Once Upon The Life of The Wise King

The Prince Has Returned

ONCE UPON THE LIFE OF THE WISE KING

Volume 1

The Birth of The Wise King

Chapter 13 - The Prince Has Returned

What the witch said about the black-hooded men prioritizing the search for the leader of the anti-royalist faction was true. When she and the Prince came across them, the men seemed not to see them as they busied themselves. They felt the disappearance of Lord Azazel, so they looked everywhere in the lair to find him. When they were sure their lord was not in their hideout, they decided to start looking outside.

"You are right," Prince Colin said, watching the black-hooded men rushing out past them as if they did not exist.

"It will take long before they find him. If luck is with us, then we won't see them for years."

"I wish I could use majika as you do."

"Using majika this way is not that beneficial all the time. It comes with a price. You have to pay with your life each time you use it. It's good that you can strengthen yourself with majika since it is safer that way."

"I did not know about that."

"You did not?"

"No." The Prince shook his head. "History books only mentioned that all the Kings died of genetic disease. The distant relatives in the branch family sometimes got the same disease."

"They must have concealed the truth." The witch pulled the Prince. "Let's go," she said.

The two of them walked out of the lair without getting intercepted, and they successfully made it outside.

"Come. I will only accompany you back until near the hunting forest. And when we get there, promise not to tell anyone that you know me. Understand?"

"I know. I won't tell."

Prince Colin and the witch stepped into the thick forest. It will take at least a couple of days before they can reach the hunting forest at their pace. The trees in the forest were like giants, and crickets were making a sound everywhere. There also seemed to be wolves from afar as they heard their howls.

"The forest is dangerous. We need to be careful not to attract any beasts here," the witch told Prince Colin, who was walking behind her.

"Yeah. How long do you think before we get back?" Prince Colin asked.

"A couple of days. That is if we only stop for a short while to rest. Can you handle that? We won't be getting much food except wild berries and raw dead meat in this kind of forest."

The Prince frowned upon hearing her words. He did not expect that he was so far away from his home. Prince Colin thought it was not that far because it seemed those who kidn*pped him only took less than an hour to take him into their lair. "So far," he grumbled.

"Well, can you handle that?"

"I am a prince. I can persevere."

"That is good to hear, Your Highness."

The two of them kept walking until dawn. By then, they were already tired. Fortunately, they found a stream, which was crystal clear, and freshwater fishes were swimming. They drank the water and caught some fish using an improvised bow and arrow.

The witch used majika to store the fish since they did not have ample time to cook.

"Let us cook this tomorrow."

"Okay."

Even though Prince Colin was hungry, he did not complain. He wanted to go home as soon as possible, which was why he had no qualms not getting enough rest and food. Soon, night fell again. This time, they need to stop because Prince Colin heard some wolves chasing their prey, so they decided to climb up the trees to rest there.

"You have good hearing," the witch praised.

"Thanks." The Prince shrugged his shoulders.

"Why don't we eat the fish while we rest? I can cast fire and cook it. I'm sure you are hungry now."

"Yeah, I am so hungry I could eat a horse now."

With her majika, the witch cast a fire. She then took out the fish they caught and hovered it above the heat to roast. When done, she gave one to the Prince beside her.

"Thanks." the Prince said.

The two of them ate until all the fish were eaten and spent the night upon the tree trunks, sleeping.

The next day they spent the same routine, and on the third day, they finally reached the outskirts of the hunting grounds.

"We are here, Your Highness."

"Thank you so much for your help, witch," Prince Colin expressed his gratitude. "If you need help in the future, you can rely on me."

"Heh. We will see. Do not forget to give the stone to the Queen."

"No, I won't."

"Off you go then."

"Thank you again. I hope we meet again in the future." Prince Colin bid his farewell, turned his back on the witch, and ran away to the direction where he heard the palace guards talking.

The two palace guards who just returned from their search saw Prince Colin running to them. "Your Highness!" they both exclaimed. "Thank goodness you are alive!"

"The King and the Queen are so worried about you!"

"We thought we would never see you again!"

"You just disappeared, and our comrades were gone. We could not find you anywhere!"

Prince Colin laughed a little. "You have worked hard. Thank you for never giving up on searching for me, and I'm sorry for what happened. I got kidn*pped, but I was able to escape from them."

"This is good news!"

"Let us hurry back to the palace, Your Highness!"

"Right." The Prince nodded. "I need to talk to my father, and I have to apologize to them. I did not mean for them to worry about me."

The palace guards used their communicators to spread the news that they found the First Prince. Their communicators were cast on their helmets by the Holy Priestess, Bhavisha. This type of communicator was exclusive only to the Royal family and their guards and soldiers.

The King and Queen had not slept the past few nights. But when they heard the news that their son had finally returned alive, they were relieved.