The Witch's Curse
Soul Mate

The night has come. As planned, Duke Gelael and King Cordovan will go to meet the Holy Commander at the Temple to borrow the magical artifact belonging to the Fairy Queen as the Duke has told him.

"Knight Gelael and a few royal knights accompanied me. All of you, rest here" Markian commanded his entourage. Sir Albert was responsible for escorting the King whenever and wherever. Of course he will follow his master. King Cordovan's entourage will be safe at Duke Gelael's residence due to tight security.

"Let's go, Your Majesty," Take the Duke and escort the King to his chariot. Markian's carriage was rested first for maintenance because it took so long to traverse the difficult terrain. The horses were also tired, so, borrowing the mode of transportation from the Duke would certainly ease their duties.

Markian and Duke boarded a horse carriage.

"I'm sorry, Your Honor. For the sake of safety and efficiency, does it matter if we leave using one train?"

"No problem, Duke. Let's just like that,"

They also headed to the holy temple which is located not too far from the Dukedom Gelael. The sacred temple had its own territorial territory guarded by the Holy Knights. The emblem of the Sacred Temple is a white flag with a blue phoenix that sits in the middle of the Morning Star.

The dark and gloomy streets somewhat hampered the pace of the horse-drawn carriage. Despite the many rocks strewn about, and the towering roots of the plants, the Duke carriage remained firmly rolling without any significant disturbance. The terrain that is traversed seems to be an everyday meal. The coachmen were so good at playing the reins that they made the horses move neatly.

"Please come down, Your Majesty,"

Duke opened the train door. Markian descends with his left foot first, then bends optimally. His height was a bit difficult for himself when he had to get off, from the train.

They had reached the Sacred Temple. A quiet area with plants covered in thin snow. Many large rocks were slapping on the path leading to the Main Gate of the Sacred Temple. In just a few meters, they would find the Knights guarding in front of the gate.

"Greetings to the Sun of the Kingdom of Cordovan and also Lord Duke Gelael, let me send you to the Holy Commander" the aide to the Holy Commander with a bow of respect. The arrival of the King and Duke has been informed in advance by Duke Gelael's aide, so that the presence of the two important guests was no obstacle.

The adjutant of the Holy Commander was a Paladin named Sir Bright, who had served for 5 years in the holy temple. The status of Sir Bright who was originally not a noble, made his reputation doubtful. However, due to his excellent sword skills, Sir Bright passed the knight test. His perseverance and talent were always honed, making his sword skills level up and in a short period of time, he could master the Aura Sword Technique. The Sword Aura Technique was a sword skill that was used as the most powerful protector in the Sacred Temple. That technique could only be mastered by a Knight Chief, or commonly called a Paladin. Practically, Sir Bright became a Paladin at a relatively young age, at the age of 20.

"Yes. Where is the Holy Commander?" ask the King while following Sir Bright who is driving the direction. They passed through wide alleys with large rocks as poles. A natural and comfortable atmosphere welcomes their arrival. After walking for a few minutes, the King of Cordovan just arrived at the main building of the Temple. A tower that is not too high, with silver furniture. There is a rug that stretches from the entrance to the multipurpose hall that is commonly used as a place to entertain important guests.

"Please wait here, the Commander is praying first," Sir Bright invited the King and Duke to sit on the sofa of the main hall. Two cups of hot tea and a snack have been prepared. The holy commander will join soon after completing the prayer.

*

"Greetings to the Sun of the Kingdom of Cordovan and also Lord Duke Gelael," the holy commander saluted and bowed. The King and Duke welcomed and answered his greetings, then invited the Commander to sit down together.

"We're here on a need, Lord Commander," Duke Gelael opened the conversation. Of course, the Holy Commander already knows the problem in outline. However, he did not understand the details of the case because it will only be discussed tonight.

"Yes, I listen" said the Commander in Chief in a calm manner.

"What if the disappearance of the future queen is a curse that has occurred?" The commander was skeptical for a while. He did not want to rush to comply with the requests of his guests, even though a King.

"SLOW!" Markian wrathful. Duke Gelael hastily calmed his nephew.

"Take your word, Lord Commander!" Duke gave a warning. Commander bergeming.

"It's not my intention to offend, but didn't a tragedy like this ever happen?" The answer is self-defense. Markian harbored anger with clenched fists. She was unable to defend herself because her former fiance, Lady Lily von Zenath, died even just a week after the engagement ceremony.

"Don't fool the rumors, sir. You know that's just a myth!" The Duke defended the King's reputation. The relationship between the royal members and the sacred temple has been bad since Markian's father died. The rumor of a witch's curse was talked about by everyone when Markian was born from the womb of a queen who rose from the dead. Cordovan's climate had deteriorated, but it had been bad enough, before. For more than 50 years, the Kingdom of Cordovan was stricken by one season - winter.

"What can you offer in return?" ask Commander mcobs to negotiate.

"Guarantee of weapons and access to training of royal knights," Markian made an offer that could not be refused. The holy temple, which has a self-contained command unit, has been struggling with weapons supplies and lack of intensive training like the royal army. The Holy Commander tried to think for a while, before agreeing to the King's offer.

"Alright, our negotiations are over here" said the Commander. He then ordered Sir Bright to take the Fairy Stone that was in the sacred storage temple. The paladin left and came back with a chunk of blue magic stone that emitted a dim light.

"Whoa.. Just this time I saw a magic stone as beautiful as this," the Duke looked dumbstruck. The Fairy Stone shimmered beautifully. The Sacred Commander then hugged the stone because it was indeed large in size.

"There are qualifications that must be met in order to obtain the power of the Fairy Stone, Your Majesty," explained the Commander with a sharp gaze. The King looked stunned. He did not understand what qualifications the Commander meant.

"Whatchu mean? Why should there be qualifications?"

"The Queen of Elves only gave permission for use that was very urgent. Because, if the Fairy Stone had been used, he would have fallen asleep again to gather new energy for a whole year. To that end, we will assess whether the needs of the applicant are very urgent or not" explained the Commander who offended Markian. He was already about to leave the Holy Temple because of this rambling procedure, even though Markian was the Ruler of Cordovan. What other qualifications are higher than their king's request?

"Mr Commander, don't we need the Queen to balance the power of the kingdom? How could the search for a future queen not matter?" The Duke tries to persuade the Commander and prevent King Markian from exiting the Temple.

"Sorry, the queen candidate is not very important" said the Commander. Markian was angry and then drew his sword towards the Commander. It was then greeted by a sword roar by the Paladins, and passed on by a line of royal knights preparing to defend their King.

"Calm down, Your Majesty! We can't fight like this!" Duke. The situation in the meeting hall became extremely hot! However, a footstep and a muttering spell broke the atmosphere.

"He has come. He will rise. Find and prevent his resurrection!" an old man in a white robe and a long beard entered the middle of the feud.

"Sir Supreme Adviser!" commander Exclamation. Then they put down their weapons. The man who was called the great adviser walked without looking. His eyeballs kept twisting, and his body shivered half-vibrating. The man then fainted!

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