Nathaniel stood on the beach of the islands, where he knew where he could find the person he had been looking for.
"What’s going on, King Nathaniel? What brings you here?" Cleopatra walked out of the ocean, a silver dress immediately adorning her body.
Mrianna walked out next and looked at the infamous man they had faced before. How could she forget this man who had become their major hindrance in finding Elliana?
They had tried so hard to reach the reincarnated Siren Queen or the human containing her hidden powers. At that time, they didn’t know Cleopatra ordered them to get the powers or that human because she wanted to covet them for herself, so they were scolded for being incompetent.
It was also because of the hidden Siren queen that they were saved when Elliana’s powers attacked them.
"I want to meet Misha as soon as possible. Where can I find her?" Nathaniel asked. Before Cleopatra could say anything, Marianna stepped ahead and told him how he could use his magic to call her since she was back from her meditation phase.
Nathaniel thanked Marianna before calling Misha immediately.
It wasn’t long before the reincarnated siren queen who was having her meal appeared before them, her hands still holding the dumpling she was about to eat between her chopsticks.
Finding herself in a new set of surroundings and the man standing before her, she didn’t need anyone to tell her what had transpired.
"This better be important," She glared at him.
Nathaniel didn’t have time to waste. He briefed her on everything that happened. As soon as Misha heard those words, the dumpling fell from her chopsticks, and she looked concerned.
"I clearly told you no matter what happens, you guys are not to tell them about the bond. Was it so hard? They were starting to recognize each other, weren’t they? Why couldn’t you guys let them be?" Misha scowled before agreeing to come with Nathaniel to see what she could do.
Marianna, who heard their words, wanted to accompany them too, but without her clan leader’s permission, she couldn’t do it and only sighed helplessly, going back into the water.
At the same time, Sebastian went straight to his office in the vampire kingdom to handle the matter his team called him about. However, no matter how hard he tried to distract himself, his mind repeatedly went to what happened in the witch kingdom.
There was a weird uneasiness in his heart as if something terrible was about to happen or happening.
He drank a few glasses of blood to calm his uneasy beast, but to no avail did he calm down. He was reacting like something very precious to them was about to be snatched from their hands, and the more he thought about it, the more he could only think about how that blood dripped from Elliana’s ears.
What was wrong with her? Wasn’t her family supposed to love her? Why did her sister react like that? He had heard drifting rumors about how the queen of the White Kingdom tricked her sister and her husband. Was it true?
"UHHHH!" Sebastian groaned in agony and was about to leave his office and go back to his room to try to take some rest when someone knocked on the door.
Sebastian looked at Lucas, who walked inside the office with what looked like a diary.
"What are you holding? Your secrets?" Sebastian asked.
Lucas shook his head.
"Miss Zoya found this diary when she was cleaning your room. It was stacked in the bottom corner of your closet under the rugs. Do you know anything about it? I know you don’t write in a diary, but when I opened it, the writing was strangely yours," Lucas said.
"Mine?" Sebastian grabbed the diary and opened a random page.
He started reading the lines of the entries that seemed to be from a year ago, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Today, she woke up with an annoyed expression. Why? She wanted hugs, and I was gone for training. She asked me if training was more important than her. Now, who will tell her even my life isn’t more important than her,"
Sebastian gulped before he opened another page.
"Angel on earth. That would be too little to describe how beautiful she looked this evening when she was wearing that dark blue dress. Her beautiful hazel eyes shone brightly when she looked at me. And I? Just like always, I was ready to dance with her and forget about everything and everyone in this world. That is the kind of effect she has on me,"
Sebastian turned another page.
"She was crying in her sleep today, and it broke my heart. All I wanted to tell her was that she shouldn’t dare shed any tears because anyone or everyone who ever made her cry would perish at my hands. She has this weird habit of sleeping on me, and her long brown hair always tickles me in my sleep. But what can I do? I love her scent too much to complain.
She is so close to my heart when she is sleeping, but who will tell her that I want to be close to her heart too?"
Sebastian took a deep, shaky breath and looked at Lucas.
"Leave me alone for some time," Sebastian said, and Lucas left immediately without saying a word.
However, he had only walked a couple of steps when Ella rushed inside the Black Skull palace as soon as she found out he was back there. She was in the market near the palace to distract herself and stop thinking about Elliana, but now that he was here, she wanted to ask him what had happened.
As soon as she opened his office, Sebastian, who thought it was Lucas again, growled without looking up.
"Leave me alone for some time, you guys, will you?" Sebastian said before looking at his sister.
Her presence surprised him. Though he wanted to read more of that diary because he suddenly felt very familiar with it, that he knew this person he talked about in the diary, and how closely it resembled the woman of his dreams that he kept hearing and seeing, Sebastian sighed and looked at his sister.
"What brought you here, sister?" He asked, his expression turning neutral.
Ella knew Sebastian hated wasting time the most, so she went straight to the point.
"You went with a witch princess called Elliana?" She asked with sign language.
Sebastian felt something was amiss for her sister, who had never met Elliana, to ask about her. Thus, he hummed to see what this was all about rather than going into details.
Ella smiled at him before holding his hands.
"So, do you finally remember her? The person you have loved more than you loved yourself?" Ella signed, her hand moving to Sebastian, making it feel like time had stopped.
The girl he had loved more than himself, the one he mentioned in the diary, was Elliana. Sebastian felt the ground slip from under his feet, and he stumbled back, holding onto the chair for support.
Ella furrowed her brows. She could see something was wrong with him. Hadn’t he realized about it already? As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she immediately remembered that the witches didn’t want them to remember anything about Elliana.
"Sebastian, what’s wrong? Why is your expression turning pale?" Ella held his hand helplessly before pressing the emergency button in his cabin that alerted the entire palace.
Sebastian fell to his knees, squeezing his temples between his palms as he tried to remember everything while battling the pain in his head.