The Devil's Betrothed

Chapter 828: Meeting A Mother

After a few days of the honeymoon period were over, Arlan finally allowed Oriana to get involved in her responsibilities as the crown princess. And finally, she could spend time with the queen and other family members.Arlan’s dear friends had arrived to meet him as well. Arthur, Nathaniel, and Aaron. Nathaniel and Aaron especially made a long trip to meet the Crown Prince the moment the message of his return reached them.

Arlan was waiting for them at the lounge area of his mansion’s first floor, where the cold breeze entering through the huge windows had filled the lounge area.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," Arthur said in a dramatic tone. "I can’t begin to tell you how fortunate we are to have a glimpse of your divine existence after a year," and hugged him.

Arlan hugged him back. "Yeah, I didn’t want my most promising lieutenant colonel to go crazy over all that longing towards his liege," Arlan countered smoothly.

Nathaniel and Aaron greeted him with a friendly hug as well, before all of them settled on the sofa.

"How have you been?" Arlan asked Aaron. "Congratulations on becoming an uncle."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Aaron replied with a polite bow.

"You should ask when he will be having his own kids," Arthur countered playfully as he made himself comfortable on the couch. "We sure look forward to seeing little Aaron."

"Lucain’s kids are enough," Aaron replied. "I know he won’t be stopping at just one or two."

Arthur chuckled as he looked at Nathaniel. "Your cousin is stuck with a vigorous bull. That Lucian looks so calm as if he understood nothing, but truly treacherous inside."

"Then my cousin got the perfect man," Nathaniel countered. "She is no less."

"What about you?" Arlan asked Nathaniel as they settled opposite Arthur and Aaron. "Any trouble from the old man?"

Nathaniel let out an annoyed sigh. "Keep the bastard out of our conversation."

Arthur chuckled. "Do you want to keep him out of conversation or wish to keep the topic of your marriage out of conversation?"

"Both, as both the matters are highly irrelevant to me," Nathaniel answered.

"We will see," Arthur countered. "He is aggressively finding a wife for you, the one you can’t say no to. You know how that bastard father of yours works."

"I will make sure that woman rejects me," Nathaniel smirked.

"Well, you better. We don’t want any good woman to ruin her life by marrying you," Arthur chuckled. "I will personally pass your message to that woman to save her."

Nathaniel smirked at him. "I appreciate the gesture. You are a true friend."

Just then, Roman brought snacks and drinks for them.

As they enjoyed themselves, Arthur asked, "Are you and Her Highness coming for my cousin’s wedding?"

Arlan had a sip of wine and hummed. "I plan to travel to meet some people, so will be travelling in the kingdom for a month or two. Oriana wished to meet Rainiers. That’s another of her family. Especially she misses Lucian’s mother."

"All our other friends from the military training days would be coming as well. It would be fun to meet them all and revive the old memories once more."

After a long talk, they headed outside as the other three decided to leave.

"When are you returning to the North-East?" Arlan asked the two.

"Today," Nathaniel replied. "We just came to meet you. The shortcut invented by Lucian back then comes in handy now for fast travel."

Arlan almost had an urge to teleport his friends, but he controlled himself. He wished to remain a normal person to them, though they already had a hunch Arlan wasn’t ordinary. But showing them his reality would be too much.

He could only watch them leave as he waved his hand to them as they settled on their horses.

----

One fine day, finally, someone arrived at the palace.

Oriana’s father, the King of the Demon Realm.

Arlan welcomed him in the palace as one of his friends for others to see. He was Oriana’s father, as well as the Demon King; respect was a must.

Oriana was delighted to see him as she wished to fulfil her wish of meeting her mother.

Arlan led him to meet the King and the Queen. It was different for Veleron to be welcomed by the human royalty as he wasn’t used to it. The only human he ever had any close relations with was Oriana’s mother.

King Ailwin and Queen Julien welcomed him.

They didn’t ask who he was, they just respected the fact that he was Oriana’s father and must be someone extraordinary.

Arlan hadn’t told his parents about Oriana being a demoness and the princess of the Demon Realm. He didn’t wish to shock his parents, though they wouldn’t mind the fact.

Once they met with them, Valeron finally took Oriana to meet her mother, and Arlan accompanied them as well.

They teleported to somewhere far, which looked beyond the mortal world.

"What is this place, father?" Oriana asked.

"It is the boundary between the human realm and the demon realm," he answered. "Since your mother was a part of both realms, I made sure she rests close to both of them."

The place was not bright or too dark. It was somewhere between the day from the mortal world and a night from the demon realm. And it remained always the same, like this place always had the view of dusk.

The sky had a red-orange hue along with many other colors of the rainbow, birds flying in the sky, greenery around. The air was a soothing calm breeze that calmed one’s soul. It was a beautiful place.

"It’s beautiful," Oriana mumbled and realised how thoughtful her father was towards her mother. He truly loved her.

They walked to where her mother’s grave was made. It was decorated with beautiful flowers over a lifted surface on the ground.

"Here she is," Valeron told her.

Oriana offered her respect to her mother, Arlan followed her.

She touched those flowers. They weren’t put there, but they had grown in that soil, making a thin, beautiful, coloured velvet-like structure over it.

She felt like she could sense her mother through those flowers.

’Mother, thank you for bringing me to this world again so I could bring justice to our people,’ she mumbled. ’But I do wish you were here, if I could see you at least once. But...’ she let out a shaky breath. ’I will make sure the sacrifice you made would be justified. I won’t let you down.’

A strong gust of wind surrounded the place, but it didn’t hurt her. It felt like embracing her. For a moment, Oriana felt it was her mother through the wind, trying to tell her she heard her and gave her blessings.

"Thank you, mother," Oriana said once that gust of wind vanished.

She stood up and looked around. The far place felt isolated from any realm, came to her view. But she could sense a strong energy coming from there, a part of it reminded her of Arlan.

"What is that place?" Arlan asked.

Oriana, who had regained her memories from the past, said, "Seems like a place where the Lord of Darkness resides," and looked at her father. "Isn’t it?"

Valeron hummed. "That place is in the center of the three realms where they leave a void in between while sharing the borders. That void is the home of the Lord of Darkness. That also means he belongs to no realm."

Lord of Darkness, Drayce’s father, Arlan thought. "Maybe one day Drayce would like to visit him here."

"No one is allowed here unless the Lord of Darkness allows anyone, and I doubt he will," Valeron said.

"So, he never allowed anyone here, never?" Oriana asked.

"I heard that the deity of water had been here after she was banished from the heaven realm with no memories. The Lord of Darkness seemed to have guided her to her new life," Valeron answered, keeping it vague.

Arlan sighed. "Even after they weren’t allowed to be together, Lord of Darkness was bold enough to be with her. Seems like Drayce’s mother fell for him all over again due to his kindness, but he rejected her, and then she left him."

"That seems like a valid conclusion," Oriana said, while Valeron refrained from commenting.

"I wonder if they will be together again," Arlan commented. "Drayce deserves to have a family like ours."

"Maybe," Oriana said as she remembered her friend from the past. "But it might take time. Knowing Evanthe, she won’t give in easily. The Lord of Darkness has to wait."

Both of them were ready to leave. Valeron turned to Arlan. "You have to take better care of my daughter going forward, Prince Arlan."

"That’s not something I lack in doing," Arlan said.

Valeron simply looked at him for a moment and said, "I will return soon... very soon to meet someone..."

Arlan raised a brow, and Valeron used his demonic powers. "It’s time for you to leave. The energy here can be overwhelming for Oriana in this situation."

Before both of them could say a word, they were already sent back to the human realm, inside Arlan’s palace.

Oriana felt her energy was drained, her heart was burning, and her head felt dizzy. Arlan caught her firmly and carried her to the bed.

"Your father was right. The energy there wasn’t good for you," Arlan said to comfort her as he laid her in bed.

Oriana had closed her eyes, sweat covering her forehead as she licked her dry lips.

He made her drink some water, and she felt a little better.

"Teleporting never felt this exhausting before," she mumbled.

Arlan thought about the words Valeron said and his actions when they sent him away. His dark eyes were gazing at Oriana...

"I will call for the physician," Arlan said. "You should rest until then."

"No need. I will recover soon," she said and closed her eyes.

Arlan, anyway, called for the physician.