Loving The Mad King

Reading Daniel’s Mind

Odette, along with Anwen, Zen, and Daniel, had just arrived at the palace. Odette returned to the place, just to get her money and belongings, then continued her plan to live in the Lilium Residence.

When the horse carriage had stopped in the palace courtyard, Arlo immediately greeted them. He then asked them to follow him to the king's chamber.

Zen looked amazed at the splendor of the palace in front of him. He couldn't even blink. Meanwhile, Daniel, who was being carried by Odette, seemed to focus on the pond on the edge of the building.

"We'll go there later," said Odette, when she saw Daniel being interested in the pond. The boy was curious because he had just seen such a thing.

"Come on," said Anwen. The four of them followed Arlo, and within minutes they had arrived at the king's room, where there were also Trish and Adriel.

Odette smiled faintly when she met Trish and Adriel, but her smile was gone when she saw Rion. Rion did the same thing. The man's expression was as flat as a board when he came face to face with Odette.

What an annoying man!

Odette cursed inwardly, before she finally sat on the sofa, along with Anwen and Zen. It wasn't long before the waiter came with some light snacks that the kids would love.

"How are you guys?" Rion asked Zen and Daniel.

"We are good, Your Majesty," Zen replied then smiled.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that."

"Brother, they came from Elaes City to the capital to look for their aunt. Their aunt's name is Marin Magnolia, but on the way they were kidn*pped by the bandits," Anwen explained, then told Rion everything Odette had told him about Zen's story. It was Daniel who went to find his aunt after their father died.

Rion, Trish, Adriel, and Arlo were concerned to hear that. Rion conveyed his condolences to Zen, and the boy thanked him with a sad smile. Zen strengthened his heart not to cry whenever he talked about his father's death.

"I don't want to make you remember that bad incident, but right now, I need your help," Rion said to Zen. He asked the boy, "Do you know where the bandits are trying to sell you? Or maybe you've heard them talking about the people who bought the children and women?

"I don't know, Your Majesty. I've been trying to remember since yesterday. I don't think I've ever heard them talk about it," Zen explained.

"Are you sure? Try to remember again. Because if you manage to remember something, you will save the children who have been sold."

Zen looked straight at Rion then tried to remember again, but after a while, he couldn't remember anything. He was pretty sure that he had never heard the bandits talk about where they had taken the children they sold.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I really don't know," he said.

Rion was silent. The people who bought the children and women were truly not random people.

"Naturi," said Daniel suddenly, which made everyone who heard his words surprised. They all looked at him simultaneously. Daniel was scared, and hugged Odette.

"What did you say, honey?" asked Odette softly, but Daniel didn't want to answer.

"Adriel."

After Adriel heard the king call his name, Adriel immediately nodded in understanding, then walked and squatted in front of Odette.

"Adriel will read Daniel's mind," Rion explained when he saw the confused look on Odette's face.

"Mind-reading?" Zen muttered. He was confused. "That won't hurt my little brother?"

He turned and looked at Rion.

"It won't," said Rion. His expression was reassuring.

"Hey, sweet boy, look at me," said Adriel in a friendly manner. Daniel turned his head, but before Adriel could read his mind, he turned back to hug Odette.

"Just a moment, I beg you." Adriel tried to persuade him, even Zen also tried to persuade his brother. But they didn't succeed.

Exasperated, Adriel began to push a little.

"Please. Come on for a moment. Look at me," he said as he pulled Daniel's shoulder to face him, but his actions made Daniel scream and cry.

Adriel tried to ignore it and focus on his task. After Odette saw Adriel force Daniel, she immediately hit Adriel's hand hard.

"You scared him!" Odette said while she looked at Adriel sharply, which made the mage freeze.

"Odette, he was just—" Rion cut off his own sentence as Odette's sharp gaze turned towards him. It was as if he was afraid of her gaze.

Trish and Anwen exchanged glances. They stared at Rion who fell silent when Odette glared at him.

"I will persuade him," said Odette coldly. Her attitude was like a mother protecting her child. After she silenced the king, she began to persuade Daniel. The expression on her cold face turned extremely warm and gentle, drastically.

"It's okay if you don't want to see it, but if you don't see it, we can't go out of here and see the pond. And there are a lot of fish in the pond."

"Fish?" Daniel removed his arm from Odette's neck, and looked at the woman curiously.

"Yes." Odette nodded then said, "Don't be afraid. After a while, we will go straight to the pond to see the fish."

She reassured Daniel, who looked doubtful.

Daniel finally turned to see Adriel, and Adriel immediately applied mind reading magic to the boy.

Adriel traced Daniel's memory, and finally found the memory when Daniel overheard the bandits discussing ways to avoid the checks carried out by Panthera's border guards. They were even considering tricking the knights guarding the border.

One of them complained about the stringent checks, because they had to rack their brains. Then said that until now, he didn't understand, because the Naturi border guards just let them in when they had already been caught selling the children and women that they brought with them.

He wondered if Naturi is a country that legalized human trafficking?

One of the others said not to think too much about it, and asked his friend to consider it their good fortune. Because they don't have any obstacles from Naturi's border guards, they could freely go in and out, and sell the children and women they kidnap into the country.

"Huh?" Daniel was a little surprised when Adriel finished reading his mind.

Rion immediately asked about what information Adriel got, and Adriel answered based on what he had seen in Daniel's memory.

After they heard Adriel's answer, Rion and everyone in the room were shocked. Rion almost couldn't believe it, especially when Adriel said that Naturi border guards still allowed the bandits to enter, despite them knowing their purpose in coming to Naturi.