The Villianess story: A 100 ways to kill your husband-Chapter 282: If we meet again

Callista was panicking, she had an unsettling feeling in her heart remembering the state she saw him in. "What really happened here Callista? What is wrong with Cedric?" Lucian Asked; oddly, he sounded genuinely concerned about his brother’s condition.

"I can’t explain it with words, Lucian, but I am scared..." Her voice shook. A knot formed between Lucian’s brows hearing her words it was disturbing but not as disturbing as the next thing that caught his attention

He walked towards Callista, then slowly came to a halt, his eyes looking ahead at the wall behind her. "Will you be able to at least explain what happened to the wall?" He asked, Callista’s brows furrowed.

She turned around to stare in the direction Lucian was looking at. Her hand rushed to cover her mouth seeing the scene before her. Claw marks, not just any claw marks but it looked like a fight happened in here.

"That definitely was not caused by a human," Lucian added.

"We should inform the guards to start searching." Callista hurriedly suggested that Lucian didn’t like the idea. This was not something a lot of people should know of.

Callista was already rushing towards the door when she felt Lucian pull her back. His expression was calm, too calm after getting a glimpse of something like this.

He sighed slowly, shaking his head. "If more people know about this it will cause more harm to Cedric than help. How are we going to explain this or handle the chaos that will be issued after this?" Lucian asked her. His words were carefully picked.

"But he needs help, are we going to do nothing about it?" Callista snapped at Lucian pulling her hand from his hold. He didn’t react to her outburst.

.

"We are going to help by keeping shut about this. This is Darconia where people get beheaded for being different, having a different source of magic different from the goddess Nyxoria. The temple calls it witchcraft and then you want the public to know during such an important festival of something like this..."

Lucian stopped pointing at the wall and then continued. "This looks nothing short of something demonic or being done by a rabid animal. You want the prince rumoured to be the demon of the battlefield to get associated with something like this. Callista, that will do him more harm than good." Lucian explained to her.

It was like a bucket of cold water was poured at Callista. Lucian’s words were true, as unbelievable as it seemed, he was looking out for his brother’s best interest. Her hands relaxed and her head started to clear.

"So what should we do? We can’t possibly do anything about this." Lucian’s eyes darted from the wall to Callista’s face. He was confused about what was going on, but he had the kingdom’s best interest at heart.

As much as he might not like Cedric, he was still a good part of Darconia’s strength. They might be rivals but it was not the time to get at each other’s neck. At least while Kaiden was still alive.

"We are going to prevent anyone from knowing what happened here, then pray and hope Cedric shows up tomorrow unharmed. If not, we have a bigger problem ahead." That was the best he could think of in the current situation.

*****

Far away from any eyes and the castle deep within the thick, luscious forest, which had thick branches and leaves that blocked the moon from touching the ground.

A dark figure clouded with a very dark aura and smoke materialized from nowhere. Its presence scared away the animals of the dark, sensing the presence of something more dangerous.

Cedric didn’t know where he was. All he knew was he had to be far away from everyone. The pain in his head from the voices was getting numb with something stronger burning through his body

His eyes are dark like an endless abyss, while the strange markings on his back grow like a cursed mark. He was sitting against an old trunk, his teeth gnashing against each other. He was trying his best to control it but it felt like something beyond him.

The leaves shook, with the sounds of twigs snapping approaching closer. Cedric noticed but couldn’t care less. No one in their right mind will approach him in this state.

From the shadows of the forest, a tall figure emerged covered in dark clothes. The only thing that stood out was its pitch-black hair and dark eyes like an abyss.

From the person’s frame, one could guess it was a man. Aside from that, the face was completely covered. The person stopped in front of Cedric. His eyes sparkled with amusement...

Then he squatted, getting to the same eye level. "You should not be here, miles away."

Cedric was not in the state to ask questions so the stranger continued on his one sided dialogue. "If you haven’t fought it. This would not have happened. Stop fighting it and embrace it. You can’t fight yourself." His words were ambiguous.

"I can’t listen to the voices," Cedric barely said. The stranger’s hand stretched out, touching Cedric’s forehead. His touch did not burn his skin. "I am not talking about that. I don’t know the voices you speak of but I am sure you know what I speak of. Either way, you got lucky today that you accidentally found me."

Silence grew between them, and then similar symbols to ancient ones that were spreading from Cedric’s back also appeared on the stranger’s arms.

The black tattoo marks on Cedric started to disappear, his eyes turning gold once again. The pain disappeared like it was never there leaving only sweat and the blood stains as the only evidence of the hell he just went through.

The eerie stranger redrew after achieving his goal. "That was a lot of pain. No wonder you almost lost yourself." He commented.

Cedric’s head was clearer now, he was trying to piece everything together. His breath was a bit rough. Without a word being said, the eerie man, whose voice has an entrancing baritone, turned around to leave.

"Who are you?" The first prince finally asked. He stopped for a moment, contemplating what to say. He didn’t glance back, he then spoke. "If we meet again I might tell you." He said then entered the bush. His presence disappeared immediately.