She Belongs To The Devil

The next morning, all the maids and servants were busy preparing for the departure of the guests.

King Louis and Theodore were having a casual conversation over tea in the garden.

King Louis took a sip of his tea and spoke somewhat disappointedly, "I still don't understand why you suddenly decided to shorten your stay here in my Kingdom. I hope we didn't offend you in any way."

Theodore quickly waved his hand and gave an apologetic smile to King Louis. "No, please don't say that. We all had a wonderful time here. But sadly, some issues arose back at home, which is why I dropped by to pick up the children. I wish I could extend our stay further but sadly it's not possible."

"Then I hope this issue that you are talking about will be solved soon." King Louis was curious what this issue was but he refrained from being too nosy. Every Kingdom had its secrets, and being a King, he knew better than to be curious about others' affairs.

Theodore finished his cup of tea while thinking internally that the issue regarding Michael wouldn't be that easy to solve. 'Sure, he has been quiet now, but I know him. His bruised ego won't allow him to stay put for long. He will be out for blood.'

As if on cue, Theodore stilled when his senses picked up a strong aura. And what more? The aura was too close to his daughter, dangerously close.

In an instant, he excused himself and walked towards his daughter's room. The moment he was away from the eyes of the King's guards, he teleported to his daughter's room so that he could beat the hell out of whoever it was.

As soon as he stood while shielding his daughter, he roared, "Get away from my daughter!"

"U-Uncle Theodore…" Tobias almost dropped to the ground–his eyes filled with tears, and his legs trembling like a twig–when he saw the terrifying expression on Theodore's face.

"Dad!" Ariel grabbed Theodore's arm and nervously tried to calm her father down. "He's not here to hurt me. He was just apologizing."

She gulped when she looked up at her father's face and saw his chilling red eyes. He was still mad. She clung to her father, afraid that her father would lunge at Tobias if she left her hold on him, and she whispered pleadingly, "Please don't be mad at him, Dad. I told you Tobias was being threatened by his father. He would have never laid a finger on me if it wasn't for his father's threats."

"I know…" Theodore let out a guttural growl while glaring at Tobias. "That's why he is still standing upright. Else, I would have already–"

"Dad! Stop being so rude to your nephew!" Ariel shouted when she noticed that her father's eye color had returned to its usual state.

"Sorry!" Theodore breathed in and out as if he was calming his anger down and finally spoke in his normal tone, "I thought Michael had come back to hurt you so I let my anger get the better of me."

Ariel finally stopped clinging to her father and apologized to her cousin who was still shaken. "Tobias, I'm sorry you had to witness my father's rage. He's usually not like that."

"N-No, it's okay." Tobias gave a nervous chuckle and mumbled while lowering his gaze, "I deserved that."

There was a deafening silence in the room for a while, that is if Tobias' drumming heartbeat wasn't considered.

"So, how have you been? I see you have grown up a little." Theodore broke the silence at last.

Following the recent turn of events, Tobias didn't really know how to answer that question. "I… have been better." He looked up at Theodore and pressed his lips into a thin line. His eyes looked tired, his face looked pale and haggard.

Theodore felt pity for the boy upon seeing the look in his eyes. "You don't like your new position?" He hoped that Tobias wouldn't say no because that meant God would go after Ariel.

To his relief, Tobias shook his head. "No, I am honored to serve Heaven as the Chief Prince. It's just that, I hadn't expected to get the position this soon. I also don't like how I got the position in the first place. I didn't get it because I was suitable for the position, it was because I was a convenient substitute."

"Hey, don't say that." Ariel grabbed Tobias' arm and made him sit on a chair. After taking a seat by his side, she tried to comfort her cousin. "I know that Grandpa gave you the position because you are worthy of it. He put his trust in you and gave you such a huge responsibility. So, you should trust yourself too."

Theodore also chimed in. "That old geezer would never offer that position to you if you were unsuitable. Especially after how Michael misused his position and power for so long."

When Tobias looked up at Theodore as if he was still unsure of himself, Theodore walked forward and said while lightly tapping Tobias' shoulder, "Everything might feel overwhelming right now. But once you get used to the new routine, I know you will learn to love your work. After all, you were born to lead, not follow."

Tobias felt a lump in his throat upon hearing that from his uncle. He always wished to hear words of affirmation from his father, which he probably got once every century, or even less frequently. And listening to his uncle's kind words that came so easily to him, he felt a little envious of Ariel for being born to such a loving father.

"Thank you for saying that. I needed to hear it." He sniffled and looked down to hide his tears.

Ariel scooted closer to her cousin and gave him a warm hug when she saw the sad aura swirling around him. "You will do a great job. I know it." She lightly patted Tobias' shoulder as if he were her younger cousin.

Theodore heaved a quiet sigh upon seeing the two of them like that. They were already so close to each other even though they only met twice before. He was sure if they had met under better circumstances, they would have been inseparable by now. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire

Their sweet moment was interrupted when Damien's fuming voice boomed from the door, "What is he doing here?"