Chapter 11: The Angel’s Abduction

The dense fog obscured everyone’s vision, including Lucia’s. She could only run in what she presumed was the direction she had come from.

“Thump-thump-thump…” The sound of hurried footsteps echoed, rapidly approaching Betty Lane.

It was the sound of the Angel running, a sound Betty Lane knew all too well.

Back in the royal palace, when the Angel ran this fast and urgently, it either meant she was fleeing after committing mischief or rushing off to cause some. Betty Lane would always appear beside the Angel at such moments, easily subduing her and enjoying her discomfiture.

Thanks to eight years of rigorous training, Betty Lane had long perfected a divine grappling technique specifically for the Angel. Even deep within the dense fog, relying solely on sound to pinpoint her location, she managed to tackle Lucia and hold her firmly in her embrace.

A jolt went through Lucia. Only then did she realize her foolishness: she had blindly run right past her guardian knight. Her grand escape, barely begun, had been abruptly halted.

Lucia cried out in distress. “Let go of me!”

“Let me go! I don’t want to get married!”

‘Lucia doesn’t want to marry the prince!’

‘But if Lucia stays, she will certainly marry the prince…’

‘What if… what if I let Lucia go here?’

A bold, yet simple, plan flashed through Betty Lane’s mind. As if possessed, Betty Lane released her grip. Feeling the person in her arms flee, a trace of cunning delight surprisingly bloomed within her.

Lucia paid no mind to anything else. She took off running, vanishing completely into the smoke.

She leaped off the high platform, her small mind buzzing with escape plans, knowing that the success of her flight hinged entirely on the Dragonblood Amber.

She sprinted directly, using the cover of the dense smoke to evade the knights who rushed to guard the area. She reached the greenery at the edge of the grand altar, followed the plants, and swiftly found the cluster of blooming pink flowers.

She quickly knelt, digging with her bare hands, tearing apart the broken white daphne. She unearthed a small pit, finally retrieving the Dragonblood Amber she had buried there last year.

‘Excellent!’

‘The Dragonblood is still here!’

‘It has already recovered its vitality.’

‘What was I supposed to do next? Ah, right, draw the magic circle and perform the ritual!’

Suddenly, a handkerchief covered Lucia’s mouth and nose. Startled, she instinctively inhaled sharply against the cloth, and a pungent odor filled her chest, making Lucia cough repeatedly.

“Woo-woo-woo…” Lucia whimpered and struggled, her body also clamped and lifted.

‘Am I being kidnapped?’

Lucia’s heart grew cold. She had barely escaped the tiger’s den only to fall into a wolf’s lair. This was truly the end.

She didn’t need to think to know that anyone kidnapping her would be after the Angel’s fame and bloodline. Taking her back and defiling her was a normal operation. If they were more perverse, they might even use her for experiments.

“Woo-woo-woo…” The thought of her fate sent Lucia into a frantic struggle, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break free from her captor. She could only kick her small feet in vain.

In her fierce struggle, she inevitably inhaled more of the acrid gas. Her consciousness gradually grew hazy, her eyelids heavy, until she finally fainted.

****

The grand altar was shrouded in smoke and chaos. The nobles below watched the smoke, observing the unfolding situation.

They had been invited to the grand sacrifice, and though their retinues were elite, each noble only brought one attendant. Those of higher status could bring two, but they could barely ensure their own safety.

Upon witnessing the sudden upheaval, the commoners on the streets erupted in agitation. Assassins hidden within the crowd instigated further unrest, provoking conflict between the soldiers and the populace. The crowd gradually spiraled out of control, beginning to charge the kingdom’s defending soldiers.

This surging crowd severely hampered the king’s reinforcements. The enraged reinforcing officer ordered the beheading of a dozen obstructing commoners, finally quelling the crowd’s fervor enough to reach the grand altar.

“Dispel the anti-magic field! Use wind magic to scatter the smoke!” The old king’s voice, amplified by magic, resonated from within the dense smoke.

The old king’s face was ashen. Only he knew that the recent command was not his own decree; someone was impersonating his voice, attempting to lift the anti-magic field.

The anti-magic field established here strictly limited the intensity of magic flow. Within its confines, only harmless magic, such as everyday amplification or voice alteration, could be cast.

Once the anti-magic field was lifted, the consequences would be dire.

“Do not dispel it!” The old king cried out urgently, yet he was a step too late. A crisp cracking sound echoed, and something in the space seemed to dissipate.

The anti-magic field was dispelled.

“Dispersing Wind!” A court mage cast the spell directly, omitting the incantation, summoning a massive gust of air that instantly scattered the smoke shrouding the grand altar.

The scene immediately cleared. Everyone instinctively looked towards the three most important figures…

His Majesty the King, unharmed.

His Royal Highness the Prince, unharmed.

Her Grace the Angel… was kidnapped!!

“Rescue Her Grace the Angel!” the captain of the knights guarding the wedding shouted.

“Surround him!” Prince Rod ordered, snatching a sword from a guard and moving to encircle the kidnapper with his personal knights.

Lucia was his fiancée, the key to the Valga Kingdom’s further advancement. He would not allow Lucia to be abducted. He swore by the honor of Valga that such an atrocity would never be permitted.

“Surround him! Quickly! Protect the Angel! You must protect the Angel!” His Majesty the King, losing his composure, pounded his scepter, directing the assembled guards and knights.

The surrounded culprit, dressed as a guard, was cornered at the foot of the altar’s statue, clutching the unconscious Lucia.

It was fortunate that Lucia was unconscious. If she had been awake, seeing so many people witness her abduction, she would likely have fainted from shame.

Upon seeing the unconscious Lucia, Betty Lane’s fury erupted.

‘What have I done?’

‘As Lucia’s personal guard, at the moment of danger, due to my own selfishness, I allowed Lucia to remain in peril…’

If anything happened to Lucia today, Betty Lane would never forgive herself. She drew her sword and charged towards the kidnapper.