Drayce got hold of the emotional turmoil and saw the worry in the eyes of his wife. He put his hand on hers which was holding his arm tightly. "Let's sit down first."
At the gesture of Evanthe, chairs made of ice sprung up from the snow in the middle of the ice cave. Seren and Drayce side by side, while the other two sat opposite to them.
Serent nervously glanced at Drayce. He sensed this and patted her hand. "Relax. We are merely going to talk, and you can always speak out if you wish to."
Senen nodded and then looked at the two women. When she glanced in the direction of the mysterious woman, she noticed that the hand peeking out of her long sleeves had scales on them.
'Scales, just like mine? Is she…?'
"Ladies, I do not wish for small talk. Please give us an explanation on what exactly is going on. What would happen to Seren once she comes of age?" she heard Drayce asked, sounding somewhat…polite?
Drayce put his personal matter with his mother aside. It was time for some serious talk about his wife's safety.
Evanthe nodded. "First, we want to apologize to Queen Seren."
Seren raised a hand in a dismissive matter. "Please don't. I understand this trip is necessary."
Evanthe let out a sad smile. "Queen Seren, the apology is not for that. It is for everything you had to face since the moment you were born. The fault for your sufferings lay on our shoulders."
Those words confused Seren, but she didn't say anything, waiting for Evanthe to say more about what she meant. However, her gaze was unable to leave the other woman called Sierra, as if she wanted to ask her something but was hesitating.
Sierra could feel that inquisitive gaze on her and realized she should say something as well. She had been quiet the moment she faced her daughter, and it was quite irresponsible of her.
'I guess Evanthe has the stronger willpower between us.'
It was quite impressive how Evanthe was able to behave normally, unlike her who was unable to regain her composure, letting her anxiety and feeling of guilt envelop her mind.
Sierra hid her hands inside her sleeves. She felt like a sinner to her daughter.
"We also wish to apologize in advance for what you will be facing in the coming days, Queen Seren," Sierra finally said, her soft voice like music in the air, "and King Drayce, we are grateful that you protected the Queen well. Your presence has eased the troubles we have been facing on our side."
Seren could not stop looking at this woman whose face she could not see. 'This voice, why does it sound so familiar? Shall I ask her if she is…? What if she is not?'
She heard Evanthe speak again, which pulled her out of her thoughts.
"As you might have guessed, this ice cave has been prepared for you for for the danger you will be facing on the day of your coming of age," Evanthe started. "Queen Seren, you have divine power hidden inside you. This power is separate from your innate powers that are locked. Not only is this foreign power destructive in itself, it also poses great danger to you once it comes into conflict with your innate power."
"I heard the same from someone," Seren said, which didn't surprise Evanthe at all. She got to know the arrival of someone knowledgeable with Drayce. Yorian, Evanthe's old acquaintance.
"I am sure you did," Evanthe simply said and continued, "The attribute of your innate power is of the earth element, while the foreign one is a divine power of the fire attribute, one we call hellfire.
"Your body is the vessel of this hellfire. In order to protect you, your own powers are locked to prevent you from using it. Fire breeds on Wood, and Wood is of Earth. If you were to use your powers, then the divine power that doesn't belong to you will grow stronger, fueled by the Earth, and it's harmful for you as it will exceed your body's limit."
Seren directly asked, "How can I get rid of it? Since I am a vessel, that means the hellfire has been placed before inside me after I was born. That should mean it is possible to be removed from me, right?"
Evanthe took a long, hard look at the young woman.
"It is possible in theory; however, unfortunately, we have no means to do that. For now, we don't have a way to get rid of it from your body without you dying. All we can do is to keep the status quo—that means keeping it suppressed inside you, so there will be no clash of powers inside you.
"The danger of your coming of age comes from your innate power. The moment you turn eighteen, you become an adult, and your magic will become mature. Your power will try to surface, and along with it, the hellfire. What we need to do is to control them."
"How will we do that?" Drayce asked calmly, as he looked straight at his mother's eyes.
"I will use my magic to suppress the hellfire inside her as I have the water attribute which will help suppress it along with this ice cave. About her innate power, King Drayce will have to suppress it."
"I will do whatever is needed," Drayce agreed to his role.
Seren was disappointed to hear the hellfire inside her would continue to stay inside her body. She knew that as long as this foreign power was kept inside her, then her wish for a peaceful life was impossible.
Evanthe's gaze softened as she stared at the veiled young woman, but she continued to explain the situation.
"King Drayce and my companion would work together, and we will teach you the spell later. It is rather simple, so King Drayce will have no issues learning how it works.
"For the time being, Queen Seren, starting now till the time the two powers regain their balance, we ask that you stay in this ice cave. It might be about a day or two long, depending on how quickly we can find the balance.
"The most dangerous time for the Queen is at the strike of midnight, the moment marking the eighteenth year of your life in this world, the exact time when you were born. The fluctuation of your power as it accepts the baptism of nature will be the strongest then.
"The hours that follow, your mature magic core will gradually stabilize, and then we will be able to reinforce the seal that suppresses your innate power. By then, the divine power will in turn also calm inside you and won't resurface again, unless you trigger it by your own earth magic. However, like I mentioned, we will strengthen the lock on your innate power, so both powers will remain dormant.
"Do not be scared, Queen Seren. We will do our best to protect you—"
"I am not scared," Seren cut her off.
Seren matched Evanthe's gaze, and the White Witch saw the flash of anger in those purple eyes.
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