The moment I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the ground, completely paralyzed. My mana was depleted, and I could feel multiple restraints all over my body, holding me in place and making any movement impossible.
‘…Ah, shit.’
Opposite me was a pair of crimson eyes, staring coldly at me.
I felt my left brow twitch.
‘Yeah, I saw this coming from miles away.’
This entire scenario was the same exact scenario that I expected to occur after regaining control over my body.
While the circumstances were indeed bad for me, I wasn’t necessarily too concerned.
I didn’t think Rose had it in her to kill me or Kiera.
She… was not what she appeared to be on the outside.
“Y-ou can release me now. I’m… good.”
When I opened my mouth to speak, my voice came out rather hoarse. This was to be expected, considering what my body had just gone through.
Alongside my voice, my entire body was also suffering.
I could feel faint convulsions in my feet and arms, with small pulses of pain flickering in and out of my mind. They weren’t unbearable, just bothersome.
But the most burdensome thing right now wasn’t the pain.
No, it was her gaze…
“….”
Staring at me in silence, Rose’s eyes were squinted. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all.
Was she still thinking about what had happened before? Was I able to get rid of her suspicions…? Or…?
The silence felt suffocating, and just as I found it to be unbearable, her mouth finally parted open.
“Is that why you’re looking for the mirror?”
It took an instant to understand her words, and the moment I did, I furrowed my brows and didn’t answer immediately.
It was only after a few seconds had passed that I finally nodded my head.
“…Yes.”
At the same time, I glanced over at Kiera, who was lying next to me. She looked unusually pale, and although she wasn’t bound like I was, she certainly didn’t seem to be in the best condition.
What exactly happened to her?
‘Seeing how she’s glaring at me, perhaps Julien did something to her…’
Yeah, who was I kidding?
That was probably what happened.
“I’ve had trouble… controlling it; that’s why I asked Kiera to help me. She refused, though.”
“She did?”
Rose’s gaze shifted towards Kiera, who tilted her head and glared back at her.
“Like I said… I have no fucking clue as to where it is. How many times have I fucking told you?”
I wouldn’t have believed her in the past, but now I do.
After all, I had the mirror…
“….”
Rose’s eyes squinted as though she didn’t fully believe her niece.
Kiera shot her an even harsher glare, and for the next few seconds, the two of them stood face to face, locked in a silent stare-down, like an aunt and niece caught in some sort of showdown.
I took that time to look around me and find some sort of way to get out of my current situation.
There were several ideas that came to my mind, but before I even had the time to properly act on them, Rose’s head suddenly flicked to face the window of the room.
Her expression changed subtly before shifting in my direction. All of a sudden, a suffocating pressure burst out of her body.
“Was it you?”
“…W-what?”
Startled, I tried to look in the direction of where she was looking but found my neck locked into place.
“What is happening?”
Kiera also looked surprised as she looked back, but she didn’t seem to spot anything, and her head tilted in confusion.
“I don’t see anything. What sort of—Eekh!”
“Damn it!”
Cursing under her breath, Rose’s figure blurred and disappeared from my sight. Before I could make sense of what was happening, I heard Kiera yelp beside me and then felt something press against my waist, lifting me off the ground.
“…Ah.”
Powerless, I could only watch the ground distance itself from me.
By the time I grasped what was happening, a deafening crash echoed through the air, and the sound of shattering glass filled the room.
Crash—
My hair started to flutter as my vision shifted, and we appeared outside of the window, falling toward the ground.
That was when I truly understood what was happening.
‘I’m being kidnapped’
Great.
“Kyaaah!”
That was Kiera, not me.
***
A few moments prior, in Aoife’s room.
“How far are they?”
“They should be here anytime soon.”
“That’s faster than expected.”
Evelyn said, looking at the time. It had only been about fifteen minutes since Aoife had called for help from the Empire. She had originally said it would take an hour, but surprisingly, they arrived a lot earlier than that.
Aoife also looked pleasantly surprised, but upon further thought, this was to be expected.
The Royal Family had forces stationed in every major household. They claimed it was for assistance whenever needed, but the reality was far different.
It really was more there to keep most of the Households in check.
Although they claimed to stay out of disputes between the households, if any conflict put the Royal Family at a disadvantage, they would quietly step in and intervene behind the scenes.
The forces that were coming were such forces.
“I’ve called Leon and the others to come. I’ll fill them in on the situation. I think they also noticed something wrong with Kiera.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea.”
Right on cue, someone knocked on the door.
To Tok—!
It was Leon and the others.
“What happened?”
Taking a look around the room, Leon frowned while looking at them. Seeing how Aoife said it was urgent, he didn’t really have a good feeling about the situation.
He would’ve normally been more prepared, but lately, ever since ‘that’ incident, his mind had felt like it had been in a deep fog.
Everything he thought felt heavy, and he found it hard to think properly.
He tried his best not to show it externally, but Julien was able to catch on pretty quickly. It couldn’t be helped.
Leon needed some time to properly adjust to the situation.
After all…
“Uh? Where is Julien?”
Looking around, Leon suddenly noticed that Julien wasn’t present. Looking behind him, Caius, Amell, and Kaelion were with him. On the other hand, the only two people who were missing were Kiera and Julien.
Leon’s eyes closed.
‘I should’ve seen this coming… After all, Julien is here. That—’
He knew at that moment that his worries weren’t unfounded.
“I understand where you’re coming from, Leon, but I don’t think Julien has anything to do with it this time.”
Also realizing that Julien wasn’t present, Aoife’s lip twitched, but she pretended to toss her worry to the side and quickly informed the three of them about what she did and how she felt that something was amiss with Kiera.
“So you’re saying that you used your family power because you felt that something was odd with Kiera?”
“Err…”
Aoife’s eyes guiltily swam around the room before she scratched the side of her cheek.
“Well, I mean… yes? I mean, Julien is here so…”
“But didn’t you say Julien has nothing to do with it this time?”
“Ah, yes, but…”
“You did good.”
“Eh?”
Not expecting such words from Leon, Aoife blinked her eyes. She then saw Leon looking at her like a proud parent who saw his child grow.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past year, it’s that if something seems off, it’s probably because it is. I’ve seen too much go down this year. You did well calling them in early.”
There was nothing with being safer than sorry.
What was the worst that could happen even if they were wrong?
‘It’s not like Aoife will get kicked out from the royal family for using her own forces.’
Him and Evelyn were probably the only ones that felt this way. Looking back, Leon could see the confused looks on Caius and the others.
Even Amell was looking at him strangely, mumbling something along the lines of, ‘Isn’t that a waste of resources?’
Amell’s naivete made him shake his head.
He should have already understood how things worked around here, yet he still couldn’t grasp the reason behind Aoife’s actions. The same went for the other two, but in hindsight, they likely hadn’t witnessed just how bad things had gotten in the past.
He couldn’t fault them for that.
“Oh, it looks like they’re almost here.”
Raising her head and looking away from her communication device, Aoife’s face lit up.
She was about to say a few more words when, all of a sudden, the sound of glass shattering echoed from above.
Crash—!
As if in sync, all heads flicked in the direction of the window where a figure walted down.
Given everyone’s considerable strength, they watched in slow motion as a figure leaped down from the floor above, clutching what seemed to be two other figures on each shoulder.
In that brief moment, Leon’s gaze met a pair of hazel eyes that seemed hollow, as if tired of everything.
‘…So that’s where you were.’
The two locked eyes for the briefest of moments before finally disappearing from view.
“Kyaah—!”
A muffled scream echoed shortly after.
“…..”
“…..”
The room turned silent shortly after that as Aoife’s mouth remained open, unable to utter a single word.
Neither could Evelyn and the others as they blinked their eyes, unable to fully grasp what had happened.
The only one who was able to remain calm was Leon, who closed his eyes and sighed.
‘I need a raise.’
Opening his eyes again, he looked at the others who were still stunned and made his way towards the door.
“Oh, right.”
Before leaving, he turned back.
“…Julien was the one who screamed.”
He just felt like he had to let everyone know.
Clank—
It was only then that the others snapped out of it as Aoife hastily looked at her communication device and frantically shouted orders.
On the other hand, Caius looked at Kaelion, who looked back at him.
“Was it really Julien who screamed?”
Kaelion thought about it for a moment. He did catch on to Julien’s figure for a brief moment; Caius probably did, too.
His eyes looked dead more than anything…
No, more importantly.
“Did someone just kidnap him?”