The Crown's Entrapment

[Eleventh night inside the Element Forest]

As promised, Devas accompanied Xenia to Polo's territory so that she could personally talk to the merman regarding her potential use of the Lake of Life.

Arriving in the merman's, she gulped when they found themselves surrounded by water. Hearing the sound of the soft gushing of water falling everywhere was honestly relaxing. And as they went downstairs, servants quickly came and led them towards a particular area where they could wait and sit.

Relegated to waiting for the guardian to grace them with his presence, Xenia couldn't help but look around and admire the view through the transparent glass around them. They had a good view of the deep waters around them, where different kinds of sea creatures passed by them without a care in the world.

Soon enough, however, Polo had arrived.

"Ah, this is quite an unexpected visit, Devas," Polo commented as he arrived.

"So it would seem," Devas directly replied. "Xenia would like to talk to you, so I brought her here."

The merman quickly focused his attention on Xenia, and she bit her inner cheek as his intense gaze seemingly bore into her person.

"Milord," she curtly greeted with a slight nod. She then straightforwardly added, "I would like to ask for your permission to let me see past events through the Lake of Life."

As expected, she saw how the guardian's brows rose at her request. Accompanied by a deep frown, he replied, "And why should I let an intruder have that kind of opportunity? Who even gave you the idea to be this bold and shamelessly ask me of such?"

"Please pardon my boldness, milord. It's just that… There's this one event in the past that is very important for the Kingdom of Cordon," Xenia quickly apologized before stating her reasons. "And when I thought about the power of the Lake of Life to show the past… it came to me that perhaps going through these trials wasn't the only reason why I'm here..."

In truth, she really didn't expect anything from her visit at all. Still, she could at least try her best and maybe get lucky.

"An event in the past then…" Polo hummed in seeming deliberation. "But I do believe that the Almighty had already granted gifts to particular beings outside these realms that hold the selfsame power to not only see the past but also the future as well."

"My husband is still in search of such a person. He's been holding this heavy burden by himself for such a long time… To have his father die in his arms while uttering the name of the one person that was responsible for the act in his dying breath…"

Xenia took a deep breath before she continued. "That person's the one that's currently committing evil deeds and disturbing the peace and order throughout the kingdom without leaving so much as a trace. He can still be a threat to this realm should we let him be without punishing him for his deeds, but to punish him, we need enough evidence to pin him for all of the vile acts he had done. That way, we can punish him according to the laws and rules of the Kingdom of Cordon."

"You make a fine point," Polo stoically replied. "Beyond the fact that it can supposedly affect our realm, can you tell me what exactly will change should you happen to witness this hypothetical person's past? You said it yourself, you all need solid evidence against him. And clearly, your words and accusations wouldn't be enough to punish him even if you happened to see his past."

Xenia let out a sigh as she firmly added, "I'm willing to negotiate with everything I have in return for getting the chance to see this person's past. I understand what you mean, but watching what really happened during the past might give me some hints on where we could find the evidence we need…"

She really didn't want to lose hope on this lead. Polo had a point, but her gut feeling was telling her that seeing Nasser's past could give her just enough to help Darius in his fight against the Elder.

Polo frowned as he mumbled, "Hmm… You're willing to bargain for it?"

Xenia deftly nodded. "As long as it's something that I could give…"

Polo looked at her from head to toe, seemingly sizing her up for something.

Seeing the gesture, Devas quickly stood in front of her to block her visage from view. "Hey hey hey! What's with that look?! Don't even think about it!"

"And what am I thinking about, Devas?"

"Why are you even looking at her like that from head to toe?!" Devas dodged the question by repeating himself. "Don't even dare. You can't have Xenia under my watch!"

Polo shook his head and calmly said, "I'm not as desperate as you are, Devas. Besides, humans aren't as enticing to me as they are to you. Please don't make me laugh." He scoffed, "No. I'm merely sizing her up to see if she would be up for the task I have in mind."

"A task?" Xenia gasped as she pushed Devas to the side.

Polo nodded.

"What is it?" she keenly asked.

"My trident," he tersely replied. "Bring it back to me, and I will not only let you see all of the past events or past of any person you want from the Lake of Life, but I will also gift you a magical pearl that can store said visions, enabling you to play them through the runes that Cordon and this realm agreed upon to use to show every Cordonian whatever it is they wished."

Xenia felt her pulse race as she blinked rapidly at the guardian. So she just needed to bring back this trident of his and everything they had against Nasser would get resolved?

"That's too dangerous!!!" Devas quickly retorted. "How do you think Xenia would even do it when you yourself are unable to retrieve it!?"

Xenia turned at Devas with a frown before her gaze shifted back to Polo with questioning eyes.

"I lost my trident against a sea serpent…" Polo briefly informed.

"But aren't you the ruler over the waters?" Xenia unknowingly asked.

Devas burst out in a fit of laughter at her question, and Xenia immediately wanted to bite her tongue off upon seeing how red and dark Polo's face got. She had said something unpleasant against him, it would seem.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to just say that…"

"Ah, don't worry, Xenia. What you said is true, but you see, this sea serpent is a very stubborn creature that's always trying to challenge and nitpick at the mighty ruler of the waters," Devas reassured her with an explanation. "I mean, the last time the two clashed, Belmont, got a hold of Polo's trident that he promptly refused to return."

"But can't Lord Polo just demand his trident from the sea serpent since he's the ruler of the waters?" Xenia further asked by repeating herself. Surely, Polo as the guardian of the Element of Water was powerful enough to get his trident back from a sea serpent.