In the castle on the capital, Empress Lilia was holding a cup of wine on her hand while looking through a window towards the distance.
"It's time."
Behind her, Earl Carson Riea nodded. "Everything is ready. Prince Claus will not survive this time."
"I hope so. That cursed brat has been causing us a lot of headaches recently."
"Nothing more than an overconfident idiot that thinks he is the best just because he has a good teacher and a bit of talent."
Empress Lilia smirked. "Perhaps, but that overconfident brat managed to steal your daughter from you, right?"
Earl Riea frowned. "I don't want to talk about that."
Empress Lilia shrugged. "Okay, okay. Well, that is a problem of your family. By the way, his death will not affect us in any way, right?"
"Don't worry, everything will seem like an unfortunate accident. After this, the Imperial Institute will have to carry the responsibility of causing the death of a prince due to their negligence and as punishment, we will demand the headmistress's resignation. This way, we will finally be able to get control of the Imperial Institute after so many years. Two birds with a stone."
"I don't care about that. After that brat dies, I don't care about anything else."
"You should care." Earl Riea said in an indifferent voice. "After all, this expedition marks the beginning of a new era for this empire."
Empress Lilia fell silent. She then took a sip of her wine and looked into the distance.
Now, she only needed to take care of that slut's daughter.
…
In the emperor's office, the current emperor, Grand Quintin, sat silently with a pensive expression.
Today was the day of the Institute's expedition… Today was the day her son would die.
Grand did not know how many years he had desired for this.
Since the day her beloved died, since the day he took her from him, since that day, he desired for his death.
For an instant, an expression of guilt and pain appeared on his face, however, that expression disappeared in the next instant.
Instead, a gaze full of longing and obsession appeared on his eyes.
"How I miss you, Silna… How I miss you…
"But finally, I'll kill the one that took you away from me." The emperor whispered in an almost crazy tone.
In his eyes, only obsession and madness remained.
The madness of someone that had destroyed his most beloved toy with his own hands.
The madness of a coward that, even until the end, was blaming someone else for his mistakes.
…
Inside the forest of wolves, a group of students was gathered around three people.
One of these people, Prince Bryan Quintin was grinning sadistically.
"Finally, finally, finally, finally… Claus, finally I'll kill you!"
Then, he looked at the stone in his hands and smirked.
"And that slut! I'll show her the consequences of betraying me!"
"Calm down, Bryan." The crown prince beside him patted his shoulder. "This is not time yet."
"Brother, how long do I have to wait!?"
"Soon. When the commotion starts, we will go to find Claus." Alan said with an ice-cold tone. He then looked at his fiancée and asked. "Christine, have you already found them?"
"Not yet." Christine shook her head. "But soon. When my toys find them, they will tell me."
"Good. Now we only need to wait."
"But my prince, I'm surprised that you managed to get us teleported to the same place. How did you do that?" Christine asked curiously.
Alan smiled. "Don't underestimate the families of the empire. Even although nobody has managed to infiltrate the core strength of the Imperial Institute, we managed to pull some teachers to our side. How else do you think we managed to modify the teleportation array and the array surrounding this forest? All these years, we have been waiting for the opportunity to finally get the power of the Imperial Institute in our hands."
Christine Hera smiled. "Hehe, you can't underestimate any of the great families. By the way, prince, will you help me to take care of these people?"
"Why not?" Shrugged Alan with a sharp and malicious gaze. "Although Claus is our main target this time, we must repay the humiliation of the duels as well! None of these sluts will survive! Especially Dina! I have been wanting to see her begging before my feet since long ago!"
Alan then looked at the forest that extended until the end of the horizon.
"And this, this is the perfect opportunity."
…
On the other side of the forest, a group of black-dressed men was standing on the branches of several trees.
The leader, a two-meters tall man with a fierce aura, grinned fiendishly.
"Humans, such a stupid and lowly species. This time, it's finally time to destroy them!"
"Hehe, I heard this time a bunch of young and tender nobles will participate in this expedition. I wonder how tender their flesh will be." One of the men behind the leader licked his lips.
The leader smirked. "Even better, I heard there are three princes in this forest. Don't you think it's great? The heads of three princes will be perfect to decorate His Majesty's room."
After saying that, the leader looked at the deeps of the forest with an excited expression.
"Get ready, the hunt starts soon."
Their yellow eyes and two horns spoke of these people's identity.
Daemons, the greatest enemy of humankind.
…
In a basement in the city, Alice opened her eyes and looked at the distance.
"Finally, fate is about to change."
She could see it. She could see the rivers of blood and mountains of corpses filling the world.
The empire in chaos, at the edge of collapse, the daemons advancing with incredible tenacity, desiring to destroy humanity according to the will of the Daemon god.
The elves stared at their forest, pursuing the ethereal dream of their race even if that meant bringing destruction to the world.
A monster had appeared in the Beastkin Alliance, opening its jaws to drown the whole world in despair.
The gods fought between them, searching for a chance to become perfect.
The world cried in fear, dreading the existence coveting it from the depths of space. And the hero rose from a sea of blood, bringing with her the will to protect what she loved the most.
And he, he was in the middle of it all, searching for an answer.
Perhaps it was the world itself helping Alice to find itself a chance of survival, but this was the first time Alice could see fate so clearly.
"Show me, Prince Claus. Show me the most beautiful fate."
Let me see if you finally find the answer you have been searching for so long.
Alice chuckled softly to the cruel fate, while her hands touched the threads of fate around her and a drop of blood slowly slid down her cheek.
But without her knowledge, a beautiful woman observed her from far, far away in space.
"Fate, such a fickle and hateful thing." She whispered melancholically.
Then, her eyes pierced through the world, landing in a blue-haired young man in the middle of a forest.
"My beloved, we meet again.��
And as though sensing her gaze, the blue-haired young man looked back at her.
Then, his eyes were filled with a frightful ice-coldness.
…
Hey guys, Aidka here!
Finally, another arc is done, and a new one is starting. Yay!
You can consider the next arc the turning point of the story. I don't want to be too spoilerish, but this arc will be the one that will unleash the several wars and starts Claus's revenge, or at least, I hope so.
So, raise your expectations guys, and thank you for your support until now, I love each one of you!
By the way, I'll be answering several questions at the start of tomorrow's chapter, kinda of a Q&A. So, leave your questions in the comments, and perhaps I'll answer them
Your dear and a bit lewd friend…
Aidka!
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels