The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 151: Follow Your Heart

Chapter 151: Follow Your Heart

"They are anything but young, Your Majesty." Crown Princess Natalia told the King who quickly turned his attention toward Valerius, Damien, and Kenric. He seemed totally surprised for some reason as if he really thought the men were younger than him.

"Oh...!" That was all he said a couple of moments later as he adjusted his sitting position on the throne before turning his attention back toward Crown Princess Natalia. "You seem to trust them." It wasn’t exactly a question but the Crown Princess still decided to answer.

"So do you, Your Majesty. If not for your trust in them, you would have never shared the secret of the investigations with them." The soft smile on the Crown Princess’ lips made it clear that she was able to see through the King’s thoughts.

The King let out a small chuckle as he shook his head slightly and spoke, his words directed at Valerius and the rest. "If you all are really prepared to investigate these incidents, the least our Mortal Realm can do is to help as much as we can. I’m handing over both of these items to you. Hope you will succeed in your mission."

A look of understanding passed between Valerius and the King before the latter signaled his eldest son. The Crown Prince stood up from his seat and moved to collect the parchment and the box with the pendant before he offered it to Valerius who accepted it and passed the box to Kenric.

Instead of returning to his seat, the Crown Prince moved to the center of the hall and kneeled down while facing his father, the King. "Your Majesty, can I ask for your permission to accompany these people in their investigation? At the end of the day, this case is also related to our realm and we should be responsible to our people. We are also a part of our world, we should be liable to protect it."

The King seemed not so happy with his son’s words but his unhappiness seemed to be related more to his worry toward his son instead of the latter trying to be brave. "Elijah, I’m not trying to stop you my son but you have to remember that this fight is against a very powerful evil force. You will..."

"Father...!" The Crown Prince stopped the King from finishing whatever the latter was going to say and even though it was an act of great insolence, everyone let it slide, including the King, as the Crown Prince’s intentions were clearly pure.

"... I’m aware that at the end of the day, I am nothing but a mortal with the title of the Crown Prince of the Mortal Realm. Neither my title nor my lousy martial arts skills will be able to help me or anyone else much in this quest of ours. However..."

The Crown Prince’s attention suddenly turned toward Annalise as he continued, "... someone just made me realize that I’m probably not as useless as I have been considering myself for the past couple of years, that I can also be good enough to be a part of this wonderful world."

Annalise found a genuine smile spilling on her lips as she gave a small nod to the Crown Prince whose eyes were filled with gratitude as he returned her smile and turned to look at his father, the King. "Please father, please let me join them... if not for our realm or for our world, then for me."

Once again, everyone’s attention was on the King as they all waited for him to make his decision and once again the dilemma was clearly visible on his face.

The King turned to look at the High Priest who had been silently standing next to him all this while. The two men shared a quick look before the High Priest gave a soft nod. Still, it seemed like the King wasn’t convinced yet so he turned to look at... Annalise.

"He’s my son and he wants to follow you and your companions on this dangerous journey. Princess Annalise, can I trust you to keep my son safe?"

Annalise was totally not prepared to be put on spot like this all of a sudden. Things escalated around her too quickly, not giving her enough time to process everything.

She quickly turned to look at her husbands only to find all three of them looking anywhere but at her. It was pretty clear to her what the dark lords meant by their current behavior - she had to take the decision on her own and she would be solely reliable for whatever she would end up deciding.

The fact that her husbands retracted their support from her didn’t help Annalise much in her current predicament. Her gaze found the Crown Prince who was looking at her with hope filled eyes.

Annalise wanted to let out a deep sigh to get rid of some of the stress that was pulling her down but knew exactly how bad of an action it could be at the moment. Hence, she decided to stop thinking too much and just went with her instincts.

She turned her attention at the King as she replied, "I will, Your Majesty. I will protect him not as the Crown Prince of the Mortal Realm nor as your son..." She turned her gaze back to the Crown Prince as she continued, "... I will protect him as my younger brother and a companion."

The smile that immediately bloomed on the Crown Prince’s lips told her that she made the right decision, even if there were chances that she would regret it latter.

And as she looked around, she realized that it wasn’t only the Crown Prince who was contended with her answer, almost everyone seemed to be impressed by her decision, including her husbands.

"Since you have given me your words, I can finally be at ease because I know you won’t disappoint me." The King said to Annalise before he turned his attention at his eldest son. "You are allowed to follow your heart, my son."