Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

Esther felt like she had gone deep into the innermost part of the forest. It had already been an hour since they left the riverbank. Aside from the noise of insects and the random sounds made by small wild animals, the forest was quiet. She looked around for any place where they could hide but nothing came to her sight. After walking some more distance, she found an old redwood tree which looked bigger compared to the trees of its kind rooted beside it, its size standing out even compared to the other trees nearby. 

'This tree seems a little suspicious, but I do not have the leisure to check now.'

Esther kept walking forward. She desperately needed a place to hide the Crown Prince so she could just leave him while she went and deal with whoever was following them. 

As the old redwood tree was suspicious, Esther thought of walking around it and hiding the Crown Prince on one of the smaller trees behind it, but all of a sudden—-

Crash!

The ground gave way, and both Esther and Prince Theron fell into a pit—no, it was too large and too long to be simply called a pit. It was a tunnel that was leading them somewhere deep underground. Esther held onto the Crown Prince tightly to keep her with him, as it would truly be a problem if they were separated and he was tossed into the hard ground with his injuries. 

Fortunately, a thick mound of dry leaves cushioned their fall. Collecting herself, Esther immediately checked the situation of the Crown Prince who remained unconscious throughout the entire ideal. The bad news was that the fall caused his injuries to rupture, and his bleeding worsened. 

'You are a healthy young man. This type of injury, you should be able to bear with them for a little longer, right?' 

Despite the lack of light, she was able to check if he sustained additional injuries. Aside from a couple of scratches, he was the same. His breathing was faint yet stable, so he should still be somewhat fine. After making sure he was still alive, Esther stood up and found herself in a tunnel connected to another underground room.

She no longer lingered and brought the unconscious prince with him as she left the tunnel and followed the source of light. She found herself inside an underground chamber that seemed to resemble a tidy cabin where a person could lodge. The walls and the floor were covered with wooden boards. It looked like whoever lived here took care of this place well, but the room was empty aside from an oil lamp, with only a single door on the opposite side of the tunnel's end.

"What is this place?" she mumbled under her breath.

As if in response to her question, she heard a raspy female voice. "As you have made your way here, I will assume that you are not an ordinary human."

Esther looked at the source of the raspy voice and saw the door of the room open. Someone was standing by the doorframe. 

An old woman with her back bent was holding a wooden cane in her hand. She was dressed in a large dark dress that was clean despite looking shabby with years of wash. Her grey hair was neatly tied behind her head, and her spotted wrinkly face showed she was quite advanced in age. The frown on her face and that pair of blurry grey eyes showed she had identified Esther as an unwelcomed curiosity. 

"Who are you?" Esther asked. 

"As you are the one to barge into my home, shouldn't I be the one to be asking you this question, young lady?" the old woman countered as she walked towards her sudden guests. 

Esther stepped back and put down the unconscious young man back near the mouth of the tunnel. Using her body, she blocked that woman's way from going towards the Crown Prince.  "What are you planning to do?"

"Why are you so vigilant? I only want to look. Is he not in terrible shape?"

"I need to make sure you are not a threat." Esther was still unsure whether this entity was harmless to them, or if it had any ill intention. "We did not mean to enter your home. I think we need to leave your place now. You are not going to stop us, are you?"

"I am no one to stop you, young lady, but I am sure you would not want this man with you to suffer and die when you could treat him first before leaving this place." The old woman moved her gaze towards the man lying on the floor unconsciously.  "Go on. Treat his wounds first. I will suggest you bring him inside, but since you do not trust me and I do not trust you either, you can treat him here in the tunnel."

Esther knew it as well, but she was being more careful than usual with this person as she had seen so many mysterious and unbelievable things in her life. Some seemingly harmless entities were actually traps with sinister intentions, and other ugly or terrifying lifeforms were actually kind existences that were misunderstood due to their appearances.

However, with the Crown Prince's life on the line, Esther needed to take risks.

Esther continued to observe the old woman. "You don't seem to be a human, but you don't have any elemental powers like common forest creatures either."

"And you also don't seem to be a human but someone with unbelievable powers. It's really difficult to sense your energy, but my intuition is telling me you are more powerful than anyone I have ever met. Are you suppressing them?" the woman asked. 

Esther looked at the old woman coldly. "As you know I am not a human, then you should behave and forget whatever schemes you have in mind. Help me treat this man, and I will reward you."

The old woman chuckled. "Ordering me when you are in my home? How rude." She glanced at the young man on the floor. "Seems like he is someone important to you."

Esther glanced at his unconscious form, and she slightly relaxed when she saw the steady rise and fall of his chest.  'Not to me, but to a certain kind human whom I can't bear to see be hurt if something happened to her son.'

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Dear readers, this month we are in winwin.. To reach the unlock target, I expect you all to unlock at least a few privileged chapters so we can reach there.