She Belongs To The Devil

When Kenneth also walked out of his room, Grace once again pushed for going hunting rather than sitting around and waiting for the afternoon to arrive.

"But… you don't understand…" Kenneth glanced at Ariel and then said to Grace, "We don't want our guests to get into some accidents by going hunting now, do we? It's dangerous."

And Grace asked, "But didn't you say that all of them were trained in fighting skills, even the Princesses? So they must know how to hunt, right?" Grace then looked around at everyone as if to ask for their agreement.

Ariel didn't want to spend the whole day listening to the argument between the cousins. So she got up on her feet and then said, "We can go hunting. It's not a problem if we all stick together."

Everyone understood what she meant.

Damien was the first one to agree, "Okay, let's see what kind of animals we can find here then."

The servants prepared the horses while the Royals had their breakfast.

After breakfast, Kenneth took his guests to the royal armory so that they could choose the weapons of their desire for hunting.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Niylah and Zach chose crossbows while the others chose bows and arrows. And as for Grace, she didn't choose any weapons. But she did carry the dagger that Kenneth had gifted her in the morning because she didn't want to be the only one to not carry any weapons.

And when everyone, the guards as well as the Royals were ready, they headed for the forest that they had avoided yesterday.

The forest was on the opposite side of Murkymber Town. When traveling by horse, the distance between that forest and the castle was only half an hour away.

While running towards the forest, all the Royals were sticking close to each other while the guards were running at the front and at the back.

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The others already knew the drill about how and why they were supposed to stick to Ariel. So Kenneth rode his horse beside Grace and said to her, "Grace, whatever you do, don't leave Ariel's side, alright?"

Grace gave a nod but she didn't yet know the depth of the situation.

So, Kenneth said again, "I'm saying that for your safety. She's the most capable fighter among all of us. Since you don't even know how to defend yourself, you better stay by her side."

"Okay, I got it." Grace turned her gaze at Ariel who was a little ahead of her. And she raced forward to run by Ariel's side.

The forest looked pretty normal when they entered it. The trees weren't that denser, and they didn't look that impressive.

However, once they were a little deep inside, the trees around them appeared to be taller and denser. They had to carefully ride their horses and stay on the trail so as not to get lost or get stuck somewhere.

And when the trail ended, everyone got off their horses and prepared to head deeper inside the forest on foot.

Kenneth stood while facing everyone and checked if they all had their weapons on them. "Okay, everyone grabbed their weapons."

He then said to the Royals, "We will stay in each other's vicinity. Our guards will collect our kills, so if you hunt something down, just inform the guards and find the next one or wait for others to finish hunting."

After everyone agreed, Kenneth said to the guards, "I don't think I should remind you all that you need to be around the one you protect at all times. And if you happen to see someone suspicious, you know whom to inform."

"Yes, Your Highness," the guards replied simultaneously.

And finally, everyone set off to find their prey in the dense forest.

"This forest doesn't even get that much light, huh?" Ramon looked up at the thick leaves of the trees and commented.

Kenneth also looked up and answered, "We are lucky that we are even getting this much light today. Or else, this forest is mostly covered with fog. It wouldn't have been suitable for hunting."

"Then we really are lucky," Ramon replied and focused on the path ahead.

Niylah, on the other hand, wanted to freely run in that enchanting forest in her wolf form. "Ah! My feet would be happy if I got to run here."

However, Ariel looked at her and instantly warned her, "You don't want to do that, Ny. This isn't Wyverndale."

"I know," Niylah inhaled the fresh woody and grassy smell of the forest and sighed. "Besides, I will only chase away our prey if I do turn here."

Grace, who was also listening in to their conversation, got curious to understand what they were talking about. So she looked at Ariel and Niylah, and asked in a loud whisper, "Are you also special like Ken?"

Both Ariel and Niylah kept on staring at Grace for a few seconds, wondering who she was calling special.

And Grace looked at Niylah and said, "I meant, Niylah. I already know a lot about Ariel."

"Oh," Niylah gave a nervous smile and answered, "I don't know about special but I am a were–"

"Aahh!" Grace happened to bump her head on a huge tree since she had been walking while looking at Niylah instead of looking ahead of her.

"A-Are you alright?" Ariel asked with a concerned look on her face because Grace was massaging her forehead quite aggressively.

And Kenneth replied in her stead, "She is. Don't worry about her. She keeps on bumping into things a little too often. So her head is pretty strong by now."

"Hey!" Grace chuckled and playfully pushed Kenneth away. "Don't spill my secret of how I got a strong head! Shall I spill your secrets as well? Like the time how you stole your mother's gown and wore–"

Kenneth abruptly covered Grace's mouth and gave a nervous laugh. And he said to everyone, "We should be near the animals' habitat. We will start looking for prey now. Quietly."

Ariel and Niylah looked at each other and giggled.

The boys were already a little ahead of the ladies and Kenneth. Ramon and Zach didn't hear what Grace had said. But Damien did. And he couldn't help but chuckle to himself while imagining Kenneth in a gown.