CH 20.2

As they were about to start their ascent, the tower shook violently, and a loud explosion echoed through the air. Lionel and the others looked up in horror as debris rained down on them. The tower was collapsing, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Lionel quickly grabbed the closest knight and shielded him with his body as they were hit by a piece of falling debris. He then turned his attention back to the collapsing tower and saw something that made his heart skip a beat. A figure was falling from the tower, engulfed in flames.

Without hesitation, Lionel rushed towards the falling figure, his sword drawn. He knew that he only had one chance to save the empress. As he got closer, he realized that it was indeed Her Majesty, and she was still alive.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Lionel caught the empress in mid-air and used his body to shield her from the flames.

In the antechamber of the grandiose press conference hall, the empress had posed the question that left Lord Leppat stupefied, gazing numbly at the towering column of fire. He had motioned for Lionel to wait, but there was little they could do but watch as the seemingly eternal white flame suddenly flickered and began to fade. All the knights and wizards assembled in the rose garden were awestruck as they bore witness to the spectacle. As the bloody sky’s edges paled to a soft shade of rose, Lionel fixed his eyes on the dwindling white flames and caught sight of something. Standing resolute until then, he bolted towards the tower’s base with all his might and opened his arms wide to receive the rapidly falling empress.

Adele plummeted through the air, every fiber of her being straining, taking in the sky’s gradual transformation from crimson to azure. As she obliterated her tower and hurtled towards the ground, the fleeting view of the sky receding from her was a spectacle known only to her. When one of her subordinates asked what would happen if she died, Adele retorted, “Don’t rain on my parade.”

It was easy to decelerate at the last moment and touch down on the ground since even a small amount of mana was amplified within the tower, even if the spectators were terrified.

“Now, shall we land gently?” Adele said as she turned her body over to look at the ground, only to be taken aback by one of her men, arms outstretched in anticipation of her fall, his beautiful face radiating a resolute determination to catch her. Adele quickly conjured up her magic to slow her descent, causing Lionel to lower his arms as the empress’s fall decelerated considerably.

The flames, resembling halos, shattered and dissipated like a dance in the sky, while the blood-red sky gradually faded to a pale rose. The empress descended slowly to the ground, as if descending from the heavens, with the halo of light and pale rose sky behind her. Lionel and Adele locked gazes.

The chilly, unfeeling empress touched down on the ground, and at that very moment, the tower vanished, the final flame snuffed out, and the sky’s edge transitioned to blue. A stillness settled over the ravaged rose garden as Adele, the center of attention, tilted her head towards Lionel. Her raven-black hair cascaded over her shoulder like a waterfall.

“Did you try to catch me with your arms?” she asked with a hint of amusement.

“I was planning on it,” Lionel replied. “Otherwise, my arms wouldn’t be out like this. A knight who uses his sword.”

Adele peeked at his broad shoulders, which had spread wide to receive her, before turning away, paying little attention to what might have happened to his arms. No one had come rushing to her aid during her fall, even if there were those who had chided her for it. Adele walked past Lionel, her voice laced with laughter.

“Either way, I owe you one. And what happened yesterday.”

At her words, Lionel snapped out of his trance and watched as the empress strode away. Wasn’t she the one who had fled with a disheveled appearance just yesterday? How could she be so carefree and lighthearted after a single day? He could still feel the warmth of her slender shoulders in his hands. Lionel stared at Adele’s retreating back, his palms still ablaze as they had been the previous night. He wasn’t the only one unable to take his eyes off the empress. Her entourage stood there

“Put away your sword; it seems unnecessary,” Adele instructed Lennox, who blinked in surprise. She then walked away, leaving him to ponder over her words. After a moment of silence, someone broke it with a hollow question that echoed through the ruined rose garden.

“Did Her Majesty the Empress really take down the tower alone?”