The Devil's Temptation!

134 Spending The Night In An Inn

“H_how did it happen?” She changed her question and her tone came out softer. She knew the gathering had to be about something important but it never struck her mind that the gathering was meant for Arlow’s death.

“Are you done here?” Roshan asked first of all, stealing a glance at the graveyard before shifting those gazes back to Annalise who nodded, still evidently swayed by the news of Arlow’s death.

“Come.” Roshan gently pulled the dumbfounded Annalise along with him and they barely uttered a word to one another as they walked out of the house and making it to the outskirt of Draekharm village

Anna’s mind was far from reality, it was all too much to handle and with Aveline and the locket in question, the lady who kept appearing before her, was she... Could she be Aveline?? Was it possible she kept it there in her room? Was she trying to tell her something?

“Stop.” Roshan’s voice abruptly made her stop in her tracks and when she looked ahead, they were already standing behind the walls of the palace, leaving Anna’s heart to jump into her throat and she glanced around alarmingly, her brain finally working that she wasn’t supposed to be here.

“Why did you bring me here? I know I said I wanted to come but I didn’t mean it, what if we...”

“We won’t,” he assured her, “and even if we did get caught, nothing will happen.”

Anna was anything but enlightened by his words, he reached for her hand again and they quietly kept moving. Her anxiety was noticeable as her nails ate at her skin. Nothing about the palace has changed either after she left and once they made it to the gate, they hid at a corner to see palace guards guarding the front gate.

Roshan clicked his tongue at the sight of new officials happily welcoming themselves in. Anna’s heart stopped beating for a few seconds when Adryan stepped out of the gate to welcome the nobles and their families.

.....

Her gaze remained fixated on him as he smiled charmingly at the officials before letting them in. She used to think Adryan was the most handsome guy in her eyes back then, but after meeting Roshan and his brothers, Adryan was no way near their level.

Bryan approached Adryan and bowed politely in his presence.

“Your highness, when will you like us to conduct the search?” Asked Bryan as he raised his head up to meet Adryan’s stare.

“Tomorrow will be better,” he suddenly hissed out while folding his arm behind his back,” Arlow admitted to his evil deeds last night, it’s still shocking and father is already unwell ....”

“Now you realize the mistake you made by not trusting Anna?” Came the voice of Calista as she stood before her brother with a smile, “You have no idea how the death of Arlow pleases me, isn’t the weather lovely today Adryan?”

Annalise felt all sorts of emotion swim inside of her after sighting Calista. It’s been months and it feels like a whole eternity has passed since she saw her.

She really wanted to go meet her, but knew she couldn’t at this point in time.

“She’s been wronged, you’ve proved your point, that’s why I’ve conducted a search so the guards can go find her tomorrow.”

“Yes brother, your conscience won’t spare you if you don’t.”

A young noble finally showed up amidst them, smiling at the beautiful Calista as he took her hand in his, before placing a kiss at the back of her palm.

“And what is milady doing, standing under the sun?”

“The sun? No not at all,” Calista shook her head with a smile, “the weather today is of my taste rather.”

The young noble just shook his head with a faint smile, “this way, mother actually wants to speak to you before we take our leave.”

“Oh.” She nodded, “then I shall go see what she needs.”

“After you.”

A knowing smile crossed her lips as she looked at her brother, but she turned away from him and followed her suitor to go see his mother and escort them out.

Anna on the other hand, was caught off-guard by all she just heard, still unable to believe it, she looked at Roshan who was smiling at her.

“Why are they trying to look for me?” She asked, but Roshan just tsked at her silly question.

“You’re standing this close and still didn’t hear a word he said.” He was almost cursing due to the look on his face, but Anna still waited for him to spill.

“Arlow admitted his wrongs to the whole Royal family last night.”

“So you did kill him.”

He shook his head, “I only tortured him, but I didn’t kill him.”

“What did you do?”

His lips pulled up a bit, “it’s not something I’d like to say out loud.”.

“From one to ten, how horrible was it?”

“Twelve.”

Anna blinked in bewilderment, was it that horrible he didn’t even pick from the number she gave him??

“He also admitted to the killings of those people in the river bank, as well as your falls and everything that has happened to you. In a fit of rage, I don’t care who he is but he was killed by that guy.”

He gestured for Anna to look at Adryan who stood at the gate and it didn’t really come as a shock to her. She still remembered the conversation he had with Arlow so he must have done it to save himself, but she wasn’t going to let herself hold on to the grudges, there were little days left for her and she would rather use them to cherish happy moments.

“Shall I make my presence then?” She asked the glacier who seriously pondered on it for a while before shaking his head, “no, let them suffer in guilt for a while, it’ll be fun.”

Shaking her head at his option of ‘fun’, they both left the place with a smile.

They took a stroll around Euphrasia and Anna happily conversed with the demon as they held hands all through their walk. They visited places where she wasn’t recognized, ate many snacks and delicacies and even watched the sunset together.

When it was getting to late night, they chose to stay in an inn for the night before heading back to Viscarrian in the morning. Roshan paid the innkeeper for a room only and when Anna refused, he twisted her brain on how many times they’ve shared a room together and tonight wouldn’t be any different.

Falling victim to his words, she agreed and that wasn’t the only reason, turns out she had her own plans at the back of her head.

Showing up in the comfy room giving to them since Roshan paid double for it, they were two night dresses neatly arranged for the both of them as it laid on the bed and once again, Roshan was the first to use the bathroom before her.

“You can always join me.” Was his response each time she argued but it didn’t matter today, she has her own plans up her sleeve.

Later on, Roshan sat on the neat bed, waiting for the annoying woman to step out and when she did, his mind went blank.