Chapter 76 - Before Leaving
The night was filled with the extreme experiences and emotions. Some were feeling sad about having to leave the Palace, some were devastated because of the old memories, and some were experimenting the new ways to perform dark magic, while some were sleeping peacefully in the arms of their lover.
The night that brought different types of emotional experience for different being finally came to an end. The birds began to chirp and fly away in search of their food. The roosters began to crow, signifying that it was morning time. And Adeline was already back in her own chamber. Theodore had teleported her back to her quarter and had left already.
Usually, Adeline would be studying at this time in the morning. Her body would be full of energy and she would be ready to tackle anything that the day threw at her.
However, today was a little different for her. She was not ready for today to happen. Rather than being full of energy and hopes, Adeline was laying down in her own bed as if she didn\'t even want to move a muscle in her body.
Yesterday, Theodore had managed to cheer her up. But now that she was left alone again, she was back to worrying about Nigel leaving the Palace.
She somehow managed to pull herself together and managed to take a bath. Then with a heavy heart, she went to Nigel\'s quarter to see him off.
Before entering inside Prince Nigel\'s quarter, Adeline took a few deep breaths in so as to restrain her eyes from watering. She wanted to send her brother off happily so that he would remember her happy face rather than her sad and gloomy face for the whole month.
When Adeline reached inside Nigel\'s room, he was already dressed up and his belongings were all packed. Before he set off on his journey, he was having a light breakfast. Like most of his half-siblings, Nigel was not used to traveling long distances in the carriage and he did not want to feel motion sickness by keeping him stomach empty.
Nigel was happy to see his sister in his quarter. "Adeline… I was about to come see you after I finished eating. But I\'m happy that you are here."
"I was afraid that you would leave without saying goodbye properly so I ran here." Adeline sat by the side of Nigel. Then she took a piece of bread from his plate and munched on it.
Nigel snatched back the bread from Adeline\'s hand and put it inside his mouth all at once. Then he furrowed his brows and mumbled, "How can you even think that I would run away without even seeing you? Do I look that heartless to you?"
Adeline chuckled like a pampered baby and then rested her head on her brother\'s shoulder. "I was just teasing you. I just couldn\'t wait any longer to see you so I came here on my own."
Nigel tilted his head towards his shoulder and then hit Adeline\'s head with his own. "God! I\'m going to miss you the most."
"I\'m going to miss you too brother." Adeline was trying hard not to cry again. She was trying to convince herself by saying that one month was not that long and before she knew it, her brother would already be back at the Palace. But she was finding it very hard to control her tears.
Nigel\'s condition was also similar. He did not wish to depart from his pampered sister. "I wish I could take you with me." Prince Nigel\'s eyes lit up as if he was actually considering that option and said, "Maybe I should make a request to our father to send you together with me. I bet my relatives in Aberdeen will not mind having one extra guest."
Adeline chuckled and passed it as a joke, "Yeah right!"
But Nigel was now even more serious. He glanced at Adeline and asked genuinely, "Don\'t you want to go together with me? It will be fun. They will teach me about the werewolf things; and you can train with me and Wulfric. Your power is at the same level as us so, it will be even more fun. What do you say?"
"I would love to go along with you if it was any other place but you know I can\'t go to Aberdeen." Adeline pursed her lips and showed her disappointment.
Nigel knitted his brows in tune at that statement of Adeline. "What do you mean you can\'t come to Aberdeen? Is it because of Fenris? If it is then I will give him a good beating and he won\'t bother you like he did when he came here."
Nigel was making his own speculations as to why Adeline was denying to come to Aberdeen. And he immediately added, "And if you are saying that you can\'t come with me because I have already made my preparations to leave but you have not, then we can leave tomorrow. And if you request our father to send you with me, I am sure he will not reject your request."
But that was not why Adeline was saying that she could not follow Nigel to Aberdeen. "Didn\'t you say that they have invited you to give you some trainings specifically focusing on your werewolf side?"
"Umm… yes, but we can always train together." Nigel replied calmly.
Adeline thought that he would understand why she was saying that she wouldn\'t be able to come along. But from the way Nigel was talking, she started to think that Fenris had not told anything to Nigel about the clan.
"Didn\'t Fenris tell you how protective the Siccaldi clan is, regarding their werewolf secret?" Adeline asked while raising her brows.
Nigel tried to think hard and he remembered Fenris saying to both of them that it was a secret. "He told us that it was a tight-kept secret. But you already know about it, so I don\'t think it will matter that much."
"I can\'t believe Fenris didn\'t tell you anything. How can he be so careless?" Adeline shouted in an agitated tone.
Nigel narrowed his eyes and asked, "What more did he hide from me?" Nigel was already prepared to beat Fenris once he reached Aberdeen. Fenris had told everyone in Aberdeen that he was a werewolf, including his mother. And Fenris had even talked with Adeline about something which he had no idea about.
"He told me that the clan does anything and everything to protect their secret. And by anything, I mean killing the witnesses who have found out about them. So, you cannot take me there in the middle of the clan." As soon as she finished saying that, Adeline noticed that Nigel was already clenching his fists and was ready to smash something.
And instantly, she tried to clarify that she was not in danger from the clan. "Of course they won\'t kill me because I am a Princess. But Fenris said they would keep a close eye on me, if they know that I know about werewolves."
"How can he keep me out of the loop like this?" Nigel was screaming inside his head. "What if I had mistakenly revealed to the clan that Adeline knew about the secret?"
Adeline saw that Nigel\'s veins were bulging. She did not want her brother to be angry before leaving so she grabbed the glass of water that was on the table, poured some water on her palm and then splashed it on Nigel\'s face.
Nigel winced and yelled, "Hey! What are you doing?"
"I thought you were burning with anger so I was putting it off." Adeline splashed some more water on Nigel and ran while chuckling.
Nigel took the glass of water and chased after her.
A few of the maids and servants entered inside the room and they began to take away the packed belongings of the Prince. There was a carriage standing outside of his quarter and the servants were loading his belongings in that carriage.
The two half-siblings joked around and talked for some more time. Adeline also told Nigel about other things that Fenris had told her about the werewolves. And after a while, a maid came inside Nigel\'s room and informed him, "Your Highness, the carriage is ready."
"Okay, I will visit my mother and father before I leave. Ask the coachman and the guards to be on the standby." Prince Nigel stood up from the seat and then smoothed out his clothes.
Adeline also stood up and kept on staring at her brother for the last time. Nigel smiled at Adeline and then gave her a tight hug and said, "As I said before, keep on practicing daily even if you are alone. We will meet again before the test."
Adeline hugged back Nigel and tried to speak in a normal tone, "You should also keep on practicing daily. Be the strongest werewolf when you return back."
Nigel chuckled at the demand of Adeline. Adeline had no idea that being the strongest werewolf came with a price. According to what his mother had told him, the strongest werewolf would be the alpha of the pack. And being an alpha meant never being able to leave Aberdeen. So Prince Nigel had no wish to pay such a huge price.
Nigel ruffled his sister\'s hair and then bid her goodbye. Then he thought of heading towards the King\'s quarter first.
When Nigel walked out of the room, Adeline also followed Nigel out of his quarter. Then they parted their way from the middle of the path.. As Nigel walked away, Adeline kept on looking at his back until he went inside King Dragomir\'s quarter and vanished from her sight.