Chapter 937: King Draco Apologizes
"I don"t understand what"s going on here." Prince Liam frowned over the intruders of his castle, and yet the royal guards dared not to make a move.
Jadeith was powerful enough to make everyone hesitate. There was something about him that made all the guards feel chills on their spines despite his beautiful appearance.
Fortunately, the Elf prince"s focus was solely on Rowena.
"I thought you were gone like your mother has been—that is what your father originally told me." The Elven Prince said. "He told us that Elren, your mother, died during childbirth and you also didn"t make it."
"What?" Rowena asked.
The Elven Prince looked over darkly at King Draco and shook his head disappointedly. "Your father is… not the most honest man, far too many mistakes that one, but he has promised me one thing and that is that I would see my youngest sister"s child and that is why I am here."
"I…" Rowena was still shocked.
"Did anybody hurt you?" The Elven Prince asked and narrowed his eyes at the humans. "I will make them regret it if that has transpired here while I was not around. You only need to say the word."
Rowena shook her head but then looked over at her father. "What is the meaning of this? How are you here… And how did you find me?"
She didn"t know this elven prince, she was still upset with Liam and so it was her father"s words that made sense and not also make sense at the same time.
King Draco took a deep breath and then looked at his daughter. "It must have been by the G.o.ds" will that led me here and allowed me to reunite with you at last, child. You truly have grown so much."
Rowena looked at him in disbelief. "Do you really mean it… make amends with me?"
***
A lot of events happened in the background before King Draco arrived in Verona, unexplainable circ.u.mstances that allowed the man to find a way to discover where his daughter was.
In one royal hunting event in Ashland that he was forced to partic.i.p.ate in as the king, Draco came across a river and then came upon a strange sight. The letter which bore the royal seal he had sent all over the world appeared in the water, floating, and yet it did not become soaked or wet.
"Magic." King Draco"s eyes widened and as he came closer, the waters suddenly changed from reflecting his face into that of another scenario.
The rivers reflected to him the sight of Rowena, far older than she was when King Draco last saw her.
"Are you really going to jump there, Rowena? Mermaids have bore a grudge over the first king of Verona and I"m not sure if that necklace will even truly help,"
came the voice of an unknown man.
"Stop trying to hinder me, Liam. I have to save Julian!"
"Verona?" King Draco blinked and then recalled a nation by that name. He recognized its location and it was a great distance away.
He frowned and then swiped the royal letter away from the river—when he checked on it, there was indeed a secret message.
"Water is formless and takes the shape of everything it ever desires.
From the droplets that falls from the sky,
To the stream which flows into the riverbed, nothing is hidden from water.
For water has been everywhere in this realm."
King Draco"s eyes narrowed at the contents but then recognized the meaning at once. "A water… Mermaid, no, a G.o.d of water, must have recognized my efforts and decided to help me at last."
He didn"t know it was actually the river G.o.ddess, who helped him. Nymia.
It was nothing but a simple push in one direction, but since there was nothing else that King Draco could do—he pursued it.
His only lead and if the situation was correct then he didn"t have much time to lose. King Draco returned to his palace, into his chambers for his secret treasure chest, and took the magical item that had been given to him by his late wife.
"It seems like I would finally be able to have some use for you," he said as he pulled out the items and placed them on the table.
A magical scroll smoothed and alongside it, a quill with ink also infused with power, just enough to send a message once.
[There is much to be said… but your beloved niece is in dire need of you. I have lied about her circ.u.mstances, I have much to tell you old friend.]
King Draco finished the letter and he only needed to wait for a short while. He felt the magic stir inside of the palace, a tear tore through the human realm, and there came the elven prince, Jadeith.
He was an old friend, but also the relative of his late wife—the elf appeared in a portal and then threw him a menacing glare.
"What is the meaning of this parchment, Draco?" The Elven Prince nearly strangled the human but only held up the letter with a hiss. "You told me—"
"That your niece died alongside your sister," King Draco said and stared hard at the floor. He took a deep and also shaky sigh. "But… I have done an unforgivable thing. Let me explain the truth."
***
"Yes, I wish to make amends—I have… blamed you for your mother"s death. It is why I couldn"t even bear to look at you." King Draco smiled wearily.
"You
… you never once spoke of her," Rowena said. "I didn"t even know I was a half-elf until someone told me!"
She only found out the fact when she went to the Merfolk realm, and she still needed to make sense of everything.
King Draco closed his eyes and winced in pain. "How could I speak of her? Despite all of the ladies from across the realm that wished to be with me—I couldn"t bear to love anyone else. But then everything changed when I saw you during my birthday."
Rowena remembered that day well. She had been seven then and was asked to be presented to King Draco.
And yet she couldn"t even say a word as her father continued.