She Belongs To The Devil

Theodore and Adeline were silent for a long while. There was no need to express how they were feeling by using some words. They understood that on their own.

The heat they were feeling was slowly fading away and Adeline started to feel chills. So she pulled the blanket and covered both her and Theodore's bodies. She then turned to look at Theodore. She still had to share this morning's incident with him.

"Theo, I had to share something with you. It is related to Edwin and Azriel," Adeline stated after putting her arm around Theodore's chest.

Theodore instantly turned his head to face Adeline. "What about them?" The moment he heard Edwin's name, he assumed that it was some bad news that Adeline was going to share.

Adeline then shared everything that Edwin did and said to her this morning. She told him how respectful and remorseful he was. And she told him how he said that he was willing to serve her for the rest of his life and how Azriel was the one to make him do so.

"Why do you think Azriel did that? Do you think he has some hidden agenda behind that?" Adeline asked after explaining everything in detail.

Theodore fidgeted his foot and thought for some time. He took a deep breath in and answered, "If I know one thing about Azriel then it is that he loves the status quo. He is extremely lazy to go through the changes. And in this case, I think his hidden agenda behind cursing Edwin is to maintain the peace in Wyverndale… so that he can spend his days lazing around as usual."

"You mean he did that because he did not want Edwin to revolt against me?" Adeline raised her brows in disbelief that Azriel did that just so he could be lazy.

Theodore nodded his head and further explained, "He has already put a system in place for Wyverndale's rulers. And if Edwin was to lead a war or attempt a coup or something like that, which I am sure that he definitely would have tried, then that system would be shaken. And Azriel's years of work as well as his position as the Deity would have been tarnished. It would take a lot of time and effort for him to establish his dominance as the Deity in Wyverndale again."

Adeline pursed her lips and mumbled the gist of what she understood, "So, he took out my competition before he even got the chance to go against me… That's a very smart move."

She took a deep breath in and then added, "If that is the only reason behind Edwin's curse, then I guess taking Edwin as my follower won't do any harm to me."

Theodore nodded and agreed, "I agree. As you said, he will be your greatest shield if Lillian tries to harm you in any way."

Theodore turned to his side to completely face Adeline. He pulled her closer to him and reassured her, "If you still feel that Azriel might have some more hidden agenda behind that, then I will try to pry the information out of him. You can trust me with that."

Adeline gave a soft smile and nodded her head. She then darted her eyes around as if she was trying to say something to him, but she was not quite able to bring herself to say it.

Theodore narrowed his eyes and asked, "What is it? Tell me already."

She softly bit her lower lip and then raised her left hand in front of his eyes. "Umm… I don't know what happened to my ring. I think I lost it somewhere. I'm so sorry."

Theodore pursed his lips and said, "I think I know what happened. I had made that based upon our connection with each other. It might have disappeared when our connection broke."

"Oh," Adeline's lips curved downwards because she was already attached to that ring and she didn't know whether it was possible for Theodore to make another ring that looked identical to it.

Theodore entangled his fingers with hers and placed a warm kiss on her knuckles. "Don't look so sad. I will make another ring for you that won't disappear like the previous one."

That promise from Theodore managed to bring a smile to Adeline's lips again.

---

Prince Edwin was finally back together with his wife, Princess Juniper, and his daughter, Princess Joyce. His daughter was already four years old. He got a little emotional when he saw that his daughter had grown up so much since the last time he saw her.

After Edwin was kept under house arrest, his wife and daughter were shifted to a guest quarter and were not allowed to see him or talk to him, not even once in the past two years. This was the harshest punishment that one could get, especially when they had a family.

When Edwin went to the guest quarter to see his wife and daughter in the morning, his daughter denied to even talk to him at first. She kept on clinging to her mother and hiding behind her back. He could not blame his daughter for being shy because it had been a long time since she last saw him. And since she was very little back then, she had already forgotten her father.

His wife, on the other hand, was extremely happy to finally have him back. And what more, Edwin spent the whole day with her and their daughter, which he had never done before. Her happiness knew no bounds.

They even had dinner together just like a happy family. And Edwin insisted that all three of them sleep together. In the past, Juniper used to sleep with her daughter while Edwin used to sleep alone. And now, it had already been around a year since the mother and daughter also started to sleep in separate rooms.

Joyce was finally accepting her father's presence. And she jumped with happiness when her father suggested that all of them sleep together. She gave a puppy-eyed look to her mother and pouted, "Yes, I want to sleep with father and mother. I don't like to sleep alone."

Princess Juniper smiled and picked her daughter up. "Okay, let's sleep together then. But only for today."

Joyce was happy even though it was just for today. She wrapped her baby arms around her mother's neck and thanked her.

The three of them got inside the bed. Joyce slept in the middle while Edwin and Juniper took the sides of the bed.

Joyce turned to look at her father and asked with a sad voice, "Father, will you leave us tomorrow?"

Edwin caressed his daughter's curly hair and promised, "No, sweetheart. I will never leave the two of you again." He smiled and then kissed his daughter's forehead. He could tell what his daughter was thinking so he reassured her again while gently pinching her cheek, "Go to sleep now. I won't run away."

Joyce smiled happily. She was indeed worried that her father would disappear so she was resisting falling asleep even when she was really drowsy. She tightly held Edwin's finger with her palm and closed her eyes.

Princess Juniper was lovingly gazing at the father and daughter as they were having their conversation. She was really grateful that her husband was being so loving and gentle towards them. He loved them but he never showed his affection towards them like this before. So she liked this version of her husband than the previous one when he used to act distant towards them.

Joyce had already fallen asleep. Edwin finally focused his attention on his wife. He gestured for his wife to come closer to him. She smiled and shifted closer. And he held her hand and asked, "I hope that what you said earlier does not apply to me."

Juniper gave a questioning glance and asked in a whisper, "What did I say earlier?"

"That we will sleep together only for today," Edwin hinted that he wanted to share the bed with his wife from now on.

Juniper didn't say anything. She just smiled while her heart was blooming with happiness.

Edwin tightened his grip on Juniper's hand and whispered, "I want to improve myself. I want to be a good father and a good husband. I don't want to run after the meaningless things in life anymore. The two of you are the ones that give meaning to my life so I am going to devote myself to the two of you."

"I would really love that," Juniper retorted under her breath as a droplet of tear rolled down her temple and vanished on the pillow.