Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

She moved away from the door and looked at the other door leading towards the tunnel. She recalled the old woman's words to not go out of the room, but she wanted to test whether she was pulling any tricks on them. After making sure there were no changes on the unconscious man, she decided to head for the tunnel. She tried to open the door leading out, but she could not. 'Seems like that old woman has really sealed it. I can only open it using my powers but I do not want to risk it and put ourselves in unnecessary danger.'

Esther quietly turned back and went for the corner of the room farthest from where the Crown Prince was lying, but in truth, it wouldn't really matter for he would see her whichever corner she chooses. She kneeled down next to him and looked at him with narrowed eyes, "If you dare peek at my body while I change, I do not care if it is an accident, I will pull out those eyes of yours. I won't care even if you are the prince of this kingdom."

Seeing that the young man was not reacting, she nodded to herself.  She stood up and chose a corner with her back turned towards Prince Theron. Before removing her dress, she turned her head and looked over her shoulder once more to make sure he was still unconscious. 

Feeling relieved, she quickly changed her clothes—the fastest she had ever changed clothes in her memory—and returned to where the Crown Prince was lying. She checked his pulse and his temperature by touching his forehead. 'Pulse is a little weak but should be fine by tomorrow. His temperature is still lower than normal.' She covered him properly with the quilt and went to the furnace to add more wood to it, raising the temperature of the room. She then cleaned up everything she borrowed from the old woman, as well as the blood off the floor, and put away the dirty bloody clothes they were wearing when they came in.

After that, she looked for a place for herself to sit. The floor was made of wood, but it felt cold probably because the room was underground, so she sat at the one side of the mattress with her back leaning against the wall. Since she needed to keep monitoring the situation of the Crown Prince, staying like this beside him was the best option she found. 

Before closing her eyes, she looked at him and thought, 'You weak human, you must have accumulated fortune for several lives to have me serve you like this. Don't you dare let your condition worsen, or I'll leave you here in the care of that old woman'

She tried to make herself comfortable before leaning down again to check his pulse. For the first couple hours, she continued the lonely tiresome task of checking that his condition was stable. 

Since she was only wearing a baggy robe that was not even her size, Esther felt cold but she could only rub her hands together for warmth as there was nothing that she could use to cover herself. She also could not sleep as she had to keep watch in case any danger arose, or if the condition of the Crown Prince was to suddenly change for the worse. Not only that, as she had no idea what to think of the old woman, she had to continue and keep her guard up.

As hours passed by, her mind wandered to the one who attacked Prince Theron, that being that emitted strange dissonant energy.  She had always had strong senses, yet she could not properly pinpoint its source until the last moment. 

'And why would such a supernatural being want to hurt Prince Theron? Is it a personal grudge or did someone hire it? Seems like the Ivanovs have dangerous enemies. Using supernatural beings cannot be the work of someone ordinary. Even a human noble would have a hard time convincing such beings to cooperate with them. If the person behind this attack is a human, not only is he a person of great wealth, he must also have a connection with them, perhaps as a descendant of a house with a long, ancient history, able to communicate with these beings.'

Esther recalled the moment Prince Theron got hurt. 

On that small pier, Esther was using her body to protect him from those dangerous attacks which could have cost him his life. After the second energy blow, there were small metal weapons that flew in their direction. Unlike with the invisible energy, Prince Theron was familiar with sneak attacks and sensed those bladed weapons. 

She would have never expected that Prince Theron would turn around to protect her from those metal weapons, and it ended up hurting him. As a result of the collision of powers from both sides, they fell into the river. Everything happened so fast, that probably only Esther and the attacker knew what transpired.

Of course, Esther needed no saving, and in fact, what he did only worsened the situation. That did not mean that she would blame him for his noble act of trying to protect her. She was even impressed by how fast the Crown Prince reacted to the sneak attack. 

Esther eyed his sleeping form.

"You are only a weak human, but you sure stand out from your kind. You are not afraid of protecting others at the cost of your life. For you to act like that for me who you never trusted, your mother is right in saying you have a soft heart. Silly man, those things could not hurt me even if I stand doing nothing. Only weak humans like you can be hurt by it."

After a while, Esther felt the Crown Prince stirring. 

She was still sitting with her back against the wall, eyes closed, but her senses were heightened as she guarded against the pursuers outside and the suspicious old woman in the other room. That was why she was able to immediately capture the weak groans coming from the young man lying on the mattress. 

Without delay, her eyes opened and she leaned close to check on Prince Theron. He was gasping for air, groaning in pain, and his body temperature was even dropping, his skin almost felt like an icy corpse. The furnace was already at its limit in warming up the room, and she had even covered him with the only thick quilt available to them. She didn't know what else to do now.

Esther held his hand and thought of rubbing their hands together so it might relieve some of the coldness and make him feel better, even if just a bit. As if sensing the warm hand touching his, Prince Theron held her hand tightly. It was more like he was unable to bear with the pain, and was now trying to seek help or comfort from another, or perhaps because he was feeling cold and the warmth of her hand somehow helped ease the coldness. 

Esther held his other hand with her free hand and then let him squeeze her hands. She observed the frown lines on his forehead and the cold sweat dotting his skin. She realized he was in much more pain than she initially thought. However, among the herbs provided, there was nothing that could relieve him of pain, and the chill in his body must be making it more difficult for him to bear. Seeing his pale and pained face, she sighed as she made an abrupt decision. 

'Just this once… It is for the sake of your mother who will be sad if you die.' 

She freed her one hand, moved the quilt aside and got inside the thick warm cover. She shifted closer to his body while still holding his hands. With the help of her body's warmth, he seemed to feel better. His breathing became stable, and the creases on his face smoothed out. He was even gripping her hands tighter as if telling her to press their bodies closer. Esther frowned, but soon enough, she realized that the injured man was in pain and he was only subconsciously reacting to her due to her body's warmth. With an unhappy grumble, she turned to one side and faced him… and then she pressed their bodies together, leaving no distance between them.