Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 338: Experiment Results

Chapter 338: Experiment Results

Daphne felt her entire body ache all over. The last time this happened, if she recalled correctly, was when she had gone to the extremes with her magic and used every newfound force she had on Bram, the mercenary who tried to have her killed.

Her head was pounding. It felt like she had been slammed face-first into a slab of stone over and over again, all while having ingested endless barrels of hard liquor. Despite the pain she felt in her head, her body was significantly worse. If she hadn’t opened her eyes to confirm for herself, she would’ve thought that she was being shackled down with lead.

"Ugh..." She groaned, furrowing her eyebrows before she finally peeled her eyes open. "What happened?"

Her voice was croaky and it felt like she had swallowed a bag of sand. As soon as she made the first sound, however, she felt a minty cool feeling wash over her throat. Two fingers were placed right on her neck and there was a flash of red. Within seconds, her throat felt much better than before.

"You’re... You’re finally awake."

Daphne squinted, having to blink a couple of times before she finally recognized the man who was seated right in front of her. Prince Nathaniel had tears welling in his eyes, his lips quivering as he watched Daphne from where he sat. She even blinked a couple of times, rubbing her eyes as she wondered if she was seeing things.

Prince Nathaniel? Here? Crying?

What in the world was happening?

"Why―"

She had barely even gotten one word of her questions in before Prince Nathaniel was harshly shoved to one side. He ungracefully fell out of the chair and was replaced by a worried Atticus, who held Daphne’s hand in his.

"Daphne," he murmured. Likewise, his eyes were suspiciously shimmery with tears. "How do you feel? Any discomfort? Do you want a drink? Of course you would want a drink." He spoke to himself before Daphne could even reply, turning around to bark orders at Jonah, who seemed to be falling asleep in a corner. "Jonah. Water. Now."

The poor knight jolted from where he sat on the couch, springing to his feet when his name was called. When he made eye contact with Daphne, his eyes widened before he turned to Atticus, giving him a firm nod in reply. Jonah dashed quickly to the nearby table and fetched a glass of water within moments.

"Drink some," Atticus instructed, helping Daphne to sit up properly so that she could moisten her throat.

"How long was I out for this time?" she asked after taking a sip and looking around. Then, she sprang a little straighter. "Nereus and Zephyr! Where are they? Are they alright?"

"Alive, sadly," Atticus muttered under his breath, earning him a shove from Jonah. "You were out for three days."

"Three days?!" she echoed. Well, her body sure felt like it.

"I tried to hasten your recovery," Prince Nathaniel said. He glared harshly at Atticus before returning his gaze to Daphne. He didn’t dare to meet her eyes. "You’ve over-exerted yourself and stretched your powers to its limits in too short a time. You’ll need to rest before you use them again."

"As for Zephyr and Nereus, they sustained minor injuries," Jonah explained. "Zephyr is healing in a different room. Just some mild exhaustion and a couple of bruises and scratches that have been healing up nicely. Nereus, on the other hand..."

"Nereus?" Daphne prompted. "What happened to Nereus? You said that they only sustained minor injuries, yes?"

"He lost an eye," Sirona said.

She sat at her table still, fiddling with what seemed like an endless row of vials and various herbs. There was also a slab of meat at her working station. However, Daphne couldn’t tell what sort of animal it was. She didn’t particularly care too much about that either, especially when the news of Nereus’s lost eye bombarded her.

"How?" she asked, astonished.

As soon as she asked the question, Daphne pursed her lips shut. How could he not? With the amount of torture Alistair must’ve no doubt put him through, it was a miracle that he had only lost an eye and nothing more grievous.

"It was... damaged." Sirona exhaled loudly, glancing back and forth between Atticus and Jonah, who offered her tight-lipped expressions. "I had to operate and remove it before it caused an infection for the rest of his body."

The two men remained silent, their expressions grave. Their reluctance to speak caused the silence that enveloped the room to become deafening. For a while, everyone remained in that state until Daphne finally reached out and clasped Atticus’s hand in hers.

"You don’t have to feel guilty for it," she said, her expression soft. "It’s not your fault."

Atticus’s eyes widened slightly with surprise. His eyebrows rose before they eventually fell when he registered her words, a soft smile shaping his lips.

Daphne returned the smile, gently patting the back of his hand. Her poor husband must’ve been worried sick for the entire duration she had been out. Guilt kicked Daphne right in the gut.

Time and time again she had him worrying for her due to her own foolish recklessness. While she would like to think that she had learned from her mistakes — after all, she brought Zephyr as a backup this time — she knew that she was still far from enough.

She had to be stronger. Daphne didn’t regret her actions― she would’ve done the same and saved Nereus if she had been given a second chance. However, she definitely should’ve been better prepared for it.

"It’s my fault," she said, sighing. "It seems like I’ve brought you trouble again."

"None at all," Atticus replied. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "You’ve done more for me than you could ever imagine."

"Touching and all, but I might have to interrupt you both, Your Majesties," Sirona called out.

Everyone turned to look at the table she sat at, watching as puffs of red smoke emerged from the vial she was previously working on. Sirona pursed her lips, furrowing her eyebrows as she watched the results of her experiment.

"What have you got?" Jonah asked, coming over.

"Nothing good," Sirona said. "The substance that Jean Nott had given Prince Alistair is worse than we thought."

"It’s a drug, is it not?" Jonah questioned. "I think it’s pretty given that it wouldn’t be anything good."

Prince Nathaniel, who had been watching everything silently from one side, suddenly cursed under his breath.

"Oh shit."

Jonah winced. "That bad?"

"Very." Nathaniel walked over and bent down so that he could observe the slab of meat that was placed right in front of Sirona. "This isn’t just a drug. It’s a vampiric toxin."