It was as if everything came to a screeching halt. The entire throne hall became incredibly silent to the point that one could even hear a pin drop. None of the men even dared make a single move as the man who was sitting on the throne looked at the portrait.
He became completely immobile, as if he had been turned into a marble statue. His eyes were glued to the portrait that was rolled out.
Gavrael had decided to hunt down Evie's husband not only because of his own jealousy and hate. It is now because of the thing he had witnessed in his nightmare. The sight of Evie's lifeless body was still so vivid in his mind that it was as though it were only yesterday that he had held her lifeless body, cold and unmoving in his very arms. And because of that, he swore on everything within him that he would do whatever it takes from now on to stop that event from happening. Just the thought of that image was threatening enough to drive him insane due to the intense fear within him. He knew he was going to go completely mad if he did not do something now. He must stop it.
And the first thing he thought about was to kill any possible suspects. First was her husband. He decided to kill anyone and everyone who he thinks that could possibly take her away from him. He must eliminate every possible cause that could lead her to that point!
If these group of useless men cannot find him, he would look for him himself and get rid of him so that Evie would never need to see him again. He did not care if Evie ended up hating him even more now once he takes the life of the man she was married to. His attention was currently focused on only one thing and that is to keep her alive.
He could not wait to see the face of this man that had dared taken the love of his life. He could not wait to find him and kill him. But now that they were finally showing him his portrait, his entire being immediately turned into ice.
For a long while, everything seemed to have come to a standstill. He even fancied that his heart had stopped for a few beats.
But as the men had expected, a storm of both Gavrael's aura and dark magic suddenly surged forth in a violent rage the moment he laid eyes on the portrait.
The next moment, the man holding the portrait fell on his knees as he reached to claw frantically at his own neck which was now being strangled by an invisible force that they all knew was Gavrael's magic. They were right when they suspected that this portrait would definitely trigger his anger. He would most probably think that they were trying to fool him.
So, they had planned to explain it to him once he finally questions them. However, Gavrael did not say a single word to confront them about the portrait. They should have known this cruel man does not waste time to question anyone. Using his strange magic, he just forced everything he wanted to know out their lips.
The man before Gavrael chokingly blurted out all the things Gavrael wanted to know. And when he heard that they had not done anything to this portrait and this Prince Gavriel was indeed very similar looking to him, Gavrael's eyes widened slightly before quickly narrowing suspiciously. Something seems wrong here.
Gavrael let go of the man's neck and he slumped over before toppling on the floor, barely alive.
Then another deafening silence enveloped the entire hall before a forced sardonic laugh broke out from Gavrael. His laughter sent chills crawling down on everyone's spine.
But all too soon, his laughter evaporated from his cold face as he stared down at the portrait again.
Gavrael stared at the man's face. He was smiling and his grey eyes were screaming out genuine happiness as he held Evie close to him. Something strange pulsated within him that made his eyes narrow suspiciously again. He again felt that there was something wrong, but he could not quite catch what it was. It was like that feeling that you have when a word was just at the tip of your tongue, but you could not remember enough to spit it out no matter how. It was this nagging feeling that he was experiencing now.
As he scrutinised the portrait, he looked at those grey eyes… that was obviously not the eyes that belonged to him!
He forced out information from the other men as well but all he got was the same facts and recollections.
"M-my lord… if you want to know more about Prince Gavriel… the best person you must ask is the princess… she…" one of the men choked out before he too passed out on the floor.
Gavrael clenched his fists tight. The rage within him was not calming down. What was going on? How could Evie's husband look exactly like him? What the hell was happening?! What kind of game this fucking fate was playing with him now?!
Gnashing his teeth as his eyes blazed intensely, he disappeared from the throne hall.
…
Evie was sitting on the floor in the room she was in, burying her face on her folded knees when she felt his dark and ominous presence reappearing very near her.
The moment she lifted her face, she saw him standing by the door, the barrier he had put around the room had disappeared as well.
A smile of relief spread across her lips as she saw him and then she quickly stood and approached him, glad that he didn't take too long to return.
But all of a sudden, she felt herself falling backwards. Then her back hit the bed's mattress. He was looming over her in a blink of an eye and his expression was hard and incredibly cold. Evie wondered what had happened this time to cause him to flip out again. She had planned to make she won't anger him this time but she didn't even do anything yet and he's already raging?
Gavrael decided to grant her wish as he remembered her words before he left her a while ago. He could never use his magic to force any information he wanted to know from her even if that was what he wanted to do. He did not want to talk to her because he knew she would only make him angry. She really had the talent to make him madder than he already was, but right now he had no other choice. He must know what was with that man who looked exactly like him.
He had to pin her down like this to make sure he would be looking at her closely like this in case she fuels his anger.. He feared losing control before her, but he knew that as long as he was staring into those clear eyes of hers, he would not lose himself and accidentally lash out at her due to anger.