80 A Favor
At the hauntingly quiet dungeon below the palace ground, Freya struggled to get herself into a sitting position as the effect of the dark flower poison tended to have worsened the pain in her system.
“Ah!” She let out a short cry when her bones gave up and she sank to the ground with a light thud, hissing at her own predicament. She added way too much pressure to her hands while trying to get to her feet and she was facing the consequences of it.
Her joints were terribly aching and her body felt sore. She barely had the strength to talk as her throat felt dry and perched.
She shivered slightly as she leaned her back against the cold wall. The dungeon had no source of light, or even a fire to keep her warm and it made her grit her teeth in anger.
She never imagined she’d one day spend her life in a dungeon while the main culprit got the chance to roam the palace freely.
Her hands balled into a tight fist, remembering how she stupidly fell into Gretta’s antics, all because she wanted to be with someone she had loved and admired for years.
She was a human?! An Euphrasia at that! Yet Roshan chose to stand up for a mere human, and he...he did this to her.
“I’ll kill all of you!!!” She raged her warning with the little bit of strength left in her and her eyes filled to the brim with tears. The sound of her crying voice echoed through the dungeon, like a silent oath was being made and that’s when she heard footsteps.
A soft gasp left her lips as the footsteps tended to approach her direction and it got closer, and closer_ and her green eyes stared into the darkness in front of her.
.....
As far as she knows, not all guards wander through this particular dungeon cause escaping from it was impossible.
So_who could her guest possibly be? Was it Gretta?
As the footstep approached her cell, an unknown man in black cloak stepped into the silver light that penetrated from the small window and Freya’s eyes widened at the sight of the strange being.
She didn’t utter a word and just stared like someone who witnessed the presence of a ghost. His face was hidden behind the cloak and he leaned before her cell while Freya cautiously stayed put.
“Look at what they’ve done to you.” He sounded somewhat sad for her pitiful condition as he looked her over.
“You’re just a demoness who fell in Love but Gretta outsmarted you sadly, and this is the treatment you get. Demons truly live up to their name.”
“Who_who are you?” Freya asked with an alarmed stare, looking a bit too shocked to see someone who knew that much but the strange being quickly scrutinized the dungeon before returning his attention back to her.
“That will be explained later, for now, I can help you get out of here, but you need to promise to do me a favor in return.”
Freya stared at the man for a while and his offer sounded tempting to her ears. Obviously she’d go with anything as long as it gets her to avoid the torturing pain his highness had inflicted on her.
“What do you want?”
~
Roshan sat up on his bed with a blank stare, his gaze disappeared into the distance like a hazy sea, indicating his mind was completely elsewhere.
Anna quietly poured a cup of herbal medicine tea on a teacup before handing it to the blacked out Demon.
“Here, it’ll reduce the headache.” She softly explained while stretching it forward for him to take. Roshan’s gaze finally shifted to her and it took a minute before the glacier received the cup of tea.
“It’s a little bitter, so bear it.”
Roshan drank the whole thing on the cup in one go and handed it back to Anna. He was back to staring into space again, and it worried Anna to see him so deeply lost in thoughts for the first time.
“You should rest.” Her calm tone broke the loneliness reaching towards him and his Hazel-green eyes diverted to her direction, but he said nothing.
Anna politely bowed, the last thing she wanted at the moment was to irritate or get him angry over anything, so maybe it would be wiser if she left him alone and come check tomorrow.
She was about to walk out of his chamber when he finally said something.
“What happened?”
Anna’s feet halted at his question, it was the first word he uttered ever since he woke up and she turned around to look at him.
“What?”
“What exactly happened before I passed out?” He held her gaze, and Anna barely knew how to explain the situation to him. Even she herself doesn’t understand exactly what happened and she wasn’t in the right state of mind to say anything.
“N_nothing happened.” She responded. Roshan’s gaze shifted to her fingers that habitually pinched into her palm and she only ever did that when she felt nervous.
Why was she nervous?
“Nothing happened?” He doesn’t know why but it didn’t actually feel like it, nor did he believe her.
She nodded and reached for the tray on his table.
“I’ll... take my leave now.”
“Wait.”
His voice made her halt for the second time and her speeding heart wasn’t doing any good. Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at him.
“Come here.”
Anna didn’t bother to argue and quietly did as he told her. She stood before the edge of his bed.
“Let out your palm.” He said again.
Anna was a bit confused, but still did as he told her and stretched her right palm forward. He placed a red pill on her fair palm before meeting her stare.
“You can give this to the maid.”
Anna’s eyes widened at a realization, “is it the antidote?”
He nodded, “but be careful when giving it to her, she’s tried to kill you once and she could do it again. Remember to stay alert no matter what, and if something goes wrong, just call my name.”
She nodded regardless with a small smile and left his room after that. She met Azazel on the way and politely bowed her head.
“Greetings your highness.”
“Did you tell Roshan about what happened?” He asked with an expressionless stare and Anna shook her head at his question.
“I did as you told me to, I didn’t tell him.”
“Good.” She noticed the white-haired demon relaxed at her response but it only left her with questions. Why wasn’t she allowed to mention it to his highness??
“I’ll carry on.”
Azazel nodded, giving her the freedom to leave and she walked out. She stared at the pill in her palm and a look of determination crossed her face. After she’s done dropping the tray, she’ll pay the maid a visit.
~
Freya drew circles on the ground with a stick she found in the dungeon, but the steps heading towards her cell caught her attention and when she looked up, Anna stood in front of the cell with a candle.
“Why are you here?” Freya demanded straightaway. She never really expected Anna of all people would be the one to visit her chambers but Anna’s gaze silently raked over her.
She looked sick and her green eyes expressed the severe pain she was going through. Anna couldn’t help but pity her condition.
Taking a deep breath, Anna raised the pill up for Freya to see. The sight of it made her eyes widen with hope and she dashed towards the cell with lightning speed.
“Please...I_I need that.”
“And I’ll give it you.” Anna assured her, “after you tell me who sent you to poison the juice.”
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