The Divine Supreme

Chapter 3

Adeptus Gale’s face nearly collided with the piece of paper. His embarrassment was swiftly channeled into rage. “You…how dare y-wait, marriage…agreement?”

He gaped at the words in shock.

“Marriage agreement? What are you talking about?” The young man by Elias’ side came up to study the paper himself, his jaw dropping in the next second.

In sickness and in health…till death do us part…

Groom: Remus Cosby.

Bride: Miranda Bowen.

Elias quickly joined them. “This…so Father had been telling the truth?”

Before his father passed, he had told Elias of an arranged marriage for Miranda. Elias hadn’t taken it seriously, given that arranged marriages were no longer a thing nowadays. There was also a chance the groom had forgotten about it, too.

The crowd began wondering if this was the man Miranda had been waiting for.

Remus tucked the paper back into his box. “How old did you say you were when you started honing your skills, sir? I might have misheard you just now.”

Adeptus Gale’s face was so red it looked like a tomato. There was no way he could recover from what he had just said.

“It must be fake, Mr. Bowen. It must be!” the young man by Elias’ side cried again, glaring at Elias. “This fraudulent document should be tossed out immediately!”

“It’s genuine,” Elias sighed, then looked at Remus. “I acknowledge this agreement as valid on behalf of my family, but times are different now. We’ll have to see what Miranda thinks. Why don’t you test your blood, too, and we’ll see what happens after she wakes up?”

Adeptus Gale might’ve made a mistake, but Elias still wanted him to administer his test. He didn’t blame himself for forgetting about the arranged marriage either—it had been set decades ago, so it made sense that it had slipped his mind.

“No need. I’m just here to call off the marriage. Here, catch.” Remus tossed the paper to him. “Peace out.”

With that, he turned around to leave. When he was by the entrance, he called out, “You can have the prescription for the cure as payment for the cancellation!”

The crowd sunk into frenzied discussion once again, appraising Remus’ bravado for turning down the opportunity to be part of the Bowen family.

Elias’ expression had long darkened at the embarrassment his family would suffer from his daughter’s offer of marriage being declined.

The young man beside him tried to calm him down. “Don’t bother about that man, Mr. Bowen. He’s only calling the marriage off because he knows he doesn’t deserve Miranda.”

Elias nodded glumly in response. After everyone’s blood had been collected, he turned to go upstairs. Adeptus Gale and the young man followed him.

They entered a room where the young and beautiful Miranda Bowen lay asleep on her bed. Her beauty was unrivaled in the city, and before her illness, countless suitors tried their luck with her every day.

Adeptus Gale stood before the bed, chanting more of his incantations while positioning the blood before Miranda. Five minutes passed, and still, the woman remained asleep.

Brianne Mells, Miranda’s mother, murmured tearfully beside the bed, “Adeptus, how is my daughter…?”

The old man shook his head with a sigh. “There’s still no sign of her fated half. We can keep hoping he shows up.”

“You said he would be in Neptuna, but every bachelor available in the city has already tried their luck. Who else is there?” Brianne cried.

Adeptus Gale did a quick calculation again, then affirmed solemnly, “I’m sure he’s in this city.”

Just then, he turned to the young man by Elias’ side. “You haven’t had your blood tested yet, have you, Mr. Stuart? Why don’t we try testing it?”

The young man was Ben Stuart, heir to one of the newer upper-class families’ in Neptuna.

“I…” He frowned. “I’ve always seen Miranda as a kid sister, nothing else…but alright, I’ll try.”

Without another moment’s hesitation, he bit his finger, breaking the skin and letting blood drip into Adeptus’ bowl.

The moment it did, Miranda let out a weak cough, making Brianne and Elias’s hopes rise. Beside them, Ben quietly prayed he was the one.

But as the seconds passed, they sank into despair once again. Miranda remained fast asleep.

Adeptus Gale scrunched his eyebrows up. “I’m sure Mr. Stuart is the one. Maybe it just takes more blood.”

Ben bit into another finger immediately, letting more blood drip into the bowl. Yet Miranda only coughed again, still deep in slumber.

“Again!” the old man ordered.

Ben continued despite the pain, but Miranda didn’t cough this time. In fact, she stayed as silent as ever.

“Why isn’t she waking up?” Brianne asked worriedly. “It looks like she’s sinking deeper into sleep! Can we just get a knife to draw more blood?”

Ben flinched at the proposition, turning to Adeptus Gale with a pleading gaze. The old man was unnerved now. He did not understand why his methods weren’t working.

Meanwhile, Elias realized that Remus was right. Miranda’s condition was actually worsening with all this attempted treatment. He ordered, “Get us some groundsel…”

These herbs were usually difficult to procure due to their rarity and poisonous properties. However, Elias was a powerful man, so gathering the ingredients didn’t take long.

Soon, they made a paste with the herbs and fed it to Miranda while she slept. After feeding her two spoonfuls, the woman began to open her tired eyes.

”What…?” Beside her, Ben gaped in shock.

Elias was leaping with joy. “Find Remus Cosby and bring him here right this instant!”

…

“Jean Lotus, from Centurio.” Remus flipped through the next marriage agreement, not wanting to waste a minute longer. His Master might turn up at Underhill Prison at any moment, after all. Remus had to be there to receive him.

Unfortunately, the weather channel had forecasted heavy thunderstorms for the rest of the day. Therefore, he couldn’t take any flights to return to Underhill today.

So Remus decided to go looking for a meal first.

“Am I jinxed or something?” Remus exclaimed when he spotted Kylie Cox in the restaurant he had entered. She was sitting in a private room.

Remus planned to sit outside in the common area so they wouldn’t meet.

In the private room, Kylie raised a toast. “To your health, Mr. Lawson. I hope you can consider our company’s supply of raw materials for your latest project. I promise you that we only provide the best.”

Across the table, Abel Lawson remained unfazed. “We’ll see.”

Kylie suppressed her discomfort. She had just taken over the family business, so ensuring the success of this business deal with Abel was vital.

“Is there something on your mind, Mr. Lawson? Anything I can help with?”

“You? Help?” The man gave her a disinterested glance. “Sure. Ms. Lotus from Centurio is coming to the city today. If you can help me arrange a meeting with her, I’ll agree to award Cox Corp this supply contract. Heck, all future awards will go to your company!”

Kylie gaped. She had heard that the Lotus family intended to direct their investments to Neptuna’s economy. She hadn’t expected it to be so soon.

With her current status, getting in touch with that family was nearly impossible!

The others around the table piped up. “No wonder the airport was on standby today. So it was Ms. Lotus on the plane…”

“Yeah, I bet only she could have that much influence.”

“I heard she’s like Agrasia’s Helen of Troy.”

Hearing all this, Kylie declared with a smile, “You’re all mistaken, friends. The airport didn’t go on standby because of Ms. Lotus. It was because they were arresting a criminal.”