CHAPTER 07

BERRY'S POV:-

I stepped out of the office building and mentally cursed myself for being a stubborn soul. It was really not my fault though. Mr Turner had told me that it would rain by the time we would be going back home. And I looked at him and laughed at him. It was near to impossible. The sun was shining brightly in the morning and there was not a single piece of cloud around the big blue sky. I stomped my foot on the ground as I did not bring my umbrella. And I knew I had to go back home with wet clothes and hair.

"It will not help with the rain, neither you are going to get an umbrella by stomping your feet on the ground." I jumped as I heard Mr Vulcan whisper in my ear. I looked up and found an umbrella over my head. He came closer to me and rested his hand on the small of my back. He nodded his head and pulled me towards the cart that was waiting for us. He helped me into the cart first then he stepped into the cart after closing the umbrella. As we were all set, he signalled and the cart started moving. 

It had almost been six months since I had started working for Mr Vulcan. He was very caring and protective towards every single person in his companies. He knew each and every single person by their names. He would care for them all and would also talk to them all personally from time to time. It was his habit. I had never seen any landlord or businessman doing anything like that for their workers. Not my father, not even my grandfather. No one had ever cared for the people who worked for them like I had seen Mr Vulcan doing for his people. Maybe that was the reason why my father was betrayed but no one even thought of betraying Mr Vulcan.

I looked at him and found him staring at me again. I gulped hard to swallow the lump that had stuck into my throat. His gaze was getting hotter by every single passing day. The hair on the nape of my neck stood erect as I could feel him drooling over me. His gaze never made me feel uncomfortable. But of course, if you have a perfectly sculptured man sitting in front of you and you think his body looks as delicious as the chocolate cake. And you know he is drooling over you as if you are vanilla ice cream for him. How could you survive that hot gaze that can melt you as if vanilla ice cream sat beside the bonfire. It is impossible for the ice cream to not melt down.

I tore my gaze away from him and tried to focus my eyes at the horizon. I balled the hem of the dress I was wearing. I was very nervous. As if it was not his gaze but his hands that are touching my body. I was not really immune to his gaze and his touches. It had never happened but who knew what would happen in future.

LANDON'S POV:-

I stepped out of the cart and a familiar scent hit my nostrils. Of course I could sense better than any other dragons as I was still connected with the mighty heart. It was giving me powers. A smile made its way to my lips as it did not take me long to recognize the owner of the familiar scent I had caught. I looked at Berry who had stepped out of the cart right after me. It was raining and I did not bother to grab the umbrella. She was about to run towards the mansion when I held her arm and stopped her. She looked at me with a confused look in her eyes.

"You will be staying with Raymond for a while. It will be better for you. Not all people who visit me are like me. Some of them could be monsters for you. I don't want anyone to hurt you. Can you do that for me?" I cupped her innocent face with my hands and asked her in a calmed tone. She gulped hard as I mentioned the word monster. She nodded her head nervously and bit her lower lip. I smiled and signalled Raymond to take her away. As she went away, I let the scent of the rain hide the scent of Berry. I could not bear to see her hurt again. And that too after I had promised her that I would protect her.

I went into the mansion and found my brother waiting for me at the door. He opened one of his arms for me and I went towards him. We both wrapped our arms around each other and shared a brotherly hug after centuries. I had missed him and sure he had missed me as well.

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My brother was pacing back and forth while processing the each and every single details we had given him about the mighty heart. We had told him everything about the sorcerers we had visited a long time ago. As I had asked Raymond to keep it a secret between us only, he did not dare to say a word except for the information we had decided to tell my brother. I did not know why but my gut feeling started to tell me if someone my brother trusted most was somehow connected to everything that had happened in Mountainia that night.

He sighed softly and forced a small smile on his face. "I guess then I have to go back home as I can not leave the kingdom all alone. Who knows who is that bastard who dared to take the mighty heart from us and killed your beloved parents. I left Kelly in my palace but I know he can not take care of the whole kingdom for more than a year." He replied in a sad tone. I wanted to hug him again and tell him that I would do everything to find the mighty heart. But I held it in as my eyes caught the sight of something unusual about him. Ever since he had arrived, his left hand was inside his pocket. It was nearly impossible for a person who was a born left handed person.

He came to me to hug me and I stood up. I hugged him back but intentionally I tembebbled over him. To protect us both from falling, he pulled his left hand out of his pocket to balance us both with the nearest wall. I gulped hard as I looked at his hand. I broke the hug and took a step back. "Balthazar son, what happened to your hand? Did something happen to you after that night too?" Raymond asked the question I wanted to ask my brother but I was confused. To my surprise, he chuckled nervously and hid his hand in his pocket again.

"It is nothing, Ray. It was just a small fire. As we are becoming mortals, we should be ready for stupid incidents like this to hurt us this much. Anyways, I better get going. You both take care of yourselves and inform me if you find anything about the mighty heart. It is time for it to be back home before it's too late." He replied in a nervous tone and without looking at us again, he turned around and walked towards the door of the mansion. We stood by the door and waited for his cart to be out of our sight. 

"Pack everything up. Tell everyone to get ready. We are leaving this place. Make sure no one knows about our home. Not even the witches." I told Raymond as I turned around and walked into the mansion, controlling my anger until I was inside my bedroom. I fell on the ground and started sobbing hard.