Samer chuckled mockingly. “I thought you would come up with something really interesting but who doesn’t know this piece of intelligence?”

“Drayce Ivanov heavily dotes on his wife, more than even what you can imagine. You can use her to get him down. Moreover, she is one beautiful woman. I am sure, Your Majesty King of Thevailes appreciates adding another beauty to your harem. Can you imagine how distraught your enemy will be to have his woman forcefully taken away from him?”

Samer scoffed, “I think you should leave if you have nothing more to offer.”

Zaria shook her head, “I guess you have accepted your defeat from Drayce Ivanov, Your Majesty.”

“Defeat? If you speak that way, intruder, I do not think it is my goodwill you will earn,” Samer replied as if he didn’t particularly care about it anyway. “Convince me. Why are you so confident that you can help me defeat him?”

“As his sworn enemy, you know the King of Megaris is not an ordinary human,” she said with a confident smile, “and with him being an owner of various supernatural abilities, unless you have the same on your side, you cannot defeat him.”

“You believe one man is enough to change the flow of war?”

“I do not believe, Your Majesty, I know,” she emphasized the last word. “As I am also a being capable of wielding such powers, I know how a single person can overwhelm even a hundred troops. I can lend you my powers so you can defeat him.”

She then looked at the knight who was still pinned against the pillar. While Samer and the Black Witch were conversing, he was able to regain his consciousness, but he could not free himself regardless of what he tried. Suddenly, his sword on the floor moved and fled at a speed towards the knight with the intent to kill him but it stopped just an inch away from his throat.

Zaria looked back at Samer. “Your Majesty, do you need more proof of my ability? Will it be fine if I kill not only your knight but perhaps the brigade where he belongs? Since these are royal knights, they ought to be your kingdom’s most elite fighters, aren’t they?”

Samer didn’t answer but asked, “Why do you seek my cooperation when you have such powers?”

“Does that matter, Your Majesty?”

“If I were to wield you as a weapon, should I not understand what kind of weapon you are?”

“Knowing the fact that the King of Megaris is my enemy should suffice. As they say, the enemy of an enemy is a friend. I have a grudge to settle with him so would it not be sweet revenge to have him lose everything he cherishes? I simply want to help his enemy defeat him and snatch away what belongs to him…” Her gaze turned sharp as she completed her line, “…including his wife.”

Samer chuckled. “You can keep his wife. As long as I can kill him and incorporate his vast land into the only empire on the continent, other things are useless.” His light gray eyes were filled with the determination to defeat Drayce.

“So tell me, intruder, what will you gain from it?” he asked as he smirked. “Don’t try to fool me by saying you have a grudge. Even if you have, I do not believe it is the main reason. Tell me the truth.”

“I will get to strengthen the magic I use. It is not only humans who have greed,” she explained. “If you agree to help me, I will use my powers to help you take over his entire kingdom. In exchange, you cannot refuse me from taking people who are by his side, for they will help me grow my powers. I think this is an attractive offer.”

The young man with silvery white hair raised a thick brow as he tried to understand her demand. “And what if I try to use them for myself?”

“Your Majesty, you are a human. What I will get from them will be useless to you.”

Samer thought for a bit. “I guess one of those people you say you need is his wife?”

“Precisely, one is the Queen of Megaris,” Zaria agreed, telling the truth despite hiding the rest of the details. She believed there was no need to be completely transparent since she merely needed Thevailes as a tool to distract Drayce. She continued to speak, “Once I get what I want from her, I will give her to you. You can keep her as a trophy or trade her for someone with the good exchange. But I am sure, Your Majesty would not like to let go of such beauty. You need to remember she had caught the eyes of someone like Drayce Ivanov.”

As she said those words, her dark eyes glimmered with a meaningful look. She was trying to tempt him by using the wife of his rival. Once he set his mind on her and wanted to have her, even if Thevailes was unable to defeat Megaris, there was no way Samer would back down from fighting with Drayce on a personal level.

“You can keep or kill her, I don’t care,” Samer showed no interest in her provocation.

Zaria didn’t pester me and said, “I will return again in a few days. I hope by then Your Majesty will give me a favourable response.”

Samer didn’t reply to her but his gaze moved towards his knight who was pinned against the stone pillar.

Zaria understood what he meant, and the next moment, the knight broke free from his restraint.

The very second she lifted the spell, the knight dove to the ground to pick up his sword and lunged towards her, ready to cut her throat, but–

“Step down!”

Sir Rechard obeyed the King who ordered him to stop without hesitation, while Zaria admired the knight’s loyalty. “Apologies, human, but I had no other way to have a quiet talk with His Majesty in your presence. As we might be future allies, I will take this chance to show you my goodwill. I believe this won’t happen again.”

The knight glared at her but put his sword back in its scabbard as he halfheartedly accepted her apology.

“I will take a leave now.” Zaria vanished in thin air but her last words echoed within the large throne hall. “Oh, I remember, isn’t His Majesty infamous as a collector of beautiful things? I believe you would love the purple eyes of the Queen of Megaris. The most beautiful eyes on this continent.”

Samer found it absurd how this woman called Zaria was adamant on making him fancy the Queen of Megaris. Where his ambitions lie, it was in conquest–to be named the founding emperor of an empire.

Though, hearing about her being the owner of purple eyes, he suddenly felt curious about her. He looked at his knight. “Didn’t Drayce Ivanov marry some princess of Abetha?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. In exchange for helping Abetha rescue their Crown Prince, the King of Megaris asked to marry the King of Abetha’s youngest daughter, the Third Princess. It was  quite shocking news for the people of the continent.”

Samer rubbed his chin. “If it’s the youngest, I think it was rumoured that she was cursed so her father imprisoned her.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The entire Kingdom of Abetha hated the princess and they were happy when she left. No one understood, be it the other royal families or the nobles of Megaris, why the King of Megaris married the princess who her own father doesn’t acknowledge.”

“Then she must truly be a beautiful lady to blind the senses of that wicked man, Drayce Ivanov. How fascinating. I will retire to my chambers now. Ask someone to have her portrait sent to me in the morning.”

“Well, Your Majesty…” For the first time, Sir Rechard had a look of embarrassment. “It has been said that no one had ever seen her face so no one knows how she looks. Aside from her eyes, the only feature people could see were the snake-like scales on her skin. That was the main reason why it was rumoured that she’s cursed–the other reason being that her birth mother was an ugly witch and she inherited her appearance.”

“Do you, in your right mind, believe that some ugly woman can seduce the King of Abetha who has a lady from the Nefertiti Royal Family as a wife? Wasn’t Niobe Ilven said to be the most beautiful woman of her generation?”

“They said it’s precisely because the princess’s birth mother is a witch, so she must have cast some spell to bewitch Armen Ilven…So she is said to be a witch’s daughter. A witch just like her mother. They say this princess must have enchanted the King of Megaris just as her mother did with the King of Abetha.”

“Witch?” Samer repeated. “So that devil married a witch? Interesting!” He thought about it and then ordered, “Get every information about her. Let me see what is so special about her that Drayce Ivanov married her.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

As the knight accepted the order, Samer thought about the last words Zaria said.

“Purple eyes? I have never heard of anyone having such a color of their eyes.”

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