She Belongs To The Devil

Prince Edwin settled down in his new workroom. He was looking at some files that Bennett had provided him with. And before it was lunchtime, one of the guards of the King\'s Court came to his room and informed him, "Your Highness, I am here to deliver a message. Her Majesty Queen Lillian has returned back from her visit to Frostford and is asking an audience with you."

Edwin\'s heart started beating up rapidly when he heard that his mother was back at the Palace and was looking for him. He couldn\'t help but feel like he had betrayed her by siding with Adeline.

He took a deep breath in and said, "I got it. Where is my mother? Is she here?"

"She has called you in her own quarter, Your Highness," the guard bowed and left the room after getting permission from Edwin.

Edwin slowly got up from his seat and then thought of informing Adeline before leaving. He was about to head towards Adeline\'s room when Bennett got out of his room and asked, "Your Highness, you are going somewhere?"

Edwin smiled and nodded, "I was going to see Adeline. I have to leave for my mother\'s quarter for some time."

"Princess is not in her room." Bennett informed Prince Edwin in monotone, "She had gone to meet His Majesty but she has not returned yet. I will inform her if she returns back before you do."

"Thank you, Lord Bennett," Prince Edwin turned around and left to meet his mother while Bennett gave a suspicious look to him for quite some time.

Prince Edwin got to know from his wife that his mother had left for Frostford about two weeks ago. He felt that something was off because his mother was never the one to stay away from Wyverndale for that long, and that also when his release date was near.

Just a while ago, he had gone through the trade reports and had noticed that the trade with Frostford had declined significantly. "If Frostford is not trading with Wyverndale then who is it trading with?"

He sighed and whispered to himself, "I hope that my mother is not doing something stupid. She has already committed enough crimes to be dragged down to Hell. I hope she doesn\'t add more weight to her sins."

A maid announced the arrival of Edwin to Lillian. And as soon as Edwin entered his mother\'s private chamber, Lillian flung herself forward and wrapped her son in her arms. She could not contain her happiness when she saw her beloved son after two whole years.

"Edwin, you have become so thin!" Lillian exclaimed as she could feel that he was not as muscular as he used to be.

She pulled away from the hug and cupped her son\'s jaw. And she looked very worried regarding his health, "Did the guards not treat you well while you were locked up? I used to ask the maids to give the best dishes to you, did they not follow my order?"

Edwin forced a smile as he could not believe that such a loving mother could commit so many murders. He held his mother\'s hands and made her sit down on a chair. He also sat beside his mother and said, "They took care of me really well, more than they should have done for a criminal like me. I just lost some weight because I got lazy and didn\'t train myself."

Lillian gazed at her son lovingly and gave a soft smile. "It\'s okay. Now that you are released from the house arrest, you can resume your training again."

A few frown lines appeared on her forehead as she ran her fingers through Edwin\'s short hair. And she asked in a disappointed voice, "And why did you cut your hair so short? It doesn\'t look royal at all."

Edwin gave an apologetic look to his mother and replied, "I didn\'t have the luxury to have maids to help me bathe or comb my hair. And I never knew that curly hair needed so much care. So I asked to make it short. It\'s much easier to handle the hair now. I like it better this way."

Lillian didn\'t like hearing about the difficulties that her son went through. She clenched her fists and exclaimed all of a sudden. "This is all because of that love child. I should teach her a lesson soon."

Edwin didn\'t want his mother to commit any more crimes than what she already had. He held her hand and said, "Mother, you shouldn\'t be pouring your anger on Adeline. I went through all that punishment because I deserved it. Besides, I was not sent to the dungeons even though my crimes were worthy of being sent there. So I am grateful that I didn\'t get any harsh punishments."

"Edwin…" Lillian could not believe that her son was defending Adeline even after what she had done to him. "I thought that you would be angry with everyone that put you through so much trouble. But it looks like the confinement made you go softer."

Lillian then smiled grimly and reassured her son, "It doesn\'t matter. I can understand that the solitary confinement might have changed you to some extent. You can take your time to recover from your punishment. Till then, I will be strong for the both of us."

Edwin thought of reconfirming the crimes that his mother had committed in the past. But he could not directly ask her how many people she had killed before. So he decided to take it slow and make her open up to him with time.

Till then, he had to act normally. So he asked his mother, "Let\'s not talk about me anymore. Mother, why don\'t you share what you did during the time I could not meet you? I hope that you were not too worried about me."

"Of course I was worried about you. How could I not worry about my child? That is why I have planned something great for you so that you won\'t be punished like that ever again." A sinister smile appeared on Lillian\'s face after she said that.

Edwin looked into his mother\'s eyes and saw a glimmer of evil. He already had a bad feeling that whatever she had planned would be something bad.

Lillian, on the other hand, could not wait to share what she had planned for her son and for Wyverndale. And she excitedly informed Edwin, "Son, I have already made arrangements which will eventually make you the King of Wyverndale. How does that sound?"

"Well, that sounds like you have just sentenced me to death!" Edwin screamed inside his head. He wanted to shout that at his mother for even thinking about that but he had already tried that in the past. And despite his warnings, his mother had already concocted some kind of plan.

So he stopped himself from acting out rashly and shutting off his mother. He thought that knowing about her plan would make it easier for him to think of ways to stop her. 

So instead, he acted with his calm head.. He pretended to be on board with his mother\'s devious plans and asked while showing great interest, "An arrangement that will make me a King? I would love to know more about it."