The Devil's Warrior Queen
Chapter 338: Portrait

Chapter 338: Portrait

"That’s enough delving into the past, I brought you here to show you my favourite portrait, not reminisce about the past." Draco’s darkened gaze softened as he spoke, his menacing demeanor rapidly switching to a calm one.

"Right, what’s the painting of?" She whispered softly.

"You." He replied.

"Oh, how unexpected." She muttered.

She had wanted to compose herself and hide the whiff of fear swirling around her but her shaky voice betrayed her.

Turning to face her, his eyes narrowed on her, hung on every slightest reaction she gave out "Are you repulsed by me, because I killed my mother and feel no regret for my sins?" His voice was calm, eerily calm, it made her lips subconsciously quiver, giving out her fear without meaning to.

Her voice echoed softly as she spoke, emphasizing on every word rolling off her lips with unparalleled solemnity "I...I’m not afraid of you, but your past scares me, and more so, what it’s done to you. You weren’t born a monster, they made you the monster you became, but mind you I am not afraid of you, I never will be."

Her words were like a healing bandage over his lifelong wounds, her voice like a soothing melody that slowly mended the fractures of his soul, but he didn’t want the wound to heal, they were what drove him to be as powerful and he feared that without them, he would be vulnerable.

"The wounds are also sentimental, they remind me of where I came from, I can’t forget." He muttered darkly under his breath.

She sighed, not saying anymore. Perhaps he was right, she was scared of him, but it wasn’t just because he was a demon, or because the air around him darkened whenever he stepped in, it was beyond that. She was scared because he had no idea of what he was capable of and she feared that he might one day become aware of the powers he possessed and explore it. The day he explored it would be the day the earth would be plunged into great chaos.

"Wait here, I’ll bring out the painting." He said with a faint smile before moving through the paintings.

She watched him with eager eyes as he took hold of one covered in white cloth as the others. Bringing it out, he placed it down with a mixture of mischief and charisma in his eyes before pulling the cloth to reveal the painting.

"This is my favorite painting, of you." He announced with an endearing smile plastered on his face.

Immediately she took in sight of the painting, her mouth hung open in sheer wonder, her eyes widened in utter surprise, she failed to form words.

"Uhm...Is that.. A naked portrait of...me?" She enquired, as she scoffed in incredulity.

"Yes and a very beautiful one at that, worry not love, no one can see the portrait, but us." He assured her with a snarky smirk.

"That is very refreshing to hear and oh, goodness why did you make a nude portrait of me? It’s even more ludicrous that I agreed to this." She laughed hysterically between words, but then she abruptly stopped when she saw his smile drop.

"The painting..is ludicrous? You mean to tell me that this beautiful painting is ridiculous?" He repeated with a feigned pained expression.

"Of course not! It’s really beautiful but lewd..but beautiful, it’s certainly impressive, you’re a remarkable artist." She praised.

"I know, but the painting isn’t my favourite piece because it’s lewd, so get your mind off it." He said as he glanced at the portrait for a second.

"Then why is it your favorite painting?" She asked.

"Because it was the starting." He replied.

"Starting off what?"

"Of your acceptance."

"I think it was more than an acceptance, seeing as I agreed to have a nude portrait done." She quipped sarcastically.

"Since we’re done here, let’s be on our way now, shall we?" He implied, extending his hand to her.

Taking it hastily, she chirped excitedly "We’re going to the cottage, right?!"

"Yes, love." He answered as they walked out of the room, returning back into the world of opulence and lavish comfort.

Emerging out of the castle into the castle grounds, they approached the stable housing luxurious horses. Picking a midnight black, majestic horse, he hopped on its back with a swift yet graceful motion before extending his hand to her.

At that moment, as he offered her his hand, staring down at her from above with his scintillating eyes, it felt like the Prince Charming or the black knights from the fairytale books, but then he was far better than any prince charming or black knight.

Snapping back to reality, she took his hand and he effortlessly pulled her up to sit at the front with one arm.

Pulling the reins, the horse galloped steadily through the gates as they emerged out of the castle grounds.

The wind whipped through their hair as the horse galloped through the forest, while the sun cast its warm glow upon them through the expanse of the broad canopies.

"We’ll stop at the town square first." He spoke out and she nodded.

Finally, after a long moment of riding through the forest, they stopped in an open clearing and when she looked up ahead, she saw a bustling town.

"We’re at the town square, won’t they recognize us?" She asked cautiously.

"No, we’re wearing masks of illusion, we see each other but everyone else sees paupers." He noted and she nodded with an impressed look.

"We’ve done it quite a few times because you liked coming out here, but you don’t remember." He remarked.

"Come on, we’ll go to the cottage afterward." He said, locking their fingers together as he pulled her toward the busy town.

"You’re making me walk back in time, aren’t you?" She breathed out as they blended into the passers-by, consisting of both humans and vampires roaming around the street while stalls and buildings lined up.

"Only if I could make you walk back in time, but unfortunately I don’t have the power to." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You’re taking me back to places that I’ve been before, to help trigger my memories." She pointed out.

"You finally got it." He teased and she gave him a playful hit on his arm.

"So, what did we do here? Maybe, we can try doing the same things." She reasoned out.

"Maybe, but if we were supposed to do the same things to help you remember, then I should be treating you as my slave, not my wife." He stated.

"I figured we should do the things we can and retrace as much steps as we can back in time, perhaps that will help even if we don’t do everything as exactly, don’t you think?" She released her thoughts.

"You’re right, love. We’ll do just that, but where on earth would I find those children now?" He muttered under his breath as he let out an exasperated sigh.

"What children?" She queried in confusion, but before he could answer, a strange figure clad in a white robe with a hood over its head appeared in front of them.

"The warrior queen and the devil’s son are finally back." The figure in the white robe spoke before slowly pulling the hood off its head to reveal a seemingly white witch.

It wasn’t difficult for Rama to recognize one, after all she had spent a year living with them, but at that moment, they were mostly confused about how she recognized their true form despite Draco’s mask of illusion, but then, at the same time, they weren’t surprised. She was a witch after all.

"You’re a silver witch, have we met in the Silver castle?" Rama asked while Draco retained his death glare on her.

"No, not at the silver castle, we met a long time ago at the white witch’s market. I read your cards, you’re the girl with no defined fate." The white witch said, her voice a sing song melody like a siren’s call.

"I don’t know..."

Rama was abruptly interrupted by the white witch "Oh yes, you lost your memories, of course you don’t remember me."

"How did you know?" Rama asked in confusion, alert hinting in her eyes at the strange witch.

"I know a lot of things that a lot of people don’t know, I also know that the path to the future will be quite a bumpy ride as long as Lucifer is alive. He isn’t done with either of you yet, he’s only just begun." The white witch remarked with a I’m countenance that made her even more cautious.

"Who are you?!" Draco growled under his breath as he peered his menacing eyes into hers.

"There’s no need to be so defensive, every white witch has a special ability that the others might not have and I have the ability to read into the future, so rather than being defensive, I could be of great help." The white witch said with a smile.