Victoria\'s POV

"Reliving my childhood made me realise how I overcame every difficulty in my life. Some by myself, some with a little extra help. But what hit me most was how despite trying everything, I couldn\'t be killed. As a baby I might have no recollection, but there was something inherent in me that wanted to survive, tht clinged on to the force of life that she managed to defeat the dark magical being, Donald. If she can take him as a baby, she is capable of many things as an adult. As me.

I was worried how I was gonna win this war, or even losing my mother I just found. But now, I have realised that she was never my mother. She was just some woman who shared her genes with me. Yes, I saw her mourn, and yes I could fathom how my death turned her even colder than she originally was… but none of those make me obliged to give her the position of my mother.

I am not holding some grudge against her. Knowing the truth, knowing how one mistake caused us to separate, I have forgiven her. The answers I needed from her… I already got them. I just didn\'t have that bond with her to call her my mother. And that was okay.

Maybe that realisation was what brought me back to the castle. As I saw soldiers fight with each other I realised that the war must have escalated in our absence. I felt a tinge of guilt until a soldier walked right pass through me. Wait what? Where was I? Wasn\'t I in the palace? I looked around a little bit more until I spotted Cassie, except she looked much younger, a lively teen in despair to be precise.

She was the girl Cassie once used to be. And that\'s when it hit me, I was still in the enchanted forest, but this was not my memory, it belonged to the guy who witnessed a man in the shadows fight off goons that attacked Cassie. It was Magnus himself.

If he would have confessed that he had protected Cassie in the war, I would have laughed it off as another not so clever ruse. But seeing it with my own eyes made me wonder. He clearly cared about her life, loved her or not, and he protected her. Then why did he pretend to be the villain. What made him betray her, that despite wanting to protect her, he went against her.

Once I confronted him he tried to brush me off, which wasn\'t really that much effective given how I didn\'t give a damn about it. I might still have a lot to discover, but I know when not to trust him. Things started to seem even more unfamiliar, when after injuring Maland we ended up in another palace, where the throne was taken by a man surrounded by many women tending to him. And through the doors, Maland walked in.

"Father" Magnus, the one in this vision with her, deadpanned.

The \'Magnus\' who walked in bowed to the man and spoke, "You have summoned me Your Majesty" He declared. So this man was Magnus\' father and a king. My wildest guess? He was the King of Arpholeus, Adynoeus. He clearly looked dangerously charming at a glance. I could see where Magnus got his looks from, the same golden hair and all.

"I have," He smiled. "I must say, I am impressed. After over such a long time we had managed to win over Maefhaelore. Today is a day of victory, and we all must celebrate\'\' He shouted, earning a cheer from the hall. \'Magnus\' looked around himself, feeling not so comfortable with it. So he simply said, "Does it mean, I have proved my worth?" He asked.

"Almost" is the reply he got from the king of Arpholeus.

"Almost"? \'Magnus\' was stunned. "I brought victory over Maefhaelore" he insisted.

"That\'s not all you did," The King smirked.

"What"? Magnus, stared. Confused.

"The Princess, she walked away. And you, you protected her". The King accused him.

"Why would I do that"? Magnus gritted his teeth. I knew he was lying, Magnus, who was standing next to me definitely knew he was lying, and so did the king. And yet, the rest of the courtroom believed him.

"Then tell me, how did she survive?" The King lowered his voice.

"I have known her for quite a long time. Have faith when I say she is capable of taking care of herself" \'Magnus requested.

"Nonsense. I knew what she is capable of Cresyle has told me everything" The King lowered his voice. "Do I appear a fool"

"No you majesty, but here is the thing. Cresyle herself didn\'t know everything. She was her primary teacher, but she was not her only teacher" I informed him.

"Who else was there"? The King scoffed.

"The King\'s Guards. Me" I gulped. "I didn\'t teach her actively, but she learned my tricks pretty well, able to copy me precisely" He declared.

The King thought for a moment, "Yes I have heard the princess is talented that way" He mumbled. "But yet, she is alive" he shrugged.

"And banished to the land of silly mortals. She won\'t ever be able to come back" Magnus informed his father.

"That\'s a silly notion. A Goblin with magical powers can certainly come back, however illegally. You don\'t think she will try to come here and seek revenge" The King challenged him.

"She might, but she can\'t," Magnus smirked. "You see, I followed her to her exile, to ensure if she was dangerous or not. Trust me, she is unable to open the portal.. Or do any magic for instance out there. I have verified it personally. I even disguised myself but she failed to recognise me" Magnus scoffed.

The King raised his voice. Seems like Magnus found every loophole through King\'s arguments which rendered him speechless for a while. I could tell there was something this Magnus wanted, something the king might have promised him, but was reluctant to give. "I must say, you have done quite a feat, you are worthy of a promotion" he declared. "But since you are already at the highest position you could possibly achieve, we shall celebrate today, in the name of Magnus, the victorious commander"

Everyone cheered as Magnus\'s eyes widened. "That wasn\'t the arrangement between us" He argued.

"This is for the best. Trust me" He nodded. "Court adjourned. Now go everyone, celebrate. Celebrate the victory of a century old war" The King declared throughout the kingdom.

Before the argument could proceed everyone started to get up and go to their respective business and to stop which Magnus could do nothing about. I couldn\'t help but speak. "What did he promise you"? I asked him in a whisper. I could tell in this war, he was conned as well.

"Everything" Is all Magnus told me.

The scene around me morphed into the private chamber of the king where Cresyle, our soldier whom I perceived as our ally, sat in the bed, half naked in a seductive position. The king stared at her with lust making me puke when Magnus stormed into their room.

Cresyle covered herself fast as Magnus spoke, "Father, you promised I\'ll be your soul heir"

"And you promised you\'ll marry the princess of Maefhaelore" The King retorted through his gritted teeth, clearly annoyed by Magnus who ruined his pleasure time.

"Because of you" Magnus scoffed.

"Well, nevertheless you did. I guess we both broke our promises, but we never meant to keep them" The King scoffed. "Like Father, like Son"? He tilted his head, mocking Magnus.

"You won\'t get away with this" Magnus threatened. "I will tell everyone, convince everyone of my true heritage. It won\'t be hard, people are aware of your treacherous ways and not to mention how similar we look".

"And"? The king let out a boisterous laughter. "The Kingdom knows I have many illegitimate children, and they couldn\'t care less. I only hid it so Maefhaelore won\'t suspect you. Also, I gave you your name, your fame, everything you have and you want to throw that all away declaring that you are just another bastard"? The King took a few steps and kept mocking him, "Go ahead, feel free to ruin your own reputation" The King shrugged.

"Just send him away, he is ruining our victory" Cresyle shouted from the bed. God this woman was so disgusting.

"In a minute." The King nodded. He called upon a few troops and with a swish of magic turned Magnus conscious. The guy who betrayed everyone, was betrayed by the one person he put his faith in. The irony of this situation was tormenting as I noticed Magnus look away. I knew he was evil, I knew he had done unforgivable things to our kingdom, but at this moment, he was a guy who was betrayed by his own father. I couldn\'t help but feel bad for him.

Soon, those troops dragged the unconscious Magnus to a cell, where we arrived as our next stop. Magnus didn\'t say anything to me, nor did he look at me. How could he? His deepest secrets were just exposed in front of me.