512 Want What Is Hidden Inside You
There were five people in hooded robes, the two in front holding wooden staffs while the rest stopped at the edges of the meadow. There seemed to be more people hiding in the darkness of the woods, and although she didn’t know how many there were, she could tell they had surrounded her.
“W-Who are you all? Where is Dray, my husband?” she panicked. Her eyes immediately tried to find a familiar person among them, worried that they had captured Drayce.
“Your husband was never here. It was an illusion you followed,” she heard a woman’s voice reply, and it came from one of the two figures holding a staff with a black shining orb over it.
“Illusion?” Seren mumbled, and despite her fear, she felt a hint of relief that her husband was safe. The woman did something with her fingers which emitted the smoke and once again Drayce’s handsome image was created in front of Seren.
“It’s really an illusion?” Seren said as she could not believe it was not him. He looked so real.
“Are you interested? If you come with us, I can personally teach you. It’s a magic spell which if used on a person, it shows them an illusion of the one they are yearning for the most,” the woman explained in a friendly tone and flicked her fingers again, making that illusion disappear into white smoke.
Seren felt afraid with the situation, but since the people in robes were showing no hostility, she was able to calm down a little. With puzzled eyes, she looked at the woman who spoke.
“Why did you lure me here? What do you want?”
“You,” the woman answered straightforwardly.
“Me?” Seren asked in disbelief.
,ᴄᴏm “To be precise, we need your help.”
“I don’t think I have anything—”
“What is hidden inside you will be a great help to us,” the woman cut her off.
“What is it? I don’t think anything that is hidden inside me. You seem to be mistaken,” Seren countered.
“Maybe, maybe not. That is why you need to leave with us. We will help you find out. Don’t you think this is a fortunate encounter for both of us? We will help you and you will help us. I believe you will cooperate with us since we will mutually benefit.”
‘Cooperate?’
She didn’t even know these scary people, and they wanted her to cooperate. Even though the woman sounded friendly, Seren wasn’t an idiot who would willingly follow suspicious strangers. She looked around to see if she could find a way to escape, but she was surrounded by those robed people from all sides.
“Your name is Seren, right? You can call me Zaria,” the woman said as she approached. “We do not wish to hurt you. In fact, we want to be friends with you. However, we don’t have a lot of time for introductions so you first need to come with us. If you think you can escape, then you are wrong. But still, if you want to try, then I will give you a chance.”
The mysterious woman called Zaria seemed to have guessed her intentions already.
Upon her signal, a few robed figures moved to one side, making a way for this young woman to run away. Seren didn’t think much and ran away with all her might. She continued to run in that darkness, not having a sense of direction.
‘I need to get out of here.’
She continued to run till she was thoroughly exhausted, but she was still inside the dark forest. She looked around and saw nothing but dense trees. She didn’t know where to go.
“Are you tired already?” she heard the voice of Zaria behind her and Seren turned to look at her.
“Why…why are you…?” Seren asked, catching her breath. She felt like she would pass out soon.
“We really have no intentions to harm you, Seren. We just want to make good use of your hidden powers. I am even willing to teach you how to use them. Don’t you want to know how to control your powers? I don’t want you to remain ignorant forever,” the woman answered. “I am showing you enough goodwill, aren’t I?”
“I don’t want to… I want to go back home…” Seren countered as she tried to straighten her body.
The woman laughed. “It’s not up to you to decide.”
“And neither will I let you decide,” Seren said.
Seren tried to force out her anger so she could just start a forest fire, but this mysterious woman in front of her was so calm and friendly to her that she was not stirring any of her extreme emotions. The only thing that woman did was to tire her out.
‘Was letting me run part of her plan? I can’t seem to feel my legs.’ She controlled herself and tried to sound firm, “I won’t come with you. If you really have friendly intentions, we can meet in broad daylight. I will welcome you in the palace—”
“Oh, lady. You seem to have severe trust issues. For our friendship to blossom, you have to start trusting the other person first,” the woman said as she finally used her staff. She let out a spell incantation that emitted dark energy in the form of a rope which moved towards Seren. It bound her body and lifted her in the air.
The moment Seren was captured and tried to struggle, a particular brooch on her dress emitted an invisible pulse and a certain someone out there who was resting on one of the trees inside the royal palace in his human form opened his eyes in shock.
‘She’s in danger!’
That brooch contained the divine flower Dusk had given to Seren, and if any foreign power touched it, it would trigger the protection spell on it and he would feel it.
His golden eyes shone brightly as his dark eyebrows knitted with a frown. The next moment, a pair of majestic wings that shone like gold spread open and the person rushed away towards the direction of the Crystal Palace as that power coming out from the flower in the brooch led his way and only he could sense it.
It was the flower Danshi that Dusk gifted to Seren on her wedding day with the intention of protecting her always.
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Note- This flower Danshi, its name is derived from the name of the reader “DnIsha”. Danshi means the Lily rose.
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This chapter is dedicated to the reader “Peaches” for gifting the novel DRAGON. Thank you so much for the gift.