Lost in the Path of Fate

Chapter 161 - Devil

A/N: I was listening to Avril Lavigne's 'I Fell in Love With the Devil' as I wrote this chapter. I recommend you do so too for a better reading experience.

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Raphael kneeled on the golden floor with a bewildered expression on his face. He cannot believe what he was seeing right now.

It all felt surreal. The Pier that he last saw was someone who cried so much during the burial ceremony of his people.

The image of the young master who wept and kneeled on the dirty ground to commemorate the loss of his servants that died in the accident was nowhere near the one sitting on the dark throne.

"Pie-"

"Close your mouth."

Raphael immediately shut his mouth close the moment Pier interrupted him.

Why?

It was because of the place itself. The throne room that was engulfed in darkness emitted a strange noise that raised his body's alerts to all the highest levels. Even more so, Raphael froze at the glare of the magnificent creature that seems to blend in well with the darkness sitting on Pier's lap.

"Did the people from Taron not tell you about what happened?" The white-haired king inquired and Raphael shifted uncomfortably in his position.

"You may speak but do not address me directly," Pier instructed and Raphael nodded his head hesitatingly before shaking his head in disapproval.

"I... We were kicked out immediately the moment I returned to the Capital by the royals..." He lowered his head and clenched his fists.

He knew he did not deserve the treatment he had gotten from the kingdom.

Raphael and Gage had no clue as to what their father did or what ensued in the palace. The young duke himself was fighting on the frontlines and protected the territory from the invaders yet he was pushed out of the place.

It was then, Raphael was brought out of his cloud of thoughts when he heard the clicking of a tongue.

His gaze shifted towards Pier and saw that the white-haired king was looking at him with his eyes turned into crescent shapes.

"Poor thing." His spine shivered at the sentence and Raphael kept his mouth closed after speaking.

It was sinister and ominous. The menacing aura that was surrounding Pier right now was not something he could fully take on at the moment.

Thing? Pier saw them as things and Raphael was stunned by that.

"You have nowhere to go, I presume?" Pier stopped petting the dragon that protested by trying to grab the white-haired king's hands with its chubby paws but failed to do so.

"Yes..." Raphael was careful with his words and Pier knew that as well.

"You can stay here at an expense of something," Pier smiled at him again which terrified the young duke.

The elegant, graceful, and classy young master that he had come to be attracted romantically with was still there. The Pier in front of him emitted such an elegant poise that it could be cold the perfection of nobility but this wasn't what he had come to like.

"W-What is it?" He asked with courage but soon backed off again when the darkness inside the throne room emitted a deathly sound.

"Become my pawn," Pier offered.

Raphael could not speak. He felt his heart drop and his systems malfunctioning as he tried to process the offer Pier had given him.

A pawn? For what?