The grand ball for the last day of His Majesty the King's birthday celebration finally ended.
The mysterious Mistress Allieah of the Blue Ray Wizard Tower and her company had already left after witnessing the recognition of His Grace The Duke of Kargaz, Calex Hexon Tygart. His Majesty the King also left after conducting the recognition.
It was just that, the recognition only happened half an hour before the ball ended, specifically, before midnight.
No one knew the reason behind the king's action and no one wasn't suspicious about it - no one except the duke himself, the king's closest allies, and of course, the wizards from the tower.
Tonight was in fact, a crucial night for the Duke of Kargaz. For some reason, the duke needed to leave the ball before midnight, or else, something might happen.
And yet, the king held onto him and obviously took the duke's precious time to keep him from leaving. This went on until the mysterious and alluring Mistress of the Blue Ray Tower boldly expressed her impatience towards the long waiting.
Given the power of the Blue Ray Wizard Tower and the status of its mistress, His Majesty the King could only let go and proceed to the recognition ceremony just not to provoke the wizards.
Thus, Duke Calex was still able to leave the ball a few minutes before the midnight came.
When Duke Calex finally left the ball, his thoughts came back to how the mistress of the tower somehow intercepted the king's despicable plan of keeping him from leaving.
Duke Calex was uncertain whether the mistress of the tower had done it purely based on her impatience and own interest or whether the mistress did it just to help him.
For some reason, the duke himself was thinking that it was most likely the latter. His sharp intuition and rationality was telling him that Mistress Allieah somehow knew his situation.
After all, Duke Calex knew the open secret that the powerful and mighty Blue Ray Tower was the one behind the very capable information agency hidden within Blue Blossom Boutique. Hence, it was no wonder that the mistress of the tower itself got ahold of some of his deeply hidden information.
But, why help me?
Duke Calex asked as he clutched the teleportation stone in his hand. He was currently at the back forest just near where the grand ball was located.
Looking at the stone, Duke Calex tossed his current thoughts at the back of his mind. He has no time to entertain any unnecessary things, as long as it won't hinder him and his plans, nothing else matters.
For now, all he has to do was to successfully leave the Royal City.
"Teleport," Duke Calex's low and deep voice sounded as he activated the stone.
White rays of light flashed and the duke was gone from his previous spot.
Unbeknownst to the duke, there were three figure quietly following him on his way to the back forest. And even until the duke left, they were just lurking behind the shadows.
At the Greya Forest.
The forest that was located outside the southern side of Duchy of Kargaz of North. This forest was known as the the most unpredictable place in the entire kingdom of Hartize. This was also the reason why the duchy, under the sovereignty of Duke Calex, never created a road and a clear path on this side so as to keep the people from traversing to this side whenever possible.
Only a few courageous one, some merchants, mercenaries, and even wizards who were seeking thrill, experience, and rare herbal plants could be seen going to this forest.
Because of its unpredictability, both fortuitous and tragic encounters awaited the courageous seekers. It mostly depended on one's luck whether what kind of encounter one could have upon entering the forest.
And now, it looked like another courageous soul was in for it.
A figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere after the flashing of white rays.
And it was none other than His Grace The Duke of Kargaz, Calex Hexon Tygart.
Looking around once his feet landed on the forest ground, Duke Calex could not help but scold himself.
His teleportation failed. The coordinates were set to be at his estate, but he was sent instead at the dreaded Greya Forest.
Worst, the teleportation stone could not be used anymore for in the first place, it was already not in its good condition to be used for a very long distance instant travel after it had just been used previously to instantly teleport a group of people from outside the far western border of the Kingdom of Hartize to the very heart of the kingdom which was the Royal City.
The distance between these two places was immense, and thus it exhausted the magical energy that was infused in it.
And unfortunately, Sebas, who was supposed to fill it in with magical energy was sent out for a mission by the order of His Majesty The King even before he was able to fully fill up the stone for the duke to use.
Thus, only possible thing that the duke could do with the situation was to use the not fully filled stone by teleporting alone instead of with a group of people. This could increase the success rate of the stone for a long distance instant teleportation.
However, in the end, it was apparent that Sebas and the duke was wrong at this juncture.
Now, the worst of the worst was yet to come.
The duke who was casually yet gallantly standing in the middle of the dark and uncanny forest decided to move into a better clearing when suddenly froze in his track.
The midnight finally came.
Duke Calex expression slightly shifted as he gritted his teeth. It was not known whether it was from anger or something else.
Looking forward, the duke only stopped for a mere few seconds before he continued moving around.
As Duke Calex continued pacing in the midst of the vast forest, he realized that the part of the forest where he was currently at was the red zone. It was evident that this zone which was coded with the color red - the color of blood - was just next to the most dangerous part of the forest which was the black zone.
It was evident that Duke Calex has knowledge of the topography of the Greya Forest. It was only because of two reasons - first, it was because Greya Forest was still within his jurisdiction, therefore the duke has the map and the other information about the forest itself, and second was because he also ventured in this forest for a few times. But the duke was never interested to set his foot inside the red and black zone. He merely ventured towards the yellow and orange zone because he was bored and had nothing to do. But now, who would have thought that he would one day end up inside the red zone.
Duke Calex's dark orbs glinted dangerously in the middle of the dim and gloomy forest. He could not even light a fire in here without thinking of the possible consequences that might come. That was why the duke could only walk carefully under the guidance of the moon as it shone its light from above.
After walking for more than two hours, Duke Calex made it far from the border of the red zone and the black zone. He was finally also able to find a clearing behind a huge boulder.
As the duke sat behind the boulder, it seemed like the duke was exhausted. If one would look closely and be able to see clearly in the darkness, one would see beads of sweat on the stunning and dangerously handsome face of the the duke. In fact, if one would really look closely, the duke was already drenched. His clothes was wet from all the sweating. But it was obviously a cold and gloomy night. The wind was bitingly cold and harsh.
But why was the duke sweating profusely?
"Damn it!" Duke Calex cussed as he continuously gritted his teeth with both his hands clenched tightly.
Was it from anger because of his unfavorable situation, or was it because of another thing?
It was clearly because of another thing, as the duke began to tremble from his sitting position.
Leaning against the boulder, Duke Calex continuously gritted his teeth. His jaw was hard and tensed. His facial features were contorted. His complexion was pale. His body was trembling like crazy.
Duke Calex could not even open his eyes as succumbed to the excruciating pain that he currently was experiencing since the midnight struck. It was like there were ants gnawing deep within his bones. He could not even complain about it as he could not do anything about it.
It was such a pitiful sight when one would see the current state of the duke. And this was what the duke and his loyal subordinates were closely keeping as a secret. For this very condition of the duke could pose as his great weakness that could make other people, many people, who are against him, take advantage of this weakness and strike him mercilessly and without bound. After all, the number of people who feared and revered the duke was proportional to the number of people who wanted him down and dead.
And now, if one of his enemies could see him in this state, that enemy would most likely have an increase success rate to deal with the duke.
After the passing of several minutes, the duke's condition worsened. Upon realizing how helpless his situation was, Duke Calex bitterly laughed at himself. He knew that unless Sebas came, he would most likely spend his precious time in this cold and dangerous place.
And as the duke's condition continued to worsen, he was also losing his grip to keep a clear head.
Duke Calex knew that anytime soon, he will also lose his consciousness.
But when the agonizing pain reached its apex, and the duke was just about to let go of his final thread of consciousness, with his complexion so pale while fully drenched in sweat as he kept on trembling from head to toe, white rays of light flashed and figure emerged out of it.
Although the duke's senses were already numbed from pain, he was still vigilant of his surrounding. Thus, the duke knew that someone just arrived.
With his full effort to lift up his heavy eyelids, Duke Calex opened his blurry, misty and bloodshot eyes.
And there he saw.
A purple figure with a glimmering cloak under the moonlight.
With a curly hair as dark as the night sky above dancing wildly with the bitingly cold wind.
"Oh my, what do we have here?" The figure spoke with a tone that carried both surprise and humor.
The figure floated towards the already delirious duke. That was right, the figure floated instead of walking.
"My, my, if it isn't the most talented warrior of this kingdom?" The figure finally arrived in front of Duke Calex.
"What are you doing in this kind of place, and why are you in this kind of...state?" Squatting in front of the duke, the figure leaned closer as if to whisper something.
"Consider yourself fortunate, Your Grace. I happened to pass by and saw you here. As a kind and just person, I couldn't possibly just leave you alone here and let the monsters feast on you, right? What is the kingdom supposed to be without such a mighty warrior? No, of course I couldn't just leave you to die here."
Duke Calex, with his whole person in a losing end and amid his chaotic condition, could still somehow understand the other person's words. And much to his surprise, the other person's voice was familiar to him.
In fact, Duke Calex was only able to hear the voice for only a few times today, and yet, as he continued to listen, it sounded even better and clearer to him.
The duke actually didn't mind whether the voice was condescending and filled with sarcasm, mockery and humor.
But if his thoughts didn't fail him and if his conclusion was certain, the duke would not mind those minor details at all. As long as the other person was not here to bring him harm.
"What a precious life you have, how about owing this mistress your life this time, hm? What do you think?" The figure stood proud and mighty in front of the duke. A pair of sharp and gleaming violet eyes were looking down at him.
With his blurry and hazy sight, those sharp and gleaming violet eyes was all the duke could see.
He was right. The duke was right.
This person was someone familiar to him.
It was none other than the Mistress Allieah of the Blue Ray Wizard Tower.
"Now, shall we depart from this forsaken place?" Mistress Allieah asked. Her sultry, alluring and gentle voice that carried coldness and laughter sounded loud and clear.
With a snap of her fingers, Mistress Allieah lifted the duke off the ground. And while she was at it, she casted a cleaning spell and got rid of all the dirt and sweat from the duke.
The mistress of the powerful wizard tower seemed to be not fond of the dirt as she never once, since her arrival, set her feet on the muddy and sludgy forest ground as she remained suspended in the air a few inches from the ground.
Mistress Allieah pointed somewhere in front of them and a portal opened.
Yes, it was a portal. Instead of teleporting with a teleportation stone, the mistress of the wizard tower was actually able to drew up a portal just like that.
And if Duke Calex was not already half dead, he would have been in the mood to say a word of praise toward the great talent. Yet, all he could think right now was that someone came to save him. And it was none other than the mysterious mistress.
After setting the coordinates, Mistress Allieah turned to the duke and said, "Remember, you owe me now." Her lips arched into a dangerous smile.
When she received no response from the duke, the mistress didn't seem to mind at all as she said, "Alright, off we go!"
They floated towards the portal.
White rays of light flashed and they were gone.
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A/n: Hello, my dear readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'd like to thank you all for the continuous support! I can't believe the number of reads increased more than 500 since my last update. And I can't thank you all enough, especially those who take their time to click the vote button - you don't know how your simple gestures bring joy and smile to my day. You can also write down your comments so I'll be able to know what you think about the chapter!
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I'll see you all in the next chapter ~
Xoxo!
🖤 Elle Dee