"She didn't do anything!" Finally, Mars snapped. He let go of the old man and stood before him and looked at him dead in the eye.
His teeth gritted and his fists balled to the sides when he shouted, "My mother is innocent! She is the kindest and sweetest woman who could never hurt a fly! How dare you insult her with your accusations!"
Both men's eyes met and locked. The duke had stopped trying to attack. His lips trembled and slowly followed by the rest of his body.
For a moment, he seemed to come to his senses and realized that the person standing before him was a man, not Elara, the woman who took his daughter's fiance and destroy their family.
This young man did look so much like her, though.
Who was he?
Was this… her son?
The old duke's mind concluded as much with whatever was left of his sanity.
"You are their son?" Duke Bellevar asked Mars with gritted teeth. "You are an adult now…"
"Yes, I am their son," Mars replied coldly.
Duke Bellevar looked away. He muttered to himself. "You should have been my grandson. My daughter was supposed to be your mother."
The old man shook his head over and over as if trying to shake the reality, to no avail. This handsome young prince was supposed to be born to Marielle and Jared. Yet, fate had a cruel way of putting things together.
That commoner woman came out of nowhere and took everything from Marielle: her husband-to-be, her family, her title as the queen, and even her future children.
"Duke Bellevar, I am sorry for what happened to your daughter. Nothing we can do will bring back the dead. You can either accept my apology, on behalf of my father and move on with your life… or you will die of heartbreak from unresolved grudges," the crown prince said. This time he was gentle with his words.
Even though Mars was initially agitated when Duke Bellevar accused his mother of destroying the Bellevar family, he could quickly feel empathy when he saw the old man's state of mind.
Duke Bellevar had suffered enough, Mars told himself.
However, when he uttered his apology, Mars intentionally mentioned only his father, not including his mother, because he truly believed that Queen Elara did nothing wrong. She was a victim too.
King Jared was supposed to be the only one who should take responsibility. And as his son, Mars was willing to shoulder the burden too, but not Elara. She was innocent.
"That's right… my daughter is dead…" The old duke muttered again.
Then, slowly, from his grey eyes, tears started dripping.
Mars noticed the man's gaze looked empty. It was as if he was looking at a faraway place.
The prince waited to hear the man said something, but after a long time, Duke Bellevar was stood rooted in his place, completely in silence. His face became expressionless.
"We are losing him," said Elmer sympathetically.
It seemed, the old duke had gone to his own world again, like the first time they saw him in this library. He looked like an empty shell of a human.
Mars looked at the man for a long time, wishing he could read minds, so he would know what was going on in the old man's head before him.
There were so many things that bothered the prince's mind. So many questions that needed answers.
For one, was Killian telling the truth, that his family was related to the Bellevars? If so, this would explain so many things.
But at the same time, it would also raise more questions.
Did Emmelyn know that the Bellevars were her family's relatives?
If she knew, did she hide this fact?
For what?
Before Mars could think further, suddenly he heard the sound of a strong wind blowing from outside.
SWOOSH!!!
Elmer quickly pressed Duke Bellevar down to sit on the chair and ran outside of the library.
"Your Highness! The witch is here!" he shouted.
Having said that he took out his black staff and stood still in the middle of the mansion. His eyes were closed and he recited a spell. He wanted to close all access to escape from this place, now that the witch was here.
"HOW DARE YOU!!" A hoarse voice rang from the living room.
Mars dashed out of the library to follow Elmer's steps and saw the old wizard swung his staff to welcome a vicious attack from an old woman with white hair. She dashed toward Elmer with her hands raised, sending fireballs from her palms.
Mars was astounded to see what the witch was capable of. Apparently, she could create fire with her magic!
If she was fighting with a regular human, the man must have been knocked to the ground with massive burns all over his body.
Unfortunately for her, this was a very powerful wizard that she was dealing with now. Elmer just accepted the incoming fire with his staff and with a wave of his hand, the fire went off, extinguished by a strong blow of air.
"You..!" Thessalis Morelli stepped back in surprise. She stood on her spot and looked at her opponent with a dangerous glint in her eyes. She twitched her brows and mocked the man, "I see that you now have become the royal family's dog."
Elmer didn't let himself get provoked by the witch's agitation. He kept his cool and stood where he was without moving an inch. He had sealed the mansion with his protection spell and was confident that the witch wouldn't be able to escape.
Now, there would be a fight inside the mansion and he would see to it that the witch would meet her fateful end.
"You are Thessalis Morelli?"
Mars stepped forward and asked the witch a question that he already knew the answer for, yet he asked anyway. He needed the confirmation.
The prince didn't know why, but seeing the witch up close like this, after dreaming of getting his vengeance for so many years, he suddenly felt unease.
Something in his mind suddenly became restless and worried.
Did the witch do something?
What was it?
The old witch smirked and turned to him. She was an ugly woman and nothing in the world could help her appearance. That smirk that was plastered on her face only made her look scary and uglier.
"Ah… here you are," the witch said with a croaked voice. "Finally."
Her next words sent shivers down the prince's spine.
"I've been waiting for you."
