The Crown's Entrapment

[Fourth day inside the Element Forest]

"Make sure nothing that will happen to her eyes," Saha reminded Polo as she stared at the Princess of Ebodia lying unconscious on the bed of a private room inside her fellow guardian's palace located in the heart of the vast waters of Eferia.

"If you're so desperate, then you shouldn't have agreed to Helena's bargain," Polo nonchalantly commented. "You shouldn't have went easy with this Princess in return for five more years to your lifespan."

"Extending my lifespan is rather a bit more important than obtaining those beautiful eyes," Saha enthusiastically chuckled. "I would love to live long in this paradise and continue to rule the underground along with all the things involved with burning this realm! I'm not ready to give up on my fire… You see, I'm still exploring it."

Saha then looked at the raven that flew over and comfortably perched itself on the arm she had extended. "Everyone's watching now, and they're probably wondering why the Princess is still sleeping like this," she giggled.

"You used a different approach this time, Polo. This is the first time you'll use something like this, right? Isn't this the most dangerous and deadliest method you have? Are you really that mad? Isn't this the thousand dreams…"

Polo turned, but he didn't look at Saha. Instead, he glared at the raven before him.

"Your Princess will be in a deep slumber while having a thousand dreams. Whatever happens, and whatever she'll experience inside the dream, emotionally and physically, will all be real," Polo explained with a blank expression. "If she's wounded in the dream, then her physical body would also bleed where she was wounded."

There was a pause before he added, "The emotional and physical experiences the Princess will have will not exempt the King of Cordon from experiencing it, since his life is already bonded with her the moment he marked her." He menacingly spoke, "He will feel and experience the same things as his mate will."

"What?! So if she dies, the King of Cordon will also die?" Saha exclaimed. She didn't expect Polo to do something like that. "You can't do that! It's not in our jurisdiction to inflict pain on something or someone outside our realm!"

Polo nonchalantly stared at Saha. "It's beyond my control already, Saha. My duty is to give the Princess her trial, and I intend to do with the utmost power I have as a guardian of this realm," he firmly declared.

"It's not my problem anymore if his life is connected to his mate like this. Like I said, I've made this trial for the Princess alone, and anything that would happen to anyone in connection with this from the outside realm is firmly out of my hands."

"Did you intentionally choose this method for your trial knowing that her life would be connected to the King of Cordon?" Saha directly asked with a frown. Polo could be ruthless and merciless, but this was just too much. However, Polo was a rational and just guardian, so she was sure that there was something more to this trial.

Polo didn't answer Saha. Instead, he reached his arm out for the raven to perch on it instead. Petting its head, he added, " Werewolves definitely know a method on how they could break the Mate Bond, so it's already up to the King of Cordon if he wants to die with his mate or not. I believe everyone wants to witness what's going on with the Princess inside The Thousand of Dreams, so let me put you to sleep so that you can watch her outside the waters."

Polo then closed the raven's eyes, putting it into a deep slumber like the Princess.

***********

At Castle Cordon

Darius slammed his fist on the table in his private study, causing it to break under his growing anger. All the veins in his muscles were popping out from under his skin as he clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth.

Currently, Osman was the only one who remained calm inside the study. Like their king, Bartos and Gideon also had the same dim expressions on their faces.

"Do you think that Polo also received an offer?" Gideon pondered. "This is like hitting two birds with one stone; killing the Princess while also killing our King at the same time!"

"Sire, what do you plan on doing?" Bartos asked. "Will you break the bond with the Princess?"

No words were spoken. Instead, Darius's deadly glare was the only thing Bartos got as a reply.

"Nasser is probably rejoicing right now, knowing that you wouldn't break the Mate Bond with the Princess. But what if…" Bartos was unable to continue with his words. He then cursed and grunted, "There's too many things happening so quickly! And this Emer killed himself before even blurting out important information!"

"Aurelia's already on it," Gideon pointed out. "I'm sure she'll get to the bottom of this if it's really suicide or if there is some kind of foul play. By the way, where's Calypso?"

"He's on the case as well, and he'll be closely coordinating with people involved with the death of the former Great Justiciar," Osman answered. He then turned to Darius and said, "Princess Xenia will definitely surpass that thousand dreams. She will wake up soon, Your Majesty, so you need to be strong and not show any sort of weakness…"

"I won't show them what they want, Osman. Xen and I will fight this together. I trust her, and I'm sure she'll overcome this," Darius firmly declared. "However, what makes me mad is that I can't do anything for her except control myself and not meddle in these trials. I feel like I'm dying each day while waiting for her to come back to me. This is really frustrating…"

Darius helplessly slumped himself onto his chair while staring at the table that he just destroyed with his fist.

Then, he suddenly flinched and stood in terror as he stared into his arms... Bruises filled with blood were starting to form on his skin.

"This is…" Darius gasped as he felt Raine's emotions, causing his knees to wobble.

Gideon and Bartos quickly went to his side, but Darius quickly barked out at them instead. "The disc!"

Heeding the order, Osman immediately grabbed the disc and tilted it till the symbol inside glowed. A pillar of smoke appeared as it scattered, clearly showing a vision of Xen going through her trial.