“Help?” the older woman asked. “How? What happened?”

Esther did not hesitate to narrate the entire event to them, from the things that happened inside the Temple of the Divine up until her visit to the ancient temple. She did not even hide what would happen to Theron if he accepted the curse in his body.

The old couple were overwhelmed by everything their daughter-in-law mentioned, especially King Esteban who had no idea things would turn out this way when he suggested his son seek the High Priest.

“Theron? My son? He plans to suffer that curse on his own?” the older lady mumbled with a pale face, her hands quivering as if she’s on the verge of fainting.

“Yes, Mother. Knowing him, I am sure he will not hesitate to sacrifice himself. However, I don’t want him to do it. I don’t want him to accept such a cruel fate. No one deserves to go bear such cruelty, and I believe neither do you.”

Hearing what exactly would happen to their son, the older couple’s heart sank. The already sick King Esteban groaned in bed, and it was as if what little energy he had left in his body would disappear. At that moment, Esther no longer hid her powers and helped the old man ease his suffering using a small healing spell. Though it wouldn’t remove the plague, it would somehow alleviate the symptoms.

Queen Theodora couldn’t even admire what the young woman did as all her thoughts were on the curse and her son. “What help do you want from us? What do you plan to do? You must have found a solution.”

“Only someone from the Ivanov bloodline can summon the Devil. I came here to ask Father to come to the temple and do the summoning,” Esther replied.

“Summon the Devil?” the older woman mumbled, while her husband looked at Esther with wide eyes, as if he had already realized what the young woman was aiming for. However, Queen Theodora didn’t notice, as she was already overcome with emotions from the news. “Why do you want your father-in-law to summon him? Let Theron return—”

“Mother, to save Theron, there is only one way,” Esther replied.

“What? What do you mean?”

This time, the answer came from King Esteban. “She means to accept what the Devil originally asked for.”

Esther nodded. “I have decided to bear his child.”

Though she looked calm and firm outside, she was being tormented by the thought of it.

“What? Nonsense!” the older lady exclaimed. “My son didn’t want to accept what the Devil demanded, that’s why he went to look for another way. He does not want to sacrifice you, his wife! Yet you want to accept it, Esther?!”

This was the first time Esther had heard Queen Theodora ever raise her voice, and she could not help but bite her lips with frustration. Even the weakened King Esteban was shaking his head, looking at her with disapproval.

“Mother, Father, please listen to me. if I don’t do it, Theron will no longer be with us. He will be gone, never to return, to be tormented till eternity. How can I allow that? How can you, as his parents, let him suffer such a cruel fate? It is just a child! If it can save my husband’s life from such damnation, what is a mere child? I, his wife, only wish to protect my husband. Please… I beg the both of you to help me… Father, please…”

“But Theron will never agree to it. He will never forgive us if we go against his will,” the older lady said, wanting to protect her son and yet torn to give up Esther in order to satisfy the Devil’s demand.

“Your mother is right,” King Esteban said as he tried to sit up in bed. Thanks to the small healing spell Esther gave him, he had managed to sit upright and speak without coughing. “And I agree with my son’s decision. As the king of this kingdom, it’s his responsibility to protect this kingdom, whatever it takes. Such is the weight of that crown he is wearing.”

“Father—”

“Moreover,” he cut her off, “you must not rob him of his right to protect his wife. You are insulting his love for you. If I were him, I would have also protected Theodora and bear that curse. Any man who uses his wife as a shield is not worthy of being called her husband. Theron would rather die than sacrifice his wife.”

As the previous king who married a wife he loved, King Esteban understood his son’s situation. There would be a desire to protect everything and everyone. One life sounded like a small sacrifice in exchange for that.

However, knowing the responsibilities of the throne didn’t mean he wanted his son to suffer such a cruel fate. His heart wasn’t made of stone. He, too, was wavering like Queen Theodora.

“Father, you do not understand. Theron… it does not end with simple death. That curse, once he accepts that curse, what he will experience is something much worse than death. He won’t be alive but neither will he die. To suffer in that state…please…I request you to help me so that I can protect him.”

At that point, she could no longer keep her composure. Her voice was shaking, and a traitorous tear had escaped her control and rolled down her cheek. Esther thought that after telling them everything, they would agree to her plan immediately, but they seemed to respect their son’s wish more than anything else.

King Esteban noticed her pitiful state and he wanted to commend how brave she was,  but still, he was firm on what he said before. “If this is his fate then—”

“What if,” Esther rudely cut him off, “what if I tell Father that this is not Theron’s fate?”

The gaze of the older man grew stern. Even the former queen gaped at Esther.

Esther continued, “What if I tell Mother and Father that this curse is all because of me? That I am the one who brought this disaster to this kingdom… then what will Father say?”

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