Miles didn’t know how he would react after listening to Sylvana. He was shocked by her revelation.
’King Zaraki had already learned about our mission. This palace is no longer safe for us.’
"Lady Sylvana, thank you for this warning. I must leave now and relay this information to my comrades," Miles said with urgency.
Sylvana could only bob her head as she watched the young knight storm out of her chamber. "I wish you luck, warrior. Save yourselves."
anwhile, Dillon and Miles were heading to the secret tunnel. Both of them discovered sothing that could affect their current mission.
Miles tried his best to be calm even though deep inside, his heart was filled with anxiety and pressure.
He was on his way to the tunnel when he bumped into Prince Leonard.
"Forgive , my Lord," Miles apologized right away after accidentally hitting Prince Leonard.
Prince Leonard narrowed his eyes when the servant called him "Lord" instead of "Your Highness."
Miles was about to walk away when Prince Leonard stopped him.
"Who are you? A new servant? This is my first ti seeing you here in the palace," Prince Leonard said, sizing him up from head to toe.
Miles broke into sweats instantly as Prince Leonard confronted him. The young knight made the mistake of not recognizing the crown prince of Zephyra.
"Y-Yes, my Lord... I’m just a new servant," he lied, his voice trembling a little.
Prince Leonard arched his eyebrow as he contemplated. He was familiar with every servant in the palace. He started to suspect Miles because he was a new face, freely roaming around the palace.
Sensing the suspicion on Prince Leonard’s expression, Miles decided to leave as soon as possible.
"I have to go now, My Lord," Miles said, bowing his head before turning to leave. He was in a hurry, not looking back.
"Wait!" Prince Leonard tried to chase after him but the servant ran away.
As he watched his figure, Prince Leonard felt that sothing was off with that servant.
"I should warn the guards. There is an intruder."
Prince Leonard imdiately looked for the royal guards, informing them that an intruder was roaming around the palace.
"Captain Beru, please search the palace now. I saw an unfamiliar face, pretending to be a servant. I believe he is an intruder!" The crown prince notified and alerted the Captain of the royal guards, Beru.
"This is not good. There is a threat to your father’s life. Tell where you last saw the intruder?" Captain Beru asked him.
"Outside the palace hall!" He replied.
"Your Highness, Go to your father’s chamber and notify him of the situation. I’ll mobilize the guards to conduct the search. Then I’ll follow you to protect you and King Zaraki." Captain Beru instructed Prince Leonard.
The prince followed his instructions right away. The two moved separately. Captain Beru dispatched the guards imdiately. He was on his way to the King’s Chamber when he ran into Chancellor Gustav.
"Chancellor, we have a situation right now. An intruder infiltrates the palace tonight. Prince Leonard identified him as a young servant," he inford Chancellor Gustav.
Instead of getting worried, Chancellor Gustav felt glad upon hearing that. "They are here! The Assassination Team. Captain Beru, command your knights to seal the entrances and the exits of the palace. No one should leave the palace tonight! We need to capture them!"
Captain Beru nodded, understanding Chancellor Gustav’s command.
"I shall see to it, Chancellor. No one will escape from us!" He said confidently.
Captain Beru moved again to make the preparations. This was their chance to capture the assassins.
On the other hand, Miles finally reached the secret tunnel.
"General Alaric! General!" He called out to him, panting heavily. His body was sweating profusely.
"Are you okay, Miles? What happened to you? Why are you looking like that?" Randolf approached him first. Alaric and Caleb were standing behind him.
The three n looked at Miles in puzzlent.
"General! We have to retreat now! I t Sylvana, Eldara’s Seer. She said she saw a vision of our mission. We are going to fail tonight and might die here!" Miles spoke spontaneously, relaying Sylvana’s words.
"I don’t believe in her vision," Alaric said, objecting.
But Miles grabbed his hand with his pleading eyes. "General, Chancellor Igrin betrayed Kingdom Eldara and Kingdom Averion. He sold us out to Zephyra. They already knew about this assassination mission!"
"We need to escape now!" Miles insisted on convincing Alaric.
anwhile, Alaric, Caleb, and Randolf were shocked after hearing about Chancellor Igrin’s betrayal.
"Alright. I understand the risk. Franco, Lambert, and Dillon are still in the palace. We can abort our mission now and retreat. However, I can’t leave them behind. The three of you must leave now. I’m going to look for them." Alaric made his decision. He listened to Miles.
"No, General. You must leave with Miles and Randolf. Let take care of Dillon, Lambert, and Franco. I’ll bring them back with ." Caleb opposed Alaric’s command. He didn’t want Alaric to be left behind. If soone needed to stay, it must be him, not their general.
"No, Caleb. I should stay here. I have a higher chance of survival than you. Go and escape now. Keep Miles and Randolf safe. This is my command as your general. You must obey ," Alaric said in his authoritative voice.
Caleb couldn’t leave him. "General, think about Princess Eve. She is waiting for you." Caleb knew Alaric’s weakness. He used Eve to change his mind.
Alaric fell silent montarily at the ntion of Eve’s na. His expression hardened and he clenched his fists.
’Caleb really knows how to make waver. He is so clever to use my wife just to convince to save my own self. But he can’t understand that I’m the leader of this team. They are my responsibility. I won’t abandon them nor flee just to save myself. It’s a cowardly thing to do.’
"Stop using my wife. Just be obedient and heed my command, Caleb. You should leave now. Don’t worry. I am not going to die here. You know . I single-handedly destroyed an entire army to defend our Kingdom’s border. I can survive this while protecting our comrades. Please trust !"
Seeing the determination in Alaric’s eyes, Caleb and others knew that they couldn’t change his mind. They were compelled to obey him and trust his words.
"General, please be careful!" Randolf said.
Alaric nodded, giving them a reassuring smile.
"Don’t waste your ti. Leave now!"
Miles, Randolf, and Caleb reluctantly turned around to escape. But before they left, Caleb grabbed Alaric’s shoulders and said, "Promise that you will stay alive and return to us."
"Yes. Eve is waiting for . I can’t die here. I also made a promise to her."
Hearing those words from Alaric, the uneasiness and worry Caleb had felt imdiately disappeared. He believed that Alaric wouldn’t break his promise to his wife.
"We will wait for you outside the palace," Caleb said one last ti.
Alaric gave him a firework stick. "Lit this if ever you encounter trouble during your escape. Soone will co to your aid."
Alaric handed the fireworkstick over to Caleb. That was the distress signal they could use to ask for reinforcent or help from Commander Kevin’s army.
After bidding farewell to Caleb and others, Alaric entered the palace’s vicinity to find Franco, Dillon, and Lambert.
As he concealed his presence, he noticed that the number of royal guards and warriors patrolling the vicinity multiplied. It looked like the knights were on high alert.
Alaric silently observed his surroundings.
’Did they find out that we were here? I just hope the three of them are still safe.’
The royal guards appeared to be busy running around the vicinity of the palace.
’If we can’t get away as soon as possible, we will be surrounded by a hundred soldiers, preparing to capture us. I need to find them,’ Alaric thought to himself.
He tried to move closer inside the palace hall, wondering if his comrades were still there. Had they caught on that the royal guards were being dispersed throughout the entire palace?
Alaric was carefully observing his surroundings while concealing his presence when suddenly he heard a commotion nearby.
"We found an intruder! He is running away! He is heading to the southern part of the palace courtyard! Let’s go and catch him!" A knight yelled informing his comrades.
Alaric clenched his fists when he heard that. It seed that one of his comrades was spotted by the enemy’s guards. He needed to rescue him. Without hesitation, Alaric followed the group of guards, heading to the southern part of the royal courtyard.
Alaric halted on his track as soon as he caught a glimpse of Dillon. He was surrounded by the royal guards. He wasn’t captured yet. He was dodging their attack while clashing swords with them.
Alaric had no choice but to step in, helping Dillon fight and escape.
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