Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 271: The Lake of the Past II

Chapter 271: The Lake of the Past II

"But..." Young Daphne pouted. She didn’t want to hurt him. He looked so sad. Dark creature or not, that was a human child she saw, even if her father insisted it had a different form.

Meanwhile, Alistair had no such concerns. He eagerly lit his hand up. He could only conjure a small flame at the tender age of six, but it was already far beyond most of his peers.

"Don’t worry, Father. Even if Daphne doesn’t know what to do, I’ll do it," Alistair said, flinging a fireball at Nereus’s feet, causing him to jump in shock. "Oh, this is more fun than any toy! Father, can I have him?"

King Cyrus looked at him with barely concealed pride. "If you promise to have the guards with you at all times, you may."

Alistair smirked smugly at Daphne, while a look of fear entered Nereus’s eyes.

"Dummy Daphne, I have a dark creature now. If you make me angry I’ll feed you to him!"

"You can’t do that! Meanie! You meanie!" Daphne stomped her feet and puffed out her cheeks. "Father! Alistair is bullying me!"

"Alistair, stop picking on your sister," Queen Anette interrupted the scene to pick Daphne up. She pursed her lips as she caught sight of their imprisoned kelpie lying on the floor, covered in blood and wounds. "Why are you showing Daphne such a gory sight?"

"She will have to learn eventually. What better way to show her the powers of Reawethen royalty than to display the spoils of our victory?" King Cyrus’s chest puffed with pride.

"She is still a child," Queen Anette said, frowning.

King Cyrus merely scoffed. It seemed like Daphne had gotten her weak heart and needless compassion from her mother. It was truly an undesirable trait for a member of royalty. However, he said nothing.

"Come, Daphne," Queen Anette said, adjusting her daughter in her arms. "Let’s not watch something so gory. It’s time for your lessons."

"But the boy―"

"Kelpie." Queen Anette was quick to correct her daughter. "Just leave it. There is a place for everyone in this world, dark creatures included."

The scene before them quickly melted away like paint mixed in water.

"What happened to you after that?" Daphne asked, turning to Nereus once the image before them faded. "And why do I not remember any of this?"

"Keep watching," Nereus said.

He kept his gaze straight ahead and Daphne followed, turning to where he looked. Slowly, a different scene was beginning to form. Building structures and furniture began to take shape. Things slotted themselves into place, creating a picture that seemed all too real.

This time, they were in what seemed like an underground dungeon. Daphne hadn’t explored the cells of Reaweth’s palace much, but she assumed it couldn’t look too far off from what was in Vramid’s royal palace.

She was right. It was just as putrid and horrid a place.

Even though everything was just a mirage plucked straight from Nereus’s memory, Daphne’s senses still worked. The stench of the dungeons shot right through her nostrils― it felt like someone had injected a foul, putrid odor directly into her brain.

"Nereus!" Daphne gasped, her hands flying to her lips when she caught sight of a small, shivering figure behind the steel bars of the cell. "Is that...?"

"Yes," Nereus said with a nod.

The small boy was ridden with scars. Daphne wasn’t sure how much time had passed between this memory and the last, but Nereus didn’t seem like he had aged much. If he did, she couldn’t tell. After all, he was so malnourished that all that hung on his bones was his skin.

At that time, he barely had any flesh to speak of. Even his skin seemed to sag to the ground when he laid down, pooling around him as though he was a snowman that was melting into water due to the heat.

A soft creak caused Daphne to snap her attention to the door. From the shadows emerged a young girl, now slightly older than before. She still had the hair clip in place, pulling her long blonde hair away and out of her face.

"Nereus?" the smaller version of Daphne called out.

She looked back and forth, glancing from one prisoner to another until it landed on the small boy’s back. The little girl sucked in a sharp breath of air, similar to the same way Daphne had reacted when she first saw the younger version of Nereus.

"No!" Young-Daphne cried out as she scampered over to Nereus’s cell. She had no power to speak of and no key that could set him free. Here, she could only watch the boy slowly wither away and die.

Without water, it wouldn’t be long before that happened.

She fished in her pockets, rummaging through it before pulling out a wad of seaweed. Huffing, Young-Daphne reached in as far as she could before tossing the seaweed the rest of the way. It landed rather pathetically a short distance away from Nereus in a wet slap.

"Nereus," she urged, trying to keep her voice hushed. "Nereus, wake up. You need to eat."

Meanwhile, the adult Daphne could barely tear her eyes away from the scene. Her heart clenched painfully.

"Did Alistair keep you here?" she asked. Nereus merely nodded. "For how long?"

"I don’t know," Nereus honestly answered. "Years? Time works differently for most mythical creatures. We generally have longer lifespans than humans."

Just then, there came some shuffling noises from within the cell. Both adults turned their heads over to look.

"Princess...?" the boy inside asked, his voice weakened and croaky. He struggled a little to sit up and the younger version of Daphne could only watch from outside, worried and impatient. Every once in a while, she would turn her head to eye the dungeon’s entrance.

"You need to eat for strength," she said, keeping her voice even more hushed than usual. "Or else, I can’t get you out of here."

"Out?" he echoed after her, dazed and confused. He tilted his head to one side, though Daphne couldn’t tell if he was still groggy and weakened, thus unable to hold himself straight, or it was because he was befuddled by Daphne’s words.

He had barely even sat up when a sharp clang and heavy footsteps caused both Daphnes to turn over to the door.

"You!"