The Crown's Entrapment

At Cordon Castle

"Son! Welcome back!"

Waking up, the first thing Darius saw was her mother sobbing beside him. Immediately, he moved and sat on his bed, letting his mother hug him tightly as he gently stroked her back. With a smile, he weakly whispered, "Shhh... Hush now, Mother. I'm back..."

Looking up, he saw Jayra standing before them with a smile, giving him a curt nod. He smiled back, and tears welled up in his eyes as he whispered, "She recognized me..."

"Yes, indeed, Your Majesty," Jayra almost let out a knowing scoff. "I never doubted that she wouldn't."

After a bit of hugging, her mother gently pushed him away and asked, "What happened, Son? Is Xenia alright? We saw her jumping right after you, then there was only this blinding white light before the vision disappeared. But we clearly heard her shouting out your name..."

At the question, Darius had a victorious smile on his face as he recalled what exactly had happened.

.....

...

His eyes widened as he burst out, "Xen? Is that you?!"

Chuckling, Xen hugged him tightly as she whispered, "Do you really think I wouldn't recognize my over-possessive husband? I won't let anything happen to you..."

"But why are you here?! Are you a fool?! Why would you jump in after me like that and take that risk?!" Darius somehow managed to scold her despite the overwhelming feeling he was having while floating in the air with her. "What if you didn't grow wings and fell?! You could've died!"

Instead of replying, Xen only chuckled as she backed off a bit to look at his face. She then lovingly cupped his face and murmured, "You told me once that everything that I'm involved in is worth taking the risk... So I'm doing the same, my love." She chuckled as she smiled, "I took the risk and followed my heart and mind, recognizing that you're my real husband..."

If that wasn't enough, Xen then caressed his face and said, "See? Your face is back to normal now, but I guess your hair will have to remain short from now on. At least you still look handsome though." She giggled, "I guess this was the test, and somehow, passed it with flying colors. If that's the case, you should be going back out there. Just confidently wait for your wife to return to you, alright?..."

...

.....

From there, Xen then leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Darius then suddenly felt dizzy, and all turned black.

"The guardians didn't show the part where Xen grew her wings. They probably didn't want to expose the existence of Xenia's kind," Jayra pointed out.

"Also, I've noticed that they only addressed Xenia as having some kind of special blood; never pointing out or even mentioning the word 'angel.' Then again, the royal family kept the existence of Queen Dana's kind a secret for a reason. It was once said that a lineage from a fallen angel would often bear a cursed offspring every generation after all."

'And it would also bring chaos... an abomination...' Jayra thought but didn't dare voice it out because it was nothing but one of the speculations about fallen angels in myths.

"That's right," the Queen Mother noted. "I remembered that during the wedding of King Stephan and Queen Dana... I personally witnessed how the sky cried blood during that union, and that was usually a sign that a union would bear a cursed child... I've also heard that the second Princess bore the curse. Now, however, I fully understand the situation. Queen Dana is a fallen angel, and there will be a corresponding curse for her lineage every generation."

Darius and Jayra exchanged meaningful glances, the former shaking his head while the latter simply nodded. Mineah already bore the name of the cursed princess ever since she was born, and it would only complicate things further once everyone found out about Ezekiel turning into a dragon.

Then again, would it really be fine to let everyone know of Xen's race? Of Queen Dana's true identity?

Before they could ponder on the thought, the door suddenly swung open. There, Freya and Gideon both rushed inside, the two of them sobbing hard as they pounced right at him.

"Brother-in-law! You're back!!!" Gideon burst out crying, hugging him on one side while Freya continued to sob on the other.

"You two stop that already!" Darius complained with a frown, his body being crushed by their combined hugs. "I can't breathe..."

Hearing his protests, the two finally let him go. Taking a small breath, Darius turned to Gideon and hissed, "Also, Brother-in-law?!"

He then turned to Freya, whose face had turned deep red as she murmured, "Gideon and I already decided to do the Ritual of Marking at my twenty-first birthday celebration..."

"Why are you frowning?" Gideon snorted "Aren't you happy and even about to give us your blessing?"

"Isn't that too soon?" Darius mumbled. He then looked at Freya and asked, "Are you sure about this already?"

"Sire? Why are you doing this to me?!" Gideon whined.

Seeing his potential in-law breaking out in cold sweat, Darius finally broke down in a burst of laughter. He was just messing around with Gideon, and it was more than worth it just to see his face like this.

All eyes went on him, all of them rapidly blinking. "Alright, fine. I'm sorry," Darius chuckled. "It's just that the atmosphere in here is too dramatic right now." He then looked at Gideon and patted his shoulder. "You do know that I won't trust any other man with my little sister except for you, so I'm honestly relieved that you ended up Freya's mate."

He nodded in approval, "It's indeed a blessing, and I would be more than happy to witness the Ritual of Marking for the two of you. You should even bring your family here with you for a formal dinner between our families."

"I'll set it all up then," the Queen Mother interrupted. She then smiled as she added, "but for now, you should all eat and then rest."

"I agree," Darius nodded with his mother. "My body honestly feels so stiff already from lying in bed for too long that I need a bit of stretching done."

With a crack from his back, he quickly got up from his bed and signaled for Gideon to follow him.

"Tell me what I missed while I'm gone," Darius ordered using his usual serious tone.

*****

AN: If you want to recall that scene where Darius and Xen talk about risks then it's in Chapter 173 *wink*