Vearah put Esmeralda in a trance and let the magic wand do its thing. However, the magic wand refuses to work. It didn't emit flashes of lights to show that it's working. It looks like it's malfunctioning, which is kind of odd since it works with Ella earlier. Why won't it work when it comes to reading Esmeralda's future?

Vearah tried again the second time around and so on.

3rd time.

4th time.

5th time.

Still the same result!

Vearah sighed, it looks like the magic wand doesn't want to read Esmeralda's future.

She tried again for the 6th time.

This time... there is some activity going on with the magic wand... it's already flashing lights!

"Finally!" said Vearah in relief.

However, when the magic wand showed Esmeralda's future, it didn't show anything except darkness. Thick darkness! Eh? Her brows furrowed in confusion. What does it mean?

Nothing follows... only thick darkness.

Vearah ended her activity and considered it a failure.

Maybe the magic wand was tired. She will try reading Esmeralda's future some other day.

She put the magic wand in the bed and snapped her fingers in front of her student's face.

Esmeralda opened her eyes instantly and looked at her mentor's face excitedly. "Teacher, did the magic wand showed my future?" she asked.

Vearah shook her head. "It didn't work. It refused to show me anything about your future. We will try again some other time," she replied.

"Ah, okay... I'll take my leave now," said Esmeralda.

Vearah watched her student's back exiting her bedroom. She stared at the magic wand in the bed, wondering why the magic wand refused to show Esmeralda's future?

~~o0o~~

Back on the island.

Zemeth looked at his companions. "Ready, guys?" he asked them. They are about to go back to the Nephilim Kingdom and present Agran to his living relatives.

Jegun nods his head. "Okay, take us there!" he said.

Agran was silent the whole time. He was feeling excited to meet the descendant of his mother on the Nephilim side. As for the demons' side of his father, he has no idea if he will meet them in this lifetime. He had no idea where the remaining demons are taking shelter in the current times.

Zemeth raised the portal relic in his right hand. "Portal take me to Peavrulia Cove!" he said.

The neon portal opened in front of them.

"Let's go, guys!" Zemeth said.

The men entered the portal, and they vanished from the beach.

~

A few minutes later, the portal opened up on the beach as equally as beautiful as the one occupied by Jegun and the boys.

Up in the side of the mountain is a two-story brick house facing the north side.

"We're finally here!" Zemeth said. "Let's climb those stairs going to the house," he said while pointing at the staircase made of stone.

The trio starts climbing the stairs.

When they reached the house, they saw an old couple drinking tea on the terrace of the house. Their eyes brightened after seeing the visitors.

"Zemeth! You're back! Any good news?" the old man asked while glancing at the faces of Zemeth's companions.

"Yes! I have good news for you! Here they are, finally, I succeeded with my mission. Please meet...Grandpa Jegun and your long lost relative, Agran..." Zemeth announced enthusiastically.

The old man smiled in happiness. "Finally, it's done!" He looked at the two men and smiled warmly. He faced Jegun. "Do you have the token of the princess?" he asked.

Jegun smiled. "Yes, I have it with me. I made sure that it won't get lost through the years because it's the only thing that the princess left for her son," he said. He fished out the gold chain with a black medallion from the pocket of his trousers and handed it to the old man.

The old man read the inscription on the medallion... 'My beloved son...Agran...I love you so much...your mother, Rhodora.'

"Just as I expected," the old man said. He looked at his long lost relative who grew up in the forsaken castle and spoke to him. "Agran... your mother Princess Rhodora...had left a diary before she passed away. In her diary, she wrote in detail how she had to give you up because you were born half human and half monster. She entrusted you in the care of her brother, who in turn imprisoned you in the cave inside the forsaken castle. Before she died, she left a big fortune for you and to reward anyone who can take you away from the castle..."

The old man paused for a few seconds and continue his speech. "I was deeply touched by her longing for you through the years. I've been contacting men for hire to offer them reward as long they can take you out from the castle. Unfortunately, no one would dare to enter the castle because everyone knows that once you enter that forsaken place you can never get out alive.

No one dares to enter the castle, and I'm losing hope already. Then suddenly... I began having a recurring dream of a girl who entered the castle and exited it successfully. This dream was so vivid that I began believing in it. I found and hired Zemeth to track the girl down and found her living in Browncliffe Village, together with her Aunt and two sisters in the human world. It all started with the girl. By the way, where is she?" the old man asked.

"Ella turned into an old woman after I bit her and drank her blood. I transformed into who I am now..." Agran said sadly.

The old man sighed. "I'm sorry for the girl, don't worry, we will reward her greatly," he looked at Agran. "I was expecting that you still possess that half-humans and half-beast body after you escape the castle. That is why we built this house on this secluded island. It is preparation for your stay here. On this island, you can live peacefully without seen by other people. Don't worry, this place is private property. I bought it for you, using your mother's treasure."

The old woman approached them and smiled warmly at the visitors. "Hello... guys...nice meeting you all," she said while wearing a bright smile on her face.

The old man laughed. "I'm sorry...I was so excited that I forgot to introduce my wife, she is very supportive in my quest to finding Agran," he explained.

The old woman looked at Agran. "Ahh...so he's the one? Princess Rhodora's son. I'm sure your mother will be happy in heaven to see you escape the castle at last," she said.

"Thank you so much for your help, Grandpa and Grandma!" Agran said, feeling grateful for the old couple.

The old man smiled and placed the medallion in Agran's hand. "Your mother loves you so much. Keep this as your token of love for her," he said. "By the way... I forgot to introduce myself and my wife. My name is Dueke, and my wife's name is Germa. Nice meeting you guys!"

"It's my pleasure meeting you, Dueke and Germa..." Jegun replied with a smile. He has the same age as them.

"Let's enter the house so that you can take a rest while I'll instruct the servants to prepare our meal," Germa said.

The men entered the brick house. The couple leads them to the rooms upstairs so that they can have a short rest.

Two hours later.

Zemeth approached Dueke alone on the terrace. "My Lord, I'm sorry, I lost the golden dagger," he confessed to him.

Dueke looked at him without disappointment in his eyes. "It's okay the dagger had served its purpose. What important is - Agran is finally out of the castle. He can finally live his life in a normal way like us."

"My Lord, do you have another dagger with the same uses as that of the golden dagger? My beloved woman, Ella's elder sister was trapped inside the castle. I have to rescue her. I'm afraid that the longer I wait...her life will be in danger," Zemeth explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I do have another silver dagger in my position...but I don't know if it will work the same. You just have to try it and discover its uses first. I will give it to you when you finally leave this island," Dueke replied.

"Thank you in advance, my Lord!" Zemeth said, grateful for the Lord's willingness to lend him another weapon.

"By the way, bring Jegun and Agran here after they are done resting... I will bring you guys somewhere..." Dueke said.

"Okay, I'll go and get them..." Zemeth replied.

Fifteen minutes later.

Dueke brought them inside the room where the five trunks filled with treasures were stored. "These are the treasures that your mother had left for you before she died," he told Agran. He went to the first trunk and opened it. "This is the trunk where I took some treasures and sold it to finance my endeavor in finding you...as you can see... it's still more than half-filled. Then, I promised this one trunk here to give it to Zemeth and his men as a bounty for a successful mission. You can give one trunk of treasure to your Grandpa Jegun for taking good care of you inside the castle," he suggested.

Jegun smiled. "Ah, no need. I don't need money. Agran is like my grandson, and my master entrusted him under my care, so I won't take any money from him as a reward for being his guardian inside the castle," he said.

Dueke smiled. "Alright, it's all up to Agran. After all, this is his mother's treasures," he concluded. "If Agran starts living here, my wife and I will go back to the capital because our children are all there. But we will visit Agran here from time to time." He addressed Jegun. "I'll feel at ease if you will stay with Agran since the two of you have known each other for a long time," he said.

Jegun smiled and looked at Agran. "It's up to him...he's an adult already. He can decide for himself."

"Don't worry Grandpa Dueke. Grandpa Jegun and I will stick to each other till the day we die," Agran responded.

Dueke smiled, very much pleased with Agran's statement. The boy surely knows how to treasure people close to him. "One day, I will take you guys to visit the family in the capital so that you will meet the entire family. Although our family is no longer part of the royalty, we are still living a good life."

There was a moment of silence.

Dueke looked at Zemeth and spoke. "It's up to you how you will divide the treasures between you and your men. I'm glad you took the challenge and accepted the mission, or else I will be forever guessing when will be the time that Agran can finally see the outside world," he said.

Zemeth smiled. "My men and I love taking challenges, and the castle was the most difficult one. But luck was on our side. I guess we are just lucky this time," he responded. After meeting Ivy, the love of his life, he doesn't have regrets about accepting the mission.

"Ah, since we're done here, let's move to the dining hall area and eat our meals. Then let's have some chitchat on the terrace while watching the relaxing blue ocean, then let's drink some wine," Dueke said.

The men exited the treasure room and went to the dining hall to share a delicious meal while discussing the current events happening in the Nephilim Kingdom.