Chapter 4: The Vigilant Prince

Grandpa Mago and Gretel looked up at the flying clamator (Owl soldier) carrying Arabelle, Ulula was also flying with them. It took two days for the prince to respond to their request letter, in which the citizens wanted Arabelle to temporarily live in the palace to protect her from the evil Guardian.

"I will miss the Dear Priestess grandpa," Gretel sobbed as she hugged Mago's feet.

"Don't be sad, Gretel; we will all miss the Priestess, and don't worry, we will visit her at the palace the next day," Mago said as she stroked her granddaughter's fluffy back.

Gretel's sadness was alleviated by her grandfather's words.

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Arabelle, on the other hand, forced herself to open her eyes, despite her fear, to see the beautiful scenery below; even though the entire community is covered in darkness, its beauty cannot be hidden, the lights that come from the market, homes, and other infrastructure in the entire area look like fireflies, and the overall capacity of the community can also be seen from above.

"It's beautiful," the beauty said simply, drawing Ulula's attention to her. The bird noticed how vibrant her eyes were.

"You know, Ulula, I've been afraid of heights since I was a child," Arabelle explained. "I don't know why, I've never fallen before." "But I'll admit, I'm not afraid this time," the beauty said, raising her hands in the air as if doing a high five. "It's so good to fly," said the young lady, smiling at her companions.

When the clamator heard what the woman said, he pretended to fly and acted like a roller coaster. Ulula simply sighed at the Owl's behavior, but her unimpressed expression changed when she saw Arabelle's smiling face.

The bird returned to Ulula's location and began to fly peacefully after its entertaining stunt. Due to dizziness, the beauty was deafeningly quiet.

"You must have gone too far in showcasing your elegance in flight," Ulula said sarcastically, rolling her big eyes.

"Bitter and jealous?" the clamator inquired, taunting Ulula.

"In your face!" Ulula replied minimally.

"N-no, don't worry, I'm fine," the maiden tried to correct her friend. "I've had worse experiences than this," she said, recalling the hawks passing her around and striving for her. "Hehehe..." The beauty giggled. Arabelle's expression changed instantly when she noticed a large rock in the middle of the woods. Her smile vanished, and she had been left with a blank expression.

"We're almost there," Arabelle said, seemingly unconscious.

"Where, Priestess? In the palace? Yes, we are close already," Ulula said in surprise, returning her gaze to the beauty. "Priestess, is there a problem? Are you okay?" she worriedly asked.

Arabelle didn't seem to hear anything, and she didn't respond to her companion's questions. The previously blank expression had been replaced by anxiety; she blinked her eyes a few times, but the entire environment had changed; the once dark and seemingly sick woods had been replaced by a calm and green forest. The maiden raised her sight, surprised to see the beautiful sunlight in the sky, but what surprised her the most was that she appeared to have her own wings, it's like she's flying herself. When the lady felt someone or something approaching her location, her eyes searched for Ulula but a sudden arrow appeared and struck her right away, causing her to fall.

"Priestess!" screamed Ulula as she saw the beauty willingly fall off the back of the clamator she was riding. The clamator swooped down to save Arabelle, who was now unconscious.

Fortunately, the owl caught the young lady behind it right away. Ulula breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't tell anyone about what happened recently," Ulula said solemnly. "The weather looks bad; let's hurry before the rain reaches us."

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Arabelle awakens in a luxurious bedroom. She looked around; everything she saw was expensive and antique; it also had its own fireplace, single couch, large wardrobe, and her favorite of all was the terrace with its own tea table.

"Good you're awake, Priestess, how are you feeling?" Ulula expressed concern when she saw the beauty standing at the terrace's door.

"I'm fine," Arabelle replied to the bird's inquiry. "Why did something happen to me earlier?" the maiden asked back, and Ulula quickly shook her head.

Their attention was drawn to the door when a servant knocked.

"Good afternoon, Dear Priestess, I am Vaste, who has been assigned to serve you from now on, and I am here to carry out the task assigned to me by the prince," the owl with a heart-shaped face explained (Barn Owl ). "The Dear Prince appointed me to show you around the palace; His Highness wishes for you to live comfortably here," she added.

Ulula quickly dressed Arabelle, and when she was finished, the beauty left with the maid. When the young lady left, the owl was relieved as she could finally clean Arabelle's room without the maidens' disturbance.

The maid, on the other hand, was busy showing Arabelle around the Castle, including the Great Halls, Bedchambers, Bathrooms, Lavatories and Garderobes, Kitchens, Libraries, Apartments, and everywhere else. Throughout the Castle, there are traces of antiquity and luxury. They have almost completed their tour of the Castle.

"I've noticed there are a lot of rooms here that aren't even used very often," Arabelle suddenly says, breaking their silence.

"There are many, especially since the kingdom was cursed, His Highness has never welcomed anyone to enter the palace, and the banquets have been held for a long, long time, so the great halls are no longer used." Vaste agrees on what she said.

"Is that so?" "Wait, it seems we haven't been there yet," Arabelle said as she came to a halt in front of a staircase leading up to the second floor. When someone called the servant, the two of them turned back; they didn't see any other creatures, but the voice kept calling Vaste. "It appears that your colleagues require your assistance; perhaps there is an emergency," Arabelle suggested. "Go to them; I'll wait here." The creature did as she said and promised to return right away.

Arabelle sat on the second step of the stairs, watching the outside of the palace, which was now raining. When she heard a giggle, the maiden turned on her back and hurriedly stood up.

"Arabelle!" called a mysterious voice, accompanied by a small giggle. It seems to be bringing her to the second floor. The maiden was not thinking clearly and rose to her feet, following the source of the voice. Arabelle was on her way to the second floor when she heard the noise of the same voice that sounded as if it was being hurt. She dashed upstairs and caught sight of a strange door closing.

"Hello?" she called down the dark corridor and approached the old oak door slowly. The lady noticed that this door seemed to be the only one on the entire floor with a strange presence. "Is there anyone here?" She keeps talking as if there is someone inside but she receives no response. The maiden carefully grabbed the doorknob and was about to open it, thinking no one else was there.

"What are you doing here?" the head maid, who had just arrived, asked Arabelle. "Didn't the maid assigned to you tell you that coming here is strictly forbidden?" "And where is she? Vaste? Why aren't you with her?" the head maid asked, violently pushing Arabelle away from the door.

"I-I didn't realize it was against the rules to come here, s-someone called me here so, so I..." Arabelle's voice was filled with surprise and fear.

The head maid scolded them both and told them not to go there at all just as her servant arrived. After scolding Arabelle together with Vaste, goes back to her room.

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"What a bad attitude," Ulula grumbled, but Arabelle remained silent as she understood why the head maid reacted like that. They were now at the terrace.

"Ulula, It's kinda out of the blue but I have a question... have you seen the Prince? Did he meet us when we had just arrived?" Arabelle inquired. Ulula responded by shaking her head. "Because Vaste and I almost went around the entire Castle a while ago, but our paths didn't even cross," she explained to her friend.

"No one has really seen the Dear Prince, Dear Priestess, since he was crowned as the next king, that same night he has never been seen again," Vaste said, using her wings to hold a tea tray.

"I heard something," Ulula said as she motioned for them to approach her. "That's why the prince didn't appear ever since that night, they said he was the first being cursed by the Guardian," Ulula whispered in their ears. They appeared to be neighborhood gossip.

"Yes, I heard that as well," Vaste murmured. "Perhaps the prince hasn't shown up until now because he's been cursed terribly," Vaste added.

"Perhaps he was transformed into a gigantic frog," Arabelle speculated and the reason for their soft laughter.

Unbeknownst to them, a hidden creature lurking on the second floor is listening in on their conversation.

Several hours had passed as they all decided to go to sleep.

It was late at night when a powerful storm arrived. The skies let loose an extremely loud boom and torrential rain, and some trees fell due to the extremely strong wind. Arabelle, who was sleeping, appeared unconcerned. Big droplets of sweat began to form on her forehead. She tried to move her body but she couldn't. She tried to open her eyes, but something seemed to be weighing down her eyelids.

The wind was so strong that the window slammed open unexpectedly. When the sky lit up with bright lightning, Arabelle's dark room flashed like a camera flash. The maiden, who had now begun to breathe heavily, struggled to wake up from her nightmare.

"What are you doing?" Arabelle asked while sleeping, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"This is for your own benefit," an enigmatic woman declared in her dreams. It didn't have a face, and the entire environment was completely blurred, making it difficult for her to tell who it was, and it appeared as if there were invisible barriers between them. Fortunately, the flower vase on the nightstand next to her bed had been dropped by accident, causing it to tumble and break. Arabelle became aware of the commotion. She awoke, sat up, and took a deep breath. She clutched her chest since it was so tight.

Her attention was drawn to the sudden closing creak of her door, which led her to believe that someone had just left her room. She hears footsteps and a scratching sound on the floor, as if made by a sharp object. Arabelle got out of bed slowly and knelt next to the door. She felt the presence of the creature by pressing her ear. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed infrequently, and the sound of footsteps could be heard from a distance. Despite her fear, she decided to leave her room and pursue the sound before it vanished completely.

The lady walked slowly down the long, dark corridor of the castle. Arabelle rolled her eyes at the entire area as she followed the sound. The knight statues that lined up on the side of the corridor made her body tremble with fear; they appeared frightening, especially since the entire environment was dark and only the lightning from the sky provided illumination. She clutched the hem of her nightgown, feeling as if the portraits on the wall were also staring at her.

The mysterious noise disappears when she reaches the recent stair which leads to the strange door before. Even though scared, Arabelle continues her way up the staircase as she feels her legs were being magnetized. Until she stops in front of the antique oak door. The beauty fumbled with the doorknob anxiously. Since she was not allowed to open this door.

Out of pure curiosity, the maiden ignored the warnings she had received. She opened the door slowly to avoid making a sound before carefully stepping inside. Arabelle noticed that it was a very large and antique bedroom.

A bright lightning bolt flashed across the sky, causing her to notice damaged furniture, broken flower vases, drapes, and torn curtains scattered around the room. Even the king-sized bed was a shambles.

When the beauty saw the wall, she frowned and touched one of the claw scratches on it. She had a mental image of a man on his knees, screaming in agony, as if he were suffering from something in his body. With each touch of her palms on the scratches on the wall, the events in her head continued as if she were reading a narrative. She turned around after being distracted by something that suddenly dropped behind her.

She approached it and examined it. It was a painting of a man, but Arabelle couldn't tell what he looked like because his face had been deliberately torn up. When she heard the door close, she turned to face it. She was worried because, despite some old, rusted, and shattered windows, it was solidly closed, and even if there was wind, it wasn't strong enough to keep the oak door shut.

Fearful of the presence of a beast, Arabelle followed every sound she heard. She could hear every scratch on the wall and floor. The maiden was terrified as the angry sky unleashed more intense rain, fiercer lightning, and a louder roar of thunder. The lady screamed as the antique cabinet next to the balcony entrance collapsed unexpectedly. In terror, she tried to flee and nearly fell as she approached the door. However, a fast unknown beast moved in, leaving a long and notable scratch on its way to the door.

The beauty quickly retreated, but she was startled when she collided with a feathered creature at her back. Her anxiety nearly killed her. Arabelle turned to face the creature behind her and nearly lost control of her knee as she saw the back of an enormous monster, causing her to slam into the wall.

The creature turns out to be a massive owl, slowly turning its head only, facing her, making the scene even more terrifying as the sky lets loose a blinding light of lightning, synchronizing the creature's movement as it tilts its head.

"And what do you think you're doing here?" the monster asked, his voice deep and terrifying.

It let out a loud and terrifying squawk, accompanied by a flash of thunder from the sky. Making Arabelle—