Garden Of Poison-Chapter 220: Not imagining!

Emily’s expression turned grim upon hearing about what happened to Julius. He didn’t deserve to be shamed and looked down upon; if anyone deserved to be shamed, it was the people present in this room. She said to her friend,

"His name is ruined because it is associated with mine."

"You don’t have to blame yourself, Lily. It’s not like you are the one who killed Marshall," Janelle said with a frown before adding in a whisper, "and even if you did, the bastard deserved it."

"He did," Emily replied. She had repeated it so many times the previous night that it became easier to say when she woke up. Less than five minutes later, one of the wealthy middle-aged men appeared before her with his son in tow.

"Princess Emily, it is a pleasure for us to meet again," said the young man, his dark brown hair framing a smile that revealed perfectly even teeth as he greeted her.

"Have we met before?" Emily inquired, as she couldn’t recall any encounters with either of them.

"My apologies. I am Colton Parish, and this is my father, Jallen Parish," the young man said, introducing himself and his father.

The middle-aged man expressed, "I had a feeling you looked familiar during the earlier gatherings, but I wasn’t able to place you in my memory. Please forgive me for my forgetfulness. You should consider visiting our mansion for tea when you have the time. I am certain you will enjoy it very much, as well as the company of my son," he smiled warmly.

Colton placed a hand on his father’s shoulder, as if implying that what he said was enough, and he offered Emily a polite smile. His green eyes gazed at her as if he were charmed by her very presence as he said, "I had the pleasure of meeting you many years ago when my father and I visited Versailles. I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet you once again."

Emily noted, "This must be your first appearance at the gatherings this season."

Colton smiled and nodded, replying, "Indeed, I arrived in the kingdom late yesterday. I was visiting the South before that. But I think arriving late has its advantages, as I see you are fortunately unoccupied?" he ended with a questioning gaze, as if inquiring whether she had already selected a suitor.

Emily wasn’t yet spoken for, but having spent much time with Julius, she couldn’t help but feel guilty for not going after him. During the times when everyone else had distanced themselves away from her, it had been Julius who had approached her. Maybe not right now, to avoid drawing additional attention to herself, but she would pay a visit to him afterward, she resolved.

"I am occupied with my friend here," Emily remarked, turning to smile at Janelle, who in turn offered a warm smile to the man.

"Is there anything you would like me to bring you? If not, I would be honoured to have the chance to dance with you," Colton said, bowing his head respectfully.

Emily didn’t see any harm in accepting, and Janelle seemed to give her a nudge, too. They walked towards the dance floor before coming to a stop and facing each other. The man was courteous, allowing her to take the lead, and before long, they began to dance to the music filling the room.

"Please forgive my father for not recognising you sooner," Colton apologised to her. "His memory hasn’t been at its best for quite a few years now. Sometimes, he imagines things too," he explained. "If you would be willing, I would like to show you some of the beautiful sights in the kingdom. Have you had the chance to see the high tower clock?" he asked.

"I haven’t," Emily replied, and he looked at her in surprise.

"It offers the best vantage point to see nearly the entire kingdom. May I ask, when did you arrive in the Storm Kingdom?" he inquired as he twirled her in his arms.

"Two weeks ago. Unfortunately, I fell ill in between, which didn’t leave much time for sightseeing," Emily replied, even though she had initially planned to do so.

"I would be more than happy to help you with it." Colton smiled at her and then added, "You have grown into a beautiful woman, Princess Emily."

Not good with receiving compliments, Emily only smiled at the man while her eyes briefly darted towards the corridor through which she had entered the room. She couldn’t help but wonder where Raylen was and if he was doing alright.

"Are you searching for the King?" she heard Colton ask, drawing her attention back to him.

Emily noticed how he seemed to want to ask about her and Raylen but instead decided to remain silent on the matter. He finally remarked, "The King and your family must be close."

She wouldn’t go that far, Emily thought to herself. But considering she was in the room when Raylen killed Marshall, did that mean that she and he were somewhat close now? However, that sense of closeness in her mind shifted to the memory of how he had lowered his face towards hers, and she cleared her throat before responding,

"Both kings are old friends from the underworld."

As the song they were dancing to came to an end, Colton expressed, "I look forward to seeing you again, Princess Emily."

"Likewise," Emily replied politely, and when she turned to leave, the man added,

"I hope you’ll keep your word. I get very sad when people don’t." Though his expression remained pleasant, something in the way he said it left her feeling uneasy.

On the floor above, Raylen continued to lie on the couch with his back resting flat on the cushions and his legs hanging over one of the armrest edges.

Raylen had one of his arms draped over his eyes as he softly hummed a tune under his breath. The wound from the silver blade didn’t appear to be healing immediately, and he was patiently waiting for it to close when the doors of the room swung open.

"I thought I told you to return to the gathering," Raylen murmured, but when he recognised the sound of familiar footsteps, he pulled his hand away from his eyes and turned to face the door.

Beatrice stood inside the room, her expression grim and her lips forming a frown. He said,

"I don’t recall requesting your service."

Beatrice’s hands clenched in uncertainty, and she asked, "What is your relationship with the princess?"

Raylen let out a sigh before he swung his legs and shifted his body to sit upright, facing her. Tilting his head, he responded in a deadpan tone, "I fail to see why it should concern you."

Beatrice had sensed that something was being concealed, but she didn’t anticipate the revelation that the young woman was Dante’s sister. She felt uncomfortable with the idea that the woman was staying in Raylen’s castle while she herself hadn’t spent a night there. She said, "I thought I should give you a word of caution. If her brother finds out that you are feeding from her—"

Her words were abruptly cut off by the sharp click of the lighter that Raylen had pulled out to ignite the cigar he had placed between his lips. After taking a long drag and exhaling the smoke, he inquired,

"And who is going to tell him about it?"

"I won’t be the one to tell him," Beatrice replied and added, "but if he discovers that you are messing with his sister, he won’t let it slide. She’s going to marry and leave one day."

"She’s going to stay in Storm Kingdom," Raylen declared firmly. His words carried a certain finality, as if he wasn’t going to allow his decision to change.

Beatrice had no intention of crossing Raylen, as she knew better than to do so. However, when her eyes landed on the front of his shirt and she noticed the blood, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of pain in her chest upon seeing the archdemon and the princess together.

She observed Raylen continuing to smoke as he kept his eyes on her, and she spoke up, saying, "I thought I should caution you."

Raylen responded, "You did well."

"Do you need my blood to heal?" Beatrice asked, knowing that the archdemon had always favoured hers over others. If he had gone so far as to sink his teeth into Emily, it only meant that he considered hers to be of a higher grade.

Raylen ran his tongue across his teeth, almost as if savouring the memory of the blood he had tasted moments ago. He then hummed and said, "Just because there isn’t enough cake doesn’t mean I am going to choose porridge," and a chuckle escaped his lips.

He stood up and made his way to where the woman stood. He whispered, "The colour of jealousy doesn’t suit you, Beatrice."

Raylen walked past her, exiting the room and making his way through the corridors before heading down the stairs. Upon reaching the ground floor, he caught sight of Emily leaving the dance floor. It seemed evident that Julius had seized his chance, he thought before making his way to where she stood. Sensing his presence, she turned towards him and looked down at his chest.

"You didn’t change your shirt," Emily stated, detecting the smell of smoke on him.

"I thought I might garner some sympathy from people for how I was nearly killed and came back to life," Raylen responded with dry humour, his blue eyes locking onto hers as he inquired, "Where is Prince Charming?"

"You should stop calling him that," Emily murmured, but before she could continue, Raylen interrupted her, asking,

"Why? Is he no longer your Prince Charming? Have you decided to drop him?"

"Julius left the gathering several minutes ago. Someone intentionally spilled food on his clothes," Emily explained, feeling sad for the man.

"Do you happen to know who did it? We could invite them to our next slumber party," Raylen stated with a straight face, earning a stare from Emily, and a crooked smile formed on his lips. "Always so serious; you are going to age prematurely at this rate."

"I am going to age and die one day anyway, so what does it matter?" Emily asked him and heard him click his tongue in response.

"Where is the alcohol so that we can bring out the fun princess again?" Raylen quipped, pretending to look around for a servant. His gaze then returned to Emily, and he said, "You should take a page from your grandmother’s book. She’s someone who gives hell rather than goes through it." With a casual air, he asked, "So, if not Julius, who were you with?" His eyes held a curious and questioning look.

Emily didn’t miss Raylen’s curiosity and regarded him with suspicion. Recalling the name, she replied, "It was Mr. Parish’s son."

"Parish?" Raylen asked, his eyebrows slightly raised in question.

"Yes," Emily nodded and asked, "Why?" Was the man similar to Marshall?

"The Parish’s son passed away many years ago. If I am not mistaken, more than four decades ago. Unless the old man managed to conjure up another son, which I highly doubt," Raylen replied. "It looks like you are even more popular than we thought, with people resorting to using others’ names just to be able to speak to the princess."

Emily pursed her lips and countered, "No. Mr. Parish was right there next to his son."

Was it a ghost trying to secure her for the afterlife once she died? Emily thought with a growing frown on her face. Her eyes searched the room for the father and son, finally falling on the middle-aged man leaving the room.

Emily quickly followed the man, calling out, "Mr. Parish!"

Raylen followed closely behind her, eager to see what was happening, and heard her ask the man, "Where is your son, Colton Parish?"

Mr. Parish stared at Emily and then at Raylen before answering, "He’s resting in Heaven."

Becoming increasingly confused, Emily shook her head and said, "You came to me with your son earlier and mentioned visiting Versailles. He and I danced—"

"That’s not possible," Mr. Parish responded, clearly perplexed and unsure if this was some sort of joke, which he didn’t appreciate. "A deceased person cannot return to life."

Emily contemplated asking the man if he was attempting to play a prank on her with his son, but Raylen had already stated that the man’s son had died many years ago. So what was going on?

"Our apologies, Mr. Parish. The young lady must have mistaken someone else for Colton," Raylen offered with a polite smile, and the man nodded in understanding.

"I do that sometimes as well. I think I’ve seen him, but it always turns out to be someone else," Mr. Parish replied before departing from the mansion.

Before Raylen could think she was crazy, Emily clarified, "I am not making things up, I—"

"I believe you," Raylen interjected, sparing her from having to explain herself, and she stared at him in surprise. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"You do?" Emily asked him, taken aback by his response, and saw him nodding in affirmation.

"The world we live in is made up of both the things we can see and those we cannot. Do you not agree, Princess?" Raylen smiled at her, and Emily couldn’t help but stare at the archdemon.

In the past, when she was younger, Emily would hear voices when no one else was around. She would occasionally see things that others couldn’t, and at times she would bring up these instances with some of her family members.

’We should ask that man over there to help us get the book,’ Emily suggested to Niyasa, who stared at her with an incredulous expression.

’What man are you talking about, Lily? There’s no one there,’ Niyasa replied, her lips tightly pressed together.

’There, right in the front. Come,’ Emily urged her younger sister, who shook her head and bolted from the spot.

Another occurrence had taken place while she was sleeping, and she was awakened by the sound of voices. She had complained to her mother about it, but her mother, preoccupied with regaining her father’s attention, would merely look at her sternly.

’There are no things such as ghosts, Emily. Stop dawdling and close your eyes. This is precisely why I tell you to stop reading such strange things,’ her mother scolded her, having caught her going through a book about souls after death.

’But, Mother, the voice said that the flowers are poisonous—’

’Enough with these imaginative ghost stories. If people hear you saying such things, they will think you are possessed by a witch,’ her mother retorted.

"Did you think I would automatically assume you to be crazy?" Raylen chuckled, noticing her stunned expression, which she quickly composed. "I’ve had my share of unusual experiences, and I have come to believe it is best to keep an open mind about the world we live in. Because sometimes frogs fly and even talk."

As unsettling as his ways of sinking his teeth into her were, moments like these were what made him seem reliable and someone she could breathe freely around. When they heard approaching footsteps, she turned and saw Janelle walking towards them with Mr. Hurbert. She said to Raylen,

"Jane was there when Mr. Parish’s son came to talk to me."

"This should be interesting," Raylen murmured, as he could already guess how the conversation would go. He called out, "Hurbert."

"My King?" Mr. Hurbert was quick to give his attention, and he met the king halfway, allowing Emily to have a moment with her friend.

After a brief two minutes, Mr. Hurbert walked away with Janelle to take a stroll in the garden before the rain set in. Raylen then returned to the serious-looking Emily. She said,

"The Colton she saw had different hair and eye colours. It was as if we saw two different people. How is that possible?" Deep down, this detail unnerved her.

"It’s not impossible. It looks like an ability borrowed from Hell. The illusion usually lasts for some time before it wears off," Raylen murmured with a contemplative expression. "Most of these abilities originate from Hell, and only a few, like those possessed by fae with pure intentions, come from above. It seems like someone from your past has returned for you."

Emily wasn’t sure if Raylen was joking again, and she gave him a sceptical look. However, the longer they stared at each other, the more his words began to resonate with her, and her eyes widened in realisation.

"No..." she whispered. Her lips trembled, "T—this can’t be true. He died."

Emily’s breathing began to grow uneven and she moved towards the wall and placed one hand on it for support. She felt her chest constricting and whispered, "I can’t breathe."

Raylen noticed her having a panic attack, and it made him realise just how deeply the past incident had affected her.

"Whoever it was, he isn’t here anymore. He knows better than to show up in front of an archdemon. You are safe," he said, trying to soothe her erratic nerves. As she took a deep breath, her head almost spinning, he continued, "Do you now understand why you cannot stay at your relatives’ house?"

"Oh, my God!" Emily exclaimed in panic, which hadn’t subsided. She couldn’t help but slide down the wall and sit on her heels, her hands covering her face.

She had questioned whether those people who had kidnapped her were still around, whether he was still alive, and she didn’t want to believe he was. She whispered, "What if it was someone else?"

Raylen could sense her disbelief in what she had just uttered. Seeing her head buried in her hands, he asked, "What did you two speak about?"

"It wasn’t much. Mainly about him travelling to the South, asking if you and my family were close... and," Emily recalled as she lowered her hands, exposing her pale face, "he mentioned that I should keep my word..." She realised it was him, and goosebumps instantly formed on her skin.

"Because you didn’t last time?" Raylen questioned, his gaze meeting hers. He remarked, "Congratulations, Princess. You seem to attract the crazy ones."