The Devil's Cursed Witch

“Where is she, the Princess? Did you hide her somewhere after putting that entire mountain on fire? I want to know if you have killed your own daughter this time for real. I want to know you are still the same heartless father who would want to kill his own newborn child.”

Her words didn’t affect him. “Calm down, Shanel?”

“Calm down? Hah? You expect me to calm down when you want nothing but to kill that innocent girl. She was away from here and was living in hiding. Why…Why do you have to give in to the requests made by your ministers and people and agree to kill your own daughter? How can you be so heartless? She is a princess but she doesn’t even have a name or family name. She was like nobody, living worse than a wild animal. How can you…How can you not even feel a bit pity for her? How can you not care for your own daughter?” Her voice was loud and rageful that echoed in that huge study.

“Shanel….”

“Don’t say my name. A cruel man like you doesn’t deserve to say it.” The thought of King having managed to kill his daughter this time had turned her bitter and she didn’t want to stop from showing her anger. “You are turning into nothing but a hateful man to me.”

Gregor stood up from his chair and walked towards his wife calmly and stood facing her. His eyes looked calm but it showed deep inside her was hurt by her words. She had shown her hate so many times before and he had learned to tolerate it as she was right but now he was hurt.

“You say I don’t care? If I had not cared for her even a bit, then I would not have ignored all those things you did in secret.”

“So what you ignored. I am your wife and I have to make up for the sins you committed.”

“I am not done talking yet,” the king said, “Today you have to listen to me. That witch Gaia who was to be punished, you secretly saved her just the day before her punishment. You even send her to take care of the princess on that mountain. She agreed because she owed you her life. You secretly sent money and supplies for them and you have been doing it for the past two decades. That day when you freed that witch, do you think you would have taken her out of the prison without knowing anyone just like that? Even when you send them supplies, do you think it would have gone unnoticed for two decades?”

“But it won’t change the fact that in the end you killed your daughter. If not, you must be hiding her somewhere. I want to know where she is. I had promised her mother that I will protect her daughter and that nothing can stop me from doing so. Not even you, Your Majesty.”

“I don’t know where she is,” the King replied calmly.

“You don’t know? Another lie? The group of royal soldiers was sent to the mountain a day before that fire incident. Other than you, who can order the royal soldiers to do it? Were you planning to kill her there so when a fire breaks out, she wouldn’t be able to escape?” Each word she said was merciless and her eyes showed how much she came to hate the man in front of her.

“Enough!” He exclaimed, “I sent a few soldiers there so that I could take her away from that mountain to send her to some better place when people would have thought she died in the fire. It was an opportunity for me to send her away and no one would have known it.”

She glared at him, “Do you think I will believe it? What if you have killed those soldiers on your own so there won’t be any proof of you hiding her? No one is more powerful than you in this entire kingdom and nothing goes unnoticed by you so how can you claim that the entire group of soldiers went missing just like that? You have never shown care for her for two decades and now you think I will believe this lie of yours?”

The king sighed helplessly, “You can believe what you want.”

Tears rolled down her eyes, “Though I have not given birth to her when I held her in my hands for the first time, I wanted to protect her. You are her father, how can you not feel anything?”

Knowing his wife would not listen, he gave up to her. “You are right. I feel nothing at all,” he said, maintaining his calm, “I am a King and it doesn’t allow me to feel anything but to think about the people of this kingdom. If you are done blaming me, you can leave.”

“Like I want to stay here? Just give her to me and I will never meddle in what you do,” she said and left, unwilling to stay even for a moment more.

After the Queen left, the King’s knight entered the study.

“Commander of knights, Sir Taylor greets your Majesty,” the tall and well-built middle-aged man wearing a knight’s uniform, bowed to the king.

“Any news about the princess?” the King asked, while sitting in his chair behind the desk.

The argument with his beloved wife had affected him this time. Just like her, he was eager to find his daughter but failed again and again which affected him more.

“Your Majesty, another group of soldiers we have sent to search for the princess, returned with nothing. They could not find the previous group that went missing either,” the knight informed. “The cave she stayed in was unharmed but no one was there. The area around the cave is so burned that it’s impossible for anyone to escape it.”

The King looked at his knight who lowered his head because his words pointed towards something that the King didn’t wish to hear.

“The arrangement we have made for the Princess to escape and take her away from the Kingdom to somewhere safe, are still there. If we find her, I will make sure to send her safely to that place we have decided,” the knight said further to make the King feel better.

“Find her then whatever it takes. You know well that she can not die,” the King said.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the knight bowed and left.