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Two

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Lucifer Palmer

Prince of Death

Palace of Darkness

I RESPECTED KING VICTOR MORE than any of his other followers. I prided myself on that fact. However, I was also his closest confidant, and I had no problem with telling him when he was doing something stupid.

Refusing to tell his daughter until now that she was going to have to move out of the Palace of Darkness to live with my brothers and me was one of the worst decisions he’d made in quite a long time.

King Victor was ignoring more and more that he was the Devil and wasn’t supposed to care. He especially wasn’t supposed to care about the princess. Demons weren’t supposed to have the familial bond that King Victor had with his daughter. Then again, I loved my brothers more than anyone else in the world, so I wasn’t one to talk.

King Victor made a face at me.

“I was going to get to it. I just couldn’t find the right time.”

I shrugged and looked back at Edelweiss.

“You’re coming to live with us because you have to be protected,” I mused, “My brothers and I - although we may be inherently weaker than your father is - are better equipped to do so because Gavin won’t expect you to be in the Palace of Sins.”

Edelweiss still didn’t seem to be too happy with my explanation, but I didn’t try to keep explaining. If she didn’t get it by now, then it was her fault, not mine.

Besides, I noticed her flinch when I said Gavin’s name and the fact that King Victor glared at me when I said it.

I needed to be careful not to mention his name or anything associated with him again; it was going to be bad news for the princess if I wasn’t careful. I didn’t know too much about the curse that Gavin had placed on her, but I knew that it almost got her killed several times.

Edelweiss looked at her father. The light from the chandelier glowing overhead highlighted a few tears forming in her eyes, but they never fell even as she spoke to him.

“But who’s going to protect you?” She asked.

King Victor reached up and brushed his hand lightly over her almost-white blonde hair.

Lachlan wasn’t wrong, she was quite a cute little thing with her dainty stature, doll-like features, baby blue eyes, and fair hair, but that was also quite unfortunate for her. I wasn’t much of a fan of “cute” things.

“I’ll be fine,” King Victor said finally, “So long as I know you’re alive and safe, that’s all the strength that I’ll need to keep going.”

Edelweiss offered him a slight smile before looking up at me and standing up from the couch.

“Get your bags, then,” I huffed, “My brothers and I don’t have all day to wait for you to get ready to leave.”