She Belongs To The Devil

Adeline rushed out of the house where she was kept and found that Rion was tied to a tree that was a little far away from the house. He was grazing on the luscious grass that was around him and was having the time of his life.

When he saw Adeline coming towards him, he jumped on his hooves and welcomed his owner by neighing happily.

Adeline hugged Rion and whispered to him, "I am sorry that they brought you here. I promise that they won\'t try to bother you anymore." Rion also rubbed his head against her back as though he was trying to console her as well.

"Alright, let\'s head home." Adeline climbed on Rion but then she kept on staring at the three paths that were in front of them.

She didn\'t know which one of them would lead back to the Palace. It was already dark and that made it even harder for Adeline to even guess the right path.

.

Adeline remembered something which the stableman had once told her, that Rion understood and obeyed Adeline. She wanted to check that so she leaned down and then asked her horse, "Rion, do you know which way you came? Can you take us back to the Palace?"

But Rion just stood there like a statue. Adeline sighed and then whispered to herself, "What was I even thinking? How would Rion understand me? But I really hoped that Rion would know the way."

Adeline looked back at the house that she had just walked out of. Her brothers and sisters weren\'t stepping out at all.

"Probably I scared them a little too much. I guess they won\'t come outside until I go away from here." Adeline didn\'t want to keep on standing there and make things awkward between those who were inside and her.

So she chose a path which was to her right side and led Rion slowly.

She had hoped that she would find some people along the way or she would at least come across a house so that she could ask for direction. But even after traveling for half an hour, she did not meet a single living soul.

She looked up at the sky and knew that it was past her dinner time. "Hawisa and Osanna must be running around the Palace to search for me. I hope they haven\'t yet met the guard at the back of the Palace. Else they will cry thinking that I was eaten by some wolf." She let out a chuckle and whispered, "They are so dramatic at times."

Then she was worried that Theodore might have come to her room and was waiting for her. "I have to reach the Palace before he uses his divine eyes to find me in this deserted place. I don\'t want to explain to him how I ended up here."

She began to lead Rion at his maximum speed. The breeze was hitting her face with so much force that she had to hold her breath at times because it was getting difficult to breathe properly.

However, no matter how further they went, not a single house came into sight, leave alone the villages.

Adeline slowed down Rion and then after a while, they came to a halt. Adeline was already frustrated. She let out a sigh of disappointment and said to Rion, "We are lost, aren\'t we?"

And to her surprise, Rion replied by neighing and nodding his head.

Adeline narrowed her eyes and whispered, "Why do I feel like you deliberately acted as though you did not understand me earlier?" Then she asked sternly, "Were you trying to get us lost so that you could enjoy running around?"

Rion neighed and then nodded his head again.

Adeline raised her brows and tried her luck again to make Rion \'talk\' to her, "So, do you know the way back to the Palace?"

But when she asked that, Rion became a statue, again.

"Argh!" Adeline ruffled her hair in frustration because she knew that she was lost. And she had no idea how to return back to the Palace other than by using one obvious last resort – the ring given by Theodore.

She drooped her shoulders in defeat and acted as if she was sobbing. "I really did not want to call Theodore here, but I guess I have no other choice."

Rion lifted his front feet and neighed.

Adeline poked Rion with her finger and scolded him, "You are enjoying this, aren\'t you? I swear I am going to punish you if I find out that you were not answering me deliberately."

Adeline got off the horse. She took a deep breath in before she kissed the ring. And when her lips touched the ring, a mist started to form beside her.

Within a moment, the mist cleared to reveal the handsome Devil.

Theodore furrowed his brows and looked around in bewilderment. He looked at Adeline and said, "I didn\'t know we had planned a picnic today. Where\'s the food?"

Adeline scoffed "Theo!" and swayed her body in embarrassment. She didn\'t know how to say that she was lost without saying how she got there in the first place.

Theodore smirked at Adeline and shifted his gaze to Rion. He smacked Rion\'s buttock while smiling, "Hey buddy, how are you?"

And in response, Rion flipped his tail and hit Theodore right on his face.

Theodore closed his eyes and flinched. Then he spat a strand of Rion\'s hair that was stuck on his mouth and said, "I hate you too, buddy."

Adeline was covering her mouth, trying not to laugh at what had just happened.

"Don\'t you dare…" Theodore shook his head and jokingly warned Adeline not to laugh but he was the one who ended up chuckling.

Theodore then walked close to Adeline and asked with a serious tone, "Okay, jokes apart, what were you doing here in the middle of nowhere?"

That was the one question that Adeline did not want to answer to Theodore. She puckered her lips and replied, "Can you teleport us back to the Palace first? I will tell you everything later. It\'s already late and everyone in the Palace must have been worried about me."

"Don\'t tell me you called me because you were lost," Theodore raised his brows questioningly.

Adeline grinned and nodded her head like a baby.

Theodore folded his hands and then sighed. "What to do? I cannot teleport horses…" Of course, that was just a lie. What he really wanted to do was sit behind Adeline and ride the horse along with her.