Chapter 113

Elena pressed her back against the wall, holding her breath as she listened to the voices of the men, who seemed to belong to the group that had kidnapped her.  

‘But what do they mean by saying I have something important?’  

She didn’t have anything of value. Perhaps they had taken the wrong person.  

There were many women with blonde hair like hers at the party, so it was possible they had mistaken her for someone else.  

But what did it matter now? Even if she wasn’t the person they were looking for, they wouldn’t let her go easily. They were likely to kill her to eliminate any evidence.  

In that case, she had no choice but to fight them off and escape.  

Her heart pounded loudly. A question lingered in her mind: 

Could I really do this?  

‘No, I can do it.’  

She had done it before when she encountered Anguis at the library. So, she could do it again now.  

The sound of footsteps grew closer, and with it, her heartbeat grew louder. She worried that the men might hear her heartbeat.  

She decided to let them pass first. The men, unaware of her hiding spot, headed toward the prison cell where she had been held.  

And then.  

“She’s not here!”  

“D*mn it! I thought magic couldn’t be used here!”  

Realizing she wasn’t there, they rushed out. At that moment, Elena locked eyes with one of the men.  

From a distance, she could see him smirk. He grabbed the hilt of his sword with one hand and extended the other toward her.  

“Come here, little lady. I won’t hurt you.”  

Lies!  

Elena gathered mana into her hand and threw it onto the ground.  

With a loud bang, thick smoke filled the space between them. She immediately began running in the opposite direction.  

She could hear the men coughing in the distance.  

“D*mn it! That little brat! When I catch her, she won’t get away with this!”  

Elena dashed up the stairs the men had descended earlier. However, she knew outrunning them was nearly impossible.  

Just as she was about to reach the top of the stairs, one of the men grabbed her hair.  

“Ack!”  

“You should’ve stayed still. What’s with all this resistance?”  

Elena infused mana into the rock she was holding. Without hesitation, she cut the strands of hair the man had grabbed and struck his shoulder with the mana-charged rock.  

The man let out a pained groan and tumbled down the stairs. His fall caused another man who was chasing her to also fall, as he was caught underneath him.  

Thanks to cutting her hair, she avoided being dragged along with him.  

Her heart was still racing, but there was no time to rest. She continued running up the stairs.  

However, what awaited her at the top was not an exit but a vast underground prison. She stared at it in dismay.  

‘Where is the exit?’  

She almost swore out loud. She ran aimlessly, even discarding her shoes because they were slowing her down.  

Sharp objects on the ground cut her feet, but she couldn’t stop.  

She kept running—up stairs, down hallways—without pause.  

Then, she sensed another presence.  

Swallowing a groan, she hid again. But despite her efforts, she was discovered.  

“Well, well. What a futile effort. I have no intention of harming you. If you cooperate, I promise you’ll be treated well.”  

The man’s voice echoed down the hallway.  

Since she had already been caught, Elena decided to ask what she wanted to know.  

“Cooperate? With what? What do you want from me?”  

“Just be a quiet hostage.”  

A hostage… So they were targeting Felix.  

There was no need to hear more. Elena gathered mana into her rock. She had only one chance. If she failed, there would be no next time.  

“Well, what’s your decision?”  

The man’s voice grew closer.  

“I’d rather die than cooperate with scum like you!”  

As soon as the man was within arm’s reach, Elena raised her hand and aimed the rock at his chest. Or at least, she tried to.  

But.  

“Well, well. You even know how to do this. Did Sir Christian teach you?”  

Before the rock could touch his chest, sparks flew in the air, and a shockwave sent her flying. She landed hard on the cold floor.  

“Argh…”  

The pain in her wrist suggested she had sprained it during the fall. She lay on the ground, groaning, as the man’s footsteps approached.  

She couldn’t move and could only groan in pain.  

“Does it hurt a lot? You should’ve stayed still…”  

But suddenly, his tone shifted to one of pity, and his voice sounded oddly familiar.  

What had he said earlier? Something about “Sir Christian”?  

The familiar name made Elena lift her head abruptly. The man, standing a few steps away, smiled softly beneath his hood. Slowly, he raised his hand and removed it.  

Under the torchlight, his face became clear.  

Brown hair, round glasses, and a gentle smile.  

It was unmistakable.  

“Professor Deros?”  

Her words seemed to confirm his identity, as the man’s smile deepened.  

“It’s been a while, Miss Bellote. Four months since graduation, isn’t it?”

***

The Anguis forces were subdued more easily than expected. From the beginning, their numbers were smaller than anticipated.  

“This is strange. For such a bold attack, it ended far too easily.”  

The captain of the 1st Knight Order, to which Felix belonged, voiced his doubts. The other knights all agreed.  

“I find it strange as well.”  

“But isn’t it fortunate that it ended this way?”  

At that moment, Felix, who had been deep in thought, opened his mouth.  

“Could it be that they were targeting something else?”  

All eyes turned toward him. The captain asked again.  

“Something else? What do you mean?”  

“The attack on the hall might have been a distraction. They may have been after someone else.”  

“Both His Majesty the King and the Crown Prince were in the hall. If they weren’t the targets, then who could it have been?”  

“That, I cannot say for sure.”  

At that moment, someone supported Felix’s words.  

“I agree with Sir Christian.”  

It was Cedric Kaine.  

“While we were keeping a close watch on the hall, there could have been another group hiding elsewhere. For instance, they might have infiltrated His Majesty’s chambers.”  

“That makes sense.”  

The captain, nodding in agreement, quickly gave orders.  

“Strengthen the defenses immediately!”  

However, Felix couldn’t move right away. Something had been bothering him for a while.  

‘Did Elly manage to escape safely?’  

Elena had always claimed she wasn’t good at practical skills, but thanks to her efforts over the past year, her magic abilities had improved significantly. Furthermore, there was no reason for anyone to target her specifically, so she should have been able to escape without much trouble.  

But the unease in Felix’s heart wouldn’t go away, making it hard for him to concentrate. He also couldn’t shake the memory of the man who attacked Christian County months ago, searching for a blonde-haired woman.  

“What are you doing? Hurry up and move.”  

Cedric grabbed Felix by the shoulder, urging him forward.  

“Yes, I’m going.”  

Felix belatedly joined his comrades.  

The Royal Knights spread out across the palace, searching for anything suspicious. However, they found nothing out of the ordinary.  

Even the mages, including Felix, used magic to detect mana, but no traces of malicious magic could be found.  

“Could that really have been all of them?”  

Someone raised the question. The captain responded.  

“It’s possible that their forces have been significantly reduced due to previous purges. This might have been their last desperate act.”  

The knights patrolled the palace throughout the night. But Felix couldn’t focus at all.  

“Captain, my fiancée and nephew were at the party and evacuated together. I’d like to check if they’re safe.”  

“Understood. But return as quickly as possible.”  

“Thank you.”  

Adding a slight lie to his report, Felix hurried back to the estate.  

His first destination was the Bellote Estate.  

“Elly.”  

But it wasn’t Elena who greeted him—it was the butler.  

“The lady has not yet returned.”  

“What?”  

“I assumed she was with you, Sir…”  

Without waiting for the butler to finish, Felix rushed to his own estate nearby, thinking Elena might have gone there instead of the Bellote Estate.  

However…  

“Miss Elena? No, she hasn’t come by today.”  

His butler said the same thing.  

“D*mn it.”  

Where could Elena have gone? 

Felix had been certain she would have returned home safely and was resting. 

Could she still be at the palace?  

As Felix was about to dash out of the estate, the butler handed him something.  

“Sir, there’s an urgent letter addressed to you…”  

“Later.”  

“But it seemed odd, so I thought you should see it.”  

The butler showed him a letter along with a bundle of cut blonde hair.  

Felix instantly recognized it.  

“This is…”  

It was Elena’s hair, stained with blood in some places.  

As if it were a warning directed at Felix.  

Snatching the letter from the butler, Felix tore open the seal.  

It was a ransom note. The letter stated that Elena was in their custody. If Felix wanted to find her, he was to go to Denas Street.  

The letter also warned that Elena’s safety could not be guaranteed if he informed anyone else of the situation.  

“D*mn it.”  

Crushing the letter in his fist, Felix immediately ran toward Denas Street.

These names and titles are newly introduced or emphasized in this part of the text.