As he looked at the red-haired girl who sprawled in the cage, Arthur believed she must have a clue, a hint about the mystery of the golden knight's death.
The state she was in when Arthur found her could only be described with one word: miserable. The conspicuousness of her weak condition, coupled with the torn clothes that barely stuck on her body, told him about the rough and difficult things she must have been through.
At first, Arthur wanted to directly bring her to the palace. However, when he took another look at her, he couldn't bring himself to do it, as her condition was extremely critical. Therefore, he decided to bring her to the physician he trusted.
As she was somehow involved in the case, Arthur asked the physician to put her in the basement after the treatment. She would be kept there until she awoke.
A day and a half later, he got the news that the girl woke up. Therefore, he immediately set out for her. But to his surprise, the girl barely knew how to speak.
His attempts to question her about the case failed before they could begin.
Other than finding out her name, which was Morgana, it was difficult for him to understand what she was saying.
Left with no choice, Arthur could only start the investigation by observing her physique and checking her current appearance, which in his opinion, quite peculiar. Even though she looked mature, she was sure the girl was barely past her teens, 15 or 16 years old at most.
Although her clothes mostly looked like normal Briton ones, there were some parts that looked odd, like the shoes and bracelets she was wearing. They looked primitive and old-fashioned - things no Briton citizen would choose to wear. Moreover, they were also not the kind that people from the north or the islands beyond would wear.
Arthur continued to observe, scanning from top to bottom, while the person being observed became uncomfortable from the intense gaze she received. It did not take long until he realized the girl in front of him was a Fey Crutin. The biggest giveaway to that were her unique eyes.
This fact, added with the death of the golden knight and the suspicion of the silver knight, made Arthur believe she was a piece of a much bigger mystery. One he couldn't possibly solve in a short time.
Therefore, he decided to keep the girl a secret for a while.
However, the physician, who was also his close mentor, Gaious disagreed with his decision. The man even gave the prince a piece of advice.
"Your Excellency, if she's really a fey. Then I suggest you be really careful."
Those words managed to make Arthur stop in his tracks. Even so, he still needed more time to decide what to do.
"What do you mean by that, Gaious?"
Gaious leaned closer to Arthur and spoke in a soft tone, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear what he had to say.
"It's highly probable that she's a witch."
The man's words made Arthur confused. He never understood the differences between a witch and a wizard. After all, the man in front of him was a wizard himself.
"I was always curious about one thing, Gaious. So tell me. Why do the kingdoms hate this so-called 'Fey Witch'? I mean... What's the difference between them and a wizard such as you?"
Instead of answering the prince's question, the old wizard walked towards his apothecary room, which happened to be in the basement as well. Arthur watched curiously as the man took several different ingredients from the shelf and began grinding them.
After the ingredients were grounded into a pile of fine powders. Gaious walked towards Morgana with the pestle in hand. Seeing his mentor's actions, Arthur's face changed drastically.
"Please stand back, Your Excellency."
"Gaious! What are you trying to do?!" Arthur became worried because he couldn't possibly let any harm befall the girl. She was the only clue to the unsolved mystery!
The old wizard didn't budge. His gaze was fixed on Morgana and he said in a firm tone, "We need to make sure, Your Excellency. Please stand back because this is important."
Without further ado, Gaious took the powder and blew it into the cell. Morgana, who saw all this happening, became alarmed. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do but let the powder land on her body.
The prince watched as the girl gradually turned into a huge wolf with black and crimson fur in a matter of seconds.
It began to rampage inside the cell, trying its best to get out. Arthur was worried if the metal bars would be enough to hold the creature, and fortunately, it was. It took a while before the creature calms down and slowly return back into its human form.
Arthur was both terrified and amazed by what he had witnessed. Even so, he felt sympathy for the poor girl when he saw the girl lying on the ground with her clothes even more torn than before. He quickly grabbed a blanket to cover her almost naked body.
While making sure the blanket covered her entirety, Arthur asked the old wizard, "Gaious, is this what the Order is scared of?"
The old wizard was silent.
Receiving no response, Arthur turned and gazed intensely at his mentor, "You must know about this, Gaious. Tell me!"
Under the relentless pressure the prince gave off, the wizard finally relented and began explaining. Even though he didn't know all the details and reasons, he still knew some of the pieces and crumbs.
Apparently, around 50 years ago, the mysterious forest suddenly opened, at the same time, people are started to go missing and dying. There were corpses of people found in such a gruesome manner. This kept happening until the 7 kingdoms were compelled to solve the situation.
20 years ago, the 7 kingdoms sent their best knights and envoys to communicate with the Fey, which unfortunately leads to such a disaster that took hundreds of lives. Regarding the disaster, Gaious had no clear idea of what happened since the details were kept secret. The truth was only available to the highest ranking knights. But he knows for sure it involves fey witches.
Arthur knew that some parts of the story his mentor told him were matching with what was written on the information accessible by the golden knights. However, it seemed the real reason behind it was still a mystery.
That day, Arthur regretfully decided to force his mentor to keep the girl a secret, because he couldn't let an accident happen. He wanted to get to know the girl and the Fey Crutins better. He wanted to know the truth.
The process would definitely take time, as the girl herself didn't speak his tongue. Therefore, Arthur came back to the old wizard's place almost everyday to talk and teach the girl the Briton language.
With each passing week, the girl began to understand more and more of what Arthur was saying. But she refused to talk about the Feys every time Arthur asked her about them.
When she understands the language more, Arthur was curious about the extend of fey talent who was said to be a witch. A simple test of magic leads to daily practice. They discovered she had such extraordinary talent in practicing fire magic that her rate of improvement made the old wizard ashamed of himself.
It took three months for Arthur's trust to grow to let her out of the cage. It surprised him that the girl didn't leave immediately after being released.
Arthur trusted her enough to bring her out to the city, to learn more about the world. Naturally, she put on a cloak that covered her entire body.
As they walked through the streets, Arthur noticed she was very excited to try all kinds of food she laid her eyes on. Moreover, the girl had the appetite of a bear. He gaped at the sight of the food he ordered disappearing into the girl's stomach in an instant.
After weeks of being together, Arthur started to become attached to the girl. He believed she also felt the same way as he did. He hoped this girl one day would want to return to the forest and take him to see her people.
During their many conversations, he learnt the girl was actually waiting for something or someone, but when he asked about the details, she never wanted to say it.
When the Yearly Tournament began, with the city becoming packed by the flows of squires and the fact that many golden knights across the 7 kingdoms arrived, Arthur forbade her to go outside. It will be troublesome if any of these knights saw her.
Then, the exact night after the Tournament was finally over, a stranger came to seek the girl.
Written by Avans, Published exclusively by NovelFull,