowned at the cryptic message, but before she could even ask Tarah a thing, the latter quickly stepped inside the portal along with her brother. They were then followed by wizard Lurion who simply gave them a courteous nod before entering and closing the portal behind him.

"Must be nice to know that kind of powerful spell where you can jump from one place to another very quickly!" Fritz snorted. "Travelling in our mist form is fast, but it’s not as fast as snapping a finger and creating a portal like that."

Mineah simply chuckled. That was probably true, seeing as her brother and his company would’ve surely entered Ebodia by now.

"There are only a few that were naturally born with a gift to cast such a powerful spell, but there’s no harm in trying," Zoran casually pointed out with a naughty grin. "Do you want me to teach you?"

"No thanks. I would rather have Her Majesty teach me that instead," Fritz commented as he turned to her. "You can cast such a spell. Right, Your Majesty?"

"Indeed, and Lady Dani is gifted with being able to do so as well," Nikolai chimed in. "I heard from my wife that although she’s still honing her gift on casting it properly, she’s still a capable teacher. Knowing that, you should learn from her instead. Don’t you dare disturb my wife about it."

"Not my wife either!" Abel snorted at Fritz.

Mineah had a faint smile as the men around her started bantering. It was a sight to see, but there was still something she had in mind as she turned to Zoran who seemed to be falling into deep thought, all while Fritz continued to banter with Abel and her husband.

"Lord Zoran?" Mineah called to him.

He lifted his gaze to look at her, then his eyes widened as he suddenly burst out, "I finally remember where I saw her!"

"Who? Tarah?" she asked.

This time, Nikolai and others all turned their gaze on Zoran as they waited for him to speak.

"I saw her inside the Helion palace back then," Zoran recalled. "She was wearing a black cloak with a feathered hood though. I can’t be mistaken. That was her."

"But she said that you two haven’t met before," Fritz pointed out.

"Well, that’s technically true since she never saw me. I was the only one that saw her," Zoran explained. "I even followed her that time since she looked suspicious, but Sibil called for me and I lost sight of her. That was the first and last time I saw her."

"When was that then?" Mineah pondered.

"I can’t exactly remember, but I believe that’s over two years ago..." Zoran answered. "Most likely that."

Mineah blinked in deep thought. What was Tarah doing inside Devon’s palace? She heard that Tarah was a wanderer and that her origins were unknown even before she bore the mark of a fated Seer of Ebodia, but this was too suspicious. This was probably the reason why she felt something off about her. Still, it would be best if she personally talked to Tarah about this.