The Dark Fairy King
Chapter 59: Daggers, Lessons, and Dangers

Chapter 59: Daggers, Lessons, and Dangers

"Alright!" Scarlette pulled Lumera up from the ground, suddenly, brushing dust off her shoulders. "Let’s continue our lesson—enough distractions." She beamed, her tone light but firm.

"When did our lesson even start?" Lumera looked at Scarlette, visibly confused.

"We need to continue," Scarlette replied gently. "You need to control your powers, not let it control you."

Wise words but wrong location.

"Not here," I sighed, surveying the wreckage around us—splintered chairs, scorched walls, the utterly ruined council table.

"It was mahogany," I muttered, pointing at a now lopsided chair. "Hand-carved. Imported. Very expensive. Practically irreplaceable."

Lumera winced, guilt flashing across her face. "I’m... really sorry about that."

Devran sniggered, strolling lazily past a cracked pillar. "Wow, you did all that? Didn’t know you had it in you. Bet you made the furniture fear for its life."

Lumera didn’t respond. She just stared at the destruction, her silence heavy with regret.

"Come on, let’s go to the courthouse." Scarlette looped her arm around Lumera’s and started tugging her toward the exit. "It’s bigger. You can blow up the benches next," she teased.

"Hey Scar..." I called out to her but she was already out the door, pulling Lumera by the arm behind her.

Lumera shot me one last apologetic glance before Scarlette whisked her away.

Yes, fate is sealed. Nothing good can come out of this.

When their footsteps faded down the hall, Devran and I were left alone in the quiet ruin.

We didn’t speak at first. We just stood there, the silence thickening between us like a noose.

Then Devran’s voice cut through, low and steady. "I remember you, you know."

My gaze snapped to him.

He wasn’t smirking anymore.

"The moment before I lost consciousness, I remember everything that happened in the old world," he continued, his eyes sharp and cold.

I hadn’t expected him to be so blunt. I thought he might circle around it, bury it. But no—this was Devran. This was exactly his style.

"Oh?" I replied dryly, playing dumb. "What old world are you talking about? Care to be specific?"

"The one Scarlette rewrote away," he said, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve. "The one separated into the Light Fairy Kingdom, Love Fairy Kingdom, and the Dark Fairy territories."

"I remember that world." He continued. "I remembered I was a henchman, following a Dark Fairy Queen, Judorah."

"So you remember." My voice dropped, losing all pretense of humor.

"Why confront me about it now? Why come clean when you could play pretend, saying you’re just a new Dark Fairy Elder?" I took a slow step toward him. "Knowing full well we were the ones who sent you to your death?"

Devran’s gaze flickered for a heartbeat. He looked away, not from fear but from calculation.

"Because I realised you need me." His words were quiet but deliberate. "And because I know I need you."

"So you expect me to just believe this narrative you’re spinning?" I challenged him.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Heard of this saying?"

I folded my arms, intrigued despite myself. "That’s it? Revenge makes you this cooperative? This honest? Even if it means working with the people who killed you in your past life?"

His jaw tightened. "My brother didn’t die for nothing. The Anti-Magic Mages who killed him wanted to control the council. I’m here to stop them. I’m here to avenge him."

"How can you be so sure I didn’t view your brother as a pawn?" I tested him, pushing to see how far his trust stretched.

Devran’s answer was immediate. "Because you, King Veravos... you’re not the sort to waste pawns. You either protect them or you crush them. But you wouldn’t waste them."

I chuckled softly. "Is that a compliment?"

"Don’t get sentimental," he snapped, though a ghost of a smile tugged at his lips.

"I’m not sentimental," I shrugged. "I’m pragmatic."

Devran’s expression sobered. "Killing me in the past, was it a pragmatic decision?"

I nodded. "Yes. I would do it all over again. Because you wanted to kill me."

"Technically, Scarlette did. But your hands were not clean either."

He paused.

Then let out a long sigh. "Let’s just say, I understand you. I served Judorah after all."

"Yeah, why did you serve her?" I asked. "You believed her ideals?"

"Let’s just say, we all have made mistakes, Veravos." He looked up at me. "Or shall I say, King Veravos."

He continued. "We’ve all lost people in this war, King Veravos. I just don’t want to lose the last of what matters."

"And what may that be?" I asked. "A chance at revenge?"

"Revenge?" He laughed."Not quite, really."

"Then what?" I asked, perplexed.

"A sliver of what family is." He replied. "A few familiar faces in a brave new world where nobody seems to remember me. Where no one even recognizes me anymore. Ain’t that right, old neighbor?"

Was he implying he missed me? No, that can’t be.

Something about his words tugged at my dark heartstrings. I thought Devran had a restart, but he was just as haunted as I was.

So... being forgotten cuts that deep, huh?

Here I thought he’d been given a fresh start. Turns out, the past clings to him just as much as it clings to me.

"Don’t overthink it." Devran picked up his curved blade from the corner of the room, absently toying with it. "No villain wants to be forgotten. And I am no saint. Neither are you."

I watched him carefully. "You’re not going to betray us, are you, Devran?"

"Why would I? The people who killed my brother sit on the opposite side of the battlefield. You may be a monster, but for now, we’re on the same side. What are the odds?"

That made me laugh. "You’re growing on me, blade boy."

"Good. Maybe next time I won’t aim for your head with my blades."

"Blades and dark magic? A little dramatic, don’t you think?"

He sheathed his blade, his expression unreadable. "Overreliance on magic seems to be the real overkill, don’t you think? Your sarcasm won’t save you when the Anti-Magic sigils are activated."

"Where are you going?" I asked as he turned toward the door.

"The Architect of Magic is teaching Lumera in the courtroom. Didn’t you hear the Queen?"

Oh yes, I heard her alright.

"Think of the furniture there that would be destroyed. Or the lessons you can learn from watching them. I’m inviting myself, but you can stay here."

Crap. Did I just agree with Scarlette about letting her teach Lumera magic in the courthouse? Why, Veravos? Why?

Devran laughed, probably already noticing my internal screams. He closed the door in my face.

I cursed at him. But I knew from this moment that our lives were already tangled, like brambles twisting too tightly to pull apart.

I can’t say if we were enemies, allies, or both. But we would never be strangers.

Was Devran just being that cooperative and honest or is this another form of manipulation.

Whatever game it was.

It wasn’t over yet.