Cornflower Witch

Chapter 208 The Princess's Prayer

The harmony between 'Embers' and 'Nightmare', along with the sculpted twin serpents, quickly brought to mind the infamous 'Cult of the Twin Serpents'.

Even among the many cults, the 'Twin Serpent Cult' has a terrible reputation and is even hated by other cults. Other cults will occasionally pretend, after all, in order to attract believers and like-minded people, they still have to consider the humaneness of the organization. But the 'Twin Serpent Cult' is too inhumane. They take pleasure in eating people, and when they reach a high level, they will turn into real monsters, which makes them disgusting.

There are relics of the Twin Serpent Cult here. Could it be that this place was once a stronghold of an evil cult?

Hilti thought for a moment, then examined the area again, and sure enough, she found traces of some building ruins in the soil.

It seems that this place was indeed the site of the 'Twin Serpent Cult' a long time ago, but judging from the remaining traces, it was at least several hundred years ago.

After putting away the tattered double-serpent cup, Hiltiya led her horse away from the forest, heading back towards Mammoth Town.

……

Another corner of the world in the film.

"Porridge, porridge again! I'm so tired of it. Don't you have any better food?" Prince Jobs slammed the wooden bowl in front of him on the ground, feeling irritated.

“Steve Jobs.” Hearing his cursing, another blonde girl in a black dress rushed over from the next room.

She came to Prince Jobs' side, gently patted his back with one hand, and soothed him in a soft voice.

"This is not the royal palace, please bear with it."

"Enough, sister, I really can't take it anymore." Jobs' expression softened slightly as he faced the blonde girl in the black dress, but he still couldn't contain his anger.

“I mentioned it a month ago: the food here is too meager, the bed is extremely hard, the room is so small, and we haven’t seen the sun for more than half a month. It’s gloomy and uncomfortable.”

“They always say they will consider improving the environment and ask us to be patient.”

"And what happened? I said it three more times after that, and it never changed. These guys were just being perfunctory!" Prince Jobs felt cheated to come to this godforsaken place.

“I know you’re upset, but this is someone else’s territory, and we’re just refugees here. Don’t ask for too much,” the blonde girl in the black dress comforted Prince Jobs again.

Because the girl was his sister and had saved his life, Jobs couldn't bring himself to get angry at her, but he felt he couldn't let things continue like this.

“I suspect they have ulterior motives; they rescued us for another reason,” Jobs said.

“There’s nothing we can do about it.” The girl standing to the side shook her head. Of course, she could also sense that the ‘Hundred-Eyed Cult’ that had saved them had impure intentions, but the situation was critical at the time, and the two of them had no other choice.

“Look, they’ve restricted our movements to this camp. We can’t go anywhere else, and they haven’t even told us exactly where this place is. This isn’t how you treat friends and partners; it’s like they’re treating us like prisoners.” Jobs paced back and forth in the room, then pulled back the curtains, surveying his surroundings.

They now live in a two-story house surrounded by a low fence, and in the distance, they can see people in dark red robes patrolling.

“At least Knight Everett and Knight Gerald are both here,” Princess Musa, blonde and dressed in black, comforted softly.

They fled south that day, encountering many pursuers along the way. Many of their knights' squires were killed by the pursuing assassins and cavalry, leaving only two royal knights alive.

"But I haven't seen them for the past two days. I wonder if they've been quarantined," Princess Musa said with a worried expression.

The princess's appearance was comparable to Iona's. If Iona was a blooming, fiery red chrysanthemum, then this princess was a black and gold rose under the night sky, possessing a subtle elegance, and her figure was more mature than Iona's.

Not far from the house where the two lived, two knights who had been protecting the prince and princess on their escape to this place were having a discussion.

“You were informed of the situation in the Duchy yesterday, weren’t you?” Knight Everett, sitting in a chair, rested one hand on the hilt of his sword and looked up at Gerald, who had just entered the room.

Compared to the nearly sixty-year-old Knight Everett, Gerald is much younger, only thirty-eight years old, with short, slightly curly black hair and a mustache.

“That’s right.” Gerald stopped in his tracks.

They had already heard the news of the fall of the Kingdom of Legas. In fact, they were mentally prepared for such a thing to happen, but when it actually happened, the two of them couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

The two grew up in the Kingdom of Regas, and many of their family members lived in White Cliff City. They were both somewhat worried about what had become of those people after the fall of the capital.

"The people from the Hundred-Eyed Church told us that they have sent someone to contact their informants in the city, and we should have results in a while." Gerald walked to the counter, picked up the tin pot on it, and prepared to make some tea.

Soon, the fireplace was lit, and the pale red flames added a little light to the room, bringing a touch of everyday life to the gloomy sky.

The two looked at the fire in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

After a long silence, Gerald spoke up: "Senior Everett, what are your plans?"

"Plans?" Upon hearing this, Knight Everett frowned slightly, but quickly understood what was going on.

He had followed Grand Duke Grace of Regas for many years, and fought alongside Grace in his youth. Loyalty had long been a part of his life. Although the Kingdom of Regas had been destroyed, he would still protect the prince and princess until the very end.

But Gerald is different. He is still young, only thirty-eight years old. At this age, entering the third tier is quite outstanding, even in the capital. Now that the Kingdom of Regas has been destroyed, he probably doesn't want to stay on this broken ship any longer.

"Did those Hundred-Eyed Cult members promise you anything?"

“As expected of Mr. Everett, he guessed it so easily.” Gerrard did not deny it.

"I advise you not to trust them too much. Cults are called cults because they are unconventional and do not follow rules and agreements," the old knight advised.

“I know,” Gerald nodded, and said no more.

In the following days, Prince Jobs asked to go out, but the Hundred-Eyed Cult told him that the Shadow World was too dangerous and that it was for his own good to keep him in the camp.

Prince Jobs clearly did not believe this explanation and demanded to meet with the two knights. The Hundred-Eyed Cult did not refuse this request.

After meeting and talking with the two knights again, Prince Jobs became much more well-behaved, which was indeed a good thing in the eyes of the Hundred-Eyed Cult.

But this peaceful state of affairs suddenly changed after two weeks.

One night, with the help of Knight Everett, Prince Jobs escaped with Princess Musa, attempting to leave the Hundred-Eyed Cult camp. However, not long after leaving the camp, they stumbled into a strange, gray world and lost their way.

Where exactly is this?

Lost in the gray world, every moment was a drain on their energy. They desperately needed to find a place with 'color' to rest, but all three were new to the Shadow World and unfamiliar with its environment and situation, having only learned some information about it from books. Finally, on the fourth day, they were caught up by members of the 'Hundred-Eyed Cult'.

These cult members in dark red robes seemed to have anticipated that the three of them would get lost in the gray world. They followed them at a leisurely pace, only revealing themselves when the three were exhausted.

"Now Your Highness knows we weren't exaggerating," a man who appeared to be a mid-level member of a cult said slowly, standing in front of the three.

“I know it’s dangerous here, but you people who are so ambiguous and never reveal your true intentions are even more suspicious.” Jobs raised an eyebrow, drew his long, gold-hilted sword from his waist, and held it upright in front of him.

The man in the dark red robe shook his head, expressing his regret.

"We actually had no ill intentions. We just wanted to use His Highness's reputation to unite a small part of the Regas Kingdom and protect ourselves." In fact, the Hundred-Eyed Church had been hiding for years, and its strength had gradually declined. They realized that their survival was in danger, so they did everything they could to seize the prince and his party.

He had planned that as long as he had the royal descendants of the Kingdom of Regas in his hands, he could take the opportunity to win over a group of nobles, and then let the Hundred-Eyed Cult also 'parasitize' the new national organization to obtain resources and fresh blood.

Unexpectedly, the collapse of the Kingdom of Legas was so swift, and other nobles surrendered without resistance, showing no intention of standing with the royal family to the death or fighting together.

This forced them to change their plans repeatedly, and because the plans were constantly changing, they didn't consult with Prince Jobs.

“If Your Highness had been a little more sensible and hadn’t broken this tacit understanding, we could have gotten along amicably. What a pity, what a pity…” He shook his head and sighed, but his words made the three of them uneasy.

"Take them down, but don't harm His Highness the Prince." He waved his hand and gave the order, and the cultists beside him began to move.

Suddenly, these cultists, cloaked in hooded robes, lifted the brims of their hoods, revealing pairs of strange eyes with fanatical expressions.

Under the gaze of these eerie eyes, the three felt a numbness spread through their bodies in an instant, making it difficult for them to move.

"Shield of Protection!"

Knight Everett roared, and a gray-white light shield unfolded in front of him, temporarily blocking the cultists' view. Then he pulled the prince and princess away.

"Old man." The leading man spat as he saw the elderly knight blocking his way, then raised his hand.

A dark purple ray emerged from behind him, piercing through the gray-white light shield that blocked it, and then continued to sweep across the trees along the way, striking Knight Everett in the back.

The tall trees slowly fell, their branches and leaves weighing them down, while Knight Everett's back was charred.

"Your Highness, let's go!" He called to Prince Jobs and Princess Musa in front of him, telling them to escape as soon as possible, and then he turned around and drew the long sword from his waist.

Unexpectedly, Prince Steve Jobs stopped after taking only a few steps.

“I surrender.” He turned to look at the group of cultists.

Running away is useless; they can't outrun these guys at all. Besides, this is a shadow world, and they have no idea about the local situation. Where can they escape to?

The man opposite Prince Steve Jobs was not surprised by his transformation.

"It would have been better if we had done this sooner." The man lowered his hand, causing the 'Dizzy Evil Eye' behind him to stop its attack.

The cultists stepped forward and bound Prince Jobs, while Knight Everett used a special dagger to pierce his shoulder bone, rendering him unconscious. Finally, when faced with Princess Mursa, who was blonde and dressed in a black dress, they were slightly more polite, merely binding her wrists with rope.

"Let's go, Your Highness."

"We were wrong to entertain you before, but in the days to come you will witness the power of the Alien Eye."

"Don't worry, we won't harm you. In fact, our goals will be very aligned in the future."

"You yearn to restore your kingdom and avenge your family. We can provide you with assistance to make you stronger, and many hidden followers will also help you."

"Similarly, we also need Your Highness's identity to open up new strongholds for our order and gain new room for development."

"Although those nobles of the Kingdom of Regas surrendered, they have now been stripped of a great deal of wealth and territory, and they probably harbor resentment."

“They need a name to unite their resistance, and we happen to be able to provide that name. Similarly, you need us as your support.”

"Look, isn't this a wonderful future? Everyone has gotten what they wanted." His voice seemed to have a bewitching power, rekindling hope in the eyes of Prince Jobs, who had been somewhat dejected.

Faced with this scene, Princess Musa, who was walking behind, was filled with worry.

Prince Steve Jobs is the youngest of his many siblings. He is just 18 years old and not yet mature enough to be easily led astray by these people. Moreover, Princess Mursa is aware of her brother's situation.

Among the three princes, his talent was only slightly better than that of the eldest prince. He was far from being a top talent, and even further from being a true genius. Even if he joined the Hundred-Eyed Cult, he would probably end up as a puppet and would not be in a position to make decisions.

However, she could only keep her worries to herself. If she were to speak up and offer advice, it would only break the superficial understanding and peace, and no one could predict what would happen to the two of them at that time.

At the very least, the two of them still have some value to the Hundred-Eyed Cult, which means they can still survive.

On the way back to camp, Princess Musa, with her blonde hair and black dress, clasped her hands together and prayed silently.

(Omitted for brevity) My esteemed mother in the heavenly garden, how can I protect my younger brother Steve Jobs and ensure the continuation of our family bloodline?

Now that her brothers are no longer alive and her sister has married far away to another country, she, as a princess who grew up in the deep palace, although she knows a little about politics and intrigue, is far inferior to her mother and father. Her talent for cultivating extraordinary abilities is also only average. This makes her feel the twists and turns and ruthlessness of fate, and she finds it difficult to see the future path.

Finally, the only thing she can boast about is her appearance. Even during Iona's heyday, Iona did not surpass her in looks, and many nobles have always used this as a point of comparison.

If the Kingdom of Regas does not perish, she will likely be married off to the royal family as a tool for political alliances, either as a decorative figurehead or to win over a neighboring country or a powerful noble family within Regas.

But now, all she can do is pray that the Hundred-Eyed Cult will abide by the rules and not mistreat her.

If she could marry a high-ranking member of the Hundred-Eyed Cult, she could probably exert some influence and protect her younger brother, Steve Jobs.

This might be the only good ending.

Under the dim, overcast sky, the blonde princess in a black dress prayed with her eyes closed.

(End of this chapter)