Chapter 262 - Disappointed

Terros and the bubble containing Luke's body appeared inside the fortress.

The men who are currently undergoing the experiment are making a bonfire a few meters away from the front yard of the house.​​

Terros climbed the wooden stairs and went to the balcony.

Veronica looked at him and smiled. "I'm glad you're back, Grandpa!" she said.

She has been sitting on the wooden bench watching the bonfire for more than half an hour. She glanced at the bubble, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Grandpa! Who's that guy inside the bubble? He looks like Graven!" she asked.

"Ah, that is his twin brother's body. His soul is wandering around the castle, and I have no idea where he is as of this moment! That brat is giving me anxiety right now more than his brother and his men combined!" he said, feeling annoyed.

Veronica stared at the bubble in amazement.

"I'll just hang this bubble in the balcony waiting for Luke's spirit to return," he said and waved his hand, putting the bubble in place, hanging in the ceiling.

"How is Graven and the men doing right now?" Veronica asked.

"After putting their bodies on the ground inside the castle, they vanished! They're probably taken away by the spirit of the King, back to his place in the basement," Terros replied.

"Have you eaten dinner already?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a piece of bread and egg as well as ripe bananas. One of the men brought them from the headquarter," Terros replied.

"Good. There still some mushroom soup left in the kitchen. It's all yours if you want," Veronica said.

Terros looked at the men surrounding the bonfire. "How they're doing?" he asked for their overall condition.

Veronica looked at the men. "They're doing well, so far. Not one of them vomited, and they're looking healthy to me. If after two days, they will maintain the same good health then I can finally say with 99% accuracy that the black liquid was finally flushed out from their bodies," she replied.

"That's good news!" Terros said. "If only we knew beforehand that the herbal medicine can be this effective, then we should have let the rest of the men take the medicine as well," he sighed, shaking his head in regrets.

"It's okay, Grandpa. There will be next time. I'm sure the King will release the men, and we can finally give them the medicine," Veronica said.

Terros was not relieved. Even if the King released some of the men, he will retain a few. "I'll go to the kitchen and eat the rest of the mushroom soup!" he said and entered the door. He went straight to the kitchen and finished the remaining soup straight from the pot.

After he's done in the kitchen, he went to his room for a much-needed rest.

He lay his body down on the bed and shut his eyes to sleep.

A few minutes later, he was already snoring a bit loudly.

Outside the house.

Veronica bid the men good night because she's already sleepy and going to sleep in her room.

She went back to the house, entered her room, and lie down in the bed.

The men outside also decided to sleep. They doused the bonfire with water. Afterward, they went to the balcony to sleep for the night.

...

The following day.

After eating breakfast.

Terros asked the men about their condition. "How are you doing, guys?" he asked them.

"We're feeling good, Grandpa! I think herbal medicine is effective in removing the black liquid from our bodies. We're very much happy about the fantastic effect of the medicine on our body. But we're also sad that our comrades are back in the crumbling castle..." replied one of the men.

Their faces fell into sadness and worries.

Terros sighed. "Let's hope that they will get out of the castle soon," he said.

"Grandpa, can we go back to the headquarter today? We will return here right away if we feel something out of ordinary with our bodies?" one of the men requested.

"Sure!" Terros said. He allowed them to go home because they're looking bored right now with nothing to do at his place.

"Thank you, Grandpa!" the men replied in unison.

They went to the balcony and thanked the other person who also takes good care of them when they become delirious with fever. "Thank you for feeding us food and taking good care of us, Lady Veronica! We will take our leave now," they said in unison.

"You're welcome! Take care!" she replied with a smile.

A few minutes later, the five men disappeared from the place.

Terros joined Veronica on the balcony. "I'm going back to the crumbling castle today," he said.

"Do you think the cursed King already released the prisoners right now?" Veronica asked.

"Maybe yes or maybe not," Terros replied with a sigh. "He will probably release the majority of the men, but he will retain two or three more as prisoners to make sure that Graven will return to the castle to rescue them. It's a never-ending vicious cycle!" he said.

"I agree," Veronica said.

"How about you? Are you going back to the Windless Mountain?" Terros asked.

"No, not yet. I will wait a bit. After Graven and his men's return, I will finally go back to Elva's place to report about the good result of the medicine!" she replied.

"Good! I'm glad that there's someone who can take care of the plants and the animals while I'm away," he said. "I gotta go now!"

"Please take care of yourself, Grandpa!" Veronica said.

"I will!" Terros replied and disappeared from the place.

Veronica went downstairs to water the plants in the front and backyard.

Meanwhile...

Back at the cursed King's place.

Inside the room where Graven was kept.

He was staring at the ceiling of the room, wondering when will the tyrant King release him and his men? Man, he was getting hungry!

The King suddenly appeared in the middle of the doorless room and looked at the prisoner on the ground. "If you want to go home early. Sit down on the chair, let's talk!" he ordered in a commanding tone.

Graven rose to his feet and settled on the chair.

"It comes to my attention that five of your men were missing? Where are they?" the King asked, he lowered himself on the chair.

Graven sighed. "They died. We encounter a vicious enemy and five of my men died during the fight," he lied.

"I see... Are you telling me lies or are you telling me the truth?" the King asked.

"It's up to you if you believe me or not," Graven answered in a cold voice.

The King stood up and went to Graven's side. He freezes the guy's body and placed his hands on his head. "I shall know soon if you are telling me lies!" he said.

He closed his eyes and began reading the prisoner's mind. Dammit! Why can't he read his mind? He tried again, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't read anything from his mind. It's like a blank canvass! Then he finally remembered that in the previous session, he was also not able to read his mind!

He gives up and unfreezes the prisoner.

"What did you do? I can't read your mind!" the King said.

"I have no idea!" Graven shook his head.

The King smirk. "It looks like I can't get you to tell me the truth. But don't rejoice yet! I will find out soon enough!" he said. "Wait here... I'll read the mind of one of your men!" he said and vanished from the room in the blink of an eye.

Graven breathed deeply. The King will know soon enough that he was lying!

He put his hands on his stomach, it never stops growling due to hunger. He thinks he will soon pass out due to hunger!

Outside the room.

The King placed his head above one of the prisoners and starts reading his mind.

A smirk formed on his lips. Now he knows! Graven is lying! They somehow found the cure!

Amazing! He was curious, who created the cure? He needs that person to detoxify his body from the black liquid, the moment he's already out of the castle!

Anyways, he still has a lot to learn about this current world.

Even though he already learned a lot about the world today by just reading the minds of the prisoners, he's craving for more! Things were different way back during his reign, and that was one thousand years ago!

The world changes a lot from what it used to be!

He found the current world, very interesting!

He's done reading the mind of the prisoner. He went back to the room where Graven was kept.

He appeared in the middle of the room and settled on the chair facing the prisoner. "I discovered from one of the men's memory that you were conducting an experiment with herbal medicine that has a great potential to eliminate the black liquid from your bodies. Because of these recent developments, I'm very disappointed!" he snapped.

Graven groaned.

"I will add more tasks for you to do. Besides Laura, you also have to bring me the person who created the medicine. To make sure that you will do the errands that I assigned you with, I will keep half of your men prisoners until you will give me Laura and the person who created the cure!" he said.

Graven released a deep sigh.

"If you keep angering me! You will end up in a lot of trouble! You should just surrender Laura to me while you still have the chance! And now you are pulling down more of your men with you to your grave. You are getting more stupid and stubborn every time I see you! You disappointed me! Be thankful that I'm still giving you a chance to complete the task that I'm giving you! Or else I will kill you right now!" the cursed King said angrily. His nostrils were flaming with anger.

Graven stared at the floor, he was not in the mood to argue with the deranged King. He can rant all he wants! He won't pay him any attention.

The only thing he was aware of is the hunger gnawing in his stomach. Dammit! He's so hungry right now! Food is the only thing he was thinking and imagining right now!

Screw the King!

The King was mad that Graven was ignoring him. He waved his hand at the prisoner.

Suddenly...

Graven fell from the chair and crumbled to the floor in an unconscious state.