As dusk approached, the night deepened.
Astreia and Laxana, two people on four horses, raced at full speed and arrived at the southwestern border fortress of the Valoran Kingdom—Blackshield Fortress—by nightfall.
This was precisely where General Grant and his elite troops were stationed.
The city walls towered high, with shadowy figures behind the battlements.
Torches had replaced the setting sun.
Patrolling soldiers marched in neat lines, their steps heavy.
Occasionally, figures draped in mage robes flashed across the ramparts.
The city gates had long been closed, the drawbridge raised high—a posture of strict defense.
The two exchanged glances and found a grove outside the city to hide their horses.
“The defenses are stricter than expected.”
Astreia lowered her voice.
“Hmph, it’s just the struggle of trapped beasts.”
Laxana scoffed, patting her warhorse and drawing her magical staff with a twirl.
“When it gets darker, we’ll fly straight to the roof of the Lord’s Manor and stage a ‘justice from above’ performance.”
She loved doing bad things the most.
Especially when it was acting on behalf of justice, with a clear conscience!
Astreia nodded, approving her friend’s plan.
“Alright, you’ll fly me over, I’ll go down first to capture Grant, then you follow. Be careful.”
“Relax, you still don’t trust my Flight Spell?”
Laxana licked her lips, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Moments later, night had completely fallen.
Laxana muttered an incantation, and a soft magical aura enveloped her and Astreia, lifting them silently into the sky.
The night wind was cool, brushing past their hair.
Just as Laxana was focusing intently, guiding her magical staff toward the brightly lit Lord’s Manor, a cold sensation exploded from her tailbone without warning, shooting through her entire body in an instant!
“—Tss!”
Miss Klein shuddered, almost dropping her magical staff.
The magical aura beneath her feet flickered violently, and the two of them plummeted in mid-air!
Damn! What the hell is that Prince up to now?!
Was the royal palace not cold enough, so he decided to hibernate in an ice cellar?!
Didn’t he swear just today that he wouldn’t do anything reckless?
How can his words be so unreliable?!
“Xiaoshanna, what’s wrong?”
Astreia noticed her friend’s stiffness and the chaotic magic, and immediately asked with concern.
“N-no, it’s nothing.”
Laxana’s pretty face flushed red, a stifling sense of grievance swelling in her chest.
She barely caught her breath, gritted her teeth, and forced a smile uglier than crying.
“Maybe… Maybe my body hasn’t fully recovered yet. A bit weak…”
In her heart, she cursed Wendy a thousand times, silently vowing that when she returned, she would tie him to the bed and whip him for a whole day!
See if he’d dare again!
Yet, before her mental tirade was over, a second, even stranger sensation flowed through the damned Empathic Link.
The icy touch began tracing circles on her chest, slowly and relentlessly.
One round, two rounds…
Bone-chilling cold mixed with an unbearable itch, attacking her mind.
“—Tss——! W-W-Wuhu!!!”
Laxana couldn’t hold back any longer.
Her body convulsed as if electrocuted, and a string of meaningless sounds escaped her lips.
The magical aura enveloping the two collapsed with a “bang.”
“Ahhh——!”
Astreia barely had time to scream before plummeting like a stone straight toward the rooftop below!
A Princess can’t fly in her normal state!
As they seemed destined to crash into Blackshield Fortress and splatter into a heap of flesh, Astreia was already preparing to transform into a witch to cushion the fall.
At that moment, Laxana finally broke free from the cursed sensation.
Her eyes snapped open.
With a sharp shout, an invisible Wind Wall formed beneath them.
“Bang!”
The two crashed messily onto the Wind Wall, stopping just three meters above the ground.
“Huff… Huff… Huff…”
Astreia gasped for breath, her face pale.
For a moment, she truly thought she was dead.
“Xiaoshanna, I’m sorry, I didn’t know your body was in such bad shape…”
Astreia came to her senses.
Instead of fear, she looked at her childhood friend with guilt.
“I shouldn’t have been so reckless, dragging you along…”
The Princess could only blame her own willfulness for almost getting them both killed.
Little did she know, her dear friend had already formed a mysterious link with a certain man.
And the near-death experience just now was all thanks to that man’s mischief.
“No, I…”
Laxana’s face reddened further, wanting to explain, yet not knowing where to begin.
Could she tell Astreia that they nearly fell to their deaths because her precious Prince was playing with ice somewhere, dragging her down too?
How could she say something like that…
“Who’s there?!”
A stern shout came from the nearby courtyard.
Several squads of torch-bearing soldiers rushed to surround them.
Only then did Astreia and Laxana realize that, through a twist of fate, they had landed right in the Lord’s Manor’s inner courtyard.
“Heh, who am I?”
Miss Klein was boiling with anger and frustration, with nowhere to vent.
These unlucky fools came just in time.
A cold glint flashed in her eyes.
She didn’t even bother looking as she raised her hand and fired a blinding Light Cannon!
“Boom——!”
“Ugh!!!”
The leading soldiers barely let out half a scream before the wild magic shredded them into ashes.
After unleashing her anger, Laxana’s face looked a bit better.
She turned to comfort Astreia.
“I’m fine.”
But before the words left her mouth, a sensation even colder and more intense than before shot up from her feet!
It felt like countless ice needles stabbing all at once!
This time, Miss Klein couldn’t even scream.
Her body arched violently, her eyes rolled upward, and she convulsed into a dazed state.
“J-Shanna! Xiaoshanna!”
Astreia was terrified by the sight, shaking her shoulders desperately, her voice trembling on the verge of tears.
Fortunately, after a few seconds, Laxana snapped back from the void.
She gasped, drenched in cold sweat.
But in her violet eyes, the previous shame and anger were gone, replaced by shock and disbelief.
Something’s wrong!
Very wrong!
This kind of sensation, this way of playing—there’s no way Wendy would do it himself!
He didn’t have such twisted tastes!
This felt more like… torture!
Someone was toying with Wendy, using something cold like ice!
But Astreia was right in front of her.
Aside from her, who else could touch Wendy?!
Who would use such means against that damnable Prince?!
A terrifying thought exploded in Laxana’s mind.
She grabbed Astreia’s arm, gritting her teeth.
“Astreia, quickly! Make it fast! Capture Grant immediately—I need to return to the Royal Capital at once!”
***
At the same time, in the Queen’s Bedchamber.
The Prince was gently slapped on the cheek with a ponytail whip, gradually regaining consciousness through waves of icy pain.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, he was met with a pair of emerald eyes, filled with mockery and amusement, looking down at him.
“My precious Toy, don’t fall asleep just yet…”
“Your master isn’t satisfied yet～”