Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

Drayce could understand Slayer's feelings well. After all, wasn't he also guilty of the same thing? Though he looked fine on the surface, he was feeling quite angry that he allowed Seren to be hurt in the first place. Worse, he wasn't there when she truly needed him.

"I will be heading to check the forest in person tonight. You can accompany me."

Slayer could not be more grateful than this and nodded immediately.

"That man who claims to have saved Her Majesty, is he awake?" Slayer asked.

"Not yet. He is severely injured," Drayce replied.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Jasper asked. "I need his description to verify his identity. May I go see him?"

Drayce didn't even have to think about his response. "No need to investigate. We can trust him. He is someone my mother trusted as well and Lady Tyra can vouch for his identity."

Though he assured them with his mother's reference, Drayce himself trusted Aureus, no, Dusk. Though in a different form, he had been by his side for more than two decades and had seen all facets of his life.

Somewhere deep within him, he felt a sense of betrayal that his friend had turned out to be a shapeshifter, someone powerful, and had hidden the truth from him, yet at the same time, the time they had spent together and the trust they built along the way was something that could not be easily shaken up.

----

That evening, the young man with golden hair finally stirred in bed. When he regained consciousness, he was welcomed by the sight of Lady Tyra sitting on one of the chairs inside the room. She was bent over with her face buried in her hands, her body trembling as if she was crying.

Though Aureus felt a dull pain all over his body, seeing the trembling of those frail shoulders, he tried to pretend he wasn't hurting.

Just a single look at the old lady and he could guess she must have stayed by his side out of worry for him. Though she was always strict with him, he knew there was no one who cared for him as much as she did. She treated him like her own son.

"Tyra…?" he called her with a raspy voice that pulled her attention to him.

The old lady turned to look at the source of weak voice, and the next moment a relieved smile graced her lips. Her reddened eyes blinked back her tears as she hurried towards the bed.

"Aureus, you—"

However, the next words were stuck in her throat and she could do nothing else but cry. Tears continued to roll down her eyes as she hurried to touch his pulse and check his condition. She never showed how much he meant to her, but now, she simply could not stop her emotions seeing him awake. Ever since she found him unconscious, not even for a moment could she be at peace.

Aureus could understand what she was feeling and answered her unspoken question, "I am fine, Tyra."

With her trembling lips curving into a brittle smile, she simply nodded, not being able to say a word.

-----

Drayce soon received the news of Aureus being awake. An hour later, after Lady Tyra confirmed that Aureus was fit enough to meet others, she asked him to visit the King first. She knew they must have things to talk about.

Aureus was familiar with the layout of the Crystal Palace, and there was no need for him to be guided towards the drawing room of the palace where he would be meeting Drayce. When he reached there, Drayce was not alone.

Seren and the Great Lady were sitting on two chairs beside him, while Drayce's two subordinates, Slayer and Jasper, were also present and standing behind Drayce.

It was weird for Drayce to pretend as if he had no idea that this Divine Eagle was his pet, and he felt bothered over how to deal with it. Fortunately, he was good at maintaining his calm and thus he was able to respond formally when Aureus bowed to him to greet him with perfect manners.

Drayce accepted it with a light nod, while others present in the room silently observed the young man with golden hair, those unaware of his identity guessing whether he was truly a friend and not a foe.

Other than those who had seen his winged form, the people who heard what happened found it hard to believe that those mythical beasts like a shapeshifting eagle existed in reality.

Aureus glanced at Seren who was looking at him curiously with those beautiful purple eyes of hers filled with nothing but innocence. He felt relieved to see her all fine. If something had happened to her, he didn't know what he would have done.

"How are you now?" Aureus heard Drayce say.

He looked at him and replied, "My body is completely fine. Thank you so much for helping me and saving my life, Your Majesty. I owe you for this."

"You have saved my wife so you don't owe me anything. I can only show my gratitude to you," Drayce commented.

"Your mother is my saviour and I would do anything to save those that are important to her. I was merely doing what should," Aureus replied politely.

Drayce didn't counter that, and after he had confirmed some details about the hooded figures from the shapeshifter and his wife, he turned to ask Aureus, "What do you plan on doing after this?"

"I plan to find out more about those who tried to abduct Her Majesty the Queen. During that incident, I got to know they are the same ones who harmed my mother," Aureus replied calmly but his golden eyes showed how enraged he was.

"As our enemies are the same, it will be helpful if we work together. Since they made a big move, they would have left traces. It won't take much time to find them. I don't wish to spare any of them for harming my wife," Drayce declared his intentions.