The Devil's Betrothed novel Chapter 372

Chapter 372: Uncle Found My Aunt

"Where’s Rayjin?" Arlan inquired.

"She was playing late and eventually grew tired, so she fell asleep," Alvera replied. "She wanted to come see you, but I told her you were occupied and not to disturb you."

"I’ll see her tomorrow," he responded, only to hear a sweet yet discontented voice saying, "Why tomorrow? Is Uncle planning to leave without seeing me?"

Arlan glanced at the young girl, who was still rubbing her sleepy eyes. Her nanny had caught up with her.

Arlan regarded her with a gentle expression. "Did you just wake up?"

She nodded with a pout and walked towards him. "If Nanny hadn’t told me that my parents were having a meal with my uncle, I wouldn’t have known you were here."

They overheard Nanny apologizing to her master, "Duchess, I tried to stop her, but my lady ran here."

"It’s all right, you can leave."

Arlan picked up the upset Rayjin and placed her in his lap, only to hear her say, "I’m upset with you, Uncle."

He lowered his gaze to look at her small, cute face. "May I know why?"

She looked away with a slight frown and answered, "I heard Uncle found my aunt but didn’t take me to meet her."

Arlan looked at his sister, who replied hesitantly, "She overheard Rhys and me talking."

Rayjin turned her attention back to her uncle. "So, Uncle, you didn’t plan to tell me. You don’t want me to see my aunt?"

"It’s not..."

"Is she so ugly that Uncle thinks I’d be scared?" Rayjin asked.

Ugly? Arlan knew that word didn’t even come close to describing Oriana’s appearance. But he wondered how to answer why he hadn’t introduced her aunt to this little girl. Should he say she wasn’t her aunt, or make up some other excuse to avoid upsetting her further? He certainly couldn’t reveal the cruel truth to the young girl, so he settled for a random excuse.

"It’s not the right time for her to meet others. We just found her, so we need to be considerate and not scare her."

"Um, is that so?" she asked, her innocent eyes blinking, and her displeasure towards her uncle faded.

"Hmm."

"Then I’ll wait to meet her."

Arlan offered her a sweet. "To make up for it, Uncle will give you a sweet you like."

She smiled and opened her mouth to eat the treat her uncle fed her. "This is so tasty. Will my aunt like it if I give her my favorite sweet?"

"Hmm," Arlan nodded, only to hear her say, "Then I’ll bring this for her when I meet her. Can I?"

"You can."

The little girl beamed. "Then I’ll have a meal with Uncle now," she said and opened her mouth, "Aaa."

Arlan fed her quietly.

Alvera, who could never get enough of this uncle-niece display of affection, whispered to her husband, "I can’t believe he’s the same cold-hearted prince when he’s with Rayjin."

"It’s because our daughter is as sweet as her mother."

Alvera smiled in response and continued to watch Arlan and Rayjin, where one was feeding attentively, and the other was gobbling down the food happily.

"Miss Verner," he bowed.

Oriana was straightforward in her question. "Can you arrange what I asked you to?"

However, the servant’s response was disappointing. "We could have tried, but a new situation arose that makes it difficult or I must say impossible."

Curiosity filled Oriana’s eyes as she asked, "What happened?"

The servant continued, "I learned that Prince Arlan is planning to abduct you and old Phil during your journey to the capital. Commander Loyset got wind of this and has planned to add more strict security around you during the travel."

Oriana felt her hope slipping away, "So, that Prince wants to kill me even before we could reach the palace?"

The servant nodded in agreement. "Seems like it. If you two fall into Prince’s hands, there is nothing but death waiting for you. Under King’s protection, you could have survived, but Prince won’t even let you reach the palace."

"That damn Prince," Frustration built within Oriana as she clenched her fists. ’He can’t wait to kill me and grandpa.’

The servant tried to offer a solution, "All you can do now is leave with me tonight. You have to leave old Phil behind. With the tightened security now, we cannot take him away. We cannot waste any more time."

But Oriana remained determined and stopped him, saying, "No, don’t. I cannot leave my grandpa behind at any cost. If anything happens to him in my absence, I will never be able to forgive myself. If death is what awaits us, then so be it. I will die alongside my grandpa. That way, we will be together even after death."

"But...."

"Thank you for trying to help me. I am sure my grandpa would be grateful towards you as well. Among all the cruel people around, you are the only one who showed sympathy towards us. I am greatful."

The servant saw her unwavering determination and realized he couldn’t insist any longer. He left with a heavy heart, knowing Oriana’s decision to stand by her grandfather was firm.

She looked at her grandpa, ’I can not let us fall into Prince’s hands. All I can do is it to stay by the side of King’s men and protect both of us. We have no option but to go to the palace now. I don’t know what happens once we reach there, all I know that I will try my best to protect you....even if it means for me to kill that damn Prince.’

Tomorrow would be the day she would be leaving for the capital, not knowing what would it bring to her and her grandpa.