Loving The Mad King

All Is Fair In Love And War

Dario sat by the window, looking at Celestial's painting. Since his meeting with Aathreya, he couldn't explain how he felt. He had an inner conflict that made him feel frustrated.

He was very angry and sad at the same time, he also felt guilty towards Celestial, Rose, and Isabella. His heart broke when he thought of how Rose was beheaded for being the target of Aathreya's revenge. 

Dario felt like he really wanted to kill Aathreya, but a part in his heart said that what Aathreya did was understandable.

"My daughter paid for my sins. I locked you in a dungeon and your father made Rion D. Panther behead my daughter. You must be very satisfied, right?" 

For a few seconds, he stared at Celestial's painting in silence. In his mind, he wondered why Celestial's painting was behind Rose's painting? Did Isabella know that? Then … he remembered Aathreya saying that he would always interfere when it came to Celestial.

What did it mean? What was the relationship between Rion D. Panther and Celestial? He hadn't forgotten that Celestial was one of Queen Ahana's Lady-in-waiting, but hadn't Celestial already died twenty-seven years ago?

Dario thought the story of Celestial was long over, but it wasn't. Even now the story seemed to have come back to the surface. He felt that he would soon receive punishment for his crimes against Celestial.

Even so, he felt very curious about the meaning of Aathreya's words, and suddenly he remembered his baby, who was born by Celestial in the dungeon. In the past, Gerald's men said that they had killed Celestial and her child, but did that really happen?

Dario guessed that currently Celestial was still alive and had now returned to Panthera.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in!"

David entered the room and walked over. "You summoned me, Your Majesty?"

"Hm. I want you to send someone to Panthera to find out about this woman."

David furrowed his brows in confusion. "Who is she, Your Majesty?"

"She is Celestial, the daughter of the great wizard, Aathreya. The man who was blocking our path at that time was Aathreya," Dario explained, which made David surprised and various questions now popped up in his head.

"Your Majesty, I don't understand. Why do you want to find out about this woman?"

"I was married to her. This poor woman became a victim of a conspiracy that my father, I, and Gerald carried out. At that time, Aathreya was a formidable wizard who was highly respected. My father wanted to make Aathreya side with Archadia, and the plan was to use Celestial because Aathreya loved his daughter very much…"

***

A gust of wind made the snow fall even more heavily outside the Archadia imperial palace.

"What did you do to Isabelle?! Where is she?" Dario pointed the sword at his father. He looked angry because his father had kidn*pped Isabella and threatened to kill the woman if Dario did not obey his orders.

"If you follow my orders, that woman will be fine. If you want her to be free, marry Celestial and bring her here."

Dario stared intently, as if he wanted to tear the man standing before him. 

"You know I only love Isabella," he said in frustration.

"Success is not obtained by feeling, but by strength and thought. The sooner you act, the sooner she will be free."

Dario desperately tried to contain his anger and then left the emperor's room.

***

It was a winter hunting day held by the Panthera Kingdom. Dario had everything planned.

He ordered his soldiers disguised as bandits to block the way of Queen Ahana and several women who followed her, including Celestial. Then, Dario would appear as a hero.

To look very convincing, he asked all the soldiers to attack him in earnest. Celestial, who saw him in trouble immediately helped by burning the Archadia soldiers who were in disguise with fire magic, but Gerald came and incapacitated Celestial. Gerald also injured Dario, so that Dario could be helped by the woman.

"Celestial, are you okay?" Queen Ahana helped Celestial up. She was a very good friend.

"I'm fine." Celestial smiled, then turned to look at Dario, who was trying to get up but couldn't.

"Let me help you." Celestial put her arm around Dario, and helped the man to his feet. Queen Ahana approached and was surprised to recognize Dario as the Crown Prince of the Archadia Empire.

"You? What are you doing here? Are you sneaking in?" Queen Ahana stared very sharply. This surprised Celestial.

"Ahana, what's wrong?"

"He is Dario Archadela, Crown Prince of the Archadia empire. He is an enemy. He must have come here to infiltrate."

"What? An intruder?" Hearing the word intruder, Celestial immediately let go of Dario's arms and dropped the man just like that.

"Ah." Dario winced in pain. Even though all the attacks were a charade, the wounds were real and if he wasn't helped, he could die. Blood continued to flow from the wounds on his stomach, hands, and chest.

He resented Gerald for stabbing him deep in the chest.

"Come on, let's get out of here," said Queen Ahana and Celestial nodded.

"I didn't know the women in Panthera are so cold and heartless. I risked my life to save you but you just dumped me. Where is your humanity?" said Dario, who stopped Celestial and Ahana's steps.

"If I die here, won't you guys feel guilty?" Dario came face to face with Celestial. He wasn't lying, the girl's two blue eyes were very beautiful.

After thinking for a while, Queen Ahana finally asked Celestial to support Dario. They would take the man to one of the royal villas. Dario was one hundred percent aware that he was doing something very reckless, because he was about to enter the enemy's lair

He had to be very careful because at the slightest he could lose his life and he wouldn't be able to free Isabella.

Celestial helped Dario to his feet once more, and helped the man onto his horse.

"Can you handle it?" asked Ahana which was answered with a nod by Celestial. The brown-haired girl also got on the same horse as Dario.

"W-what are you doing?" Celestial was taken aback as Dario's arms wrapped around her waist.

"I'm so dizzy. If I don't hold on, I could fall, please don't misunderstand," Dario explained in a flimsy, made-up voice.

Celestial felt uncomfortable, but because she was considering Dario's condition, she finally let it go.

Snowflakes fell slowly over their heads. Along the way, Dario kept thinking about the evil plan he was going to do to Celestial. The girl looked so kind. He couldn't bear to hurt her but then he remembered Isabella, the woman he loved.

His father, the old fart, would certainly not hesitate to hurt or kill Isabella, if his orders were not obeyed. Dario couldn't let Isabella go just because he couldn't bear to hurt Celestial.

He was innocent, because as people say, all was fair in love and war.

*** 

After a few minutes, they finally arrived at a villa on the outskirts of the forest. The guards, who saw the arrival of Queen Ahana, immediately opened the gate. Luckily, none of them recognized Dario.

"Bring him in," Queen Ahana gave orders to one of the guards to bring Dario into the villa, after which she turned to look at Celestial. "I'll leave him to you. After the wound is treated, tell him to leave this place."

Dario secretly glanced scornfully at the queen. If it weren't for him being on a mission, he wouldn't have set foot on Panthera either.