Secret Passage Entrance.
Laxana tapped her fingertip lightly, and a gentle Arcane Halo spread out like ripples, silently sweeping through the depths of the well before quietly retracting.
“Safe. No traces of magic traps or ambushed soldiers.”
The “Rival in Love” put away her staff, turned her head, and winked at Wendy, who had just come down, teasing in a low voice,
“Looks like our Little Queen is truly here to ask for help in good faith. You worry too much.”
“Although the little one clinging to Astreia all day is annoying, she wouldn’t scheme over something like this.”
Wendy rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue with her.
It’s wise to be cautious.
Especially in a situation like this, where enemies and allies are unclear and the entire game could be lost at any moment, even the slightest negligence could lead to disaster.
He walked over to Astreia and suggested,
“Astreia, you and Her Majesty the Queen should take your people in first. Laxana and I will stay behind and use detection magic to make sure no one follows from behind.”
“Hmm? Okay.”
Astreia found the arrangement a bit strange—how could anyone else know about this secret passage?—but out of unconditional trust in Wendy, she nodded without hesitation, then protected her sister and was the first to leap into the well.
General Sera and the Royal Guard followed close behind, their figures quickly swallowed by the darkness.
When only the two of them were left at the mouth of the well, Wendy grabbed Laxana, who was about to jump down.
“Rival in Love” turned around, puzzled.
“Is there something else?”
Wendy leaned to her ear and quickly assigned her a task in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Laxana listened quietly, her expression shifting from calm to surprise, and finally, an uncontrollable smirk tugged at her lips.
“Hehe.”
She laughed, the sound especially clear and mischievous in the silent night.
“You want me to do such a troublesome thing for you? Well, it’s not impossible.”
Miss Klein extended her slender index finger and gently lifted the Prince’s chin, forcing him to raise his head.
Wendy’s astonished face was reflected in those violet eyes.
“The Klein Family charges a steep fee.”
“You have to get a little intimate with me first. As advance payment.”
“!!!”
Wendy’s eyes widened in disbelief.
What was this crazy woman saying?!
“Are you insane?! Do you know what time it is? We’re in a war! People could die at any moment!”
He glared, lowering his voice to a furious whisper.
“That’s why you have to seize the moment and enjoy yourself~”
Laxana’s smile grew even more gleeful.
With a flick of her other hand, the Recording Crystal Wendy hated so much spun into her palm, emitting a cold, wicked glow.
She brought the crystal to her lips, her breath fragrant as she spoke the cruelest lines in the sweetest voice.
“You wouldn’t want Astreia to know what happened between us last night, would you?”
Wendy’s breath caught.
That suffocating sense of being blackmailed surged up again, burning all his insides with frustration.
“I don’t understand…”
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay calm, searching for a loophole in her logic.
“You like Astreia, don’t you? How is this not a betrayal?”
That question seemed to stun Laxana for a moment.
But then, the smile on the Lady’s lips deepened, and the fingers pinching Wendy’s cheek slowly slid toward his neck.
The delicate, smooth touch made both of them tense up.
“Prince Wendy,”
Laxana’s voice suddenly softened, as gentle as a lover’s whisper, yet carrying a chilling aggression.
“Have you never realized just how beautiful you are?”
The “Rival in Love” leaned closer, warm breath brushing the Prince’s cheek with a unique feminine scent.
“Liking Astreia and wanting you are two separate things, you little idiot.”
She gazed into his peach blossom eyes, shimmering with anger and embarrassment, and felt an unprecedented, twisted desire to conquer.
“I want it all. Is that not allowed?”
Wendy was utterly speechless.
Looking at the lovely face so close, filled with utter certainty, he doubted his own sense of reality for the first time.
What the hell kind of predatory words were these?!
Finally, under the icy glare of the Recording Crystal, the Prince closed his eyes in humiliation and squeezed out a few words.
“…You must make a sample first to prove you can achieve what I want.”
This was his last struggle to regain a bit of initiative.
However, Laxana only snorted, as if she’d expected his response.
“Of course~”
She released Wendy’s chin, her pale hand grasping the air as she began chanting a rapid, complex spell.
Magical elements rapidly gathered and compressed.
A collar entirely composed of deep blue lightning, entwined with strands of black, materialized in her palm.
The design was exquisite, yet it radiated danger. Each arc of electricity seemed to speak of violence and doom.
“Perfect—a Binding Collar made exactly as you requested. I haven’t tested it yet.”
Laxana smiled at the Prince, then suddenly snapped the collar around Wendy’s neck.
“Let’s use you as the test subject~”
“You–!”
Wendy had barely begun to shout when a surge of electricity erupted from the collar!
“Zzzzt–!”
In an instant, blinding arcs shot through the Prince’s body.
The intense numbness and pain left him unable to utter a single sound as his body convulsed violently, vision spinning and mind going blank.
But that wasn’t the worst of it.
At the very same moment the current exploded, due to the Thorn Kiss’s resonance link, an equally intense shock was transmitted to Laxana herself without any filter!
“Ugh!”
The triumphant smile on the “Rival in Love”‘s face froze, replaced by horror and agony.
She let out a muffled groan, her body trembling, then collapsed, her staff clattering to the ground.
The two of them, like fish flung onto dry land, convulsed in sync, incoherent whimpers escaping their lips.
No one knew how long it lasted—perhaps an instant, perhaps eternity.
At last, Laxana fought through the numbing sensation that seemed to tear her soul from her body and forced herself to sever the magical supply.
The collar dissolved into flecks of light, vanishing in the air.
“Ha…huff…ha…”
She slumped to the ground, face flushed, gasping for breath, chest heaving, the fear and a faint, complicated aftertaste lingering in her violet eyes.
On the other side, Wendy had lost consciousness entirely, crumpled on the ground with a trace of moisture at the corner of his mouth.
It was a long while before Laxana recovered enough to move.
She stared at the unconscious Wendy, licking her numb red lips in lingering terror.
“Pff…”
“Seems like… some games shouldn’t be played at random in the future…”