Chapter 115 - I Hate This Scary Place (1/2)

Charles wanted to conduct a little test to see if all hope was lost. He would sneak up on Alpheus from behind and throw a knife directly at his back. He had always been an excellent hunter and knife throwing was a good way to finish off a kill.

He got his chance three days later when Alpheus went off in search of the palace post master to send a letter. Taking aim, he had a perfect shot at the middle of that idiot's spine.

The knife flew directly at his target yet bounced off what seemed to be a wall of air and clattered to the ground. The prince whirled around at the noise and noticed the fallen knife with a mixture of confusion and alarm.

Having gotten the impossible answer he was searching for, Charles carefully crept away from the scene. He had been wearing gloves and the knife was not affiliated with the dukedom of Orla so he should be safe.

Sigmund had been telling the truth. Alpheus was, for all intents and purposes, immortal. This made no sense. Even if you did believe in mountain spirits, the blessing worked in the strangest ways.

Only a few weeks ago Charles had seen him sporting a black eye. Did it only protect from deadly attacks? How would the spirits be able to distinguish between a regular injury and a potentially fatal one? What about illnesses?

He understood very little about his enemy's bizarre power. What he did understand was that the battle was lost. He should go home rather than stay here and torture himself.

Never again would he find someone as beautiful or brilliant as Catherine du Pont. But what did it matter anymore? He had wanted a political partner but now the politics of this country were outside his control.

There were plenty of women who could make a more satisfactory duchess than his mother at the very least. Charles would have the boring, lifeless marriage he had always imagined before Catherine came along. She would go on and use that brain of hers to benefit the tiny and pathetic Kanta clan.

All of the fight drained out of him. He wasn't as unreasonable as Sigmund; he knew how to accept defeat after a certain point.

Although…the way Sigmund had worded what he said about Alpheus' immortality had been strange. He said the only way to hurt him was to hurt his wife. Did he intend to follow through on that?

He had promised ages ago that he wouldn't harm Catherine but with how erratic he had been acting lately it was entirely possible he would go back on his promise. To warn her or not to warn her?

It was likely she already knew Sigmund was out to get her. She was always on guard with those she didn't trust. Including him.

Charles owed her nothing. He would go home, recoup his losses, and focus on the dukedom for a while. With any luck, by the time he came back to the capital she would already be off traipsing through the mountains.

If she wanted to throw her life away she was welcome to it. He did not care anymore.