Garden Of Poison-Chapter 224: Little Devil’s belonging

Emily blinked as she stared at the depiction of the fluffy white cat that stood close beside the boy, and she was rendered speechless. To think that she had thought Alice was a girl or a woman, only to find out it was actually a feline.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Raylen asked casually.

Emily’s lips parted, but it took a second longer before she spoke. "I thought Alice was a person."

Raylen couldn’t help but chuckle, and he responded, "It seems like you do see me in a good light after all." He offered her a smile before his gaze returned to the portrait. He said, "Earthlings aren’t worth wasting the Barter Soul on, and I might as well have found another use for it for myself."

Her eyebrows arched slightly as she pondered that Raylen was even odder than she had initially believed. But then again, perhaps the cat had been precious to him. She commented, "She was pretty."

"She is beautiful." Raylen’s chin lifted as if he took pride in his pet. He continued, "This is the only portrait she’s in. You should have seen her when I first found her. Skinny with visible bones, her coat covered in mud. I was tempted to call her Boney."

"I am sure she’s glad you didn’t call her that," Emily remarked, and a grin spread across Raylen’s lips.

Emily glanced behind her, and upon spotting a table, she slowly walked towards it before gently leaning her lower back against it so that she could rest her injured foot. She heard Raylen ask her,

"Did you ever have a pet, Princess? A pony?"

"Sky. My horse, back in Versailles," Emily replied, wondering if her brother Aiden was taking good care of her horse as she had instructed him before leaving the kingdom. "You said she’s in Hell? Alice."

"Mm," Raylen replied, slipping his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "All cats that die end up in Hell. They do not undergo torture like the earthlings, but they find themselves as strays or pets once more," he added with a smile.

Emily’s gaze didn’t linger on the cat but shifted to take in the rest of the portrait that continued to adorn the wall before them to this day. The scorched faces seemed to glare at her until her attention was suddenly diverted by the sound of footsteps coming from inside one of the nearby rooms, causing her heart to nearly leap out of her chest. She quickly turned her head in the direction of the noise.

Raylen remarked, "We should have the princess put to bed for the night. We wouldn’t want you to be tired tomorrow morning."

"What was that...?" Emily inquired, feeling slightly unsettled.

"I doubt you will get a peaceful night’s sleep if I were to answer that, Princess," Raylen replied, making his way to stand before her.

Emily could hear the soft footsteps creaking on the wooden floor, a familiar sound she had already encountered once during the first week of her stay. She couldn’t resist moving closer to Raylen when the footsteps grew louder, almost as if they were walking right past her.

"They are the ghosts of the deceased who once used to live here," Raylen answered, and Emily stared at him with furrowed eyebrows. "The ones I killed and trapped here."

"Trapped?" Emily asked, and she heard him hum in response.

"Mhm. Spirits left in agony and condemned to rot in the living realm without moving on to the next phase of existence," Raylen replied, and he inquired, "Want to see something interesting?"

When Emily observed him snap his fingers, she sensed the air growing stuffier, and in an instant, the walls appeared stained, as did all the objects in the vicinity. The flooring looked fragile, the metal objects rusted before her eyes, and at the far end of the corridor, she spotted a skeleton dragging its feet.

"What did you just do?" Emily asked, her voice tinged with panic. "Who is that?" she whispered, her gaze fixed on the eerie sight.

"This is a realm in between, where souls remain trapped. It’s a world just like the living one, but it is aged and decayed," Raylen explained, his eyes calm and his voice even. "The person you see over there is my ’once upon a time father’. Regrettably, he was the only one still wandering around, and I was able to bring him here. The rest, poof! They went to either Heaven or Hell."

When Raylen snapped his fingers again, Emily was transported back to the view of the living realm, and she felt her heart race. Her eyes darted to the end of the corridor, but there was no one there.

Her eyebrows furrowed once again, and she asked, "How can the Devil be your father when the Storm King was your father?"

"So many questions," Raylen murmured, his demeanour as calm and unwavering as still water.

"Pardon me," Emily said quietly. She then stated, "I should go and sleep."

"That is what I was suggesting. Come, I will lead you to your temporary room. We don’t need you wandering the corridors and stumbling upon another shard of glass," Raylen said, and they soon left the lower floor.

When they arrived at the room Emily was to use for the night, she turned to face him and said, "Thank you for tending to my foot."

"Happy to help. If you ever need any more of that service, there is no need to be shy about asking for it," Raylen said with a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

"I believe any more of it, and I will not survive," Emily whispered under her breath, her words caught by him.

"Don’t worry, I will make sure you’re well-fed and ready for the taking," Raylen remarked, and he noticed the princess scowling at his words. "You can always let the cook know your preferences, and he will prepare whatever you’d like to eat."

Talking about food made Emily subconsciously lick her lips as she pondered what to request for the next meal, and at the same time, Raylen’s eyes zeroed in on her action, where her tongue briefly peeked out and disappeared after wetting her pink lips.

Emily, still lost in the thought of food, snapped back to the present and said, "I will see you tomorrow morni—"

"We should get you tucked into bed," Raylen stated, his hand on the surface of the doorframe.

"What?" Emily asked, as if she hadn’t heard him correctly the first time.

"The hailstorm hasn’t stopped, and it can be frightening. Come now," Raylen said, and before he could step inside, Emily extended her hand to block his way.

"How old do you think I am?" Emily’s face tilted, her eyes casting a suspicious gaze at him. "I am a grown woman and can tuck myself in." She quickly hobbled towards the bed and pulled the blanket up to cover the lower half of her face.

"As quick as a cat," Raylen murmured, but he didn’t leave the room as Emily had hoped. Instead, he approached the bed and leaned in to adjust her blanket.

"Raylen..." Emily called his name.

"Mm?"

"What are you doing?" she asked him, finding his actions very odd given that they were both adults. A sudden thunderclap resounded, causing her to retreat further into the bed.

"I was suddenly missing Alice and thought I would tuck you in, as you are no less than a cat yourself," Raylen said, pulling his hands away from her.

"Why didn’t you bring her with you from the underworld?" Emily inquired.

"Because cats cannot return to the living realm. They are bound to Hell once they cross over," Raylen replied, his gaze shifting to look outside the window. "It is a true pity, because even the useless souls of earthlings can cross back, but not our beloved pets. Have a good night’s sleep, Princess."

"Goodnight," Emily whispered, watching him as he walked towards the door and closed it behind him, leaving her to sleep.

When Raylen stepped out of the room and began to walk, Lauren appeared before him. She offered him a bow and informed him, "Master, four windows have been repaired, and work is ongoing on five more, including the princess’s room. Another glass pane broke, and the servants are stationed on guard."

"You can take your time with it. She’s in no hurry," Raylen responded as he entered the next room, which was his own.

After closing the door, Raylen made his way to his balcony. Stepping outside, he welcomed the icy cold air and watched the rain persist while standing beneath the awning designed to shield him from the downpour. His hand slipped back into his trouser pocket, and he pulled out the cigar case. Placing a cigar between his lips, he lit the end before taking a couple of drags.

Raylen’s blue eyes turned as cold as the falling rain as he stared into the distance. He exhaled a stream of smoke through his lips, which dissipated swiftly in the air, and murmured, "Who would have thought."

His thoughts drifted back to when he was thirteen years old.

Despite being the first prince, he didn’t find solace within the walls of the castle and instead preferred to wander through towns and villages under the cover of the night, just before the sun rose in the sky. It was a habit that had persisted to the present day. While his siblings embraced the sheltered life, Raylen liked the sensation of rain on his skin, the way it poured, and how it tuned out everything else. The way the world became his alone when he stepped outside.

It was on one of those rainy days that he came across a cat crying for help, stuck in a fallen tree and abandoned by its family.

"Meow! Meow!" The cat cried out for assistance, as if it were unable to get out.

A young Raylen approached the fallen tree, where the cat continued to meow. He stared at it long enough for the cat to notice him, and for the briefest moment, their eyes locked, causing the cat to stop crying as it stared back at him.

Raylen’s blue eyes moved to the right, and he spotted an opening through which the cat could escape. He murmured, "What a dumb little creature."

Upon hearing his words, the cat resumed meowing for help, yet instead of helping it, he chose to wait for it to figure a way out of its predicament on its own. He turned away from it, ready to walk away, when the meowing ceased, leaving only the sound of rain. His gaze returned to the tree, and he quietly moved closer, parting the branches to reveal the cat covered in dirt, its body shivering. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the cat had injured its paw.

After some contemplation, Raylen brought the cat back to the castle.

Lauren caught the eldest prince completely soaked from head to toe. Alarmed, she exclaimed, "Master Raylen, you are drenched. You will catch—"

Raylen interjected with a request, "I need hot water. In a pot."

The servant looked confused but nodded. As the pot began to warm up, she inquired, "What do you need it for, Young Master?"

Raylen picked the cat up by its scruff, which he had placed to the side, and said, "To give the dirty cat a bath. One dip should wash away all the dirt."

Lauren’s eyes widened at his words, and she quickly offered, "How about I help?"

Raylen rolled his eyes and, seeming to read her expression, said, "I won’t throw it into the pot and turn it into stew."

"Oh, that’s a relief. Because we have already prepared a stew for today’s dinner," Lauren laughed nervously, noticing the prince subtly smile as if he got kicks from scaring her.

Raylen nursed the cat back to health by bathing it and tending to its injured paw until it was fully healed. During that time, the cat was kept in the rear section of the kitchen, and Raylen found himself spending less time outside the castle in its company.

One day, Lauren caught sight of Raylen petting the cat he had grown fond of, which remained a secret from his family as members of the royal family never ventured to this part of the castle.

"When do you intend to return the cat to its family, Master Raylen?" Lauren inquired one day as she washed the vegetables.

"Why would I do that?" Raylen asked with a quizzical expression.

"Well, her family or mother must be searching for her. It might be possible they were separated," Lauren pointed out, casting a glance at both him and the cat, who had grown quite attached to him.

"Never," Raylen replied firmly, his tone reflecting the poise he had been raised with. "She belongs to me now."

Lauren wondered what the King and Queen would say about it. Perhaps having the company of the cat was not such a bad thing for the first prince. However, one winter morning, Raylen noticed his cat Alice hadn’t come to wake him up as usual. After searching for her everywhere, he finally found her in the woods at the back of the castle. Sadly, the cat was no longer breathing.

The cat lay on the cold snow, blood staining its white coat and the snow around it.

"Alice..." Raylen was devastated, but soon his grief gave way to a rising fury like an inferno. He cradled his lifeless cat and vowed, "I will find out who killed you. And when I do, I will make sure they suffer."

He knew that the servants wouldn’t dare touch his cat, which left only two possibilities: someone from his own family or an outsider bold enough to attempt such an act.

And although the young Raylen had harboured plans to bring his beloved cat back to life, things hadn’t gone as he had hoped. Much to his family’s shock and horror, they confined him in a cell, appalled by what he had done, in order for him to reflect on his actions.

When Lauren arrived to bring him food, he asked, "Where is Alice? Did you bury her?"

The servant looked torn, her lips pursed, before she whispered, "Your mother had her thrown into the sea..."

"I see," Raylen replied calmly.

That Christmas, he spent it entirely alone, locked away in the cell. As the snow began to fall, he stuck his hand out between the bars of the window, feeling the cold wind, and a beautiful snowflake drifted down to land gently on the palm of his hand.

In the present, in the underworld where the Devil resided, Viktor waited to see Raylen walk through the doorless entrance of his hall, but hours seemed to pass with no sign of him. Something rubbed against his leg, and a subtle scowl formed on his face.

"Where are Celeste and the other demoness?" Viktor asked, his gaze shifting to one corner and landing on the closest demon in the room.

"There has been no information since they neared the kingdom, milord," the demon answered with a deep bow.

Viktor’s expression grew even grimmer, if that were possible. He murmured, "It seems that I need to stir things up a little with some help if I intend to corner him." At the same time, he realised that Hell currently had no archdemons, and a scowl darkened his face, only scaring those present in the room. "Demons cannot pass through whatever barrier he’s erected. I should find an earthling for that."