Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince-Chapter 362 : Cursed Princess

Lefae stepped out of her bedroom into her personal parlor. Because of her special circumstances, she had an entire section of the castle dedicated to her use alone. She also had her own servants that were loyal to just her and rarely interacted with the standard staff. Though her father had gone through great lengths to hide the truth behind his daughter's 'gifts' rumors still spread amongst nobility and commoners alike.

It was hard to find people willing to serve a woman with nicknames like 'Cursed Princess', but find them she did. What better place to find those people than among others considered cursed.

Lefae nodded kindly at her maid who set down a pot of freshly made tea. Her left hand bore a mark. It was a simple one that granted the elderly woman the ability to simply blow a gust of wind with all the strength of a child blowing raspberries. Yet she was feared and hated in equal measure as those who possessed the ability to move mountains. People like Lucius Kane.

Her guards stood at the ready at the entryway to her parlor. They each wore special gauntlets with the backs of their hands exposed to the air. As with the maid, they too bore marks on their left hands. All of her staff were Marked Ones. People who were wronged by society as a whole simply because they possessed a power beyond common understanding. Just like Lefae. Though—as she explained to Lucius—her power was hidden in her soul and not so plainly visible to the world.

"Bring me the prisoners. Have them waiting in the storage room down the hall. I will have a guest shortly and they will be necessary." She ordered.

"As you will, your Highness." The guards placed a fist over their hearts and bowed before exiting. A token detail remained outside her doors, a requirement for her 'safety'. Though all knew it was unnecessary. Few in the capital, even Lucius Kane, were a threat to Lefae.

The princess reached for a book sitting on the table before her and flipped to the marked page where she had last left of, indicated by the folded corner. A habit of hers that angered the librarians and scholars of the castle. It was a small act of rebellion as a young child she developed to anger her teachers and it remained with her to this day.

After several hours of reading and enjoying her maid's lovely tea, a knock at the door soon broke the silence of the room. Lefae nodded at her maid to open the door and allow the guest entry. A few hours later than she expected, but at least he finally showed.

The door opened to reveal Lucius Kane. He wore a finely tailored suit, likely at the request of his wives and mothers. It was a fine black suit with a red button-down shirt beneath it. The tight fabric left little to the imagination and outlined his muscular form. Lefae could not help but feel something lurch in her chest. Of course, it did not show on her face. His black hair was still longer than most nobility wore it, but it was nowhere near as shaggy as it was when he appeared the yesterday at the capital's gates. His eyes shimmered in the sunlight pouring into the room through her parlor's large windows.

"I hope this is important, Princess Lefae." He grumbled. "I have only been a father for a day and already my time with my daughter is being poached by nobles."

His gravelly voice and stern tone sent a fluttering sensation through her gut. She was stronger than him, but she was fascinated at the amount of power he had for someone as low-ranked as he was. "Apologies, Lord Kane. I shall do my best to allow you leave with your family as quickly as possible. For now, bear with me as we have some important facts to discuss."

"Fine."

His uncaring demeanor was shocking. She hated people being overly formal, but his lack of fear and inattention to decorum in the presence of royalty was fascinating. Lefae folded the corner of her book and slammed the covers closed. "Fourteen."

"Excuse me?"

She stood and approached the windows, turning her back to him. "Fourteen times I saved your family's lives. While you were gone several attempts were made to either kill or kidnap your wife and unborn child."

The door opened allowing her guards to enter. They were followed by fourteen individuals with chains binding their wrists and ankles. Metal rattled as they lined themselves along the wall and were forced to their knees. The dirt and grime from their imprisonment ground into the pristine white rug that covered the parlor's floor.

"You see, I find myself drawn to you. I witnessed your abilities at the competition all those months ago and long desired to have a conversation with you. You see, that barrier you so effortlessly shattered would have taken me quite some time to burst through." She paused. "Perhaps effortless was not the right word. From what I understand you were quite indisposed afterwords."

"How did you know that? Don't tell me you've received the information from the Shattered Orb. Those strange letters seem to be everywhere since I left Eroa."

"No. Nothing so impressive. Whoever they may be, I must not be a part of their plans. Either that or my predictability warrants no intervention on their part. No, my sources of information about you are much more mundane."

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"Who?"

"The Wisteria Concord of course." Lefae answered. "They are very interested in you as well Lucius Kane. Your forefather was granted their lands centuries ago. Yet they eschewed the gift and responsibility of managing a budding kingdom. Setting up instead the country's strange political leadership. As far as I am aware it is the only society where a common-born orphan may one day rise to leadership over a nation. One might say the entire population of such a place owes their livelihoods and opportunities to your bloodline."

Lucius glared at her for a moment. She was aware that he interacted with Lady al Famyn back in Aedrider. She was the most interested in him out of all of the families in the Wisteria Concord. There was fear originally, but fear eventually gave way to intrigue. Even that was transitioning into something else.

"My bloodline, but not me. I have no interest in 'allies' who desire a connection to my blood but have nothing they owe me personally." He finally answered. Lefae turned to face him, but his eyes were locked on the men along the wall.

"No matter. A subject for another time then." The man's hands twitched towards a weapon he did not currently possess. She could feel the rage pouring off of him. Strange. She knew of his anger, but it felt more chaotic than she had been told.

Her maid approached and knelt with Lefae's sword in her hands. The princess retrieved the weapon, walking it over to Lucius and passing it to him. He eyed her warily but understood when she gestured to the men. "They are yours to exact vengeance upon. Oh, but please do avoid using lightning. I can take care of the bloodstains, but burnt flesh has a habit of lingering."

With a wave of her hand the men twitched and jerked into position, hanging their heads forward and exposing their necks to their would-be executioner. Lucius drew the blade and filled his body with Mana. Lightning wrapped around his lower body. In a flash of light, he seemed to teleport from one side of the line of people to the other. A moment later fourteen heads rolled to the ground. Blood soaked into the rug beneath them.

"Thank you for allowing me this. I appreciate it. You are strange. But I appreciate it. Thank you—truly—for protecting my family. I am in your debt it seems." Lucius sighed. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing at the moment. I want to fight you, but you don't seem put together enough to manage. So I will have you promise to accept my challenge when I determine you are worth challenging." Lefae answered. "Also, I have a meeting set up between you and the al Famyn family in the future. Please be sure to attend that."

"I will." Lucius sheathed the sword and returned it to the maid. He kicked one of the heads across the room as he left, scattering gore across the parlor before leaving. "I'll pay for the cleanup."

"No need. See you again, Lord Kane."

Once the man's body vanished behind the door, the maid placed the sword on its stand. She moved to the large windows, opening one of them.

"Thank you. Let us remove these stains. Shall we?" Lefai moved to her sofa to pick up her book. After she opened to her last page, she swished her fingers toward the bodies. Blood slowly seeped out of the rug and corpses, coalescing into an ball of red gore in the center of the room. With a flick of her wrist, the gore soared through the open window, scattering upon the forest below.

"Feed the corpses to father's pigs." She ordered. When the guards finally removed the bodies, the room was as pristine as it had been before Lucius's arrival.