Sharon’s POV—
Sotis, you doubt your decisions, which by the way... you were confident about. It happens with everyone whether you like it or not. Doubts are necessary in a human’s life. Without them, you would beco a puppet to your choices. This happening with as well. Seeing that my ’new’ marker, lying in a pool of blood, is really making doubt everything. Did I kill her? Can I kill my ’markers?’ This thought made shake my head in exasperation. Why am I thinking about this now?
I crouched down and checked her to find a sign a life. Well, she was breathing alright. She won’t die anyti soon, right? Ah, forget it. I have to get out from here. Suddenly, I rembered about my condition. My naked form lood over Aerila’s broken form, to check if I can take off her clothes or not.
Turns out, I can. So, I took off her clothes and wore them, leaving ’broken’ Aerila with no clothes to cover her body.
Now, on to the plan. This palace is not quite big. It can be divided into three sections.
>Main Duty Section
>Off Duty Section
>Queen’s Area
I have cleaned almost every area of this palace, and I know all the ins and outs. Apparently, this area is not guided as it seems. Over 200 soldiers are stationed here. Except this palace, there is nothing note-worthy here in this region. It’s a military point, but they lack enough infrastructure to develop it to its maximum capability. So, it has loopholes. One that I can use it to escape.
[You have no permission to escape from here. Or, you forgot? You do rember that a human can neither enter or, leave on its own. Right?]
’You don’t have to be worried about this. I can handle."
Hmmm... this is the reason why this place lacks so many guards. Without permission, coupled with the fact that the air is poisonous would kill normal humans quite easily. But I am not a normal human, am I?
I looked around the room carefully. The walls were painted with red colour. All kinds of luxuries were around the room, except the clothing items. Although, the items looked as if they were never touched by anyone. It seems Aerila is soone who doesn’t like vanity. A balcony was there from which moonlight entered and scattered in the room. My eyes filled with joy as I found my escape point.
Yet, it was not easy. Think about it clearly, there are over 200 soldiers here. What if there will be so ergency? Their kingdom is far away from this ’hotspot.’ So, keeping it in mind, they have made a teleportation array as big as a room for this purpose. To bring in as much as soldiers possible, in the tis of ergency. It was quite a well-thought plan and could work in their favour... if it worked as they had intended. What if soone like , uses it to her advantage?
Aerila’s room is on the topmost floor of the palace. My target is sowhere in the second floor, the floor that’s just below this one. It’s the Off Duty Section.
I walked into the balcony and analysed the conditions. If I climb 30 tres up, then I will reach the terrace, where around 50 soldiers are guarding. I have to eliminate them first. If they sohow spot , then they will definitely alert the other soldiers and it will increase my problems.
I climbed on the railing and positioned myself. Conjuring two very sharp knives, I leaped in the air, and used all my force to insert the knife into the cold hard wall.
Third POV—
"What do you an?" asked by Maria.
Just by a single look, you could say that Suroralia was hesitating. Maria narrowed her eyes at her and promoted again, "What do you an by this?"
"What secret did you learn from him?" asked Kaerin.
Suroralia took a deep breath and lowered her gaze. She didn’t know how to tell this, every approach sounded ludicrous. They might not even believe her.
"Kelshin... he liked soone. At one point, he was enamoured by her completely, down to his soul."
Pristine’s face turned pale. She stuttered, "H-how... c-could you s-s-say this?"
Even Maria and Kaerin’s face turned grim. They didn’t need to know that person’s identity.
"This explains his madness. After ’that,’ he went totally insane. There was no part of him left human. He did whatever he could... to fill the ’void.’ I always doubted that." Maria’s tone held a significant amount of disgust.
"You believe ?" asked Suroralia. She was sceptical that all of them believe her this easily.
Kaerin sneered, "After seeing his ’activities,’ I believe you. All of us doubted at so point, didn’t we?"
"Not all of us! It’s shocking for !" yelled Pristine.
Her yelling was t with annoyed gazes, who wanted to beat down this loud woman. Kaerin snorted, "Just when I thought you finally developed so brain, you returned to your old pathetic self."
Pristine stuck her tongue out. "Childish!" comnted Maria.
"How did you know this? I an, I was close with him as well... but he never showed any signs," asked Maria, who was recalling every past events.
Suroralia took a mont before answering. "When I first t him, I was 15 years old. At that ti, he was an 8-year-old kid. I... who was declared a prodigy among my peers, had already finished all forms of magic. Swordsmanship, battle tactics, manipulation... I was fully proficient in all those fields..."
"What happened continue? And don’t use ’was.’ You are still all of them, especially the ’manipulator.’ You are really a good manipulator," Kaerin finished it with a smirk.
Suroralia shook her head and continued, "My father was the commander of the imperial knights. A very close friend of Sharon’s father. After my father died, he... helped in every aspect of life... like a father."
"As a kid, I liked going to parties," Suroralia sighed, "I rember that day very well. It was Sharon’s birthday" she smiled a bit, "as a kid, Sharon was very lively. Very cute, like a doll. We were very close before all these things happened."
"The birthday celebration of the only royal princess of the Charatshore empire was almost over. Since I was a child, I had bigger ambitions. I wanted to be a woman of power. As a prodigy and all, I knew my future was bright. The previous master of the tower had already decided his successor."
"You already knew, didn’t you?" said Maria.
Nodding, Suroralia continued, "On that evening, I was walking in the royal garden. Suddenly, a kid walked in and asked to tutor him. To beco his master. He wanted to teach everything that I knew. At first, I refused. But he didn’t listen. Then, he proposed a deal."
"He knew about your ambitions, right? Your thirst for power was always quite evident," Kaerin snarled at her.
Suroralia closed her eyes. "He asked to support him in his revenge. In exchange, he would give the h-highest p-position... after the e-emperor." Her voice held a sob in it.
When she opened her eyes, everyone could see her gaze was a bit teary as if she lanted everything she had done in her life.
"You accepted it," Maria stated.
Composing herself, she said, "I-I k-knew... this was an opportunity. I would never get it again. So, I accepted it and beca his ntor. Naturally, I knew about which position he was talking about."
"Imperial Mother? Right. He even discarded the term ’empress’ and made a whole knew position for you. How romantic!" Kaerin mocked her rcilessly.
"Kaerin, not now," Maria chastised her and motioned Suroralia to complete her story.
"W-when he proposed that idea. I wanted to kill him. How dare he said that! How could I betray the person that I loved! But... I finally... accepted it. The idea of power did consu , and I betrayed her and the person, I regarded as a father-figure."
Kaerin sneered in disgust. She asked, "How ssed up you are! You like a minor. I get that she cute and all... but you were 15. Don’t you have any sha at all. Sharon must be a 6-year-old kid. Whereas, you... on the other hand..." She left it uncompleted as everyone knew what she wanted to say.
Maria cleared her throat as if she didn’t want to change the topic. She asked, "Did he say this? That he loved her."
"He did. Just before, he went mad... he told everything."
Maria nodded, "This guy is really too ssy."
"Aren’t we all?" sneered Pristine.
It was true. They were all ssed up like Kelshin. None of them were any better than him.
After a mont, Maria said, "Let’s discuss... the plans first. We need to have an upper hand on him. Tell , what do we need to do?"
Pristine looked at her for a mont before nodding and telling all of her plans. One thing was certain, dwelling on past would waste their ti. To rescue her, they need to work faster.
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