The Villianess story: A 100 ways to kill your husband-Chapter 566: It was all planned

"Is there anyone who has something to say in his defence?" Avelora asked. The court felt silent, no one stood up. Who would want to defend a demigod?

Cedric scoffed, not that he was expecting much. "In that case ..."

The door was pushed, and Avelora’s mouth clamped as she glared at the bastard standing at the door. They came in and then bowed at the rulers of Elaris. Murmurs started to fly around again.

Maximus glanced at his mother with a soft smile. "Don’t glare at me that way like you didn’t pray for my return. The prodigal son has returned." He chimed and Avelora’s face turned to a scowl.

Thyros’s cheek was against his palm. He stared at his rebellious son with sheer amusement. "You never returned all those years...what finally made you remember your home?"

Maximus smiled, his gaze unwavering. "I would not miss something as interesting as this." He chimed, Avelora scoffed.

Nyxoria’s brows arched trying to figure out what was going on. Why did Maximus decide to show up now of all times? And then there was Cassius who was never interested in anything.

She found their appearance suspicious. The queen composed herself. "In the case of there being..." She was about to announce Cedric’s sentences again when Maximus interrupted her

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Maximus chimed. His eyes darted around the court. He hasn’t seen most of the people here in ages. Most of them remembered him as the god who went mad. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Well, maybe he was. "We haven’t taken our seats yet..." He said. Avelora’s brows furrowed. Chatter started to fill the room once more. ..

Sitting like an imposing figure. Thyros spoke. "Do you have anything to say in his defence?" He asked his son. Maximus smiled at his father, his gaze going to Cedric.

Cedric could not recognise him; they had technically never met. When they fought he was blinded by rage.

So the 8th prince of Netheralis was trying to figure out why a god as powerful as him was. Even from his essence, Nyxoria fell back. Why would someone like him want to defend Cedric?

"Yes, I was a witness to the incident and I plead for a lesser punishment or better, he should be discharged from every allegation." Thyros’s lips tilted. Things were getting interesting.

"How can you make such a plea without evidence?" Avelora sneered, she found everything here ridiculous. Cedric was guilty of all the allegations it was as bright as day, and yet he said otherwise.

He stepped forward; his sharp, violet eyes met Avelora’s. His voice was sharp and commanding. "I, the second prince of Elaris. Maximus, known as the god of strength, pleads in his defence. Prince Cedric is innocent of every allegation." Maximus said once more.

"You can’t speak without reason or evidence, brother," Nyxoria said. Her hand was gripping the seat to rein back her anger.

"He doesn’t speak without reason and most of us know that." Cassius finally said. He stepped forward and bowed.

"Prince Cassius the fourth heir of Elaris. The god of wisdom and the sun." He bowed before the rulers then turned to Cedric.

"We all know this was all caused by a manipulative force from his birth to the death of his wife which led to the incident..." Cassius.

"Have you all wondered why Elysia had a son born with a mortal? Why did a demigod get blessed by fate to have the same standing as us? Why did events weave into this?...." He took in a deep breath then continued.

"Cedric was a victim of fate, we might say, or just manipulation." There was silence in the court. Cedric’s brow furrowed, and Cassius glanced at Maximus.

They just had to delay the time. Thyros’ smile finally faltered, his brows furrowed. He was trying to make sense of Cassius’s words.

"Why do you stand in his defence?" Thyros asked. Cassius smiled, "Boredom." He shrugged. He didn’t have a specific reason to defend Cedric..it wasn’t out of justice for Abrielle. The girl was a distant descendant of his.

"If your words are right. You claim there is someone among the goddesses who mediated everything." Thyros finally said what was on their minds. The question was which god would meddle in the life of a human.

Cassius nodded. "That is exactly how it is. We all know of the prophecy that was pronounced years ago.... Love would unite light and darkness. The one we all thought was speaking of Raziel and Elysia." He asked,

Thyros was thrown into deep thoughts. Avelora was baffled and confused about what her son was speaking about. "That prophecy has a second part. The son born of spite and betrayal shall leave his entire life in despair when he takes the life of his better half."

"I have never heard of that before." Thyros blurted, doubting Cassius’ words. How was he oblivious of the second part of a prophecy, and how does that affect Cedric?

"Even the gods have hindsight. Temeris, the god of time and keeper of events, was unaware of the cause of Cedric’s birth. The fact that Elysia was almost assassinated and lost her memories for years..." The revelation was heavy on everyone.

They all thought Elysia was a scornful woman. Even when Raziel tried to defend her..no one thought much of the words he said

Maximus chirped in once more. "You never heard of the second part of the prophecy because it was originally not part of fate. Raziel’s and Elysia’s marriage sealed it but the prophecy changed. That change led to Cedric’s birth. Being born from betrayal he was destined to have a tragic end..." Maximus paused, letting his words sink in.

"Cedric was destined to kill his fated mate...who was a mortal." Cedric was stunned. His heart squeezed.

A smile graced Cedric’s lips but his eyes were dead. So he was right all along. Abrielle was his soul mate. His fist clenched, why did he have to suffer for the sins of his parents?

"A mortal being is the soul mate of a divine being. I have never heard of such." Avelora scoffed. Maximus’s lips were pressed into a thin line. They had said these same words years ago.

"Have you ever heard of a demigod who inherited his parents’ divinity instead of keeping the mortal side? Cedric is peculiar, so of course his mate is different..." His argument was sound.

Maximus glanced at Cedric, his gaze sharp. "She was his mate, that’s why the loss of his half drove him to madness."

Nyxoria laughed at his words. "When you lost your mind because of your mortal lover, she wasn’t your other half, so that argument doesn’t stand ", Nyxoria sneered. Maximus smiled at her ignoring her words.

"We have evidence of course." Maximus clicked his hands. Gasps erupted. Cedric couldn’t look, his heart squeezed uncomfortably. Cassius placed his hand on Cedric’s shoulder.

"Sorry you had to witness this." He apologised, then glanced at Abrielle’s cold corpse. Nyxoria lost her temper. "How dare you bring a corpse to Elaris?"

"Nyxoria!!" Avelora’s sharp voice cut her. "This isn’t the place to lose your temper."

The queen then nodded at Cassius to proceed. "Sorry for my behaviour, but I am just the god of wisdom. I can’t command souls. This is the only way I could prove that Abrielle was his mate."

Squatted before Abrielle. The dead princess’s outfit had been changed. The blood stains were gone, but her body was still lifeless. Just staring at it made him curse himself all over.

Cassius carefully raised Abrielle’s hair to reveal a black mark. "The flames mark only appear on soul mates. Is this enough to prove my claims?" He asked, even Thyros was stunned...

Why was Cedric cursed with a cruel fate? A mate whom he could never love. "We all know the two obvious signs. The sparks and the mark which Cedric didn’t know because he was never told."

The truth was before Cedric all along. Maybe if he had asked Elysia, he would have known, but what difference does it make? It only made his guilt worse knowing he killed the only person who could truly love him.

Maximus and Cassius’ claims were simple. A god would never kill his soul mate under normal conditions.

.

"During Cedric’s battle a god interfered. Time froze, and his target was swapped to Abrielle, who originally wasn’t even meant to be in Draconia; she was taken there by another mortal, Callista. The near destruction of Draconia was caused by the god who broke the rules first..."

"The same one who altered fate by changing the prophecy, indirectly caused Elysia’s accident and arranged all the events that led to that day."

Whispers started to fly. Why would a god do such a thing? Interfering with fate was a heavy allegation...

"Who would do such a thing?" Thyros asked, the door of the court was pushed open, and everyone’s gaze was drawn to the strong presence at the door

.

Thyros’s lips twitched uncontrollably. "It was none other than Maledicta, the goddess of beauty, and now we should add deceit." Raziel calmly said,

With him was Elysia, who was clinging to him and the Oracle. The mother of fate. "He is right, Thyros." The oracle affirmed his words.