Chapter 110

Rayden, who had injured his arm, was briefly pushed back but quickly regained his balance. Despite his injury, Rayden fought evenly against Jackson without much disruption.  

Duke Tereon Dinever, having defeated the last mercenary, lifted his head to assess the situation.  

Seeing Robert and Louis, Jackson and Rayden, Duke Tereon headed toward Jackson without hesitation.  

*Clang!*  

The sound of swords clashing rang out sharply.  

“Move aside.” 

When Jackson growled, Duke Tereon scoffed and swung his sword.  

“This is a place where lives are gambled, not a place to determine strength and weakness. How foolish.”  

As Rayden and Duke Tereon joined forces in their attack, Jackson was quickly cornered. He was so preoccupied with deflecting their swords that he had no opportunity to counterattack.  

While Jackson was in a tight spot, Robert was also struggling.  

Having underestimated Louis, Robert found himself cornered and began to think quickly. If Jackson were defeated, not only would he lose the big catch he had almost secured, but he himself would also be in danger.  

At that moment, his dark brown eyes caught sight of Vivian, who had her hands clasped together as if in prayer, her eyes tightly shut.  

Noticing Robert’s distraction, Louis’s sword deeply pierced Robert’s thigh.  

Although Robert moved his leg at the last moment, he couldn’t completely avoid the Crown Prince’s blade.  

“Robert!”  

The woman who always accompanied Robert, anxiously watching the situation, screamed.  

Through his blurry vision, Robert saw Louis preparing to strike again, his movements appearing slow.  

I’ve come this far. I can’t fall here. Just as the Emperor took the most precious thing from me, I’ll take something precious from them. That’s the only way to make it fair.  

Robert changed the direction of his sword. Avoiding the Crown Prince’s attack, he ran at full speed.  

“Vivian!”  

Vivian opened her tightly shut eyes at the sound of her name being called.  

She saw the desperate face of Robert Fame. His face, messy with sweat and dirt, was a stark contrast to his usual neat and friendly smile.  

The heavy, large sword he wielded was aimed at her. The scene played out in slow motion.  

Behind Robert, she saw Louis chasing him. His expression, filled with shock, was one she had never seen before. Further behind, she saw her father shouting at her to move. Everything seemed to move sluggishly.  

I need to move, but for some reason, my body won’t respond.  

Ah, this is bad.  

Vivian tightly shut her eyes.  

“No, stop!”  

At the sound of Teresa’s near-scream, Vivian opened her eyes.  

Drops of dark red blood fell onto the dusty, rotting wooden floor.  

It was strange. With this much blood flowing, it should hurt, but she didn’t feel any pain.  

Vivian stiffly turned her head. She met a pair of blue eyes staring at her.  

“Thank goodness… Thank goodness.”  

Aitor smiled. With a face trembling violently, he smiled at Vivian.  

Rayden rushed in and subdued Robert Fame with a single strike, rendering him unable to move but not killing him.  

Aitor, who had been holding onto Vivian’s shoulders with trembling hands, collapsed to the floor.  

The moment Aitor fell to his knees, the world, which had been moving in slow motion, returned to normal.  

*Howl—awoo.*  

The distant howls of Zero and a ringing in Vivian’s ears echoed loudly.  

“Aitor, don’t lose consciousness.”  

Louis, who had thrown aside his sword, ran over and inspected Aitor’s wound. The sword that had pierced through Aitor’s abdomen lay on the ground, covered in blood.  

“Aitor!”  

Hearing Zero’s howls, Lucas, sensing something was wrong, entered the building.  

When he saw Aitor collapsed on the ground, Lucas ran over, only to trip and fall.  

Quickly getting back up, Lucas gasped for breath as he looked at his bleeding friend.  

“What… What happened?”  

No one answered Lucas’s question.  

Louis’s hands, pressing against Aitor’s wound, were quickly soaked with blood.  

“How much time is left? How much time?”  

Louis urgently asked Teresa.  

“One minute… One minute left.”  

It was a cruel minute. The ticking of the clock felt unbearably slow.  

“Don’t lose consciousness. Listen carefully to what I’m saying.”  

Louis laid his cloak on the ground and placed Aitor on it. As Aitor kept trying to close his eyes, Louis grabbed his cheeks.  

“When your friend heals you with magic in one minute, we’ll take the gate and return to the Empire. Once we’re there, we’ll walk proudly into the Imperial Palace and meet His Majesty the Emperor.”  

At Louis’s words, Aitor’s trembling lips moved. His voice was faint, so faint that only Louis, who was closest, could hear it.  

“If he won’t meet us… I’ll just threaten to give up being the Crown Prince.”  

At Louis’s words, Aitor let out a weak laugh.  

“You’re smiling, so you must be fine.”  

Teresa, who had been clutching the watch tightly, spoke. She swallowed nervously as she watched the second hand move ever so slowly.  

“Don’t cry, Lucas. Be ready to cast your healing magic in 30 seconds.”  

Lucas wiped his eyes roughly and nodded quickly.  

“Ten seconds left. Hold on, Aitor.”  

At Teresa’s words, Aitor weakly nodded. Lucas prepared to cast his healing magic the moment his powers returned.  

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”  

As the countdown ended, the magic stone floating in the air emitted a bright light and shattered with a loud *pop*.  

“Healing magic, now!”  

Lucas’s previously soft, violet eyes sharpened with focus. A warm light began to emanate from his hands.  

Rayden, who had been holding his sword to Robert Fame’s neck, and Vivian, who was sobbing into Duke Tereon Dinever’s chest, could only pray and watch.  

* * *

“As soon as the dawn gate opens, send the prepared knights. The rest will stay here to monitor the situation.”  

“Yes, Commander.”  

Stephan, the commander of the 1st Imperial Knight Order, mounted his horse and glared at the gate leading to Palterno.  

The Crown Prince had gone to Palterno to rescue his fiancée, they said.  

Was he such a reckless person?  

Though Stephan had not served the Crown Prince closely, he had observed him from a distance since childhood.  

He found it hard to believe that the Crown Prince, who had headed to Palterno with only the Knight Commander to rescue Vivian Dinever, was the same man he had known.  

The Crown Prince was someone who always understood his position better than anyone else.  

Suddenly, Stephan thought of the late Emperor and unconsciously smiled.  

Perhaps he resembled his grandfather, the late Emperor, more than his father, Emperor Henry.  

Stephan’s brow furrowed deeply. The wrinkles etched into his forehead bore testament to his years of experience.  

“Rayden…”  

Perhaps sensing his master’s tension, the horse stamped its hooves nervously and shifted uneasily.  

Calming the horse, Stephan Tolz, commander of the 1st Knight Order, resolved to re-educate his son, Rayden Tolz, if he returned.  

The early spring dawn was quite chilly. Clouds of breath escaped from the horse’s nostrils.  

“Um…”  

Behind him, Allen, who looked as though he might collapse at any moment, hesitantly spoke.  

“He said he would return within five days.”  

“Who said that?”  

Allen flinched at Stephan’s cold tone.  

“His Highness the Crown Prince…”  

Trailing off, Allen adjusted his crooked glasses and glanced nervously at the knight commander.  

“His Highness has always kept his word.”  

Stephan, who had been staring at the closed gate, turned his head.  

Though similar in build to Rayden, Stephan’s features were sharper and more rugged, causing Allen to gulp nervously.  

“It’s not that I don’t trust His Highness.”  

Turning his gaze back to the gate, Stephan continued.  

“The Master of the Mage Tower is dead. It’s the work of anti-Imperial mages. Many mages want to renew the treaty. The situation has worsened. If either the Mage Tower or the Imperial Family makes a wrong move, war will break out immediately.”  

Allen nodded in agreement, though his expression suggested otherwise.  

“Commander Rayden is with him…”  

“Hmph.”  

At the mention of Rayden, Stephan scoffed, his shoulders shaking slightly.  

“…And Duke Dinever is with him as well.”  

“That man… is trustworthy. But even he went alone, didn’t he?”  

Stephan trusted Duke Tereon Dinever more than his own son, who was renowned for his swordsmanship in the Empire.  

Before leaving the Imperial Palace to carry out the Emperor’s orders, Stephan had a private audience with the Emperor.  

The orders were clear: bring the Crown Prince back to the Imperial Palace no matter what, and also bring back the mage named Aitor.  

Stephan had bowed deeply to the Emperor, acknowledging the gravity of his mission.  

“Do you know much about the mage named Aitor?”  

Allen tilted his head at Stephan’s sudden question.  

When Allen didn’t respond immediately, Stephan pulled on the reins, turning his horse around, and asked again.  

“Ah… As for that mage, I don’t know much.”  

“Tell me what you do know.”  

Rolling his deep green eyes, Allen cautiously began to speak.  

“How should I put it… He has a pure aura. He always greets people with a smile, seems to get along well with Commander Rayden, and most importantly…”  

“Most importantly?”  

“He seems to trust His Highness the Crown Prince.”  

At Allen’s response, Stephan’s expression became difficult to read.  

Did I say something wrong? 

Allen, unsure, glanced nervously at the horizon, where the first light of dawn was beginning to appear.  

“It looks like the sun will rise soon.”  

At that moment, the gatekeeper approached Stephan.  

“The gate will open soon. Once it does, those coming from the other side will arrive first, and then those heading to Palterno will be allowed through.”  

Frowning, Stephan ordered the gatekeeper to reverse the order and allow his group to cross first.  

The gatekeeper scratched the back of his head awkwardly and bowed.  

“The schedule is fixed and cannot be changed.”  

Clicking his tongue in frustration, Stephan turned his horse toward the knights preparing to head to Palterno.  

The black sky turned blue, and the horizon grew redder as the gate finally opened. One by one, people began to emerge from the gate.  

At the end of the procession coming to the Empire, a familiar silhouette appeared.  

“Your Highness!”  

Allen jumped off his horse and ran toward the gate. Behind him, the Imperial Knights preparing to cross also dismounted and approached the Crown Prince.  

“Does His Majesty the Emperor know?”  

The surrounding crowd, including those who had come through the gate, gatekeepers, and townspeople curious about the presence of the Imperial Knights, began to murmur.  

“We will carry him, Your Highness.”  

One of the knights approached Louis. Glancing at the unconscious Aitor on his back, Louis shook his head.  

“We will head to the Imperial Palace immediately. Prepare for departure, Stephan.”  

“I will make the preparations.”  

Commander Stephan quickly assessed the Crown Prince. Though covered in dust and looking disheveled, he appeared uninjured.  

He swiftly scanned the people who had crossed the gate with the Crown Prince.  

Aitor, carried on the Crown Prince’s back; Duke Tereon Dinever and his daughter, the Crown Prince’s fiancée, Vivian; Rayden Tolz; a woman who appeared to be a mage; a small man; and a man bound tightly with ropes.  

Though all of the Emperor’s orders had been fulfilled, Stephan couldn’t shake a sense of unease.