The knight captain from Megaris, who was appointed by Drayce to take care of the injured soldiers and to send food to a certain someone with the help of the eagle, Dusk, paced around his room as he waited for his subordinate to return.

“Captain!” A knight wearing the trademark black armor of Megaris came running after talking with one of the soldiers he had befriended. “I have investigated what happened last night.” 

The captain signaled him to proceed.

“Apparently, it was caused by the scream of their Third Princess, who is known to be a witch.”

“Witch?” asked the captain.

“Yes, Captain. The same princess we heard the rumors about, the one who had always been locked inside that tower.” The knight pointed at the tallest tower inside the palace grounds.

During their short stay, the Megaris soldiers had heard all kinds of rumors about the Third Princess.

Just as his subordinate was about to continue talking about palace gossip, a majestic giant brown eagle jumped over the knight who brought the information and started to peck him furiously with his sharp beak.

“Dusk! What are you doing?” the captain shouted. Dusk only stopped when the captain pulled him away from the flustered knight.

“What’s with him?” the knight asked as he touched the bloody scratches on his face made by Dusk.

“You must have said something wrong?” the captain replied.

“But I just brought the information I heard!” the knight retorted as he eyed Dusk like a wronged woman.

The captain petted the furious Dusk, who was still glaring at his pouting subordinate. Being the King’s beloved pet, the smart Dusk was being taken care of by everyone as if he’s their own little brother.

“What did he say wrong, Dusk? Is it not caused by the Third Princess?” the captain asked while caressing Dusk’s head. He was familiar with Dusk’s behavior, just like their king. 

Dusk didn’t react. 

The captain tried to recall the exact words used during the conversation he had with his subordinate.

“Is it about the witch part?” the captain asked again.

Dusk rubbed his head against the captain’s palm, which was caressing it.

“So he should not call her a witch?” the captain concluded, and Dusk pecked his beak twice on the captain’s palm.

The captain looked at his knight. “It’s because you called her a witch.”

“Like I said, I just stated what I was told!” the knight replied helplessly to his captain. It was not as if he took the effort to verify what he heard.

“You can leave,” the captain instructed before looking at Dusk. “You were so angry at him. Do you know the Third Princess?”

Dusk answered by rubbing his head against the captain’s palm. 

Something struck the captain’s mind when he happened to look at the table where he had just placed a boxed meal and tied a blue cloth around it. “Perhaps, is this breakfast for the Third Princess?”

Dusk pecked the captain’s palm, and now, everything was clear to him.

“Don’t mind their words. Our king is a devil, and she is a witch. Isn’t it good?” asked the captain as he put the wooden box wrapped in blue cloth in front of Dusk to carry it. After rubbing his head once more, Dusk fled away with the boxed meal.

The captain now understood the reason behind his king’s strange request. 

‘No wonder we got a royal meal treat three times a day.’

As he watched the flying figure disappear from his sight, he could not help but laugh. “Despite this chaotic situation inside the palace, they did not forget to provide our soldiers with the food that our king requested for us. Thanks to the Third Princess, our injured soldiers are enjoying delicious full meals every day.”

——–

Contrary to the turmoil within the palace grounds, there had only been silence inside the Third Princess’s residence. An entire day passed without a sound from its owner, and despite the knights’ painstaking vigilance, they did not see Seren come out of the tower. There was no movement inside, not even a shadow passing through the windows, and thus, there was no way for the king to know about how his daughter was. 

King Armen had waited by the entrance and watched the rain stop by dawn, which meant Seren only stopped crying by dawn. All by herself, with no one to comfort her, she must have been crying for hours, probably until she fell asleep.

It hurt the King when he thought how scared she must be. Even for a battle-hardened man like him, the sight of those mutilated corpses was one of the worst he had encountered. What more for his daughter, who had not even seen the world?  He could do nothing but worry for her wellbeing as there was no one beside her to take care of her. 

Not only that, she accepted no food from outside as well, so what had she been eating for the past few days? Could it be that she was just starving herself? 

“Your Majesty should not skip food,” Lord Eudes said, looking at his King, who didn’t touch the food that was brought for dinner.

King Armen didn’t reply and stood up from his chair. He looked outside the dining hall window, from where the tower that Seren lived in was visible. His voice was hoarse as he asked, “Did you find someone?”

“Apologies, Your Majesty, but we are still searching.” Lord Eudes bowed apologetically. “And this time, our men even failed to locate where Martha has gone.”

The King sighed. “You can leave.”

Lord Eudes excused himself, leaving the King on his own.

As it was, King Armen had no other option but to wait for Martha to return. The helpless father could only stare at the tower where there was no light coming out from any of the windows. It was completely dark, which meant Seren didn’t even ignite a lamp. Was she even in the condition to do so? 

The previous two nights, King Armen could at least console himself that she was fine by looking at the top window of the tower that showed the presence of light, but tonight there was nothing. 

He could only console himself that knowing his daughter was not any ordinary human; she must be doing fine.