The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 77: The Gift

Waking up earlier than usual, Mineah guessed that she had a great night's sleep. Maybe it was because she was feeling good before dozing off. Nevertheless, she felt a sense of achievement and was at ease for some reason.

With nothing else to do, she immediately got up from bed to perform her daily routine. Also, she still had some things to discuss with Nikolai. Although, it would have to be done through Nik's help since she was basically stranded in the Amaranth Palace until the Midnight Sun Waiting. Well, she could still go out, but only for important and approved events and gatherings at the royal court.

In particular, one matter that she wanted to talk to Nikolai about was the coming full moon. Last night, they had successfully performed the Coupling Rites, and based on what she saw, her husband didn't seem to experience any negative effects from drinking her blood.

She could only wonder if Nikolai had noticed it as well, but then she remembered that one moment back at Valcor Island where he got a taste of her blood on her finger. He didn't vomit it out, but instead, he even seemed to like it, going so far as to even describe the taste of it as heavenly.

Since then, she had quietly observed him, looking for any side effects he might have from her blood. And so far, there were none. Again, he had even marked her last night and once again got a taste of her blood, and he still didn't show anything noteworthy.

"I wonder if it's because he only got a little taste of my blood," she mused in deep thought. "If so, will the case be different if he'll drink more of my blood? There's only one way to find out, I suppose… He should try drinking at least a cup of my blood and see what happens."

It would be easy too. Zaila could easily get it from her since the former or her mother would usually get a blood sample from her every other day or so. It was needed often by her mother in her confidential experiments not only with her blood, but also with her siblings Xenia and Ezekiel as well.

At that thought, Mineah smiled. It was good that she was helping Nikolai with his problems to ensure that he wouldn't need to get help from Rosela anymore.

"I'll always find a way so that you'll never need to seek out that viper's blood anymore…"

With a vindictive smile, Mineah shook her head as her gaze darted to Nik. Her cupid pet's eyes were still closed. Then again, it was still early in the morning. She should let it rest some more. Nik would become very busy from this day onwards playing messenger between her and Nikolai, after all.

From there, she prepared herself for the day ahead. After some time, her door swung open, and with a bright and wide smile, she greeted her shadow maidens.

"Good morning, ladies," Mineah greeted in great spirit. "I trust the three of you had a good night's sleep as well?"

However, that smile on her face wavered seeing the state of the three. They were crying.

"What happened?" she asked. Her heart thumped anxiously knowing that something bad must have happened for the three of them to be sniffing and sobbing like this.

"Milady… N-news came from the Ebodian Camp…" Dani stuttered out with barely a whisper. "S-seer Beirut i-is dead…"

Mineah's face paled. Her knees wobbled and she slumped to the floor. She couldn't even tell that she was already on the ground by the time her shadow maidens moved.

"Milady!" Dani called out as as quickly moved together with Krisha and Zaila.

"That can't be…".

Mineah weakly murmured to herself as Dani helped her out. Staring out into space, she simply couldn't feel her own body anymore. It was as if all the strength in her had left her in that instant.

Mineah humorlessly chuckled as the three assisted her to sit on the edge of her bed. "You're always playing pranks on me, right? This is not a good joke!" she exclaimed, her eyes squinting at the three who simply sobbed even more. "The gift… Where is Seer Beirut's gift?!"

Dani quickly moved to opened her private magical chest to get it. As soon as she presented it,Mineah immediately grabbed it from her hands.

She didn't have the opportunity to take a look at it last night, but from what Mineah was seeing now, it looked like it was a box with a spell protecting it. From what she recalled, Seer Beirut had specifics instructions on how she should open it by using their secret language.

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Nodding to herself, Mineah chanted the spell. With a hiss, the small box opened, and she frowned once she saw that there was a letter, a journal, and a dagger inside.

She immediately picked up the letter and opened it. Reading through its contents, tears began welling up in her eyes the more she read through it.

"This… He saw it coming…" Mineah murmured as her tears kept flowing like a waterfall. "How cruel can this be… Seeing yourself dying in your own vision…"

Mineah was crying so hard that she was unable to finish reading Seer Beirut's letter. But what she saw was more than enough. He knew he would die last night, but he wasn't aware of how his life would actually end.

"According to the report we received this morning, Seer Beirut went out to see Admiral Cairo and to check and monitor the borders on the Miran Ocean. He then left with Commander Marius to go back to Castle Ebodia," Dani elaborated, her tears still flowing with each word she spoke.

"On their way back, they were ambushed by Helion soldiers led by a sorceress named Tarita. Commander Marius was badly injured, but he is alive together with other survivors. Unfortunately, Seer Beirut was amongst the casualties. He breathed his last upon reaching Camp Ebodia."

This was a big blow to them. Not only was Beirut a Seer of their kingdom, he was like a grandfather to her and her siblings. He was one of their Masters, and they learned a great deal of wisdom about the world from him.

He was someone who would always remind her of a lot of things that she shouldn't forget. He was a strong pillar of support that she could always rely on. And now he was gone.

"Why did he have to die like that," she sobbed.

She couldn't imagine how he met such a gruesome end in that ambush. He didn't deserve to die like that after all the sacrifices he had made just to help their kingdom. Seers of their kingdom weren't allowed to fall in love or have a family of their own. They had to keep their chastity intact to keep their gift of sight in service to the kingdom.

Willing herself to gather more courage, Mineah ignored how blurry her eyes had become as she continued reading his letter. Eventually, she reached a part of the letter that informed her of something important. Her eyes then widened as she looked at the dagger currently resting inside the box.

"This… This can't be…" she weakly murmured, barely a gasp as her hand trembled while clutching at crumpled letter in her hands.

"What's wrong, milady?" Zaila asked. "What does it say?"

Before Mineah could even reply, the letter in her hands had already turned into dust. All the while, her gaze remained fixed at the dagger in the box.