The Odd Return

CHAPTER 20

Wait a minute, imperial palace ground + nice aristocrats clothes + black shining hair = the male lead crown prince Lucian De Conlaed Alastair!

AHHHHH!

WHY IS THE CROWN PRINCE HERE?!

He is the crown prince, he lives in the imperial palace. It's his home, he should be here. I am the one who doesn't belong here! I should run. Dash, run, run, run!

Taking another look at the crown prince who still didn't move from his place was suspicious. He was a skilled swordsman so he'd probably sensed my presence by now, but he still didn't make a move.

Of course, his state wasn't normal, he was huffing for the past minute. It was like his body was suffering from some sort of pain.

Is he waiting to see if I approach him or not?

If I ignore him now and pretend I didn't see him, then he might make the worst case scenario happen even before the original story line.

#Worstcasescenario

"You have seen me suffering and struggling yet you didn't help the crown prince! Die you evil villainess! The world will be a better place without you!"

"Ah!"

Crying invisible tears, I pushed away all those bad and horrible thoughts. It's better not to make the worst case scenario happen. And if I help the crown prince, he might probably spare my life for helping him once. That will be a plus point! I sigh and hope that he doesn't pull the sword out at first sight. I approached him. In my countless visits to the empress, I have never seen him in my reincarnated life. Though I think he should know who the Matriarch of Illusions is. Many people know me just by my name, but they have never seen me, so I guess it might be hard to recognize me. I have also met people who think Evanora Esmeray and Matriarch of Illusion are two different people.

"Excuse me," I said as I approached him.

"Hey," I called out again but I got no response. "Are you okay?"

I sighed as he didn't give me any response, I walked and crouched down to his level, in front of him. Placing a hand on his forehead, I realised he was burning up. His ruby-like bright red eyes stared weakly at me but it was still unfocused.

"Hey, can you hear me? If you can't speak, give me a signal that you understand." I spoke softly, ignoring every chance of getting tangled into a cross fire and getting killed. But he didn't move or neither spoke! Is he testing my patience now?!

"Hey! You gotta be cooperative!" I sighed as the red eyes weakly glared at me.

"Screw off." was the first thing he told me. Okay, I am trying to help you here so you can't just tell me to screw off! It gets on my nerves.

"You know what, you don't have to talk to me. Just give me the directions to your palace, so I can take you there." I said as I helped him up to his feet. Swinging his arm over my shoulders, putting his weight on me I helped him walk out of the forest by following the directions he occasionally gave me. But his condition wasn't getting any better. The sword wounds on his arms, back and chest probably also had poison. And with the mana I have left won't be enough to heal him. I might pass out in the middle of healing him even if I try.

I sighed. This calls for a drastic measure. I extended my free hand as I muttered, "Neurenum". A big and white hawk appeared from the small spell circle on my palm. As soon as the glowing hawk was out, the spell disappeared. The hawk gently took its place on my wrist.

"Neur, I need to get this work done very quickly." I spoke slowly as the bird nodded its head. "Go to the tower and ask Sir Zaven to give me two energy potions, one Phial and one Fiole and some bandages. If he asks questions, I will tell him tomorrow. Be back quickly."

Neur flew away out of sight, towards the tower. Neur is a summoning. Unlike the incomplete summoning which is a ball of light that I often get, Neur was a complete summoning. Sir Zaven always got annoyed by the incomplete summoning he used to get, so he made sure I don't make incomplete ones. For his mental peace he will at least get a complete summorning.

The crown prince on my shoulder groaned on my shoulder as I flinched. "Please don't die on me!"

And just like that, the second worst case scenario appeared in my head.

#2ndWorstcasescenario

"You villainess tried to murder the heir of this empire! The hero of war saved us all! Die you evil magician!"

"Ah!"

I cried once again as I prayed and asked the crown prince not to die on me, while his ruby red eyes just looked at me weirdly. After a long walk from the forest, we appeared at the palace behind the emperor's palace. It was constructed well, and seemed like it was taken good care of but there was something wrong. The palace was deserted. There was no guard, no servant, no maid and no butler.

"Where is everyone?" I muttered and it seemed like the crown prince intentionally ignored my question. Sighing for the hundredth time today, I walked inside the palace following the crown prince's palace. The empty place gave me haunted place vibes as I just ignored the odd chills.

I mean, if magic is real in this world then why not ghosts? But after I managed to take him towards his bedroom chambers, it seemed like he lost the remaining consciousness he had.

"Your highness?" I called. No response.

"You highness! You promised not to die on me!" I cried as I dragged him inside the first room I found. Laying him down on the bed, I massaged my shoulder and arm as I dragged a chair and sat beside the bed. Having a mental break down that I made a big mistake helping him and now I will be hanged for trying to murder the crown prince of the empire, I jumped as I heard a knock on the window. I rushed there and saw my glowing hawk, holding a bag on his beak. I opened the window wide as he flew in and dropped the bag on the table that was in the middle of the room.

"You did well," I said as it took his place on my shoulder. Nuzzling his beak on my neck, he disappeared into the spell circle one again. I took everything out of the bag and saw a small note next. It was Sir Zaven's handwriting.

"You owe me an explanation."

I chuckled as I crumbled the note. Putting everything down on the bedside table in the crown prince room, I took one of the energy potions and drank it. Once the vial was empty I put the cork on the vial and placed it down. After waiting for 5 to 10 minutes, the potion finally started working on me. Getting to work immediately, I checked the crown prince's temperature. He was still burning up and breaking down into cold sweat. I picked up the vial which had a sea-greenish liquid in it. Helping him up, to make sure I can at least get the potion down his throat, I pulled the cork off the vial. Bringing the vial to his pale and almost white lips, I made him drink the Phial potion. Phial is a really important potion which is hard to make. I can't even make it. It's something the head magician is capable of making. It's the antidote for all poison there is. Of course, Phial is a secret kept from the outside world, only a few, including me, know about it.

As I didn't know what poison he was suffering from, Phial was the best I could suggest.

I waited, hoping the potion would work. Till now there was no poison it didn't manage to take down, Sir Zaven tried it himself. But I was still anxious. I can't let him die, cause if he dies I will get framed for killing him. After almost waiting for 20 minutes, the temperature went down and sweat stopped breaking down. His breathing turned normal. I let out the breath I was holding. Plopping down on the chair I placed beside his bed I sighed out of relief. The crown prince is alive.