Chapter 965: Reunion
"He was the one who saved you when you fell off the tower, and I presume he was the one who took care of you for the past months that you disappeared, didn"t he?"
"That"s right…" Rowena said. "But he did it because he simply wished to pay forward a kindness he had received from someone."
King Draco snorted. "No man would go through those lengths for a woman they just met and did not have any attraction to. Mark my words, sooner or later, he will find himself coming here to look for you."
***
When Rowena gently told Raphael that she was going to meet her elven family–he accepted it as is. He thought it was a good idea because a mortal and immortal were not meant to be. This was the perfect way for them to separate
However, even while he teleported away from the hut from the moment that Rowena said goodbye, he found that he couldn"t help but think about her. Even when he met up with his fellow young G.o.ds and returned back to their home.
While he was in Cretea, Raphael found his thoughts were always on the woman.
"Is she doing well?" he muttered to himself. "She must have finally found her happiness since she is now with her family."
"Raphael, please pay attention." The G.o.d of Healing snapped at him. "You need to concentrate your magic properly."
"Apologies." Raphael bowed his head. "I"ll do better."
It didn"t help that as he studied with the G.o.d of Healing, Raphael realized that his interest was only born out of wis.h.i.+ng to use it for Rowena"s sake. That was why, after some time, Raphael decided to leave Cretea again.
"Where are you going this time, Raphael?" Nymia found the Seventh Prince about to leave.
Raphael glanced at the woman and lied. "I have to visit King Urther in the Mermaid Realm and repay my debts to him."
A frown crossed over Nymia"s face. "I see… Well, do you want me to accompany you? The more the merrier, especially when you"re going on such drivel of a trip."
"No. I"m good, thank you." Raphael smiled. "It"s not a drivel, since I did get to free Rowena–well, I"ll go ahead now."
The Seventh Prince left through one of the portals of the realm.
Nymia frowned as she watched him leave. "He… he took the portal to the elven realm."
***
Raphael arrived in the elven realm and took in the beautiful surroundings. A small smile curled over his lips and his heart beat in antic.i.p.ation of seeing Rowena again.
"Oh, hey there...! I was just crossing the area and decided that I could visit you and see how things are going?" Raphael rehea.r.s.ed his lines and rubbed his face. "Does that sound… too much? I can just say it was along the way?"
The Seventh Prince wished to give an appropriate pretext for his visit without it seeming as if he really looked forward to seeing Rowena.
This was why when the royal elven family celebrated his arrival and decided to throw a banqu
et in his honor, Raphael went along with the festivities.
However, he soon came to learn that Rowena was not around.
Prince Jadeith explained the situation. "She is not around here any longer, she"s back with her father, Your Highness."
While the elven prince could have revealed the reason why Rowena chose to come back, it didn"t matter because Raphael was already getting up and making excuses to leave.
"Why… Why is he leaving now?" a young elven woman looked at Raphael longingly. "Is there anything wrong with our hospitality?
Prince Jadeith eyed one of his nieces and shook his head. "No. However, I believe that he has other more important places to be, and people to be with."
***
Raphael returned to the human realm and this time, simply as himself without any disguises as he once did as a human prince. While he was not thoroughly happy about the idea of meeting King Draco, the man did not sit well with him at all, he was excited to meet Rowena.
And as he arrived in one of the forests of Ashland near the palace of King Draco, he heard the sound of voices, and out of them all, one familiar voice.
"Easy, Your Highness!" A lady cried out.
"I"m Lady Liz, I can handle this," Rowena called out.
Unlike when Rowena was placed in strict circ.u.mstances as a child, the situation in the past time was different now. King Draco was more lenient and allowed Rowena to partic.i.p.ate in things that were not unbecoming for a young princess.
It certainly helped that Rowena had a talent for it too.
The princess of Ashland held the bow carefully in her hand, taking a deep breath as she eyed her target. A wild boar was in the forest, released earlier for her to hunt.
It ran across the forest grounds, wreaking havoc for all the spectators who were watching. It was one of those hunting compet.i.tions. A lot of young n.o.blemen actually came to partic.i.p.ate when they heard the beautiful princess of Ashland was partic.i.p.ating.
All of them were eager to play the part of an expert marksman as long as it caught the eye of Princess Rowena of Ashland.
However, for the past rounds, she had been dominating the compet.i.tion hence the need for a live target. Rowena was competing against one final young man, an actual archer who joined.
There was a determined smile on Rowena"s face that showed she wanted to win.
"Your Highness, if I win, may I perhaps have your toast to my winning–"
"IF you win, and yet you won"t." Rowena saw the boar hurtling already towards them angrily, its eyes red.
"I would say ladies first but–" His shot missed. The man panicked and he immediately cowered at the beast. "Your Highness, we must escape–drats!"
The archer fled towards the stands while Rowena remained in her position. All she needed was one shot and she"d kill it. However, someone suddenly caught her eye. &n
bsp;
Out of the forest, Raphael stepped out and witnessed the compet.i.tion firsthand. Rowena"s eyes widened and she nearly dropped her bow, but she let out the final arrow and struck the boar directly in the eye.
The crowd cheered, but instead of running towards the stage to be congratulated by King Draco, Rowena ran forward. Raphael"s eyes widened but then before he knew it, Rowena suddenly fell over on top of him, her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Raphael? Raphael, it"s you!" Rowena"s chest pounded hard as she landed on top of him. There was a huge smile on her face.
She missed him so much that she didn"t even realize it until she saw him.