She Belongs To The Devil

Her gown was all wet, probably because she crossed the river without using the bridge. Her shoes were all muddy. And she was huffing and puffing because of all that running. Yet, she didn\'t stop. She would look back every once in a while to check if anyone were after her. And then she would continue to run.

Theodore looked around the surroundings and from the looks of it, he concluded that she was heading towards Frostford for some reason… even though it would take her days to reach there if we were to gauge her pace.

He opened his eyes and mumbled, "Maybe she is trying to go to the Frostford Palace and then ask for help? But wasn\'t she always scared of that witch and backbiting about her? She should be glad that Lillian was caught."

He sighed and then got up, "Ugh! Some people just love to be abused."

He then instantaneously teleported to the place where he had located that maid.

By now, Ida was dragging herself even though there was no energy left in her body. And when a black figure appeared in front of her out of the thin air, she almost got a heart attack. She stumbled on her own foot and fell down.

Theodore narrowed his eyes at the poor maid and then scared her even more by speaking in a menacing voice, "Where do you think you are going, Ida? Aren\'t you Lillian\'s personal maid? Shouldn\'t you be accompanying her even in the dungeon?"

Upon hearing the word \'dungeon\', Ida immediately sat on her knees, dropped her belongings, and then rubbed her palms together.

She then began to beg to that terrifying man, "Please show this poor lady some mercy, young man. Whatever I did, I did on the order of the Queen. I don\'t have anything to do with her crimes. I am not the culprit. So please spare me. Please!"

Theodore looked her in the eyes and then asked with a scalding fury, "If you don\'t have anything to do with her crimes then why were you even running in the first place? And tell me, why were you running towards Frostford instead of going back to your home or some other safe place? Weren\'t you trying to snitch?"

Ida briskly shook her head and then denied that accusation, "I was not trying to snitch. I was just running wherever my feet were taking me."

Though she denied it, Theodore could clearly tell that she was lying because of the aura that she was emitting. "Lies!" He snarled his teeth and almost gave another heart attack to that maid.

"You are not even showing any remorse for what you did for all those years. You are simply trying to pin it all on Lillian and you are acting as if you are a saint. Fear the damnation, Ida…" Theodore\'s eyes turned red as he offered his hand to her while saying, "…it will come to you sooner or later."

The rims of Ida\'s iris glowed red in color. She was completely under Theodore\'s control now. She got up from the ground and gently touched Theodore\'s palm.

In the next moment, Theodore teleported her very close to the Palace gate but away from the eyes of the Palace guards.

He then stared deep into her eyes that were still glowing and then tampered with her memory, "You never met me. You came to the Palace on your own two feet because the carriages had already left without you."

And then he also gave her an order so that she would not run away again, "You are going to head straight for the King\'s Court from here. You will only stop walking when you see the King. Go!"

While she was still under Theodore\'s influence, she began to walk towards the Court.

Theodore, on the other hand, decided to go and check if the witches were done paying their final respects and burying their fallen sister.

Ida was walking as though she was possessed by something. She was completely unaware of her surroundings. And some of the guards and maids who she passed by were a little creeped out by her.

Soon, she reached the door of the Court that was full of guards, councilmen, and many other people related to Lillian\'s case. And when she finally saw the face of the King, she finally snapped out of Theodore\'s compulsion over her.

She \'remembered\' arriving at the Palace gate on her own but she couldn\'t quite understand why in the world would she come to the Court when she already knew what was going down today. And in the moment of her panic, she screamed and tried to run away from there.

However, Adeline instantly ordered the guards to stop her and bring her inside the court.

"No! Why are you taking me inside? I didn\'t do anything! Leave me! Let me go!" she screamed and resisted being dragged away, attracting everyone\'s attention towards her.

But the guards paid no heed to her pleas and dragged her to where Adeline was.

Adeline gestured the guards to leave her and she calmly tried to get through to her, "Your name is Ida, am I correct?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Ida clutched her palms together and then immediately begged to Adeline, "Please spare my life, Your Highness. It was never my intention to support the Queen. I was-"

Adeline placed her hand on her shoulder and prompted her to stop blabbering. "I know that it was never your intention to do whatever you did. So will you reveal the names of all the involved people who worked for Lillian for money?"

Adeline gave a gentle smile but spoke in a chillingly calm voice, "You don\'t want to get an equal punishment as Lillian, do you? If you reveal all the names, I will consider your old age and will be lenient with you."

Ida understood the disguised threat that she just got from the sweet-looking Princess. And after thinking for a short while, she saw no other way to escape her fate.. So, she lowered her head and agreed, "I will give all the names, Your Highness."