She Belongs To The Devil

To occupy her mind, she unlocked a small drawer where she had kept the portrait of her mother and the portrait of Theodore. She took out her mother\'s portrait first and stared at it for quite some time. Looking at that portrait gave her a mixed emotion, she felt both happy and sad at the same time. And she whispered softly to that portrait, "Mother, I wonder if people would have called us twins if you were still here."

She took a deep breath and smiled, "I am going to give the test tomorrow. I hope that I can bring justice to you and I also hope that I can uphold the peace that father has worked so hard for."

Adeline thought about her father and she felt sad because of how his health was degrading lately. It had gotten worse after she told him all the things that she knew about Lillian. She glanced at her mother\'s portrait and an idea struck her mind. She thought that if there was anything that could cheer her father up, it could be this portrait of her mother.

As she had already told her father that she had seen her mother in the memory of Lillian, she thought that she could offer this portrait to her father as a gift from her. She rolled the portrait and tied it with a beautiful ribbon.

And she wrote a letter to her father to accompany that gift.

"Dearest father,

I have noticed that you worry too much these days. You look so sad that it makes my heart ache. I have made this portrait of my mother. I hope she will help you out of your sorrow and will fill your heart with delight. She would not want to see you sad.

With love from your daughter."

She called Hawisa in and asked her to personally deliver the gift and the letter to the King.

After a while, Hawisa returned back to the Princess with a message from the King. Adeline opened the letter and read,

"My beloved daughter,

Thank you, for this very thoughtful gift. This is the most wonderful gift that I have ever received in my life. I think I will be able to save myself from my own sadness now that I can look at this beautiful portrait daily. Whenever I will look at your mother\'s portrait I will think that she is with me. And do well in the test.

Your dearest father."

Adeline pressed her father\'s letter over her heart and smiled. She felt happy that she could at least help her father in some way. And she placed that letter in a box where she had stored all of her father\'s letters.

Then she picked up the portrait of Theodore and smiled again. She could never get enough of his beautiful face. She looked back towards her bed to check if he was there in her room already. He wasn\'t there yet and she shifted her attention to his portrait again. "I wonder when he will come today. I could use his soothing embrace to calm my nerves. I think I will wait on the bed."

She took a deep breath in and then placed his portrait inside that drawer. She locked the drawer but when she pulled the key, she dropped it on the ground. She bent down and searched for the key, it had slipped under the table and was a little further away for her to reach using her hand. "Argh! Why did it have to fall? How do I get it out now?"

Meanwhile, outside, a huge shadow was flying swiftly and was approaching the Palace at a great speed. It was occasionally flapping its massive wings and was sending a gust of wind on the ground. When it approached near the Palace, the magic circle that Lillian had drawn around the Palace vanished without a trace. And the shadow of that winged creature was now hovering above the Palace, looking for something.

Adeline got up and looked around, she searched for something thin and long that she could use to pull the key out. But there were no such objects around. So she went towards her dressing table and looked for something that she could use. There was nothing outside so she opened a drawer to look for a long hairpin.

She shuffled through the drawer and her attention was caught by the chain that she had bought from the market, the same one that had a pendant with the image of a dragon engraved on it. The pendant was glowing in a slight hue of purple and it looked very beautiful even in that dark drawer.

"I have not even worn it once," she thought to herself. And she had that sudden urge to wear that beautiful chain and see how it would look on her.

Adeline grabbed the chain and put it around her neck. She checked herself in the mirror of the dressing table. Even though she was still wearing her training uniform, she felt as though the chain did really suit her.

She smiled at her own reflection and whispered, "I will show it to Theodore and ask if he likes it on me or not. He has never seen me wearing any jewelry so I guess he will like it. Maybe I should wear a beautiful light purple gown to compliment this chain."

She got up from the dressing table, completely forgetting that she had originally wanted to find that key that was stuck under her study table. She merrily walked towards her wardrobe while hoping that Theodore would come to visit her sooner.

However, before she could reach in front of her wardrobe, she felt as though something was around her. She couldn\'t see it but there was something off.

And what next, the pendant that was sitting over her chest began to make a buzzing sound while glowing even more. And in the next moment, her vision went all blurry and before she could grasp onto something, she collapsed on the floor. A golden aura loomed over her unconscious body. A bright light appeared all of a sudden and… she vanished from there without a trace.

And she was not the only one to vanish from the Palace. All of the Princes and Princesses vanished from their chambers one by one.

After some time, Theodore appeared inside Adeline\'s room. And almost instantly he knew what was going on. He could see the massive golden aura that was still lingering in that room.. And he whispered to himself, "I guess the test has now begun."