Chapter 316 - Partners in Crime (Part 1)

Prince Roland paid Odette a visit the following day. He had been thinking of cooperating with her for quite some time now but kept putting off holding a meeting with her. He had been busy improving his magic and wanted to focus on it first. He knew that Odette was into Vaughn, and he wanted to use that to his advantage. 

Roland was certain that King Odhran would not be able to refuse Odette's request. Roland had it all planned. He would use Odette to command the soldiers of Prazia, and he would use his grandfather's Dark Magic faction along with his own men to fulfill his own wish – take Zenia Anisen away from Vaughn.

In his estimate, Odette would never do something drastic and stay put for a while. The thought that King Odhran would make his move on behalf of his daughter did not cross his mind. He wondered what Odette had told her father that made him act drastically. On top of that, the Dark Magic Lord agreed quickly.

Roland already set the time frame for each step in his plan. If only Odette or King Odhran did not do anything to disrupt the time of execution of each stage. Because of what happened to Zenia, it was inevitable to push the next stage forward – talk to Odette about the cooperation.

Roland freshened up first before he went to see Odette. He heard that she only stayed in her villa the whole time. King Odhran forbade her to go out and told her to wait patiently for his announcement. 

A maid came rushing to Odette's room and informed her, "Your Highness, the grandson of Dark Magic Lord is here to see you."

"Dark Magic Lord's grandson?" Odette thought for a while and tried to recall the names and identities of the important figures and personalities in Prazia that she must remember. 

King Odhran assigned a tutor to teach her the things that she should know about the Royal Family of Prazia as well as the influential families and personalities that she should make a good impression. Her tutor, as per King Odhran's instruction, told her that she should be able to gain a strong backing by befriending those members of prominent and influential families. 

King Odhran knew that Odette could easily accomplish that since she was used to dealing with prominent personalities. The Left Minister had trained well in dealing with some of the influential people that he wanted to establish an alliance with in the past. The Left Minister molded Odette into a perfect puppet that could carry out his order flawlessly. 

Odette had always believed that her grandfather was making her handle all of those because she was the one he trusted the most. She always believed that the Lef Minister was doing it because he loved her so much. Until the Left Minister's death, Odette was still kept in the dark about the real intention of the Left Minister for keeping her by his side. She was nothing more than a pawn to make King Odhran help him carry out his plans.

"Yes, Your Highness. The Dark magic Lord just found out about the existence of his grandson not long ago."

Odette suspected that she might have met him before, and he learned that she was the King of Prazia's daughter. She smirked.

"Tell him that I will see him. Have him wait for me in the receiving area."

"Yes, Your Highness.'

Odette instructed her maids to help her get ready. She had no idea who her guest was, but she felt that she had to dress up. After all, he could be someone that would bring her lots of benefits. She should impress him with her looks.

Roland insisted to wait for Odette in the garden. The servants could not refuse. They knew better than offend someone important to the Dark Magic Lord. They decided to just tell Odette that the guest requested to wait in the garden and hope that she would not scold them for not following her orders.

To be honest, the servants would rather offend Odette than Roland. It was not certain whether Odette would inherit the throne. Most of them were hoping for Prince Joram's return.

It was a good thing that Odette was feeling good at that time. She did not mind if the guest wanted to wait in the garden. She went there together with two of her maids.

When Odette reached the garden, she saw a man standing near the pond. His back was the one that greeted her. She found the man's stature somewhat familiar but couldn't recall where she had seen him. She did not know why, but the man's presence made her shiver. It was as if she was looking at her First Brother.

She could still remember how her First Brother reprimanded her and hit her so much for breaking his mother's vase. She was only around four years old at the time. His concubine mother shrieked loudly, and Odette recalled his panic-stricken face. She could not forget it because she was terrified of her First Brother when he began hitting her. 

After that incident, she would always hide each time he was in the Main Palace. She was more than glad when King Tarendino gave Roland the Principality of Ismund and told him not to set foot in the Capital again.

When he knew that Odette was near him, Roland turned around and faced her. He saw the terror in her eyes when she saw him. Roland smirked secretly. She was still afraid of him after all these years. He knew at that moment that it would be easy or him to make Odette do his bidding.

"Hello, dear sister. It's been a while," Roland greeted her with a calm yet domineering tone.

It sent shivers to Odette. It was obviously a friendly greeting, but she felt cold all over.

"H-hello, First Brother. How have you been?"

Odette clenched her skirt, and she did not even notice that she was trembling. Roland was delightful that he could still inflict terror on Odette.

"Sister, please," Roland extended his hand as he beckoned her to take a seat.

Odette obediently did as she was told. It was as if Roland was the owner of the villa. She could not even complain and could not even think about complaining because she feared that Roland might read her thoughts. 

Odette sent a signal to a maid to bring in tea and snacks. She tried to calm her self down and acted as if everything was fine with her, but Roland knew better.

"I did not expect that you're the Dark Magic Lord's grandson. Have you always known?"

Odette tried to have a proper conversation with Roland to ease her worries. She did not want him to find out that she was still afraid of him. However, it was too late. Roland already knew that she was still terrified to face him.

"I just recently learned it too. Apparently, he had been looking for me and my mother for a long time. As you already know, I purposely hid the whereabouts and existence of my mother because someone could be after her life."

Odette remained silent. She kept her thoughts to herself.

'Your mother had offended so many people. It's only natural for you to fear for her life. Even the Queen wanted her dead for all the things she plotted together with grandfather.'

Odette knew about the family that Princess Elenia ordered someone to burn, but she did not know that it was the Anisen Family. She also did not know that the Left Minister wanted to kill Vaughn. All she knew was that her grandfather planned to let Damien be the Crown Prince. She somehow managed to convince the Left Minister that she could marry Vaughn and just allow him to retain his title. 

Once he ascended the throne with her by his side, she would make sure that he would become a puppet king. Everything should have been fine if Zenia Anisen did not get into the picture. She ruined everything. In her eyes, Zenia was a vixen that seduced Vaughn and took him away from her. She did not know that Vaughn already met Zenia when they were young.

The tea and snacks arrived, and Odette sipped her tea to calm her nerves. She knew that Roland came with a different purpose and not just suddenly felt like visiting her. They were in the same boat now. He had already lost King Tarendino's favor a long time ago, and she knew that Tissuria was after her. They could benefit a lot if they would agree to mutual cooperation. But, Odette knew that Roland would prefer to take a deal that would favor him more.

"So, what brings you here, First Brother? I know that you did not simply come here to have a chat and reminisce the old times."

Roland smirked. Odette had changed a lot, even though she was still terrified of him. He did not expect that the negotiation could get smooth.

"Let me get straight to the point. I want you to tell your father not to put Zenia Anisen in trouble. I will do everything that I can to take her away and never let her appear in front of Vaughn again. You can have Vaughn all to yourself by then."

Odette could not believe her ears. What was so good about Zenia that the most eligible men seemed to get smitten by her? But, she wasn't complaining at all. Roland's proposal was music to her ears. 

Odette grinned upon learning one of Roland's secrets. She believed that Roland must have met her long before Vaughn had married Zenia. She was not wrong, but Vaughn still met Zenia way ahead of Roland.