Wife of The Demon Prince
Chapter 311: The devil!

Chapter 311: The devil!

"Come, I’ll show you where to get the best rice cakes in the city." The little boy pulled Eadlin’s good hand as they both walked down the streets.

They came to stop by a stall where a lot of people were queued in line.

Crispin stared at the rice cakes kept on the stall with watery eyes, "It’s smooth, crispy on the outside, yet soft on the inside, the best rice cakes ever made, that stall owner has magic hands." He excitedly pointed at the middle-aged man behind the stall.

Eadlin smiled seeing his bright eyes filled with hunger as he licked his lips.

"If you love it so much, why don’t we go stand in line?" She asked.

The boy pouted his lips in disappointment, "Tsk, I would, but that mean old punk doesn’t give me any money at all, how am I supposed to buy the things I want?"

"Who’s this..." Eadlin wanted to ask who this so called old person he had been cursing all night, but the boy was quick to interrupt her.

"Don’t!" He looked enraged, however his angry little face looked so adorable that Eadlin couldn’t help but giggle, he then said seriously,"That old punk is nothing but a mean devil, he just wants to ruin my life, I don’t want to talk about him."

Eadlin shook her head in amusement and pulled the little boy’s hand to stand at the end of the line in front of the stall, he gazed up at Eadlin in astonishment.

"Why are we standing here? I told you I don’t have money."

"That’s why I’ll be the one to buy them for you." She gently patted his head.

Crispin’s eyes sparkled a bit, before he seemed to suddenly come back to his senses, he cleared his throat seriously saying, "There is no need for that, you’re a young woman, even if that mean old punk is useless most of the time, he did teach me this much, a young lady is to be pampered and cherished, so that means I should be buying these cakes for you, I can’t let you buy them for me."

This time, Eadlin didn’t stop herself from laughing, she also didn’t hold back from pinching his cheeks which made him squirm his face.

"Alright, you’re truly a little gentleman, but let me buy the cakes for you this time, take it as a debt and pay me back later." She said to appease the little boy’s ego, which she found cute.

He looked thoughtful, "Hmm, a debt? That’s not too bad," he then looked at her steadily, "Alright, I’ll just owe you this one then." He quickly agreed.

They both stood in line, and when it came to their turn, Eadlin bought two wraps of the cakes.

She watched with a smile as Crispin devoured them happily.

"Should I show you where they sell the best candied cones in the city, believe me it’s the best!"

After having the cakes, he once again took Eadlin to another stall where in the name of debt, Eadlin once again bought him something to eat.

"Look there, if you have a taste of the stewed chicken from that shop, you’ll never want to have stewed chicken anywhere else."

"Those lamb skewers look so good!" He said again when they reached another stall. After buying that, he saw another place and pointed excitedly.

"Look at those fried buns, guess I’ll owe you this one again." He muttered.

And with that, they almost visited every food stall and shops in the whole city. Eadlin noticed he knew every single one of them and seemed to have tasted everything. Her conclusion; he was a little foodie.

They had just bought a pack of fried buns and were about to cross the streets when he suddenly halted his steps looking up ahead with his eyes widened showing dread, she had assumed it was another food stall or any eatables that caught his eyes until she followed his line of sight and saw the tall shadow of someone in the distance but couldn’t actually make out who it was.

"Sweet bananas, this mean old punk found me, run!" Eadlin suddenly felt him pull her along as he ran across the streets going straight into an alleyway.

"Crispin what’s wrong?" Eadlin asked but the little boy didn’t stop to reply, he only pulled her along and continued to run while occasionally looking behind him warily.

They continued to run until they reached a deserted street away from all the bustle. Only then did he come to a stop leaning against the wall and patting his chest.

"That was a close call, that punk almost caught me this time." He said breathing heavily but still not forgetting to dig into the bag to pull out a bun and taking a huge bite.

"Who were you running from?" Eadlin asked having finished catching her breath.

He looked at her weirdly as he said, "An old devil, like I told you earlier, my worst sorrows." He said seriously then took a huge bite from the bun having it full his round cheeks as he said with a mouthful, "Good thing I escaped him again."

"Did you?" All of a sudden, a man’s voice came from up ahead from the dark sides of the streets.

Crispin went stiff, his jaw dropped as the bun fell from his hand.

Eadlin looked towards the direction the voice came from seeing the look on the boy’s face that seemed as if he had seen a ghost or rather his greatest fear.

From the shadows at the darker parts of the street, a tall man slowly approached. He was dressed in an all black coat with a dark cape over it that swept along with him as he walked, with dark hair that was swept all the way back, he walked with a dignified air around him.

But Eadlin’s eyes caught something familiar on the front part of his cape, there was a medallion pinned onto it that had the image of a two headed lion. Eadlin narrowed her eyes, the two headed lion was the symbol of a kingdom far away from Findara called Eringdalle, she had once heard about them in the palace since the kingdom had a trade treaty with Findara a few years back where Findarans could freely go there for trade and vice versa.

That symbol alerted her of the fact that the man wasn’t from here.

Instinctively, she quickly stood in front of the little boy protecting him from the approaching man, "Stay away, who are you and what do you want from the boy?"

The man raised a brow at her actions but didn’t reply to her, instead he looked beyond her to the little boy.

"Are you going to come here or should I drag you over myself?" He asked calmly.

Crispin’s eyes darted guiltily, but they suddenly lit up a second later as if he’d gotten an idea, "Who are you, and why are you after me? I don’t know you at all!"

The man didn’t look surprised at all, as if he had expected that, "Are you sure you want to take it this way?" The man asked again taking another step forward.

Eadlin spread her good arm out protectively, "I told you to stop didn’t I? Don’t take another step forward, he doesn’t know you, so why are you after him? He’s just a little boy, you should be ashamed of yourself trying to frighten and threaten a child!" Eadlin rebuked. Since the strange man didn’t seem to be from Findara, she didn’t doubt that the boy didn’t know him, and suspected he was just trying to harm the kid. Though she had just met the child, she would still not stand aside and watch him get captured by some stranger.

The man calmly glanced at Eadlin, "What did you just say to me?" He asked, his voice, as deep and dark as a moonless night. But Eadlin wasn’t frightened by his dark aura and stood her ground.

"Exactly what you heard, you should be ashamed for bullying a child, don’t you know kids are easily frightened? If you have any bad intentions towards him then don’t even think I’ll let you succeed."

Crispin stared up at Eadlin with starry eyes as if he’d seen his only salvation, his eyes glistening brightly.

The man stared at Eadlin for a while, his gaze seemed to be assessing her for sometime, eyes narrowed subtly then his expression turned normal, before calmly saying,"I assure you I won’t harm him my lady, please step aside."

"He’s lying, if he gets a hold of me, he’s going to skin me alive, he’s the devil I tell you, the devil!" Crispin exclaimed panicked that Eadlin might really step aside.

Eadlin frowned, however, before she could say anything, the man spoke up,

"Oh, how are you so sure of that, did you not just say that you don’t know me? Then how come you’re so certain I’m the devil?"

Crispin’s little expression froze, "Er..." He wasn’t able to utter another word knowing full well he’d just let himself slip.

The man added, "Besides, if I’m the devil, doesn’t that make you the devil’s spawn? My rascally little boy." His voice laced with sarcasm.

Eadlin caught something in his words as she asked curiously, "You mean you’re his..."

"Father? Yes I am, aren’t I? Little rascal." He asked his son who was still trying to hide behind Eadlin.

Eadlin turned to look at Crispin in astonishment seeing him scratch his head guiltily, "Alright, alright, he’s my father." Crispin sighed.

He didn’t want Eadlin to get mad at him for pretending so he quickly said, "But you really need to protect me from him, he’s a mean old devil."

The man didn’t bother about the boy’s sharp tongue throwing jabbing words at him, he turned to Eadlin, placing his hands on his chest he did a small bow as they did in Eringdalle,

"Thank you, my lady for helping my stubborn little boy, I’ll take it from here."

Eadlin looked doubtfully from Crispin to the man, still reluctant to leave the boy in the man’s hands considering how scared Crispin seemed of the man earlier.

"Ah, pardon my manners, my name is Derian Hansley, from the kingdom of Eringdalle, that’s my son Crispin Hansley, once again, thank you for watching after him."

Eadlin was surprised to find out Crispin indeed wasn’t from Findara, she wondered how he managed to know every snack and food stall in the city of Findara then, perhaps he was that much of a foodie that he recalled every snack stall immediately.

Eadlin nodded curtly at the man.

"Oh stop playing the polite gentleman in front of her, it just doesn’t suit you at all." Crispin said to his father with hands on his hips.

"Are you coming or not?" Derian gave him a pointed look.

Crispin still looked reluctant as he gazed up at Eadlin.

Eadlin glanced at him pitifully, then turned to Derian to say, "I’m sorry for saying this, I know you’re his father, but you could at least be more gentle with him, he’s just a child after all, he needs warmth, support and gentle words, being too stern with him will only make him scared."

Crispin clutched on to her skirt and nodded as she spoke as if agreeing with her every word.

Derian once again did the Eringdalle bow, "I appreciate your concern for my son my lady, I’ll keep your words in mind."

Crispin showed a blank look as he stared at his father, "Sweet bananas, father, you are such an actor."

The man ignored his son’s words and asked politely, "Shall I send you home my lady, our carriage is just up front on the road."

Crispin who earlier had a defeated look in his eyes brightened up, "Yes, let’s do that, so I’ll get to know where you live."

Eadlin gazed down at the boy’s expectant look, though she had left the Boxton mansion, she had just wanted to get some air, she hadn’t planned to run away.

She silently nodded.

Crispin grabbed her good arm, ignoring his father he began to lead her back to the road.

Derian stared at Eadlin’s back for some time, before he began to follow behind them.

The silent and empty streets were filled with the little boy’s voice excitedly talking with Eadlin as they walked.