Chapter 178: You Need Guts to Succeed!
Chapter 178: You Need Guts to Succeed!
“Search the entire place thoroughly! We have to find the young miss and young master Roel at all costs!”
In the Diamond Rivière, Grace looked at the empty room before her as she relayed her instructions imposingly. The elite guards of the Sorofyas immediately scattered in all directions to carry out her orders.
Thinking about everything that had just happened, she felt goosebumps rising all over her body.
As Charlotte’s personal maid, Grace had always maintained a professional front. She was confident that she could live up to Charlotte’s trust, especially when it came to the latter’s safety. She was incredibly meticulous about every single detail surrounding Charlotte, and she always made sure that everything was within her control.
There were plenty of people targeting the Sorofyas, especially the young and vulnerable Charlotte. If their schemes worked out, they could walk away with more money than they could earn over several lifetimes. Over the years, however, anyone who had tried to approach Charlotte with malicious intentions would ‘disappear mysteriously’.
The power of an Origin Level 3 transcendent was not something to be made light of. As long as Grace was by Charlotte’s side, most assassins wouldn’t even live to see Charlotte.
However, Grace had made a huge mistake today.
The First Miss of the Sorofya House, her beloved master, had actually vanished right under her watch! To make things worse, the young master of the Ascart House had disappeared together with her!
Such a situation could only be described as mind-shattering in Grace’s view.
“No, I mustn’t panic at a situation like this! T-there’s still hope… The doors of the Diamond Rivière haven’t been opened, and there aren’t any pulsations of mana nearby either. They’re definitely still on the carriage!”
Grace massaged her temples with her trembling hands as she tried her best to logically analyze the situation.
It was possible for humans to vanish into thin air in this world—the Blink Bullet of Charlotte’s Jewel Trigger was one good example. However, spatial transference spells were bound to produce inerasable mana pulsations.
In theory, mana pulsations would be released at the same moment a spell took effect. If a transcendent had invoked a spatial transference spell to leave the carriage, there was no way they could erase the mana pulsations left on the carriage in their wake.
If so, there was only one possibility: The duo in the isolation chamber had cast the spell themselves.
Due to Charlotte and Roel using the Twin Stones to attend the Leumann Forest’s Nightglow Butterfly Festival in the Austine Empire, their main bodies had lost consciousness. Naturally, they would require additional protection.
The isolation chamber was created specifically for such an event. It had the ability to unidirectionally isolate mana, making it impossible for outsiders to teleport right into the chamber. However, as it was unidirectional isolation of mana, it was still possible for the people inside the chamber to teleport outward via a spatial transference spell.
But was that even possible here?
Based on Grace’s estimation, Roel was at Origin Level 5 at the moment, far beneath the required level to use spatial transference spells. The only possibility was for him to use some sort of special magic tool. However, he was currently wearing a suit Charlotte had specially designed for him without any of his usual magic tools on him. One could even say that he was completely unarmed.
No matter how mystical the Ascart House is, there’s no way they can make people magically disappear, right?
Grace was a believer in hard facts instead of superstition. Besides, even if the Ascart House did have the ability to do that… Why would they?
Even though it was a political marriage, Roel and Charlotte were still a proper, engaged couple at the moment. Under such circumstances, if Roel really wanted to do something to Charlotte, Grace, as a mere servant, had no authority to stop him. There was no need for Roel to kidnap Charlotte at all.
Of course, there was another possibility—Charlotte, instead of Roel, was the kidnapper. However, regarding that…
“There’s no way that could happen! How could someone as graceful and demure as our young miss possibly kidnap a man? It has never happened before, and it never ever will!”
Grace felt like her train of thoughts was getting more and more muddled with all of the possibilities. She lowered her head to look at the blood pendant she wore around her neck, and it was still gleaming as usual. This showed that Charlotte was not in danger, and it was probably the only good news in the present situation.
However, even if her master wasn’t in danger right now, it didn’t necessarily mean that she was in a safe position. Also, there was another problem here—she didn’t know Roel’s current situation.
It hadn’t been long since the two of them disappeared, so she could still cook up excuses on their behalf. However, once the night deepened, the servants of the Ascart House would start knocking on the doors of their carriages inquiring after their young master. By then, what was Grace supposed to do?
One had to know they were currently in the Ascarts’ manor, surrounded by hundreds of powerful guards who were constantly patrolling the area. It made her shudder just to imagine how the Ascart House would take it if they found out that their sole successor was lost under the Sorofyas’ watch.
Unlike the Sorofyas, the Ascarts didn’t have many offspring. Roel was the only one in his generation. On top of that, he was incredibly talented, having made many contributions to his fief, despite only assuming power as the proxy fief lord 2 years ago. Without a doubt, the Ascart House would soar to greater heights under his leadership.
If the Sorofyas couldn’t find Roel and hand him back to the Ascarts safe and sound, it could possibly incite a war!
Just thinking about the consequences was enough to leave Grace in a fluster.
It was then that a slight disturbance sounded inside the room.
There was a slight mana pulsation, which surprised all of the transcendents in the room. They quickly turned their sights toward a door, which Grace quickly kicked open before rushing in.
“Young miss!”
Grace shouted as she barged through the door. To her utmost relief, there were two additional figures who had appeared in the previously completely empty room. Charlotte’s eyes began twitching a little in response to the shout before gently fluttering open.
“This is…”
Looking at the familiar ceiling of the Diamond Rivière’s isolation chamber, Charlotte was dazed for a moment before abruptly widening her eyes. She recalled what Roel had said prior to her losing consciousness.
This is… We came back?
By the time Charlotte snapped out of her daze, Grace had already rushed to her side. She was bewildered to see that Charlotte was deeply fatigued, as if she had just been through a war. Thus, she quickly released her mana in order to inspect Charlotte’s condition. Unexpectedly, before she could cast her spell, Charlotte suddenly jerked upward.
“Roel!”
Having fully awoken from her daze, Charlotte quickly turned to the unconscious boy lying next to her. She recalled what Isabella had said and quickly tried to treat him.
“Golden Soul… This is bad!”
Charlotte tried to summon the Golden Soul out of habit, only to realize to her horror that nothing happened. She scanned her surroundings, but the golden light that had been by her side for the last few days was nowhere to be seen. Without the Golden Soul, Charlotte’s abilities had been effectively halved.
H-how could this be…
Charlotte belatedly realized what had happened, and a feeling of helplessness washed over her body. It was nothing much for her to lose the Golden Soul because she had already made sure to fully memorize the formula to craft the Golden Soul—it was one of the key pieces to their heritage, after all. With the resources the Sorofyas had at their disposal, they would be able to recreate it soon enough.
However, Roel couldn’t afford to wait that long. The Golden Soul was the only thing that had been keeping his condition from deteriorating further, and its absence now could be fatal.
A familiar frost aura began emanating from Roel’s body once more, but this time, without the protection of the Golden Soul, Charlotte couldn’t help but shiver from the coldness.
Grace also noticed the anomaly right away, and her eyes widened in shock. She immediately advised her master to stay away from Roel, but Charlotte disregarded her words.
Charlotte stared at her freezing lover, and slowly, determination settled in her eyes.
It was true that she didn’t have the aid of the Golden Soul anymore, but to be exact, it wasn’t the Golden Soul that had been stabilizing Roel’s condition thus far. Rather, it was one of the sealing spells of the Jewel Magic. The Golden Soul only served as a medium to transfer and amplify its effects.
As long as Charlotte was around, there was still hope for Roel. All she was lacking right now was a method to effectively channel her spell into Roel.
Back when she was still struggling to control the Golden Soul, Isabella had once told her an analogy.
“Think of it this way. Your mana is the power source and your body is the conduit to channel the power. The Golden Soul is just an extension of the conduit.”
Isabella’s teachings echoed in her mind, pointing a way out of this desperate situation. A steely glint flashed in Charlotte’s eyes as she stared at Roel’s pale lips intently. Then, without any warning, she suddenly leaned forward and kissed him.
“Y-young miss?”
Alarmed by Charlotte’s abrupt movements, Grace instinctively wanted to pull her away to safety. However, her outstretched hand suddenly froze in place after seeing what Charlotte did, and her mind went completely blank.
W-what’s going on?
Why would our conservative young miss offer a kiss on her own accord? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?
Wasn’t she still drawing a line between the two of them not too long ago? It has only been a day, and she’s acting completely different. She’s even stealing a kiss from young master Roel while he’s asleep!
I don’t understand this. Why would our shy young miss… And for someone of our young miss’ standing to have to steal a kiss, t-this is really too… But again, there seems to be something very wrong with young master Roel at the moment.
The frost aura surrounding Roel began to weaken a little after the kiss. Grace had tilted her head away in an awkward attempt not to infringe on Charlotte’s privacy, but her overflowing curiosity still made her sneak glances again and again. Soon, she noticed something.
The frost aura wasn’t coming from a magic tool Roel was carrying. Instead, it was seeping right out of his body! On top of that, she could sense with her mana that Roel’s life force was extremely weak at the moment.
Why is his life force so weak? Doesn’t that mean that…
“!”
Upon realizing the truth, Grace was both shocked and horrified. She stared intently at Roel’s pale face for a while before grabbing the emblem on her chest to relay new orders.
“Medic, report to the isolation chamber immediately!”
Looking at the incredibly frail Roel, Grace felt cold shivers running down her spine. Roel was still perfectly fine when he got onboard the carriage, and yet, he ended up being reduced to such a state. Given that it happened on the Diamond Rivière, no matter what really happened, the Sorofyas would have to take responsibility for this matter.
“Young miss, what in the world happened? How do we explain young master Roel’s state to the Ascarts?”
The panicked Grace enquired about the incident, but unexpectedly, Charlotte just shook her head in response.
Currently, Charlotte was staring at her lover with a penetrating gaze. The lingering coldness in the air was barely keeping her calm as many thoughts flickered through her mind. Slowly, her gaze grew sharper and sharper, almost like a hunter eyeing down a prey. For some reason, Grace inexplicably felt a dangerous vibe coming from Charlotte.
In truth, Charlotte Sorofya was indeed planning to commit a crime.
If they were to explain Roel’s condition to the Ascart House right now, they would surely take him back right away and be extremely protective of him. At the same time, they would also put their guard up against the Sorofyas, especially since he was with Charlotte when the mishap occurred.
However, that could prove to be very bad for Roel. The Ascart House didn’t have the Golden Soul, and Carter wasn’t at home at the moment either. They might not necessarily be able to provide the best treatment for him.
On the other hand, Charlotte, with the resources of the Sorofya House at her disposal, was confident that she could provide him with better care and treatment.
In other words, the revelation of Roel’s condition wouldn’t help him at all.
Most importantly of all, would Charlotte get another chance to meet Roel if his condition was revealed? One must know that Roel was unconscious at the moment, and despite being his fiancée, there was no doubt that the greatest suspect would be her. Even if she tried to explain how they had revisited a snippet of history, would others believe her? Furthermore, this was likely to be one of Roel’s greatest secrets, and it would be unwise to talk about it without his permission.
To make matters worse, she was well aware that there were two women biding their time silently, waiting for her screw up in order to throw her out of the game. Just thinking about the dire circumstances she was in made her sigh endlessly. Without a doubt, things were incredibly bad for her at the moment. All it took was a moment of carelessness, and everything would be over. Perhaps, their engagement might even be annulled.
Thinking up to this point, Charlotte grit her teeth as a daring notion floated in her mind. It was just that the risks were a bit…
“C-Charlotte…”
“Yes! I’m here, darling!”
The subconscious murmurings of the black-haired boy jolted Charlotte’s heart with a sudden flash of lightning. She immediately responded to him, but the boy had already fallen into deep sleep once more. Complicated emotions flashed across her eyes as she clenched her fists tightly together.
So what if there are great risks involved? So what if it’s against the rules? For the sake of our happy ending…
Only those with guts will succeed in the end.
“Grace… We won’t be telling the Ascart House about this matter yet.”
“Ah?”
Before Grace’s dumbfounded eyes, Charlotte ordered deeply.
“Pack up and prepare to set off. We’re returning to Rosa!”