The Devil's Son and His Fated Bride-Chapter 257: Hector’s Grandfather.

The Fae King gave a knowing smile.

"I know you’ve been searching for it. So, I visited an old friend who owed me a favor. This is a gift for my daughter. Now, go and tell Lady Gillia to prepare for healing Kaisun."

When Agara left, the trio began strolling along the edge of the garden, where glittering fairies floated like petals on the wind. Then Ren turned, her gaze steady on her grandfather.

"My brother’s mother... He said she was a hybrid and her father was Fae. Do you know who he was?"

The King let out a long breath. A shadow passed across his expression.

"Yes, I know him. And as we speak, Lucieth is likely meeting with him."

Kai’s brow furrowed sharply.

"Wait. Are you saying... that Fae is related to Lucieth?"

The King nodded slowly, casually.

"Indeed. Lucieth is Hector’s grandfather. He revealed it to me when we returned from the Ice Lands."

Ren halted in her steps, stunned. Her thoughts raced.

Lucieth? Her brother’s grandfather?

That meant Hector was descended from three distinct bloodlines, Fae, human, and mermaid. The implications were staggering. Power must run through his veins like lightning, yet... she had never felt it in his aura.

Could his mother have sealed it away?

Had she cursed or protected him, never telling him the truth?

Kai and Ren exchanged a glance, thunderstruck. The man who had vilified hybrids, who had ruined Acelieth’s life, condemned their kind as demons, had, himself, fathered a child with a mermaid princess? Neither of them dared imagine how he would have reacted had he known she was pregnant.

The most bitter irony? Hector’s mother never told her son who his grandfather was... or perhaps she knew and kept it secret, protecting him the only way she could.

"We cannot let him stay here. He must return to Deagara and summon the vampires," Kai urged with a sharp tone, his brows furrowed.

The Fae King narrowed his eyes, his voice calm but resolute.

"I have no intention of letting a vampire remain in my realm. Vampires were the very reason I isolated my lands. Nimoieth’s creations, her hunger to manipulate blood and life, nearly destroyed everything we held sacred."

His words dripped with the weight of memory, centuries of pain and betrayal. Nimoieth’s shadow still haunted the Fae skies.

After spending a long time with the King, Ren and Kai returned quietly to their chamber. The cool air of the Griffin forest clung to them, but it was not what made Ren shiver.

Kai, removing his cloak, turned to her, curiosity etched into his face.

"Why didn’t you tell him about your father? I thought you’d ask him to show mercy, or at least heal him."

Ren sat by the edge of the bed, her fingers unconsciously brushing over the scroll now sealed in her pouch.

"Because I have to respect my father’s decision. If he chose the Fae judgment, who am I to take that away?"

She looked up at him, her eyes moist but unwavering.

"Maybe I’m selfish... but I won’t change his path."

Without another word, Kai walked over and gently embraced her from behind. His arms circled around her, warm and steady. Then he lifted her hand and studied the ring on her finger.

The gem glowed with a soft, pearly light, its ivy-carved band as delicate as a sawn feather.

"I know this ring," he murmured.

Ren tilted her head. "Is it powerful?"

Kai nodded, his lips brushing the back of her head.

"Very. And pure." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

His gaze fell to the bottle sitting on the bedside table, the glowing Aqua Blue herb.

"They’re coming," he said softly.

As if summoned by fate, a knock echoed across the chamber doors.

"Niece, Lady Gillia is here to heal your husband."

Ren stood, eyes wide with surprise.

Her grandfather had already sent word to Lucieth. He had moved faster than she imagined. And now, the healer who could purge the darkness was here.

"Please, come in," Ren called.

The door creaked open, and a woman stepped inside with the grace of moonlight. Her silver robes shimmered faintly under the enchanted glow of the room. Behind her came Agara, carrying a small crystal box that gleamed with an ethereal hue. Jigress root, and Halo herbs, and the rest of the ingredients.

"I am honored His Majesty entrusted me with this task," Lady Gillia spoke, her voice like a soft wind through winter leaves. God’s, why would it be so pleasant to hear her voice? "For the past decade, I have studied the art of aura purification, to aid dragon riders tainted by their bond."

Ren blinked, tilting her head with curiosity.

"Dragon riders? They suffer from this same affliction?"

The woman’s gaze fell to the glowing Aqua Blue herb sitting at the heart of the chamber.

"Yes. We call it Dragon Disease. When a rider and dragon form a deep bond, especially one forged in darkness or battle, it can corrode the rider’s mind and aura. It’s slow, quiet... and cruel."

Understanding dawned in Ren’s eyes, but there was no time for deeper questions. The danger in Kai’s body was growing with every heartbeat.

She turned to her husband. "Sit down, love. Let her help you."

Kai obeyed, his movements slow, uncertain. As he sank onto the cushion, Ren remained close, her hand lingering on his shoulder for strength, for connection, but the woman asked her to stay away. She walked back, standing behind him.

Lady Gillia knelt before him. With the utmost reverence, she opened the box Agara had brought. Inside were the other rare herbs, pulsing with heavenly power. One shimmered silver like starlight, and the other glowed a soft lavender with veins of gold.

Her magic pulsed out of her fingertips. As she arranged all three herbs before her, hovering in the air, she lifted her hands, and the soft pulses of magic rippled through the air. Her eyes shimmered with concentrated power as the aura expanded.

It was like a veil of sacred wind descending. The herbs responded immediately, glowing brighter, their auras unraveling into the air like tendrils of mist. The room thickened with magic, dense, humming, electric.

Kai’s body tensed as the magic reached into him, brushing against the corrupted aura wrapped around his core. His eyes widened, but Ren linked her mind instantly.

"I’m here," she whispered. "You are not alone."

Lady Gillia didn’t speak. Her hands danced through the air with practiced elegance, shaping the flow of energy as she began the sacred rite that might finally cleanse the shadows within Thegara’s Alpha King.

~*~

Family Tree Notes for King Benkin.

King Benkin D’Orient’s Children:

Reneira D’Orient: Her mother was Anarya Al-Gathiran, a Fae and Ophelia’s aunt. They never knew each other because Lucieth was mysterious and kept many secrets. Even his granddaughter, Ophelia, didn’t know him.

Hector D’Orient: His mother was Ophelia, a half-Fae, half-mermaid who drugged King Benkin with magic to have a child with him. Lucieth turns out to be his grandfather, the man who slept with Ophelia’s mother.

King Benkin unwittingly bedded Ophelia in Sobis village, having been lured and drugged by her magic. This happened before he met the high Fae, Anarya (Ophelia’s aunt). No one knows why Ophelia kept hiding everything from her son, maybe shame or something deeper.