Garden Of Poison-Chapter 217: Transitioning

When Lauren and Westley arrived at the torture chamber, to their surprise, they found their master sitting on the ground with an evident scratch on his face. Though they hadn’t directly witnessed what had gone down in the room, they had stood in the corridor, allowing them to catch a glimpse of the angry princess storming back to her room while muttering to herself.

"Would you like me to assist you to stand, Master?" Westley politely asked his master, who was grinning at something running through his mind. His gaze briefly flicked to meet Lauren’s eyes.

"Let me bring a cloth for that wound on your face," Lauren proposed, ready to leave the room, when Raylen said,

"That won’t be necessary. I would like to keep this one."

It was obvious that the dead man in the room wasn’t the one responsible for the injury, and for her master wanting to keep it, she wondered if it was because he wanted to flaunt it in front of the princess to remind her of what she had done.

Raylen stood up and turned to look at Marshall’s lifeless body. He had initially entertained the idea of playing with him for a little bit longer, but he lost interest midway and wanted him gone. He remarked,

"You would expect people to have common sense considering it is supposed to be common. But this one was plain dumb when it came to reading the atmosphere in the room. Or knowing what to say when. The earthling demons can be quite disappointing, except for a select few."

"I have prepared one of the graves in the local cemetery," Westley informed, as this was their customary practice. When his master was done with someone, they were laid to rest in the cemetery.

"No. Have his body placed in the town," Raylen responded with a calm expression. He continued, "A cute story could go with it. Marshall Travis was attacked by assailants unknown and met his end by hanging." He nodded approvingly. "This way, our hands remain clean, and there will be a new rumour to replace all the old ones. A brilliant idea," he added with a smile.

Westley nodded in acknowledgment and walked over to where Marshall was still bound to the chair. And while the demon began untying the man in preparation to remove his body from the castle, Lauren inquired,

"Master?"

"Hm?" Raylen’s blue eyes were fixed on Marshall as he recalled how Emily had closed her eyes and struck the man, bringing a sadistic smile to his lips.

"It was very kind of you. To end the life of the man who had been causing trouble for the princess," Lauren said, recognising the humane side of the archdemon.

Raylen’s head tilted as he adopted a thoughtful expression. His gaze then shifted to his head servant as he murmured, "It has been a while since someone was able to entertain me to my heart’s content. Her blood is exquisite—something that rarely comes by, and I don’t need anyone to spoil its taste. We must take measures to preserve it." The corners of his lips curled up.

Lauren’s expression didn’t change as she heard this, and she asked, "But won’t she eventually leave the castle one day? To start a new life, possibly far away from the kingdom."

"Then we should ensure that Princess Emily marries someone from the Storm Kingdom so that she stays here forever," Raylen stated, his mind drifting to the memory of her face just a hair’s breadth away from his.

"Yes..." Lauren replied.

Lauren, who had known Raylen for a long time, couldn’t help but worry about potential complications that would arise when the princess refused her blood to him in the future, particularly when she would no longer be residing in the castle. The young master was not one to genuinely take an interest in anything, but once he did, he dug his claws in too deep to let go. This left her feeling somewhat worried.

She wasn’t sure what was going on in her master’s mind because, a lot of the time, it proved to be unpredictable. Not wanting to be a catalyst and potentially instigate anything, she stayed quiet. Her master wasn’t like others because of who he truly was, and regardless of the darkness that had pervaded his soul, she had voluntarily committed to serving him for life.

When the following morning arrived, Emily remained in bed even though nearly an hour had passed since she had woken up. She couldn’t shake the memory of what occurred the previous night and how she had angrily fled from Raylen. She couldn’t believe he had tried to kiss her! Why had he even made that attempt? To tease or taunt her? To test her? What was that?!

Emily quickly pulled her blanket over her face when she heard the door to her room open.

"Princess Emily, it’s time to wake up," Julia announced as she walked over to the windows and pushed the curtains aside.

"I think I will sleep in today," Emily murmured, reluctant to leave the comfort of the bed. Being in a different kingdom, she realised that no one could nag her, and she saw it as an opportunity to indulge herself that she was glad to take.

Julia pursed her lips. She said, "I understand that it might feel strange to attend the gathering today after what happened... But maybe today will be different."

"You cannot even imagine how different it is," Emily muttered from beneath her blanket.

However, Emily couldn’t afford to skip the gathering, partly because it would not serve the purpose of her being here, and the other reason being her curiosity about whether people had already heard about Marshall.

Once Emily was ready, her maid was about to walk towards the door when she stopped her by asking, "Julia, could you bring my breakfast here? I would like to have my meal in my room."

The maid gave her a nod and left to fetch her breakfast as she requested.

And while Emily had her meal in peace and silence, her thoughts dwelling on the previous night, Raylen entered the dining room, only to find it deserted. He looked surprised, and he turned to Westley, who had followed behind him, and asked,

"Has the princess not eaten?"

"She is having her meal in her room, Master," Westley replied in a monotonous tone.

Raylen chuckled, aware of the reason for her absence. It seemed that the princess didn’t know him well enough. He inquired, "How is the body looking?"

"Rotten with birds pecking it," Westley replied, which had Raylen nod in approval.

At that moment, the archdemon heard the sound of a carriage arriving at the castle’s entrance. Already having an inkling of who it was, he turned to the servant, who bowed and departed to see who the visitor was.

In due time, Raylen heard light and graceful footsteps making their way down the stairs and then approaching him in the corridor. Soon enough, Emily appeared with her maid trailing behind her.

Act normal! Emily said to herself. After all, nothing had happened, and there was no reason for her to fret. Yes, that was right. Everything was calm and peaceful, and there was nothin—

"Did you have pleasant dreams last night, Princess? You did seem in a hurry to continue your slumber from where we left off," Raylen remarked with a sly smile.

Emily offered him a fake smile in return, only adding to Raylen’s amusement when she replied, "Indeed. I dreamt of having you pushed into a coffin and buried deep under the sand."

"Things you cannot achieve, you can only dream about," Raylen responded with a charming smile. "I must say, though, dreaming about a man when you are looking for a husband," he paused, clicked his tongue, and teased, "I hope you are not indirectly proposing marriage to me."

Said the one who pushed her to the ground and almost brought his face to hers, Emily thought to herself. Not wanting to feed his sadistic tendencies, she smiled, and he curiously stared back at her. She then said,

"King Raylen," Emily began, "I thought it would be nice for me to spend a couple of days with my uncle and aunt. Starting this evening, if you don’t mind?"

Raylen’s lips twisted in contemplation before he murmured, "Chicken. One of these days, someone might just throw you into a pot and eat you."

"It could be you." Emily’s response was quick, but as the words left her lips, she regretted uttering them.

"It could be me," Raylen replied, his lips forming into a smile as his eyes subtly narrowed. He then changed his tone, saying, "I apologise for my behaviour last night, Princess. However, in my defence, your lips appeared quite irresistible in that moment, and it was a momentary lapse of judgement."

Emily’s eyes widened, and so did her maid’s standing behind her. The princess turned to her maid and said, "Leave us alone, Julia." After her maid left the corridor, she closed her eyes and then asked, "Do you not think it is highly inappropriate to make such comments in the presence of others?"

"The truth?" Raylen asked her in an oblivious tone, his smile still in place. "There’s no need to pack and run. Not that you are allowed to do so, as you were placed under my care."

"In the confidence that you wouldn’t do something—"

"I wonder what your family would say if they found out that you straddled me," Raylen interjected with a false expression of shock and said, "My reputation would be stained."

"I believe things will become quite awkward if situations like these continue," Emily responded to him. "Which is why I think it’s best for me to spend some time at my relatives’ mansion for a while."

Julius Ardolf had impeccable timing as he arrived with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. His clothes were ironed to make them look crisp, and his hair was combed neater than ever before, as if he had put in much more effort than usual following the recent friction between him and Emily.

"Good morning, King Raylen. Lady Emily," Julius greeted them, extending the bouquet of lilies towards her. "These reminded me of you," he said with a warm smile.

While Emily hadn’t forgotten their conversation from yesterday, she was relieved to divert her attention from the shark to a less harmful-looking fish. She accepted the flowers from him and said,

"They are beautiful, Julius. Interestingly, some of my family members call me Lily."

"It is fortunate that the clouds and rain didn’t remind you of her," Raylen remarked with a saint-like smile. "It would have been the death of the young lady."

Julius wondered if Emily had disclosed their earlier discussion on the street to her uncle, and it only heightened his wariness around the king, who stared at him with his calm blue eyes. But as calm as they appeared, he found them intimidating and promptly shifted his gaze back to the beautiful woman. He then suggested politely,

"Lady Emily, I thought that, as we are both attending the gathering today, I could pick you up and we could go there together."

"Of course," Emily readily agreed with a warm smile.

Raylen’s eyes narrowed slightly, and just before they departed, he addressed Julius, saying, "There is something Lily wasn’t done discussing with Uncle Ray Ray. Why don’t you go ahead and wait inside the carriage?" He smiled at the end.

"I believe it can wait for later?" Emily politely suggested to Raylen.

When Raylen’s eyes met Julius’s, the earthling said, "I shall wait in the carriage."

Emily watched Julius leave and then turned her attention to Raylen, who was gazing at her intently. She stated firmly, "I have already made up my mind. I am a grown woman."

"Believe me, I am not doubting it," Raylen remarked with a knowing tone.

"Okay," Emily nodded in confirmation, declaring, "I will get my things packed for a few days."

"Okay," Raylen replied nonchalantly.

As Emily and Raylen reached the entrance, she made her way towards Julius’s carriage and overheard Raylen speaking to Westley.

"Bring me the vessel. I need to communicate with her family to inform them about the move and the reason for it. I think Lady Sophia will like Storm Kingdom."

Raylen chuckled quietly and climbed inside his carriage. Emily’s eyes widened as she contemplated the implications of his words.

Emily had walked to the opened door of the carriage, and Julius smiled upon seeing her. She awkwardly returned the smile and said, "It seems that my talk with the king is not yet finished and will take a bit more time. Why don’t you go ahead, and I will see you at the gathering later?"

Julius’s expression fell, clearly displaying his disappointment, but he nodded and replied, "I will wait for you at the gathering."

"Thank you," Emily said with a smile and made her way to the carriage of the Storm King.

To Raylen’s complete lack of surprise, she climbed inside the carriage and took a seat beside him, her gaze fixed ahead of her with an intense glare. The carriage door closed just as Lauren joined Westley at the entrance.

"Is it my imagination, or is Master trying to covet the princess?" Westley asked, staring at the departing carriage. Lauren replied,

"Because he probably is."