Garden Of Poison-Chapter 268: Beginning of Bait

Wishing everyone a happy and blessed new year <3

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Emily stepped out of the castle alongside Raylen, feeling a cold gust of wind envelop her where she stood, and she instinctively drew the coat she was wearing closer to her. Her hazel brown eyes turned to look at Raylen, who was adjusting the lapel of his own black coat.

"Shall we, Princess?" Raylen asked, extending his hand towards her.

She took a deep breath and nodded in response. "Let us get this over with," she replied, placing her hand in his. Together, they began to walk towards the castle gates before finally stepping outside them.

Raylen had devised a plan to walk around the nearby towns, wanting to see if they could feel or hear anything from Logan. Two days had passed since Janelle and Layla’s deaths, followed by a blizzard that had only subsided today.

"I don’t think he will show up anywhere nearby," Emily stated, moving closer to Raylen.

"Rats always tend to bite when no one is watching, but they are quick to scurry away and hide when exposed to light," Raylen replied in a calm voice, as though they were out here for a leisurely stroll.

As Emily walked on the hardened snow, after a minute, she noticed that she didn’t feel cold anymore. Rather, she felt warm, which was strange.

"Warm enough?" Raylen inquired, capturing her attention. "It is the snowflake pendant around your neck."

Her hand touched the encapsulated snowflake, and she murmured, "I didn’t expect you to imbue it with magic."

Raylen smiled at her words and replied, "It holds a lot of affection and love, meant to keep you warm at all times."

A hint of blush formed on Emily’s cheeks, and she smiled. She replied, "It is one of the most thoughtful gifts anyone has ever given me."

"I know," Raylen responded with a grin. "Let me show you the shortcut I used to take for my strolls."

Emily followed alongside him as they made their way through the forest until they reached the nearest town. As they ventured further into the heart of the town, her eyes fell on a poster plastered on the buildings and lampposts. The sight of the poster made her uncomfortable, causing her stomach to twist with discomfort.

"You okay?" Raylen inquired, seeing her pause her footsteps as she stared at Logan’s picture. Below the image was written: Wanted dead or alive. A reward of a thousand gold coins will be granted to whoever brings him in.

"Mm," Emily responded, taking a deep whiff and catching Raylen’s scent, which had a calming effect on her senses. She then asked him, "This will work, won’t it?"

"Missing people or dead bodies would only mean that he killed those who sighted him. Logan is an idiot to pick a fight with me, but not too stupid to reveal himself. Especially with the revealing potion permeating the air."

"How long does it last?" Everything had its limitations, Emily thought to herself.

"Two weeks at the most," Raylen answered, causing Emily to frown. This meant that they had only that much time to catch Logan; after that, he could assume anyone’s appearance. "We will conclude this sooner than that. Within three days."

"Three days?" Emily couldn’t help but wonder if Raylen was born naturally confident or if it was the Devil’s blood he had inherited.

"Mhm," Raylen hummed in response, putting his hand around hers and gently tugging her forward as they continued their stroll. "Giving him additional time would only result in us giving him the opportunity to kill people who are important to us." freёwebnoѵel.com

Raylen and Emily weren’t merely strolling. Instead, the Archdemon was inscribing spells into the ground as they walked, preparing it for the eventual capture of his half-brother. Earlier, he had dabbled with the idea of telling his father to retrieve his mother’s soul, which was hidden somewhere around here, but the Devil was not to be trusted. Viktor’s ultimate goal was to bring him back to Hell, and he would manoeuvre the situation to his advantage. The fact that Logan must have set up spells to obscure the location of their mother’s soul meant only one thing: his brother had been long dead and had turned into a demon.

Emily turned to look behind her, staring at the very spot where Julia had once handed her an umbrella. She sighed, remarking, "It feels bittersweet, thinking about how things used to be and how they are now."

"Change is inevitable, Little Red," Raylen responded. "But then again, it wasn’t really change, was it? They were only hiding who they truly were."

"How was your relationship with your siblings?" Emily inquired. She observed the people on the streets who had seized the chance to stretch their arms and legs out in the open.

Raylen’s expression remained unchanged as he stared ahead of them, his blue eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. He replied, "Just like typical sibling relationships—some were sour, some were nice, some were annoying, and some made you want to throw them into the sea."

"Who were they?" Emily’s curiosity about Raylen prompted a faint smile to tug at the corners of the Archdemon’s lips.

"My sister was the one I felt like throwing into the sea; things were sour with Caleb, and it was nice with Logan until the last few days before his death," Raylen replied in a nonchalant tone. He continued, "I never suspected Logan to be behind anything—the killings in the kingdom that were wrongly blamed on me, him killing Alice, stirring trouble. Apparently, it really is the quiet ones who are always the deadliest."

Raylen had a score to settle with Logan, and he could only imagine how much the worthless sibling was itching to obtain Emily’s soul. A chuckle escaped his lips, which resulted in Emily giving him a questioning look.

"As much as my mother despised and cursed my existence for obvious reasons, she was also scared in a way. This fear, in a strange twist, led her to pay close attention to me at times, which is ironic because Logan wanted all of her attention for himself. He made sure the King and the Queen didn’t look at me favourably." Raylen sighed. "What a pity."

As they walked closer to a bustling shop that was filled with customers, two individuals tumbled onto the ground, flying right through the shop entrance. The establishment served hot beverages.

"I was standing in front of you! How dare you cut in line!" one of the men demanded.

"You stepped out of the line!" retorted the other, while a third person found themselves caught between the two.

When they got back on their feet, the second one threw a punch at the first, whose back forcibly slammed against the wall once, then twice. On the third strike, while they continued to brawl, Emily heard a cracking sound above her and quickly raised her head, catching sight of the ice spikes dangling from the roof just in time.

In the next second, the ice spikes shattered, hurtling towards them, only to halt midair as Raylen snapped his fingers before the frozen projectiles turned into water and splashed down on the brawling men.

"AH!" the men shrieked as the icy cold water poured on them. "What was that? Who did that?!"

However, upon spotting Raylen, they swiftly greeted him, "Good morning, King Raylen! Queen Emily! Shall we get you a drink?"

Raylen approached them and replied, "That won’t be required. Besides, I think you should go and change your clothes, lest you want to fall ill in this weather."

"I can do that later, My King," the one who had cut in line inside the shop replied. "I will be quick!"

"Just like you were before," retorted the other man before they resumed their argument. While they bickered, Emily observed Raylen say something that caused the men to cease their quarrel. However, in the midst of this, someone from inside the shop hastily stepped out, and in their hurry, they bumped into Emily’s shoulder.

The person’s drink spilled onto the snow-covered ground as they rushed past Emily with hurried footsteps. But the drink wasn’t the only thing that fell, as a cloth that resembled a handkerchief also dropped to the ground.

Bending down, she picked up the cloth and was about to call out to the person when she heard a faint whisper emanate from it—

"I am going to bring Emily Blackthorn’s soul to you."

"Julia..." Emily whispered before her voice grew louder as she watched her former maid disappear down an alley. "Ray, it is her!"