Back to the Roots
Back to the Roots
Adeline glanced up at the transparent dome. The moonlight was cascading down from that dome and was lighting up the garden. And she hypnotically replied to her husband, "I have no idea. Agnes came to me out of the blue and said that we needed to be here."
Theodore nodded and gazed at the beautiful face of his wife. The subtle moonlight that was caressing her face was making her look ever so beautiful.
He held Adeline's hand and then made her face him. He gave an enchanting smile and whispered, "Maybe she wanted her Queen to spend some peaceful and lovely time with her husband."
Adeline pushed herself up on her toes and pecked Theodore on his lips. And she replied with a smile, "Maybe…"
Their peaceful and romantic moment was, however, interrupted when suddenly, they heard something splashing in the fountain.
Both of them went near the fountain to see that their daughter was kneeling down and was immersing two men underwater. From the expression on Ariel's face, it felt as if both of them were about to die any second now.
"Ar–" Theodore was about to call his daughter when Adeline suddenly covered his mouth.
Ariel was now closing her eyes and her palms were on those boys' chests. Her palms were emitting a subtle glow, which meant that she was using her healing powers.
Adeline had her eyes glued on Ariel rather than on those men. She was too much in shock after suddenly seeing her daughter and could barely think straight, nor could she take her eyes off of her daughter.
Theodore, on the other hand, was trying to figure out who those men were, those who were underwater. He squinted his eyes and looked through the rippling water.
His eyes suddenly opened wide when he realized that they were none other than Kenneth and Damien.
And his mind was bombarded with hundreds of questions, "W-What's going on? How and why are they in this condition? And why is Damien even here? Did he finally get the courage to show himself in front of Ariel? Did Ariel beat both of them? Or did they fight each other? Or does it have something to do with my precious family?"
Theodore's heart ached with so much curiosity that he wanted them to get healed faster so that he could ask Ariel what had happened that led to this situation.
Ariel kept on holding Damien and Kenneth underwater while healing them. The fountain water was also doing its wonders side by side. The water around Kenneth had turned light black in color while the water around Damien had turned brownish-yellow because of the poison oozing out of their bodies.
Damien suddenly sprung out of the water while gasping for air. He sat up straight and took deep breaths while holding his chest.
Ariel opened her eyes and saw Damien breathing fine. She then held Kenneth's head above water and closed her eyes back again. She focused all her energy on healing Kenneth now.
Adeline finally focused her attention on the young man who had sprung out of the water.
Her eyes suddenly widened and her jaw was wide open when she recognized that reddish-brown hair and that faint aura.
"Damien!" she thought to herself in utter surprise, and she questioningly looked at Theodore.
And Theodore nodded his head to say that that man was who she thought he was.
Adeline clutched her hands together and thought to herself, "What could have happened? Did someone attack Damien and Ariel again?" She wanted to go and ask a lot of things to Damien.
However, she waited for her daughter to heal the other man too.
"Who is he, by the way?" She tore her gaze from Damien, who was still trying to catch up with his breath and then looked at the other man. And she was shocked yet again. "Oh, dear! Kenneth! What on Earth happened to them?"
Kenneth finally shot his eyes open and then gasped for air. Then he supported himself with the help of his elbow and coughed a few times.
Ariel heaved a deep sigh and sat down in relief. She looked ahead and she finally noticed that they weren't the only ones in the garden.
"Mom! Dad!" she mumbled. All of a sudden, her eyes welled up with tears. She had braved up for the sake of Kenneth and Damien until now. But the second she saw her parents, she started shaking again.
Theodore and Adeline came running to her.
Theodore jumped inside the fountain and then bent down on his knees. And he pulled his daughter into a warm embrace.
And Ariel instantly broke into tears. She mumbled while crying in her father's arms, "I was so scared, dad. I thought I would be too late to save them. I was so terrified."
"Ary, it is fine now. You did a great job. You saved them both," he gently rubbed her back and consoled her.
Adeline, on the other hand, was standing outside the fountain. She wiped the tears that were about to roll down her eyes. She sniffled and then looked at the boys.
Damien was still sitting down in the water and was quietly keeping his head down. Kenneth, on the other hand, was trying to get up on his feet.
Theodore helped his daughter to get up and then brought her out of the water. He took her to the bench and made her sit down. He waved his hand to dry Ariel. But her eyes were still wet so, he didn't ask her anything just yet.
Instead, he glanced at Adeline and called her. "Why don't you look after Ariel? I will talk with the boys."
Adeline gave a nod. But she also asked him, "Remember that they just recovered. Try not to intimidate them."
Theodore nodded and walked towards the boys.
Kenneth was already on his feet; he was looking around the garden and was trying to figure out where he currently was. When he saw Theodore walking towards him, he gave a bow and greeted him. He was still soaked so he kept on standing there in the fountain.
"How are you feeling?" Theodore asked Kenneth.
Kenneth politely replied, "I feel alive, Your Royal Highness."
Theodore gave a subtle smile and gestured for Kenneth to step out of the water. And when he did, Theodore dried Kenneth as well and asked, "Why don't you go and sit down beside Ariel?"
Kenneth agreed to Theodore and then walked towards the bench.
"What had happened, Damien?" Theodore finally leaned closer to Damien and asked him.
Damien hadn't moved an inch from where he was sitting. And he was hanging his head down as though he was trying to hide his face.
But when he heard Theodore's voice, he finally dared to lift his head and look at Theodore. Theodore still looked like he hadn't aged a day.
Damien first got up on his feet and gave a low bow to the Devil Prince. And he answered Theodore, "I had a duel with Kenneth. But it didn't end well."
"Whose fault was it?" Theodore held his arms behind his back and asked in a stern voice.