Ailaira Green gazed over the scene inside the banquet hall.
Because the hall was protected by soundproofing and visual magic, the commotion in the courtyard earlier hadn’t drawn the guests’ attention, nor would it affect her product promotion.
If it had interfered with her earnings, she would definitely have made those brainless fans pay for it.
The original guards of the mansion were completely powerless to intervene in the conflict and could only watch from a distance.
Xidi, on the other hand, had received word immediately and rushed to the scene, but upon recognizing Trinis Verlendel and witnessing Ailaira act, she realized that things had escalated far beyond her capacity.
She was merely a branch president of the Merchant Guild; what right or qualification did she have to get involved in the entanglements between the Water Silver Witch and the Royal Family?
Ailaira shifted her attention back to the Knight Captain, spread her hand, and spoke bluntly, “You started this. The compensation for repairing the courtyard should be on you. Pay up.”
“You wish! Ailaira Green, how much money and resources have you cheated out of Her Highness the Princess! What right do you have to demand compensation from us!!”
The Knight Captain was furious.
Her face, already stained with traces of blood, flushed an even deeper red from anger.
She wanted to rely on the steadfast will of a knight to resist the pain in her body, raising her blade to charge once more at her enemy.
But clearly, her dear teammates had other ideas.
Seeing their captain refuse to give in, the knight holding her immediately covered her mouth, leaving only a pair of eyes full of rage locked on Ailaira, as if she hoped to kill her with a glare alone.
The remaining knights scraped together a compensation amount that was at least somewhat reasonable and placed it, one after another, into Ailaira’s palm.
Seeing Ailaira accept the pile of mixed gold and silver without further comment, they said nothing else.
A knight, speaking in place of the Knight Captain, tentatively inquired, “Then, Miss Ailaira, can we take the Princess with us now? If we don’t bring Her Highness back soon, we’re afraid His Majesty will lose patience and come looking for her himself.”
Though there was an undercurrent of threat in the tone, Ailaira knew the knight spoke truth.
For that King, who regarded his daughter as the jewel of the kingdom and even made her birthday a national celebration, abandoning the busy affairs of the palace to come search for her personally was not at all unimaginable.
At the thought of possibly having to face that lion’s furious roar again, Ailaira felt her ears ring.
Without any hesitation, she handed Trinis over to the knights.
Andrea, however, seemed a little reluctant, her mouth just beginning to pout in protest when Ailaira, reading her like a book, pinched her lips shut with two fingers, physically silencing her:
“Don’t cause trouble. Trinis isn’t allowed to leave the Royal Capital as it is. Even her daily life requires supervision by someone at the level of a Saintess candidate from The Church.”
Andrea frowned deeply at this.
A life of restrictive supervision, tantamount to house arrest, awakened unpleasant memories.
She pulled Ailaira’s hand away, looked at the obediently restrained Trinis with a touch of pity, and asked, “Why? Because she’s a Princess?”
“Because she has…”
Ailaira hadn’t finished speaking when a thick, sticky surge of magical energy suddenly burst from Trinis’s body.
Andrea turned in surprise, seeing that Trinis, who had been silent since earlier, was now enveloped in dense black mist, crimson threads like thorns crawling up her arms, and her once bright, flowing golden hair instantly faded to a pallid white.
Trinis’s once pure and lovely face was flushed with a sickly red, a low giggle escaping her lips that grew ever louder and more unrestrained.
The chilling laughter reached Andrea’s ears, sending shivers down her spine.
She couldn’t understand why the kind girl who had once rescued her from the edge of the pool now looked so repulsive and twisted.
In her eyes, if Trinis’s magic had been like a small sun—warm and comforting—when they first met, now it was a swamp consuming reason, suffocating to even look at.
Trinis lifted her head, gazing in Ailaira’s direction, scarlet, crazed eyes flickering with bottomless desire, malice spiraling out of control within her heart.
“Ailaira, my beloved, I’ve cast everything aside to run to you, yet you shut me out—do you not feel even the slightest pang of pain for that!”
“You really are heartless!!”
The evil magic swirling around Trinis, shrouded in black smoke, lunged at Ailaira, but before it could spread, the knights blocked it with their shields.
The Knight Captain, wounded and leaning on her teammates, forced herself to focus, her eyes clouded as she stared at the now unrecognizable Trinis and shouted, “Formation!”
The knights, quick to react, coordinated seamlessly.
Three of them encircled Trinis in a triangle formation, holy light granted by blessings shimmering on their armor and shields, briefly suppressing her magic.
The remaining knights formed up around the Knight Captain, chanting incantations.
A massive magic circle spread out beneath their feet, and as they poured their power into it, the array finally activated just before the triangle formation collapsed.
Golden chains shot forth from the array, binding Trinis’s limbs.
The Knight Captain seized the other end, restraining Trinis’s movements.
But having just endured a fierce beating, she was already at her limit; now she was truly out of strength.
“Damn it, why now of all times! It’s only been two months since Her Highness’s last Magical Outburst!”
“And the Saintess of Vista only helped her three days ago! Why is it happening now? Quick, call for people from The Church!”
A knight beside her immediately responded, “Captain, this city isn’t a place where Church clergy are stationed. There isn’t a priest here who can resolve this!”
By now, the bloody threads on Trinis’s body had crept up to her face.
The Knight Captain watched in desperation.
Once those red veins covered Trinis entirely, it would mean the Magical Outburst had completely taken hold—even if the Pope himself arrived, purification would be impossible.
“Anyone who can use Holy Light magic—”
The Knight Captain already knew the answer in her heart but had been unwilling to face it.
Now, with things at this stage, there was no time to hesitate.
She stiffly turned to look at Ailaira.
Though she said nothing, her eyes—full of unwillingness and helplessness—conveyed her request.
Ailaira saw clearly what she was being asked.
She watched as Trinis, in her madness, tried to break free from the chains, her now white hair flying wildly, her infatuated gaze never leaving Ailaira.
With a helpless sigh, Ailaira dragged the bewildered Andrea to the Knight Captain’s side and warned, her tone harsher than before:
“Keep an eye on her for me. If she so much as loses a single hair, I guarantee Trinis will vanish from your sight forever. Even Verlendel the Ninth himself won’t be able to change that.”
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