She Belongs To The Devil

Adeline carefully scrolled back the portrait of her mother and then kept it safely inside her drawer.

As she had already completed her daily practice routine, she was now happily waiting for Theodore to give her a visit. She wanted to inform him that the day for the test had been chosen and was just less than a month away.

Adeline never really got to thank Theodore for sharing his power with her and giving her the strength that she had today. It was because of him that she was able to surpass the strength of a normal human body and also it was because of him that she was motivated to push herself to strive for excellence.

And today, Adeline wanted to thank Theodore from the bottom of her heart.

However, after the last incident with Osanna, Adeline did not want Theodore to run into any of her maids, even when he was veiling himself. So she had suggested Theodore to only visit her when she would be alone.

This was not hard for Theodore because he knew Adeline's routine by heart. And unless there were unexpected visits from someone, Theodore would make sure to teleport to Adeline's room when he was absolutely sure that Adeline would be alone.

Hours passed by but Theodore did not appear in front of her.

Adeline had the ring given by Theodore if she wanted to call him but she did not want to compel Theodore to teleport to her unless it was absolutely necessary.

It started to get dark and was almost her dinner time. And before her dinner, she went to feed Rion and returned back to her room in time for her dinner.

Hawisa and Osanna knocked on her door at the usual time. Adeline looked at the door and then shouted, "Come in."

Hawisa and Osanna set the dinner for Adeline and enthusiastically glanced at the Princess. Hawisa was the first one to speak, "Adeline, we heard that the day for the test was announced today. Aren't you excited?"

Adeline grinned widely and nodded her head, "Of course I am excited. But at the same time, I am a little nervous too."

Osanna furrowed her brows and spoke gently as if she was speaking to her own child, "Adeline, what is there to be nervous about? You have been training, practicing, and studying so hard for this. And you have been working really hard since your childhood."

Osanna sat down beside Adeline and held her hand, "I remember you forcing yourself to wake up early so that you could duel with Prince Nigel. And you have kept that habit till now. From what I have heard from other maids, I can tell that no one has worked as hard as you. So I don't see any reason to be nervous about."

Hawisa also sat on the other side of Adeline and tried to give her encouraging words, "I agree with Osanna on this. You have nothing to be nervous about. You have pushed yourself very hard and trained yourself. And you are not just strong, but sensible and compassionate at the same time. I believe that you have what it takes to be a Queen of Wyverndale."

Adeline smiled brightly and then looked at both of her maids with loving eyes. Though she did not have a mother to say such encouraging words to her, she had these two. "It's good to know that you two have more confidence in me than I do."

She giggled and then continued, "Yes, I have been doing a lot of things and preparing for this test but the thing is I don't even know what the test is going to be about. I have heard rumors that a deity takes our test. But who is this deity? And what are we supposed to do? Are we going to fight the deity? Or are we going to fight among ourselves; you know like the survival of the fittest?"

Hawisa hummed for a while and spoke, "I don't think we are the right person to ask those kinds of questions to. All we know is that whatever the test is going to be, you are going to pass the test."

"Why don't you ask your teachers or other Princes or Princesses? Maybe they know something about it." Osanna suggested a possible way to find out the answer.

Adeline puckered her lips and seemed a bit disappointed, "I have tried asking most of them. But no one seems to have any idea regarding that. Maybe the information is deliberately kept as a secret."

Hawisa immediately suggested another option, "Have you tried asking the King himself? I mean, he gave the test and passed, right? Who is better to ask those questions to than the one who passed it?"

Adeline nodded her head and said, "You are right. I tried asking him a lot of times but I don't know why, I always ended up backed out. Maybe because I know that he is not allowed to give an answer and I feel like if I ask him, I will just put him in an uncomfortable situation."

"Just try asking him. It doesn't hurt if he denies answering." Hawisa got up from Adeline's side and then said, "Alright! We have already made your food cold. Do you want us to bring another hot set for you?"

Adeline shook her head and politely denied, "No, it's alright. I don't want to waste food." And then she sat down to eat her dinner.

Osanna and Hawisa smiled and bowed to the Princess and left the room.

After Adeline finished eating her dinner, her maids cleaned up her room and then bowed her goodnight.

Then Adeline waited for some more time for Theodore to come to her on his own will. But even after waiting for another hour, he did not appear in the room. Adeline started getting anxious about the situation. So she decided to put her ring to use.

She put her knuckles in between her lips and then softly kissed on the ring. And then she waited for Theodore to teleport in front of her.

*thud*

She heard a sound behind her and she swiftly turned around with a smile. But her smiled quickly faded away and she had a look of horror on her face.

Theodore was lying on the floor, covered in bruises and blood, and unconscious.

Adeline quickly rushed to his side and dropped on her knees. She shook Theodore and then tried to wake him up, "Theodore… Theodore… Please wake up."

But Theodore did not even flinch. He was completely out cold. His beautiful face was covered in cuts and blue marks. His clothes were covered in blood and there was blood coming out from several parts of his body. He seemed to be badly hurt.

Seeing Theodore in that condition, Adeline could not control herself. Streams of tears were rolling down her cheeks. Her whole body was shaking like a leaf. And she was starting to feel cold, as if the life force from her body was being drained away.

What Adeline did not understand was, how? How was he in his current state? He was the most powerful being that Adeline had ever encountered; he was the Devil for God's sake. And yet someone or something was powerful enough to beat Theodore into pulp.

Adeline was still calling out Theodore's name and was muffling her cries. But after some time, she realized that his life depended on her right now. She could not call any healers or any other person for help because then they would know about the Devil visiting her in secret.

She did not have teleportation ability to take him to his cave; maybe they knew what happened to him and could even heal him. But that was out of the question right now. So she wiped her tears and pulled herself together.

After gaining her composure, she then got up to get some water. She sprinkled some water on Theodore to try and wake him up but that did not work at all.

Then using all her strength, she managed to pull Theodore from the cold floor and lay him down on her bed.

She tore apart his dusty and bloody clothes off of his injured body threw them on the floor. She ran to her bath house and brought a bowl of cold and clean water. She took out a clean towel and rinsed it in the cold water. Then she started to clean the wounds on Theodore's face and body.

She felt a continuous pain in her heart seeing all his wounds. There was a cut at the side of his stomach and on his right thigh. There were scars on his chest which seemed as if they were claw marks from some beast. She turned him slightly and she could see cuts on his back as well.

Adeline's mind was filled with several thoughts. "Shouldn't he be self-healed by now? What if he does not heal? Is he going to die? But he is the Devil... Isn't he supposed to be an immortal? But why do I feel as if I am getting weak, as if his power is leaving my body? What if his life is slowly slipping away? No! That can't be. I am just worried about him, that's all."

Then she checked his breath just to be sure. Thankfully, he was still breathing. But he was not waking up even after so much time.

She had some herbal ointments in her room that was given to her by the Royal Healer. She had a good stash of it because she would constantly hurt herself in the practice and would need then from time to time.

She spread the ointment on Theodore's wounds and bandaged his wounds. Then she covered him with thin sheet of cotton cloth so that his wounds would not get infected.

Now, Adeline could only hope that his wounds would start to heal soon and that he would regain his consciousness.