Chapter 97

Chapter 97

“She came out of the Count-nim’s bedroom?”

“Yes, she did.”

Ashlee could not bear the shock as she heard the informant affirmed it, and sank to the floor. There was really no place for her to come between the two of them now.

Why was she being pushed back by a maid-turned-knight? Ashley could not understand. No matter how much she thought about it, there was nothing better about Leasis than her

She was the precious princess of the Harknon Empire, the second most powerful on the continent, she had a beautiful appearance and a passionate love. Why did Hizen choose that woman?

Ashley found an answer to her anger. The cause of that was not Hizen or herself, but the tactless red-haired woman.

Without that woman, Hizen would have been hers and their marriage would have gone smoothly, and one day he would have recognized her true feelings. Ashley let out a harsh breath, angry. Her fingernails dug into the palm of her tightly clenched fists and blood started to drip.

Surprised, the superior maid approached Ashley with holy water. But she groaned at the touch.

Clink!

Glass fragments scattered all over the floor. Still, Ashley could not get rid of her anger, so she bit her lips.

I can’t forgive her. Ashley headed straight to the abandoned palace. It was the residence of the black wizards whose secret conversation with the Emperor she had heard the other day. She went there alone.

When she opened the door, she saw three or four black wizards holding long pipes in their mouths. The place was already filled with murky smoke.

“What brings Your Highness the Princess so far?”

It was like they already knew that Ashley had been doing a background check on them.

Therefore, it was obvious what she would come to ask them. They waited for her words, smoking their long cigarettes.

“Summon a monster in the Imperial Palace. I’ll give you all the magic stones that you need.”

“Hmm. It’s difficult. Wouldn’t it be useless with Count Dratius here?”

“Count Dratius-nim will head out for a new mission soon. And Crown Prince Elnos promised to stay out of this.”

Black wizards were like bats. They did not care who inherited the throne, and were only on the side of the powerful.

If that was Elnos’ decision, then it would not be bad. The black magicians’ hands shone black.

*

*

*

In the Commander’s office, the shadows of the two people overlapped under the light of the faint lamp. In Hizen’s arms, Leasis whispered in a sweet voice.

“Have a safe trip.”

“It’s too bad we have to seperate like this.”

“It can’t be helped.”

Hizen smiled, holding her tightly. Leasis had soothed him and hugged him.

He liked it although it felt unfamiliar. It would have been different if he had not been in charge of other people all his life.

He believed that with Leasis, he could reduce the difficulty of everything. He wanted to be with her all day long if possible.

Hizen kissed Leasis on the forehead and vowed. When the Empire stabilizes, I’ll propose to her.

Leasis focused more on sword training after Hizen left. Sometimes she went on a mission with Setchen, but she did nothing else.

That was because a new talented man had appeared in the Imperial Elite Knights.

“Berman.”

“Iddahak, long time no see!”

With a boy’s appearance, Iddahak came in front of Leasis. She smiled as she stroked his dark red hair.

Recently, Iddahak had been helping with various missions along with Max. Most of them were to kill high-level monsters that had appeared throughout the Empire.

She was glad that Iddahak seemed to adapt better to the Imperial Palace than she had thought. Iddahak blushed as if he had read Leasis’ mind. He was just trying to make her work easier.

The two were taking good care of each other like siblings. Leasis thought it would be like this if they shared the same blood.

“Berman. There is a place I want to go with you.”

“Where?”

“I’ll tell you when we go. Since you are free starting tomorrow…”

There was no problem in going because he had already ask Max about Leasis’ schedule, but Iddahak was worried that he would be rejected.

Fortunately, Leasis smiled brightly and nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go right at dawn tomorrow.”

“Really?”

“Sure.”

Iddahak’s expression brightened. He expressed his joy by holding Leasis’ hands and shaking them.

The child-like appearance made Leasis laugh. Iddahak really liked her. Her sincerity seemed to have expanded his feelings.

Iddahak’s golden eyes were warmly colored. He sincerely wished for Leasis’ happiness. Even if he were to disappear, he wanted to tell her the truth.

If Leasis were to find out all the facts, she would be angry. But she was more open-minded than anyone else, so he believed she would eventually understand.

She was the own blood of his close friend that he liked so much. Iddahak believed in her, and if she was happy, there was nothing else to ask for.

“You have to come with me.”

Leasis nodded greatly. After saying goodbye to Iddahak, she went straight to her room. She washed her tired and sweaty body and laid down on the bed.

As soon as her eyes started to slowly close, the bed shook greatly. The furniture fell to the floor, and swear words could be heard here and there in the dormitory.

What’s going on? Surprised, Leasis jumped out of bed and stood on the floor. She could feel the entire building shake.

A bell rang out across the hallway. It was the loudest bell used only in emergencies.

Leasis and the other knights rushed out of the dormitory, taking only their swords. The earthquake subsided, but something even bigger was waiting for them.

Strange monsters were rushing from the far end of the Imperial Palace. The sky was filled with gilatans whose eyes were as black as ink, and the ground was covered by skeleton soldiers.

The skeleton soldiers were only about the size of a person, much smaller than the last time she had fought one, but just the sight of something unknown and dark coming out frightened the people. Some energy seemed to be coming from an obsidian on their foreheads.

Holding old, broken swords, they slowly approached the Imperial Elite Knights.

What’s going on? The knights who came out looked blankly at the sky dominated by the gilatans. The sudden appearance of monsters took their souls away.

The one who remained the most cool-headed was Max. He shouted in a harsh voice after making a quick decision.

“Wake up! Pull out your swords now! Aim for the obsidians on their foreheads!”

The knights drew their swords at Max’s command and rushed to the monsters. However, their number was not decreasing, and a lot of servants and nobles fell, bleeding.

Sharp screams coming from all over the place were tearing their ears. Leasis pierced a skeleton soldier’s head with her sword and bit her lips.

‘There must be a starting point somewhere. There’s no way so many monsters appeared out of nowhere! Where did they come from?’

Max swung his sword toward the place where the monsters were rushing from, as if he felt the same way. Leasis followed to cover him.

“Ahhhh!”

“Owen!”

Owen, who had been cleaning in front of the Imperial Elite Knights’ dormitory, fell on the floor. In front of her, a skeleton soldier with a black stone on his forehead was smiling.

Not missing the critical moment, Jason’s sword struck the soldier but got stuck in its forehead. However, swords were wounding Jason’s arms and legs, held by skeleton soldiers rushing from behind.

“Jason-nim!”

Leasis tried to run toward them. But Max called her.

“Stop!”

Leasis flinched. Max spat out his words as if he were chewing them, while wielding his sword at the monsters running from all sides.

“There must be a magic circle somewhere. We have to destroy it before it’s too late!”

Looking alternately between Max and Jason, Leasis closed her eyes tightly. Then, fortunately, the 1st Division of Imperial Knights appeared and began to support them.

Onjet’s group shouted as hard as they could, looking at Leasis ahead of them.

“Hey, Lea! If you die, it must be by my hands!”

Karma also shouted to the point of breaking his voice.

“Leasis! Count on the honor of the 1st Division of Imperial Knights!”

“Yes!”

With the momentum, Leasis swung her sword as hard as she could. Furgin followed and covered her.

A skeleton soldier’s blade pierced through Furgin’s thigh. Furgin gritted his teeth, faithfully protecting Leasis.

*

*

*

“What are you doing?”

Iddahak’s eyes shone strangely. On his way back to Max’s room, he had found a strange smell, so he had followed it, and had seen a lot of strange and suspicious people in the palace.

Black magicians laughed while smoking pole-like cigarettes. Normally, he would have run away with his tail between his legs, but now he was confident because he had something to protect

“You’re that red dragon.”

Screams echoed from all over the palace. There was also a familiar voice in them.

Rough scales began to emerge from Iddahak’s soft skin. He swore and revealed his sharp fangs.

At that time, the black magicians took out magic stones hidden in their coats. They were the size of a palm, and were already dyed black.

Are you trying to stop me with just that? Iddahak’s golden eyes shone cool. A strong breath came out of his mouth toward the magicians.

The black magicians avoided it and moved as if to lure Iddahak away. But he did not easily fall into their trap.

Then, a heavy metal sound rang from somewhere. Turning his head, he saw a huge group of knights in iron armors along with a rotten smell.

There were dozens of them. But a tremendous black smoke was rising from their swords. The black magicians were unparalleled in strength when it came to magic.

“Yvette’s toys…’

The ironclad knights immediately rushed to protect the black magicians. At the same time, hundreds of swords flew toward Iddahak’s body.

“You dare!”

Iddahak leaped toward the ceiling and lightly avoided their attack. Then he reached out and punched the heads of the knights, and kicked their shoulders.

I don’t have to go back to my main body to deal with these weaklings. Iddahak settled on the ground with an expressionless face.

But at that moment, something fell from the ceiling. When he looked up, he saw a black liquid spilling from the ceiling like rain.

It stinks. Iddahak gritted his teeth and ran toward the exit to avoid the black liquid.

At that moment, his whole body hardened.