"Prince Hector, will you ever leave the luxurious palace life and live like a guard for me?" Liliana asked Hector. She has that dreamy dazed look in her eyes. She returned from Valerie's room an hour ago. But still, she couldn't forget what she saw there. A prince who can take a couple of steps down from his high horses to care for the girl he loves is unheard of. People from Royal families usually carry an air of authority and arrogance. They can never imagine mingling with palace employees, and forget about living among them. They only ever try to climb higher in stature and never come down.Hector, who was looking at something on his phone is shocked by her request. He blinked a couple of times to see if he heard her right. But the look on her face explained more than she is telling him."Oh? Is this about Raphael and Valerie?" he asked with a sigh. He already knows what Raphael is doing in the Ernest palace. That is the only reason why he extended his stay here under the guise of
"There is so much bad blood between the two clans. Will they ever forget about the differences and agree to this union?" Liliana expressed her concern.Hector is worried too. But not for the same reason as his fiancee. He is sure King Arthur already knows about who Blake is. Despite that, if he still allowed Blake as his daughter's bodyguard, that means King Arthur already accepted Raphael as his son-in-law. By the time Raphael is done with Irina, she will no longer be an issue. But there lies the problem.'She managed to fool so many people for this long. She cannot be taken lightly. Moreover, Raphael openly declared war against her by destroying her lab and protecting those kids. She might not know about the identity of Blake, but she will definitely find out soon enough that Blake is living in the Ernest palace as Valerie's bodyguard. When that happens, she would definitely try to kill Blake. I don't know where this would lead. Can Raphael kill his mother? She is bad news, but can
"Irina is a Psycho. She might even kill your entire family" he said with panic and true concern.Arthur is not a fool nor neither is he delusional. He knows that when the time comes to finish this game of hide and seek, Irina would wage a war against the Ernest clan. He used to be scared of that prospect before. But now, not so much. His fears were not baseless in the past. And not his courage now either. His clan is not as strong as the Ravens. Still, it is not. But there is a difference now. The Ravens are splitting. There is an invisible wall between Irina and Raphael. Now, there is an internal war going on in the Raven clan. Arthur is sure that Raphael will win and Irina is going to taste her first defeat."Who said she is not a psycho? She will surely come after my clan shortly. But I made my decisions. I am going to support Blake in this issue. I am going to stand by his side and fight against Irina. I am done fearing her. It's time to stand up to that vile woman" he muttered th
"Don't you think Prince Hector would have gathered one and one together and would have realized who Blake is by now? If he doesn't think that we have a winning chance against Irina, will he stay quiet without questioning my decision?" he asked reasonably.The analysis Arthur put forth made Euridice frown thoughtfully.'Arthur is right. I was so worried that I forgot about my son. Why is Hector not saying anything? I am sure my son would have understood this strange situation by now. Then what made him still stay there without either cautioning me or questioning Arthur? Is he so sure that they would win against Irina? What is making these people so sure? Who is giving him these false assurances? This is so confusing. What am I missing?' he wondered."I don't know what you people are thinking and why you are not as worried as I am" he muttered with confusion and worry. Arthur wanted to tell his friend everything about Blake and Raphael. But he promised the Raven Prince that he would ke
"In that case, you can suspend us from these duties. We can do anything to prove our innocence " someone else from the fifty offered.They all are trying to save their mission and their boss.Irina frowned when she heard that request. While Cadmus is tensed. 'What he just pointed out is a fact. But how can an outsider know about that lab? It's impossible. What if, Blake is not an outsider? What if he is someone from inside the palace? That's the only other case to have access to the palace secrets. Who can it be?' she wondered."Alright, then search who this Blake is and bring him to me. Prove your loyalty with your actions. Find Blake and his men. He is just not one man. He has trusted followers. They cannot hide for long. Go" she shooed them all.'I have to caution Raphael. Irina is hell-bent on finding out about Blake. She has her spies in every clan. She would know everything. I know he is in the Ernest clan now. The Ernest clan has more than twenty spies who work for Irina. Maid
Angoori is feeling suffocated. The Raven Prince has assigned him a new task. The prince has already warned him that this task is risky and needs a lot of courage and willpower to complete it.'You need to be careful. That part of the forest where Irina dumps all the dead bodies of the people who lost their lives in that lab is now a living and breathing thing. It might not be dangerous for your life, but you would definitely feel the difference as soon as you step foot in that particular part of the forest. If any innocent person steps his foot there, it might be dangerous for them. We need to barricade that part and avoid anyone losing their lives to those angry souls. I know you can find the exact location of that forest. Search the area around that lab. But be very careful. The moment you notice a difference in the air around you, start walking back ' Raphael cautioned him.It's been more than a few hours since Angoori started searching for what his boss has assigned him to do. So f
"The moments when you begin to feel that death is a blessing than the life we are living? Yes, I am standing at that point now" Angoori confessed honestly with so much hatred directed at himself. At once all the souls became quiet. The pain and self-loathing they are seeing in his eyes and on his face are real. It is a reflection of what all of them have gone through at one point. They all know how painful it is to wish for death than the life they are being cursed with. All these souls are once living and breathing people like Angoori. They have gone through the same pain once. That was the worst kind of life anyone could live. They began to feel pity for Angoori. Angoori laughed humourlessly. His laugh was loud and hollow, even to his ears. His eyes welled with tears of regret. "Why have you all become so silent all of a sudden? Is it because you feel bad for me?" he let out a sarcastic chuckle. He can see that they pity his condition. "No, don't make that mistake. I don't deser
In Ernest palace, Raphael is waiting for a call from Angoori.'it's already mid-day. He should be back by now. He said he will start searching for that forest early this morning. I specifically instructed him to search in the area around that lab. It shouldn't take him this long. Is he alright? Why is his mobile not reachable ' he wondered with worry. He knows how dangerous the dark forest is. He also knows that those souls will not let him speak if he goes there himself. Those souls are angry at Irina. They wouldn't want anything to do with her son. They prefer to kill Raphael rather than speak with him. He thought Angoori would be safe. So far he hasn't heard anyone complaining about unnatural deaths in the forest. So those souls are not hurting common people. 'Angoori is a member of Irina's team. Did those souls recognize him? If they did, then they will kill him' That realization made the fine hair at the back of his neck stand tall.'No, he cannot die. Oh god, what have I done?'
After one year....Raphael wanted to hide everything Irina did, because she was once a queen of the Raven clan. Her black deeds will forever become a black mark on the Raven clan. The hard earned reputation of his ancestors would be ruined, which he doesn't want to happen. So he hid her death when it happened. As everything happened in the middle of the night and as the Raven palace is sitting at a fair distance away from the town, no one knew what happened or suspected anything. By morning, only ashes were left behind. The dead army and even irina who brought them to life are all gone. Cadmus lied to everyone that irina went on a spiritual journey to find peace. Everyone believed that lie as Irina made sure to keep her reputation spotless when she was alive. Only peace was left behind after she passed away. "Raphael? What are you doing here?" Valerie asked from behind him. He is standing in the palace court yard while looking in the exact place where his mother died. Valerie noticed
Raphael and his men together surrounded the dead army from all four directions. They start to burn the dead army with their dragon fire. As Irina is momentarily disoriented, the dead army stands still like statues, while their bodies are burned down to ashes. When Irina realized what was happening, she gained back the control she has on the dead people again. "You dumb idiots, attack" she screeched loudly. At once the dead army started charging toward the Raven palace again. As their bodies already started burning, they are now walking fireballs charging towards the Palace gates. At once the palace gates shook with the force of the dead army. It creaked loudly, protesting from the force with which the dead army was pushing at it and trying to breach the palace walls."Guards, shift and stop them from entering the palace. The gate will not hold that much force for longer. Barricade the gates with sandbags. Quick" Raphael instructed his men while he resumed burning their decayed bodie
"Your Highness, dead bodies are walking," he said in a rush. The guard is pale and looked scared. Raphael and Angoori ran outside and were shocked to see an army of dead and decaying people walking towards the Raven palace. Their bodies are muddy as if they just came from inside a grave. Bones can be seen in their half-decayed bodies. Most of them are just walking skeletons, and the rest are in the process of decaying. Irina is leading them in the front. She looked happy at herself. Raphael thought he was prepared to deal with anything Irina threw at them this time. But no amount of mental pep talk would have prepared him for this. 'How does anyone fight with already dead people?' he thought while taking in the walking dead steadily approaching the palace. The Raven guards look scared out of their minds. But the guards are trying to look brave and do their part by locking the tall wrought iron palace gates and positioning themselves to shield the entrance with weapons. That dead ar
In the dark forest, Irina is pacing the uneven land with fury. She is furious with Raphael who destroyed her lab and then ruined the souls for the dark powers. Out of all her enemies, she never imagined that it would be her own son who would destroy everything. The years of planning, pretending and after a million cunning ideas, everything was burned down to ashes because of Raphael."No one, I mean not a single soul dared stand against me. But now, after twenty-five years of unhindered rein of only victories, my own flesh and blood is standing in my way" she screeched with anger and frustration.The dark forest shook with the intensity of her anger. "After everything I gave you, you decided to take up my enemy's side and betray me. Now, after I learned that you stole my dark powers, there is no going back for you from this betrayal. You have to join your dear Father in heaven. You never really saw my true nature, Raphael. I only ever pampered you and hid my true self from you. I onl
Cadmus understood what Raphael meant by 'Our plan ' after half an hour. They are standing in the palace Courtyard and all the Raven guards are standing in front of them. Confusion is seen on their faces. It's almost midnight and a meeting with their king at this hour is not common. But Cadmus understood why Raphael is doing this now. Because they cannot afford to waste any time, especially when they don't know where Irina is and what she is planning. "You must be confused and thinking about why your new king wants to speak with you all at this hour. But I understood that this is the best time to speak about things that all of us want to hide from others" Raphael spoke.His words left everyone confused in the beginning, but then the men who are loyal to him understood where this was going. So they looked at each other and nodded their heads in understanding. Stealthily they changed their positions in such a way that they are now surrounding Irina's loyal men whom they are sure would g
After her failed attempt to threaten her enemies, Irina left the Coronation party in a fit of murderous rage. "No, if they think that they can intimidate me, then they are dead wrong. Raphael might not know about me, but Arthur, how did you think that I would let you go so easily? We grew up together. You know how stubborn I am. If I set my eyes on something, then that should either belong to me, or it should be destroyed. Just like you. I wanted you, but you rejected me and married anesthesia. I thought of killing you, but that would be an easy punishment for you. I want you to suffer. And your suffering would only end on the day you die. Now, your daughter made a huge mistake by taking over my position as the Raven Queen. You made my son go against me. That is a sin deemed to be punished by death. Now she will die, and so will you. None of you know what I did for two years after I left the Ernest palace. I practiced dark magic. All these years I was trying to amplify my dark powers
Irina has a malicious smile on her face. She is hiding how angry she is. She never thought that there would come a day when she might have to see her son laughing and chatting with the people she hates the most. What's worse is, he made her the worst enemy and made Arthur's daughter his Queen. "Hello Eugene" Irina greeted the Nester king. She intentionally skipped his title. This is the same way she used to address him when she used to stay in the Ernest clan. But after things turned bad between her and Arthur, she distanced herself from Eugene as well. Because she knows that he is loyal to Arthur.Eugene became stiff and so did the others. Raphael tightened his fists. Valerie's eyes flashed with anger. Anesthesia, Arthur, and Liliana have matching frowns of disgust. Hector and Cadmus look uncomfortable."Hello, Irina" he replied with a blank face. Irina turned her gaze towards Arthur. She wanted to disturb their happiness. "You look happy Arthur. I saw this kind of smile on you on
After the coronation of Raphael and Valerie as the new king and Queen of the Raven Kingdom, Cadmus is given the respectable position of the Royal advisor and the Royal godfather of the Raven clan. He is given the power that he can involve in every matter that concerns the Raven clan. His position is equal to Raphael and Valerie's. He is overwhelmed with joy and his happiness has no bounds. But the same cannot be said about Irina. She is not at all happy. Raphael gave her no position to hold in the Royal court. He decided that it was time for her to rest. He made it look like he is doing her a favor and all of this is for his good..'The previous queen of this clan has given her everything for the well-being of this clan. After my father's unfortunate demise, she took it upon herself to take this clan under her care. She worked restlessly toward her goal. I think it's time for her to leave these heavy responsibilities to us and rest. She deserves this more than anyone ' he announced.
The entire Agnes clan bowed their heads when Valerie approached them. They don't have a choice. Going against a gold dragon is like going against a mountain that is taller and stronger. It's useless to fight with a mountain when you clearly know that you cannot win that battle. A gold dragon's wrath can destroy an entire clan. Her blessing would help any clan flourish and grow. The land that she touches will be greener than any other land."I am not killing you merely because I don't want my mate's coronation to be remembered with a blood bath. Ravens are known for their hospitality. You came here as a guest. I don't want to hurt a guest. But be aware, Princess Tasha. I will not tolerate disrespect either. If you open your nasty mouth to pass cruel comments, then I would not hesitate to kill you in the future. Keep your judgments to yourself. Me, Valerie Ernest, daughter of King Arthur, princess of the Ernest clan, and the mate of the Raven King here by declare you, Princess Tasha as