Destiny || LEVIHAN || DISCONTINUED

Chapter 3: Witch in the Woods

Levi's POV

"The witch has stolen another child, Your Highness," I hear one of the guards telling my uncle. "The mother is demanding compensation for her son being stolen. What shall we do?"

Uncle just waved his hand, "Leave her be. She doesn't need anything. But that witch in the woods is becoming troublesome, huh? What are we going to do with her? I doubt she's a real witch. Magic from a witch is valuable,  and I would think we would notice a true witch in the forest. But have a patrol scan through the forest- just in case."

Witch... I wonder if it's about Hanji...

My uncle turned to me with his grin, "Have you made up your mind?" 

"No, of course not. I don't want to marry any of them."

"Then I'll pick who you will marry."

"I don't want to marry any of them-."

"Too late." He says with a grin on his face. "You had your chance to figure it out."

"And what happens if I come across someone better than whoever you have chosen for me to marry? Then what?"

My uncle growled, shaking his head. "Then you can marry her too. Or take her as a concubine. Something. That's up to you. As long as you marry who I have chosen, I don't care what else you do."

I guess that once I marry them, I can divorce them after some time. 

"Now that things are settled, you can leave. I have no use for you right now. I need to ensure you don't ruin anything when you take the throne."

As I left the castle, I worried about what would happen after I take the throne. There's a chance that if I have a child, he will groom them to take the throne in his eyes. I can't let that happen. I'll wait for my uncle to die before having a kid. Gah... it hurts... 

"Hanji... please be there..."

*   *   *

I began to memorize where I was going after visiting Hanji in the forest, so I knew how to get to her. I was stunned when I saw her with a little boy, smiling proudly at him. Does she have a child? I couldn't believe my eyes...

Her brown eyes met mine, and she smiled and waved. "Hey, Levi."

"Whose the kid?" I asked, pointing at him.

"His mother abandoned him in the forest, so I'm taking care of him. His name is Tyler."

The witch... I never thought she would be kneeling in front of me. The rumors of someone living in the woods and snatching children... this was her. "Tyler, come here..." I said to the boy, but he shook his head. "Tyler, I'll take you back to your mother."

"No," he says, looking to Hanji, "Don't let him take me back home..."

"Let me talk to him," Hanji says, walking to me with stern eyes. She takes a deep breath, calmly speaking to me with a hint of anger. "Levi, he can't go back home. His mother abandoned him last night in the forest. Despite his wails for help, no one came back. He hasn't eaten for a few days when he was with his mother. She was able to eat every day. He needs to be fed, and taken care of. I can do that. His mother doesn't dare to walk through the woods because she fears what happens in the forest."

"He has to go home-."

"Levi, you may live in your castle, but I live in the forest. You don't know how many children are abandoned here by their families. I'll return him to the village for one more day in my care. But something has to be done about his mother. Please... Levi, do something about it."

"Let me take him in, Hanji, I'll take care of him."

"What will you do to him?"

"Train him as a guard. He's a bit young, but he'll be taken care of. I'll make sure of it."

Hanji sighs, nodding her head, "As long as he doesn't go back to his mother. He doesn't deserve it." She turns around, calling the boy to her side. "It's alright, Tyler, he'll take care of you. I promise you will never go back to your mother. I promise from the bottom of my heart."

Tyler had a small flower in his hands as he held it to her, "For you."

Hanji takes it, kissing it before giving it back to him. "You keep it. It's for good luck. No matter what, the flower will never wilt as long as it's in water and sleeps under the light of the moon. It will always light your way."

"Flowers always wilt once you pick it."

"Not this one, Levi," She says softly, "Don't lose faith in something like that."

*   *   *

"You're the prince?" Tyler asks with his eyes gleaming open as we approached the gates. "You live in the castle?"

"I do. You'll also live in the castle as a guard. You can stay here, but in return, you need to work as a guard. Understand? It'll be hard, but you'll be safe here. And as Hanji said, you won't go back to your mother."

"Okay," Tyler says as he clung to me, not wanting to get lost.

I wandered the halls with Tyler as we ran into my uncle. That usual scowl on his face as he points to the kid, wondering why I had him by my side. "Who's the kid?"

"His mother abandoned him in the forest last night. I think it's the same woman who demanded compensation for her lost son."

"What is he doing here then? Return him to his mother."

"No," I say sternly, seeing my uncle's eyes lighting up from a spark of defiance. "He'll be training as a guard. He's not going to go back home."

"I don't want to deal with a small child like him here. He's too young."

"Why should his mother have the glory of her child being back after demanding compensation?" I say, remembering what happened this morning. "To make her pay, keep her son away from her for not trusting us."

My uncle smirked, "Now, you're becoming a true king, Levi. I know you want to keep him here, but that excuse... wonderful." Wonderful for him, but disgusting for me. I don't want to become that sort of king.

*   *   *

"When can I see Hanji again?" Tyler asks as I showed him his room. "I want to thank her for helping me."

"Not for a long time. But when I become king, I will let you see her again. If something happens to her, because people think she's a witch, something bad might happen to her. We have to be careful, okay?"

"Okay..."