Chapter 173 - Time To Leave

After escaping from the Golden City Police Precinct, Vladimir brought Evelyn to a place near the Northleaf Timberland Forest.

Evelyn shouldn't be seen in Triple W Headquarters or any properties owned by Cedric and the Werewolf Clan, or else Kira would know that they were the ones who helped her escape.

That would be a great embarrassment as they broke their words of promise after making a blood compact with Kira as part of their sworn agreement.

Kira might inform Dominique's men about his plan of betrayal. This would be a great threat to him and his pack. Dominique would not spare them once he learned their plan of rebellion.

If only he could find the missing princess, then Cedric wouldn't need to fight Dominique. He just needed to marry the princess for him to get the throne and become the next Werewolf King.

"Master, thank you for helping me. I know I can always count on you." Evelyn bowed her head, expressing her gratitude towards Vladimir.

Vladimir just patted her head, giving her a reassuring smile. "You've done a great job infiltrating the Zhou Family. You accomplished many things. It's only right to give you the special treatment coming from the Werewolf Clan."

Vladimir chose to stay silent about Cedric's first decision of not doing anything to help her.

"Your husband… I heard he was the one who sent you to prison. What happened?" Vladimir asked her.

A cold glint flashed in her eyes at the mention of her husband, Ronan.

"That useless husband of mine! He slapped me because he found out the truth. I think Marceline's bodyguard… her husband is a vampire!"

Evelyn told Vladimir what transpired in the guest room wherein Kira, Marceline, Ronan, and her confronted each other. Evelyn also realized that Enrique helped Marceline and Kira in removing their protection stones. Because of that, Kira's ability worked against them.

'That punk… he is the reason why I was caught by them.' Evelyn gritted her teeth, feeling enraged.

"He is indeed a vampire," Vladimir said matter-of-factly. "He is more powerful than the other vampires. He even defeated Cedric," he added.

This information caught her by surprise. She didn't expect that Marceline found a very powerful man who could back her up. But it was truly unbelievable that Kira defeated Cedric. Cedric was one of the five strongest werewolf generals of Kingdom Phantasia.

"How could that be possible?" Evelyn asked him with disbelief in her eyes.

"His mind control ability is his best trick!" Vladimir didn't want to acknowledge that Kira was more powerful than them. They used the tricky and sneaky mind control ability as their alibi for their defeat.

"Okay. I understand. I thought you already knew how to counter that kind of vampiric ability," Evelyn asked, still wondering how Kira could defeat Cedric and the members of Triple W. 

"What a troublesome vampire he is? You should eliminate him as soon as possible!" Evelyn suggested.

"Yes, we should. But we can't for now… Anyway… something happened to your husband. He got into a car accident so you will be the one opening the portal for the Werewolf King and Queen." Vladimir was staring at her, assessing what would be her reaction.

Evelyn fell silent but there was no hint of worry in her eyes. It seemed that she was not worried about her husband at all.

"He deserved it. This is his karma for hurting me," she said expressionlessly.

"Master, don't worry about the opening of the portal gate. I can manage it by myself, even without Ronan."

Vladimir just nodded his head. He didn't doubt Evelyn's ability. He knew she could accomplish any task he would give her.

"Master, I will just go to my room and rest. I got tired staying in the prison cell." Evelyn didn't mention Ronan once again as if she was avoiding the topic related to him.

Vladimir could only watch her back until she disappeared from his sight. He also left the hideout as he needed to go back to the headquarters as soon as possible. He believed Kira was already searching for Evelyn.

*****

[ Kingdom of Phantasia… ]

Meanwhile, In Kingdom Phantasia, Dominique summoned his wife, Serena. He had an important thing to tell her.

"What's wrong? Why do you look so pale?" Serena asked Dominique, noticing his paleness and troubled expression.

"Last night, I dreamed of Stella… our daughter. She looked so sad and lonely. I wanted to comfort her but I couldn't come near her. She couldn't hear my voice as well as if I was invisible to her." There was a sullen look in Dominique's eyes as he glanced at his wife. His concern for Stella was visible on his face.

"Where did you see her? What does she look like? Is this some kind of clue where we can find her?" Serena asked him expectantly.

"I saw her in a river… I didn't see her face but I knew from my heart that she was our daughter, Stella. She was crying as she felt abandoned. I felt her pain… I wanted to embrace her and comfort her but I couldn't…" He paused for a moment, grabbing her hands.

"Now, I've decided to go to the human world tomorrow. Will you join me?" Dominique's strange dream about their daughter forced him to move the date of his journey to the human world earlier than his prior plan.

"Yes. I'm coming with you. Who knows we might find our daughter there. I think Stella needs us. Your connection with her allowed you to see her through your dream." Serena moved closer to Dominique, hugging him.

"Golden City… I think I saw that place in my dream." Dominique remembered where his dream took place.

"That's the city where the main headquarters of Triple W is located, am I right?" Serena asked, breaking the hug.

"Yes, that's where we are going…the Northern Gate Portal is within this area." With this, Dominique remembered Dylan. His son mentioned to him that he felt like Stella could be found in the Northern Part of the Human World based on his instinct.

'Is Dylan's instinct right? Stella is in this area…' Dominique mused to himself.

There was a gleam of hope in his eyes. If Stella was alive then the four of them might be reunited in the Northern Part of the Human World.

"Let's prepare now for our journey tomorrow. We should send our messenger to inform the gatekeepers to open the Northern Portal for us!" Serena excitedly said, pulling Dominique.

Dominique could only smile as he saw his wife filled with excitement. Serena had found a reason to smile today. Stella was still alive. They could feel it.

Dominique summoned his messenger to inform Cedric and the Zhou Family about their arrival. He was clueless that the Zhou Family was in a chaotic state right now.

Fortunately, Vladimir acted quickly. He found the solution to their concern. Evelyn would be the one opening the portal gate.

Ronan and Roland Zhou were in the hospital. Both of them were still in critical condition. If something bad would happen to the two men, a guardian would pass the gatekeeper's responsibility to Enrique, Natasha, and Marceline. They were the next generations of the gatekeepers in the Zhou Clan.

*****

[ Zhou Ancestral Mansion… ]

Aunt Brianna was the one who took care of the young hybrid boy. The boy was very silent but well-behaved. Though he was not talking to her, the young boy only stayed in the living room, waiting for Marceline to come back.

Aunt Brianna offered him some food but he refused to eat. It turned out he wanted to eat together with Marceline whom he considered 'Mama'.

They didn't know his name yet. So for now, Aunt Brianna was calling him 'Little One'.

"Little One, you should eat. Marceline will be upset once she learns you haven't eaten anything yet."

The young boy's expression softened when he heard Marceline's name. "Mama?" This is the only word he was uttering the whole morning. His eyes were asking Aunt Brianna when Marceline would be coming back.

Aunt Brianna could only sigh helplessly. She knew that Marceline was dealing with lots of things right now. Fortunately, Kira was there to support her.

"I don't know if she will be coming home today with Kira. Her grandfather is severely ill. She can't leave him at this moment. Please understand, Little One," Aunt Brianna explained to him.

The young hybrid boy became saddened. He missed Marceline already. His eyes suddenly became teary while looking at Aunt Brianna pleadingly. The young hybrid boy's expression seemed to tell her, 'Can we go to her? I wanna see my Mama! I missed her.'

"You can't go outside. Your life will be in danger. Let's just stay here and wait for her to come back. Okay?"

The young boy pouted his lips, putting on a pitiful face. He wanted to object but he couldn't. He was afraid that Marceline would get mad if he didn't behave. 

In the end, the young hybrid boy voluntarily stood up to go to the dining area where his food was prepared and being served. For Marceline, he would try his best to be an obedient child.

'I don't want Mama to get mad at me. I need to eat,' the Little One murmured to himself.

Aunt Brianna was happily observing the boy when suddenly her head throbbed. Then she saw something in her mind. Her black eyes suddenly turned into white for several seconds.

'My mission is done here… I need to go back. It's time to leave her....' Aunt Brianna thought to herself.