Evren’s POV:

We walked away from Elara together into the castle, leaving her with the Chief Royal Physician. Winston and Jake followed me to my office. “Your Highness, I already placed today’s paperwork on your desk, ready to be reviewed,” Winston said.

“May I ask why you brought that young lady to work here?” He asked.

“I thought she had exceptional skills in herbs when I was out cold,” I said.

Winston only nodded at my response and stood by the door, waiting for more orders from me. “I would appreciate it if we didn’t lose such talent as hers; you could also say that I am indebted to her for saving my life. So giving her this job is equivalent to repayment to her.” I continued.

“Well then, you may leave now,” I ordered Winston, to give us a moment. 

Winston nodded in acknowledgment and left, leaving Jake and me alone in my office.

Jake let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair and sat on the couch across from my office desk. 

“An herbalist? Really?” I understood what he meant by that.

I walked over and sat on the opposite side of the couch from him. “Well, how else would I be able to keep an eye on her?”

“You could’ve placed guards around her house or something. You could’ve even stationed guards in the village for her.” 

“If I do that, it’ll catch my uncle’s attention. Besides, she’s smart. If she noticed anyone watching her, she would move somewhere else.”

“Maybe you could’ve moved her somewhere or even told her since she’s good at hiding.”

“You saw how you couldn’t find where her cabin is; how else would you have reached her and informed her? We were lucky to see her again, by chance.” 

“So you’re certain she’s a mage?” Jake asked, placing his arms on his right thigh and leaning forward in a hushed voice.

“Certain enough,” I said.

“But why bring in a mage amidst chaos in the castle where your uncle hunts them down? It’s dangerous for her. Living in the forest is way better than here in her case…” He added.

He’s right; However, it would be safer for her under my eyes than in the forest, so my uncle wouldn’t get to her.

“She hasn’t even harmed anyone, and you brought her straight into the most dangerous place she could possibly be. Being a mage may be illegal, but from what we know, she hasn’t used her magic to harm anyone. It was nothing more than a rumor that led us to her in the first place.” Jake added.

“Well, what if my uncle were to go and check the rumors out himself? He would drag her down to prison if he caught her. She didn’t cast magic on anyone, but the magic she did was to hide her home and jump around high enough that not even us military-trained can do that.” 

“And what about her grandmother? If you worried about your uncle reaching Elara since she’s a mage, wouldn’t her grandmother be at risk?” Jake asked

“Her grandmother doesn’t leave the cabin. She basically hides there. The only way we found their hideout was by following her.” I said.

“Then how did you find her cabin, though?” He asked the question that I never thought about.

How did I find her place? Was it because I was on the brink of death? I never thought of the reason I was able to find her home, but Jake couldn’t. 

“I’m not sure; however, I can be confident enough that her grandmother will stay concealed.”

“But why an herbalist? The people here won’t welcome her with open arms and accept her since you basically gave her a job without any qualifications or tests to prove her stay.”

“It was a bad idea, Evren.” Jake finally said.

I looked at my hands for a moment to think to myself.

The royal physician will give her a test; if she failed, that would put her in a spot where she got the job through suspicious ties to me. If she passed the test, she would’ve earned her stay and possibly more enemies. 

“I just wanted to keep an eye on her without my uncle knowing.” I looked up at Jake. 

“But why?” He asked. 

“There hasn’t been a confirmed mage in this kingdom since the war from thirteen years ago. Hearing a rumor of a mage deep in a village somewhere gave me hope.”

“...”

“Hope that I will finally uncover the truth from thirteen years ago and be able to know what happened to our childhood friends.” I unconsciously pulled the necklace from under my shirt and held the golden hibiscus flower design in my hand.

‘It’ll protect you from danger.’ The words from the young girl whom I cherished as my friend came to mind.

“Evren, whatever happened before was not your fault. You were a kid.”

I laughed at his statement.

A kid? Would a thirteen-year-old still be considered a kid?

“How is it not my fault? I basically snitched on her when I discovered that she healed me from a poison attempt at assassination back then. Without realizing it, I put her and her family directly in my uncle’s path.” My chest tightened at the memory.

That day, I was poisoned, then fell gravely ill. My friend at the time cast a healing spell on me when we were alone and admitted she was a mage. She asked me to keep it a secret that she healed me so that her family wouldn’t worry about it. However, my uncle found out that I was already back on my feet instead of being on my deathbed. At the time, I thought he was a nice man, so I trusted him with that secret, not knowing I had put the girl and her family in danger.