Sword of Salvation-Chapter 99: - A Successful Failure (2)

Julia looked around anxiously. She couldn’t see Sean, Athenia, or their guard anywhere.

Just moments ago, she had been with Athenia as they passed through the crowd of citizens, but suddenly, she found herself alone. She had no idea which direction Athenia and the others had gone, but Julia knew she couldn’t just stay still.

Ignoring the gazes of the citizens, Julia decided to head into the left alley between two rows of shops. When she emerged from the alley, her eyes caught sight of one of the three. But it wasn’t Sean or Athenia. Julia saw the princess’s guard scanning the surroundings, seemingly searching for the others.

As soon as the young man named Mariel met Julia’s eyes, he quickly rushed toward her.

"Princess Julia, are you alright?"

The question flowed smoothly from Mariel’s lips. Julia liked the gaze from those red eyes, but she couldn’t say that. The princess nodded and asked where Sean and Athenia were.

"We split up to search for you," he replied. "But Your Highness need not worry. We agreed to head straight to the town square once we found you. So, we just need to go there and wait for them to arrive."

Vallhamoza was a bustling and crowded city. If she and Mariel also searched for them, they might be searching until nightfall. So, she nodded in agreement with the young man. Since Julia didn’t know the way to the square, she let Mariel lead the way.

-----[ ooOoo ]-----

Linea could only watch the battle in confusion.

She thought the criminals who had suddenly attacked her and Stewart in the middle of the crowd intended to commit a crime against her. When one of the criminals managed to abduct her, she thought she would be held captive, raped, and used as a hostage. However, none of that happened—she wasn’t even struck once.

The criminal seated her on one of the building’s rooftops. Then, he left without saying a word. The princess instinctively stood and hurried to the edge of the roof. At this moment, she stood there, watching the battle below in confusion.

Linea truly didn’t understand. What was the purpose of kidnapping her only to abandon her on the rooftop?

It made no sense. It couldn’t have been mere mischief. Yet, Linea couldn’t figure out their motive. They successfully separated her from Stewart and her guards, but she couldn’t—

"Wait, what if their target wasn’t me?"

Linea’s eyes widened as the thought fully dawned on her. If she wasn’t the target, everything made perfect sense. If they didn’t want to harm her, taking her to a safe place was the right move. If she wasn’t the target, then Stewart must have been the one.

This raised the question: who hired those criminals?

"Your Highness!"

The overlapping calls from two voices snapped Linea out of her thoughts. She instinctively turned her gaze to her two loyal guards. They were both above-average in appearance, aged 25 and 26. They not only served as her protectors in all activities but also as tools to hone Linea’s sexual skills.

"What happened?" Linea asked again, wanting to confirm that her assumption wasn’t wrong.

"We don’t fully understand, Your Highness. They only attacked us at the beginning. When we chased the man who abducted you, they didn’t try to stop us. Instead, the criminals chose to attack Prince Stewart’s guards."

Her guard’s response confirmed Linea’s assumption.

-----[ ooOoo ]-----

Athenia was shocked to hear the commotion. Without thinking twice, she rushed toward it. Since the citizens knew her well, they quickly cleared a path for her. And then, her eyes widened.

In the middle of the alley between two buildings, a body lay covered in blood—and Athenia knew exactly who it was.

"Mariel!" the princess cried as she ran toward the blood-soaked young man.

Athenia couldn’t understand what had happened. Mariel was strong and intelligent. She had no doubt he would succeed. Athenia fully trusted Mariel. So, when she suddenly found his bloodied body, Athenia was utterly shocked.

-----[ ooOoo ]-----

Stewart held nothing back. His sword slashed through each criminal that attacked, killing them one by one without mercy.

From the beginning, Stewart had feared an attack like this, which was why he suggested Julia take one of her guards. But his sister was stubborn. Now, Stewart was extremely worried about her safety. His concern drove him to swiftly eliminate the criminals.

Indeed, Julia wasn’t entirely weak—she knew a bit of self-defense. Sean was also highly skilled. However, Julia wasn’t strong enough to face a group of criminals. And if the criminals could separate Sean from Julia, there was no chance she would survive.

Realizing the danger threatening his sister, Stewart activated his lightning armor and slaughtered the remaining criminals in an instant. At the same time, his two guards also finished off the criminals attacking them.

"Your Highness, they’re too disciplined and well-trained to be mere criminals."

One of his guards’ statements confirmed the unease Stewart had felt all along. Stewart was now certain that these criminals were disguised imperial elite soldiers. This also explained why not a single soldier had come to assist.

Stewart’s suspicion became undeniable when his eyes accidentally spotted Linea Moskvallha speaking with her two guards on the edge of a building’s roof. However, before Stewart could say anything, a teleportation magic circle suddenly appeared beside him.

"Your Highness!" Sean shouted as she emerged from the magic circle. Her appearance was disheveled, and the smell of smoke from her clothes showed that she had been caught in an explosion or fire.

"Y-Your Highness, I lost the princess!"

That cry made Stewart’s eyes widen in shock. His face paled. The prince’s heart pounded violently as if it would burst. An uncontrollable fear filled him, and sweat dripped down his temple.

"When we passed through the crowd, we got separated," Sean explained. "I immediately searched for her in panic. And when I found her, I saw Princess Athenia’s bodyguard severely injured. I didn’t have time to ask or help him because a hooded person had already run off with Princess Julia.

"I chased that person to the edge of the city. However, when I finally caught up, the person was no longer carrying Princess Julia. I tried to defeat and interrogate her, but she suddenly blew herself up. After that, I used a large-scale detection spell, but... I couldn’t find Princess Julia’s presence anywhere."

After hearing that explanation, there was nothing Stewart wanted more than to storm the imperial palace and destroy the place.

However, Stewart managed to keep his sanity. He knew the situation would only worsen if he acted rashly. Besides, Julia was the only princess of Denland Kingdom, and most likely, they only needed her as a hostage. He needed to calm himself and avoid reckless actions.

"You said Athenia’s bodyguard was severely injured?" Stewart asked, noticing the oddity.

Sean nodded.

Stewart frowned. If Sean was telling the truth, it meant Athenia wasn’t involved. But, it was also possible that she had hidden the empire’s plan so that her bodyguard could act that way. By doing so, she could create a narrative of innocence. But why would she create such a narrative? If the kidnapping and assassination attempt were the emperor’s will, Athenia wouldn’t need to sacrifice her bodyguard.

’To make me believe she wasn’t involved... even though she was the one who suggested Julia come with her?’

Stewart realized he had made a huge mistake by bringing his sister here. He had been naive to think the emperor would be satisfied with that. No, he knew he wasn’t naive. Stewart was merely trying to avoid war, nothing more. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

And his second mistake was falling for the emperor’s bait. The emperor deliberately chose Linea to marry him, knowing he would refuse. Linea was a well-known prostitute. Denland Kingdom would never accept a prostitute as queen. Stewart had to obey that rule; he had to reject Linea. Athenia used his rejection to execute the scenario the emperor desired.

"We have no proof to blame the emperor," Stewart muttered, realizing that the empire’s ultimate goal was to make Denland attack them first. "And the emperor might use Julia to force us to sacrifice our strongest warriors. He might even demand my head in exchange for Julia’s release."

Emperor Zalestino wanted war. That fact was undeniable. He didn’t care about the number of soldiers who would die. He didn’t care about the destruction that would follow. Zalestino desired war. Whether he was a maniac or had a goal Stewart couldn’t understand, he didn’t know. But one thing was clear...

’If you want war, I will give you war. I’ll make sure I’m the one who cuts off your head, Zalestino.’

"Sean, teleport me back to Denland," Stewart ordered. "After that, I want you to search Moskvallha and find Julia. You two, go with Sean. You don’t need to do anything else but find Julia’s whereabouts."