Chapter 386 - Way to Life or Death

“Even though His Highness has returned, it’s too much, Ella. Do you know how much I missed you?”

“Sorry, Beullien. As you already know, I’ve been busy as so much has happened.”

Ella gave her a slightly tired expression and gently covered her face with a paper fan. Although she may not be able to know everything that happened to Ella, her publicly known news alone was enough to cause a commotion around Ella.

In particular, the death of Viscount Carvine made the capital uproar, and the rumors served as a good excuse for Ella, who was known to stay in the house, not leaving anywhere. Seeing Ella’s darkened expression, Beullien revealed her worried heart.

“Oh, Ella. I can’t even imagine how shocked you must be. I’m not sure how you can do such absurd things?”

“Thank you, Beullien. Now that I have been comforted by you, the sadness seems to go away.

While Ella was comforted by Beullien, young girls gathered around them. People who usually gather at parties sat around one place. Regardless of the urgent situation outside, the same conversations they always had continued as usual including the topics of jewelry, dresses, and someone’s love story. Ella let out a sigh in secret and thought that the hundreds of papers would be better than this endlessly tedious conversation.

Oh, I want to get out.

Ella, who discovered herself too late, couldn’t stop but laugh. She thought it is unreasonable to be an ordinary aristocratic wife like this. Their main duty was to laugh while attending parties and having repeated conversations. This was too far from Ella’s taste. Thinking about it now, the work of the imperial family that she wanted to escape from didn’t feel too bad. Her laughter got a little louder at her belated realization. She missed Cladis and thought that if she could tell this story to him, he would be very happy.

“Ella, what are you thinking about? You must be thinking about His Highness. Looking at your smile, it seems that something very special happened. Am I right?”

“A special event did happen.”

“Wow, really? Tell me. Would you?”

At Beullien’s pure request without a sign of jealousy, Ella smiled and unraveled the story with Cladis a little. A walk in the garden, which had to stop in the middle, led to a friendly tea party, and the night market that they had visited in secret was covered as if it was an outing, granted by Ella’s father.

* * *

Ella, Evan, Eric, and Sha stood in the hall where the splender of a while ago had disappeared. Evan wanted to follow along, but couldn’t, so his face was full of worries. He was so busy that he had to return to the Imperial Palace as soon as they left.

“You have to be careful.”

“Don’t worry. You know how hard I prepared for this.”

Ella spoke with her confident face, and then she held out her hand. Her fingers were strewn with rings of colorful jewels, and her arms were covered with accessories, including her neck and ears. They were the magic tools that were all from the Ruan Merchant Co, which she visited during the day.

She wore everything from her special accessories that she had ordered, including the ones she took out of a whim, and she looked like a rich lady who was out of fashion. Evan had a look on his face that no one couldn’t tell whether he was smiling or crying.

“I hope they will do their job and you’ll be safe.”

“From the entrance, His Highness will accompany me. Isn’t Xyle coming too?”

“Yes, he decided to do that.”

Cladis and Ethan, who they thought were going to leave with the knights to protect the village, suddenly declared their absence. And they asked the Emperor for a private meeting. Cladis, who was expected to return and be included in the original plan, didn’t appear at the meeting. After all the troops had been deployed and the knights and wizards had been sent, Evan heard of Cladis and Ella’s plans. Evan, unaware of Cladis’s plan of including Ella, grabbed Cladis by his collar out of anger. Recalling the shock from that time, Evan clenched his teeth and expressed his concern.

“I’m going because I want to.”

“I know. But still, I don’t like it. “

“If he went without me, I would have followed him myself.”

“Ella!”

“Are you going to repeat what you just said?”

Looking at Cladis and Ella in full confidence, Evan only sighed. But they were heading out for a long journey, so he couldn’t continue. He wanted to sound positive and hopeful at least.

“I hope the magic circle would be found from the villages that we pointed out.”

“If a miracle like that happens, I’ll return as fast as I can.”

“Please do that.”

Evan asked Ella with a sad face. She was someone who does not listen to him even if he speaks to her in anger and does not stop even if he forces her to stop, so he had no choice but to plead. Ella knew his concern, so she put on her most courageous facial expression on and led Sha and Eric into the secret passageway.

* * *

The iron door, which had not been opened for a very long time, opened with a loud noise. The cool outside air entered the cave filled with the smell of damp moss. The familiar hand reached out towards Ella, who let out her breath she had been holding.

“Ella.”

Cladis, dressed in a black hood, approached and took her hand. It was a very different situation from last night when he tried to bring her out to take her to the night market. It was a way to the space of life and death. Cladis’s face stiffened with tension. Ella knew how he was feeling and she grabbed his hand tightly.