SPELLBOUND

As soon as Evie heard what the queen said, a smile curved on her lips.

Lately, Evie had been wondering how she would even announce to everyone about the identity of Vera as the descendent of the ice dragon keepers. Since this knowledge about Vera having the blood of one of the ice dragon keepers was something she had found out from her vision, Evie was certain that she could not say out her name or even point towards her.

She had tried all these before to the other dragon riders and none of her methods worked. So she knew it will be the same with Vera too. However, she could always try some other method where she could introduce her to everyone without saying out her name nor pointing directly at her.

Evie already had a plan at this moment but… there was a slight problem. She was certain Vera and even Gideon does not have any idea about this yet. Will it be alright if she revealed it in this way? Would it be a little to sudden, especially for Vera?

Moreover, Evie was also certain that the dark faes will definitely doubt or not believe it at all the moment they see that the woman she was talking about looked like a mere human right now. And Vera could not even prove that she was an Icyrian descendant right now as Evie was certain she had not experienced any sort of power awakening yet!

These matters were making it difficult to Evie to decide at this moment. However, she also could not help but think that this was probably the best moment for her to tell everyone about her. And besides, even if the dark faes do not believe it, the King, the Queen, Gav and the others will definitely believe her even if they do not understand it at first.

That was all that matters to her right now. Evie believed that the very first step was for these important people to learn that the ice dragon keeper was Vera. Once this is taken care of, they could move on to the next step.

Evie also thought that Vera had no immediate need to prove to them right away that she was the keeper as of right now, all Evie wanted was for the other lords to finally fully cooperate and go along with her plans. They had promised they would cooperate once she revealed to them who the woman she was talking about after all.

At that moment, as Evie looked across the soldiers before her, she quickly weighed out the pros and cons and came up with a decision right there and then.

Her amber eyes gleamed, and she let out a soft sigh.

Then all of a sudden, she spoke in front of all the men.

"Hear me, everyone! The woman I am talking about… the one and only remaining ice dragon keeper is about to arrive." Evie said with a triumphant and confident smile that made everyone look at her with shock. Suddenly, a chorus of voices broke out and the silent atmosphere earlier was now buzzing with questions and speculation on the identity of that woman who was coming. There was a clear anticipatory air among the dark faes and excitement was running high. What? Was the light fae queen serious? They were going to see the ice-dragon keeper already?! Really? They had not expected it to be this quick.

Even the Lords present all straightened up and their eyes gleamed with utter anticipation and something like gladness burned deep within their blue eyes.

And while everyone was caught up in that state, Evie was sighing out in relief that she was able to say that without a problem. She had been slightly worried that she would be frozen halfway when speaking due to the restriction of revealing too much about the future.

…

Meanwhile, as Gideon and Vera entered the camp, Vera's grip on Gideon's hand tightened.

Since this morning, as they travelled to the Great City, Gideon had showed Vera many of things within the dark fae's kingdom already. The beauty of the Kingdom especially in the Great City had fascinated Vera and took her breath away. Her eyes were literally shining as she looked down below in wonderment as her eyes took in the many sights that she had not expected to see.

She had never seen such a beautiful place her entire life, not even in her imagination. Yrizia was beautiful, no doubt about it. But the Great City was just so breathtaking that she could only gape at it while Gideon spoke and rattle off the names of the places as he pointed them out to her.

It had been such a blissful and heart-warming trip until they left the Great City and headed to that one specific and ominous spot.

They had just arrived and touched down at the palace gates when they were told that everyone had gathered at the military camp near the Abyss of Darkness. The queen also left a message for Vera and Gideon to head for the Abyss as soon as they arrived. So the couple came all the way here after taking a short break at the palace.

Gideon had also changed out Vera's outfit before they set off, so Vera was wearing a special ensemble. Gideon said that the outfit could also serve as her armour. And Vera liked that it was not as heavy as the human dresses that were layers and layers thick which she had gotten used to wearing. She was also covered with the same black coloured cloak that Gideon was wearing.

"Don't be nervous, I'm here with you." Gideon whispered to her as they walked forward, and Vera just nodded at him.

Everyone was looking at them now.

"That's… His Highness, right?" another excited voice called out.

"Obviously it is him, idiot. Can't you see his cloak? And who else would exude such effortless aura if not for him?" a scoffing voice replied.

"But who's that person walking beside him? Doesn't feel like anything special."

"I can't see the face but that's definitely a female."

"I don't think it's a dark fae. Her aura is just too weak."

"They are holding hands!!"

"Wait… could she be our prince's lover?"

"Definitely. Have you ever seen Prince Gideon holding a woman's hand publicly like that?"

"But… if she's really his lover… I really can't sense anything. Not even a tinge of magic from her…"

"Yeah, this is strange."

As everyone murmured and speculated, Vera and Gideon finally walked through the gossiping soldiers and reached the heart of the camp and to their surprise, the crowd suddenly opened up before them.