The next day, Drayce and Seren parted from each other after having their morning meals together. While Seren went off to the Vermillion Palace to visit the royal harem, Drayce departed for the Grand Palace, where aside from handling the matters related to the kingdom, he had other affairs he was strictly paying attention to.
It was late in the afternoon when the King wrapped up work and dismissed his other aides, leaving only Drayce and Slayer inside the King’s study. While they were waiting for someone to arrive, Drayce took that chance to mention to Slayer about the piece of intelligence mentioned by the young server in that tavern they visited on the outskirts of the capital with Arlan.
“How dare they inquire about the Queen in such a manner?” Slayer looked visibly displeased to only hear this news now. “If you two had not provoked me to drink, I could have started investigating then and there. Perhaps by now, we could have caught this suspicious pair.”
“Calm down. Do you doubt Arlan’s tactics? When it comes to intelligence-gathering, let alone leading conversation, even if it’s through torture, do you think he falls behind you?”
“Not that but…” Slayer sighed. “Next time, I won’t fall for both of your tricks.”
“You need to learn to relax, Slayer. It’s not like we expected to hear such crucial news at that time,” Drayce countered and looked at the scenery beyond the window of his study. Someone was fast approaching his study from the sky. Humans would see nothing more than a flash of light due to its speed, but those with keen eyes like Drayce knew that light was in fact a person. “He is here.”
Just then, the glass window swung open and a blond man with golden wings smoothly entered Drayce’s study, bringing along with him a gust of wind. After he folded his majestic wings behind his strong back, he walked towards the two men.
“Welcome, Aureus.”
“I greet His Majesty the King of Megaris.”
After exchanging simple greetings, Aureus stood next to Slayer. Drayce remained seated behind his desk.
“Did you find anything about those two?” he asked.
The Divine Eagle nodded. “I have confirmed that they are not humans but supernatural beings like us, though I am yet to verify which race they belong to since I dare not get near them. I didn’t take action since I am yet to confirm their strength, and since they’ve been loitering in public areas, engaging with them might scare the people around. They are still in the outskirts of the capital though, and show no signs of leaving anytime soon.”
“They will likely remain in Blackhelm until they personally confirm if the Queen has purple eyes and will try to enter the palace soon,” Drayce commented and asked. “Do you know their current location?”
Aureus nodded. “They stayed at an inn in the central district, but I think they’ll try infiltrating the palace today to see Her Majesty. Should we wait for them to come? If the two of us are going, I believe we can capture them without alarming anyone else.”
Drayce stood up from his chair. “Slayer, you can stay here.”
“But–“
“We are not sure if that pair are working on their own or if they have other companions they’re yet to meet up with. Guard the Queen’s palace while I’m gone. I and Aureus are more than enough to deal with those two,” Drayce said and Slayer had no choice but to listen to him.
Just as the knight left, Drayce and Aureus departed from the study as well. Aureus flew out of the window while Drayce vanished out of thin air.
The two men agreed to meet at the highest spire of the palace, and remained there as it had a decent view of the residence belonging to the King and Queen. Since they weren’t sure what race those suspicious people were, they were prepared to have a tight surveillance of this part of the royal palace. Any living being that approached it would be all under suspicion.
As they waited, they soon saw Slayer arriving at the entrance of the Queen’s palace.
Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, they spotted the next group to approach the Queen’s palace–it was a pair of brown eagles.
Aureus flinched, his intuition telling him those large birds were not ordinary animals, but beings from his kind.
Drayce also spotted those flying eagles in the sky. “So both of them are shapeshifters from the feathered race.”
“Hmm, since they do not know the living arrangements within the royal palace, they are still searching for Her Majesty’s residence–“
But Drayce would not allow people of unknown backgrounds to lay eyes on his wife.
“To the forest,” was all he said before he disappeared from the spire. Before Aureus could react, he could sense the faint aftermath of an explosion coming from the north, at the part of the desolate forest far from the palace grounds. Aureus flew away in that direction at a speed invisible to human eyes.
On the other hand, the moment Drayce appeared near those two eagles in the sky, he grabbed them by the throat before teleporting them away. The capture happened so fast, neither shapeshifter had a chance to react.
Drayce then slammed them on the ground the very instant they were surrounded by thick foliage of trees, not even holding back his strength, causing their bodies to form craters underneath them.
“Reveal your original forms,” Drayce instructed them.
Realizing that the man in front of them was the owner of a power stronger than them, the two shapeshifters from the feathered race immediately transformed in their human forms as they warily put distance between them and Drayce.
Both men looked like they’re in their mid- to late- twenties, their attire similar to Aureus–the same bare chests and white runic tattoos, the only difference being the color of their hair and feathered capes were in shades of brown rather than gold.
One of them stepped in front of the other and asked, “Who are you?”
“This is my kingdom. Shouldn’t I be the one to ask that question?”
Hearing that, the shapeshifters understood he was the king of this kingdom.
King Drayce Ivanov, also known as the Devil King of Megaris.
As they began their search for the purple-eyed woman who was apparently this man’s partner, they had also heard a lot about the King of Megaris. Since the moment they entered this kingdom, people would not stop talking about their king, and regardless of the gossips being a song of praise or criticism, there was one thing that was in common.
Both sides agreed he was a Devil.
The two shapeshifters thought he earned that nickname because this human king was a merciless tyrant, similar to the human kings they have fought in the past. Little did they expect that the current King of Megaris was not human.
Seeing that the man was one of their kind, they would have normally tried to resolve this through conversation, as they didn’t wish to offend anyone while they were in the middle of a mission. However, the man in front of them was emitting hostility towards them, thus, they had no choice but to be on guard.
‘Who is this man? How can he overpower the two of us?’
‘How can a supernatural rule over humans when humans hated us to the point of driving us out of our original homes?’
‘Has the continent changed so much? How come none of the spies ever mentioned this before?’
‘Which clan does he belong to? He doesn’t look like an elf, and that strength must have come from a bloodline–‘
The two then noticed that pair of red eyes glaring at them.
‘Red eyes?’
There was only one person they had seen eyes of that colour, and that was their king, the King of Agartha, Draven Aramis.
‘Is he related to His Majesty?’
‘Is he a Dragon as well?’
They felt so shaken at this unexpected meeting, and their minds furiously worked, wondering if they stumbled on a secret they shouldn’t have discovered. Otherwise, how could no one in Agartha not know the existence of a supernatural being becoming the ruler of a human kingdom?
“Who are you and what are you doing in my kingdom?”
Hearing Drayce speak pulled them back to their senses.
Regardless if this man was truly a Dragon or not, the shapeshifters were loyal to their mission. They didn’t wish to reveal anything as both of them now understood one more thing–since this man was the King of Megaris, then their target, the Queen said to have purple eyes, must be his wife.
‘He’s hostile to us. Could he have somehow found out we were investigating the purple-eyed woman?’
“We mean no harm, King of Megaris,” one of the shapeshifters answered. “We are mere wanderers visiting new places within the continent. We did not know this is your territory. Pardon us for offending you.”
They didn’t want to tell Drayce anything about their mission nor the Kingdom of Agartha, but at the same time, they did not wish to form an antagonistic relationship with this King of a human kingdom. They knew that in the current continent, Megaris was renowned for its powerful military force. Since they didn’t know whether he was on the side of humankind or the side of Agartha, this man could be a potential threat to their kingdom.
“I don’t have time to waste with you. Better answer what I asked, or I won’t mind killing both of you this very moment,” Drayce warned them. “Don’t think you can escape from me.”
The two shapeshifters didn’t budge though they knew they wouldn’t be able to beat this man in front of them.
“Why go that far, King of Megaris? We are not enemies. Let us go and part ways from each other,” one of the shapeshifters spoke, “But if you truly wish to kill us, then we can only blame our bad luck.”
