Garden Of Poison

F—five?

Emily staggered in surprise at Viktor’s wish, which he delivered in a nonchalant manner as if he were making a purchase at a market. Her cheeks only continued to burn brighter when Raylen asked,

"Is that all?"

Viktor nodded. "I think I was trying to exercise restraint. But maybe six?"

On the other hand, Emily kicked Raylen’s leg for encouraging the Devil to request more children from them. Clearing her throat, she stated, "We will discuss this further later, Viktor."

"That we will," Viktor responded, and shortly after, Emily pushed the vessel to the side, ending the communication they had been having through the murky liquid.

She turned to look at Raylen and said, "You should give birth to three out of the six."

Raylen couldn’t contain a chuckle, his sharp canines coming into view as his smile grew wider. He responded, "If it were possible, I would gladly, my love. But unfortunately, even our Creator knew that women do it better. Also, you don’t want five of them?"

She felt Raylen’s hands gently caressing the sides of her waist, pulling her closer to him as his smile turned tender, ready to convince her. She replied, "That is a lot."

"We won’t be having them all at once, but one at a time. We can take years before welcoming another child. After all, we are going to be here for eternity," Raylen explained to her carefully.

Emily asked, "Aren’t you worried that they will end up competing against each other?"

Raylen gave it some thought before replying, "I am sure we will raise them well, much better than our parents did. Do you not agree?"

Emily nodded in agreement. There had been times in her past when her father had neglected her, knowing she would one day leave the kingdom, and her mother had turned increasingly paranoid, subjecting her to tight and suffocating constraints.

"But if it still worries you..." Raylen drawled, making Emily lean in closer to him. He continued, "We can choose not to have children. It will be just the two of us, and I won’t have to share your time or love with anyone." He leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on her temple.

"No," Emily smiled, knowing there were half truths and half lies in Raylen’s words. Though he wanted her for himself, she knew he didn’t mind sharing her love with their future children. Because it was the same with her. She then said, "I feel like we might end up having more than what I had assumed."

"Good thing that the Storm Castle has plenty of rooms then." Raylen grinned. However, he noticed her face flinching and her body swaying to the side, and he swiftly held her in his embrace.

Feeling him wrap his arms around her, hugging her, Emily found the solace and peace she needed. She heard him ask her,

"Are you alright?"

"I think I am just tired," Emily replied. Her knees felt weak along with her body, unsure whether it was due to the aftereffects of their lovemaking in the forest or the earlier run while chasing Julia.

Raylen frowned and gently squeezed her in his arms. "I should have left you to rest instead of dealing with Julia."

She shook her head. "It concerned me too."

Emily realised that the original reason she had wanted to talk to Viktor had been sidetracked. She would have to ask about it later, as they had more pressing matters to attend to first. She inquired, "How are we going to track Logan?"

"The Locator Potion isn’t available, but there is another way, though it will take a bit of time and is a little choppy," Raylen remarked before pulling the bell rope to summon Westley. He ordered, "Fetch a human servant and prepare the fire vessel. Also, bring us a map of Storm Kingdom."

Once Westley stepped out of the room to make the necessary preparations, Raylen said, "Logan must have not moved our mother’s soul and must be guarding it."

Emily nodded in agreement, and she asked, "How do we get to it?" freewebnσvel.cѳm

"With my mother’s soul unreachable to detect, even by my father, the next person we need to track is Logan. We will utilise items that once belonged to him," Raylen explained.

"They’re still here?" Emily’s eyebrows subtly rose, and she asked, "In his room?"

Although Emily had walked past Raylen’s siblings’ rooms, she had never ventured into them to intrude, feeling they were private spaces.

Raylen and Emily headed to Logan’s room, where Raylen picked up some of his clothes, and they then proceeded to where Westley had prepared the fire vessel. Upon seeing a servant standing next to the demon, Emily turned to Raylen and inquired, "We aren’t going to sacrifice a human, are we?"

"This summoning ritual can only be performed by the hands of an earthling, and since I am an archdemon and you have archdemon blood in you, we aren’t qualified to do it," Raylen explained, raising his hand as a signal to the two servants to be ready. In the room, the map was left to hang on the wall while the fire was ignited, blazing and reaching up to touch the ceiling, leaving behind black scorch marks.

Westley was the one to hold up a scroll and begin reading from it, while the servant repeated the words after him. Emily patiently stood beside Raylen, observing the ritual with spells and fire flickering intermittently. As the clothes that once belonged to Logan were tossed into the fire, they emitted a pungent odour that permeated the room. For a couple of seconds after the spells were cast, nothing seemed to happen.

Shortly after, a wisp of smoke separated from the large fire, floating delicately in the air. It slowly moved towards the hanging map, and soon, the closest edge caught fire. The map began to burn unevenly, resembling the crest of a wave in the sea, until it eventually fell, leaving only a portion untouched.

With the ritual completed, the servant was dismissed, and Raylen picked up the remaining piece of map that revealed Logan’s current location.

"We finally have it," Raylen murmured as he stared at the map. It was time to end things for good this time, he thought to himself. It pointed to a location in the forest to the south, which was only a few minutes away. He declared, "It is time to meet him."

Emily couldn’t help but feel anxious at the thought, and as her body tensed up, she shifted uneasily before taking a deep breath. She noticed Raylen looking at her and reassured him, saying, "I am fine."

"It doesn’t look like it. Perhaps you should stay here in the castle and rest. I will bring him alive for you to confront him before ending him for good," Raylen said to her.

Emily wanted to go with him, but she was feeling tired. She didn’t want to risk being a deadweight, especially knowing that Logan would use her weakness to kill her to revive his mother. Pursing her lips, she nodded. "Please be careful."

"I will be back soon," Raylen promised before leaving the castle with his wings sprouting from his back.

Emily watched Raylen in the sky, his black wings flapping behind him, and before she knew it, he vanished from sight.

She walked back to the room where Julia was tied up with her disfigured face, who raised her head to look up at her.

"Princess Emily," Julia addressed her mockingly. "Where is your soulmate?"

"Gone to kill the man you have been working for," Emily responded calmly.

Julia laughed, despite having been punched and hit with the iron rod. Emily realised this demoness was beyond reason, and her advice would fall on deaf ears. Julia asked, "What are you doing here, then?"

"I am here to offer you my company before you are punished for your actions. For killing Janelle," Emily said, her memory of Janelle’s face and the horror in it still vivid.

"You are going to punish me? Put me in the pits of hell to burn?" Julia laughed, seemingly unbothered about her future.

"There are fates far worse than burning in Hell. But you already know that," Emily stated, but Julia didn’t stop smiling. "We can discuss it further once Logan is dealt with."

Not too far from Storm Castle, Raylen flew towards the forest, where the fire tracker had guided him. His senses were alert, trying to pinpoint the actual location, and it wasn’t long before he detected the faint scent of death in the air.

Following it, Raylen finally descended to the snowy forest ground. His wings disappeared, and he began to walk stealthily in the direction where the scent of death grew more pronounced. It led him to a dark cave.

With a snap of his fingers, Raylen ignited a fire in the cave, and soon, its light fell on a person who appeared to be standing with the support of a pole and a stone at the bottom of their feet. Finding it rather strange, he cautiously circled the figure, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Mother isn’t here," Raylen murmured, his disappointment evident. It was clear that the person before him wasn’t his half-brother. As he came to realise who this deceased individual was, he swiftly took flight to return to the castle.

Back in the castle, Emily decided to leave the room and turned, making her way towards the door.

"Leaving already?" came Julia’s voice from right behind her.

Emily swiftly turned, her eyes widening in shock upon seeing Julia standing before her, her face melting away to reveal Logan’s.