"Please… let me make it in time!"

Cabel was riding the horse with the magic crystal containing the soul of the duchess in a bag hanging on his shoulder.

​​

He already teleported near the capital, however he still needed to ride a horse to arrive at the plaza where he felt the most condense of mana. Because of the barrier surrounding it as a precaution made it impossible to use any teleportation scroll.

He can't teleport directly to the palace because of the barrier that was put up to the whole place. While he tries to contact them, no one seems to answer because of how busy they've become as the attack was too unprecedented and the plaza has more civilians that are needed to safely evacuate.

"Why the hell did they put mana restrictions now!"

Cabel was more frustrated than ever. He can sense as he gets closer that the mana surrounding the capital was different to a normal mana user like him.

The mana that he felt was more dangerous and more powerful than he ever knew.

"Tsk!"

He clicked his tongue. The surrounding area of the capital was clear as day but in the middle where the center plaza is, it was clouded with dark clouds mixed with thunderous sound.

Remembering the memory that Cabel just recalled made him curse himself.

"Shit! Why did I just remember it now?! Why?!"

It was so important for Evelyn that Cabel felt he was incompetent that he couldn't even give that important piece of information to her.

"If something happened to Evelyn… No. Nothing will happen! So, please! Let me make it in time."

Cabel could only beg the goddesses. He's not religious but if this could help, he would worship them everyday in return.

***

"Evelyn was a different child ever since she was young…"

The conversation that he had with the Duchess in the dungeon replayed inside Cabel's head while he was riding the horse at the speed of light..

"She contracted the higher spirits since Evelyn was young. Her powers exceed mine so I sealed it."

"Why?"

Cabel asked as they stared at the field of flowers while they sat atop of a hill.

"It's because her powers were dangerous for her life when she was young. And the demon blood in her is thicker than the others. The power of the moon goddess and demon was making the child horribly in pain. That was why we went to look for alternatives."

"What?"

Cabel was so shocked that he could also hear himself doubt what she just said.

'Demon blood? Goddess…? What the hell?'

Still, he calmed his nerves and asked one question at a time.

"Did the Duke know about it?"

"You're wondering if he knows? Why? Because of how he treated our child?"

Cabel didn't comment on that. He was also curious as to why the Duke neglected his daughter for so many years if he knew the truth about his daughter. But instead a nasty rumor bloomed and surrounded Evelyn that she was called a villainess by the aristocrats.

"That idiot!" Duchess Monica burst into frustration.

Cabel looked at the Duchess in surprise and thought that she resembled Evelyn in that manner.

"I never thought that he would fall to such petty tricks by Cesar. And that Allan! I told him to protect his sister but what did he do?! Haaa… seriously that father and son are both idiots."

"Duchess… What do you mean? The late crown prince? What did he do?"

The Duchess turned her head to Cabel and opened her mouth to close it again.

"There's nothing we could do about that curse. Besides, it's already been broken by Evelyn."

Cabel at that time, wanted to pursue the topic but decided not to when he saw the Duchess's sariousness pasted on her face.

"Cabel listen… When the time comes that Evelyn will awaken her demon blood, please bring my soul to where she is. That way I could help even a little bit. I could help her woken up from the darkness"

"What do you mean? What will happen to Eve if her demon blood awakens?" Cabel recalled he asked, he's still atop of his horse and is running through the streets of the capital.

Even with fatigue all over his body, Cabel could only grit his teeth and hold the saddle tighter as the wind blew in his face and made his silver hair blown. He can't imagine that the Duchess's words will come to reality just after he gains consciousness.

"If her blood awakens, Cesar will achieve his goal by destroying the Levingstone Kingdom and killing all the humans in the world."

Cabel at that time felt shivers. He didn't know why or how the plan occurred but it seems that the scheme was made a long time ago and has been undergoing since then.

"How does Evelyn fall in his plan?"

"She's the key to all. Evelyn will have the blessing to the Goddess of Selene's power which has compatibility to all attributes as well as the divine power. Then her demon blood will let her hold the darkness attributes…" Duchess Monica explained with all seriousness.

"Evelyn will be weak when she's still in the process of awakening. That's when Cesar will try to kill Evelyn to get her heart."

Cabel became confused at that moment when the Duchess was explaining the scheme that she found out.

"This is crazy!" Cabel couldn't let his thoughts keep to himself as she heard how the bastard planned everything. But he was confused. Crown Prince Cesar died before Duchess Monica became the wife of the Duke so how did she learn all this?

"But how did you know all this?"

"It really doesn't matter how I know all about this. Cesar wants me not because he loves me. But because he found out that I have the blood of a demon and that my mother has a blessing from the moon goddess." Duchess Monica further explained. "That man knew that my blood would pass on to my child and thought that he could use them as a sacrifice to destroy the Kingdom. That's why I killed him with my own hands… but that bastard used black magic to come back to life!"

"Wait… the Duchess killed the Crown Prince? The Crown Prince used forbidden magic? And why would he want to destroy the kingdom? He's destined to become the King"

Cabel couldn't help but satiate his questions so he bombarded her with questions.

"How would I know the reason of that crazy bastard? Though, I did try to investigate it. I couldn't find anything... When I was about to meet the person who knew about the reason, Cesar had already kidnapped Evelyn and I was not in a state to meet that person and ..." Duchess Monica could only sigh as if these things happened just yesterday.

And Cabel could understand the unfinished words.

'She died… so she couldn't meet that person.'

As he pondered this, another question popped in his head.

"But I thought Evelyn was the variable needed for the plan? Why would that bastard… I mean Cesar, kill her?"

"It's alright to call a bastard, bastard! And for that question… It's because he doesn't need the shell… What he needs is the heart that possesses the blessing of the demon and the goddess… to sacrifice and bring destruction to the world. The temple of Light also learned about it and that was why she was also targeted by them."

'He doesn't need the shell…? The shell is Evelyn!'

Then the Duchess continued her important explanation.

"I sealed her divine and dark power when we came across an ancient ruin in the Perspiru because it will clash in her body and if that happens she will die young. I can't let that happen to my child… so I did everything I could." Duchess Monica then made a light ball in her palm that floats around the green field inside the space she created inside the dungeon.

"Cabel… Please… help that child found her path."

The Duchess disappeared like a faded visage in Cabel's memory. As he opened his eyes, the scene in front of him made him feel that it really was happening.

Cabel who's near the plaza sees a person floating in the air as well as debris surrounding her.

What he noticed was that Evelyn's hair color changed to all black. The symbol of her Emsworth blood was all gone.

"Don't worry Duchess… I'll do anything to bring Evelyn back! Even if it kills me…"

***

The dark aura surrounding Evelyn made Duke Keene find himself lost at what to do.

Besides, his son who stopped breathing in his arms made his mind go blank.

Allan was still warm enough to touch that all Duke Keene could do was protect his son's body from the debris that was circulating like a slow tornado where Evelyn was the center of it.

Soon, tears flowed in his blank face when he realized that everything was crumbling in front of his face.

"What are you doing just spacing out?"

A manly voice was heard that made Duke Keene almost snap and his deadly glare was focused on the man approaching them.

"Don't you need something to do for the child in your arms? Or are you thinking of dying and ending everything here, accompanying your children to the grave?"

The tears in Duke's crimson eyes changed to that of pure rage.

"Who are you to talk to me like that?!"

The silky black hair of the man standing beside Duke Keene was like the mirrored hair of his daughter, Evelyn, that Duke Keene immediately noticed.

"Me? I'm Erick…! Your daughter's boss."

Duke Keene could only look at the man who was smiling while his surroundings were all messed up by the battle. And the background whereas his daughter was emitting dangerous mana.

"Hmmm… I see. This is the reason why Monica was so desperate at that time."

At the mention of his wife's name, Duke Keene became concerned at what the man named Erick was doing here at this moment where hope seemed lost.