“… d.a.m.n it! d.a.m.n it! d.a.m.n it!! How did news of this get to my son?!! Aaaahhh!!!”

Castell blankly watched the empress who was initially happy upon receiving the prince’s letter but was now tugging on her hair in a shocked fas.h.i.+on while shouting.

The empress paced back and forth like she was possessed by madness. She held her hands to her head while mumbling dreadfully, “I made my son angry… I made my son angry… My son doesn’t like me anymore… My son won’t call me ‘mom’ anymore… Will he never come back? … No, no, no… No, no, no… I don’t want that… I don’t want that… I can’t let my son get hurt… Son… What am I going to do if my son hates me…?”

“Umm… Your Majesty, calm down first…”

Castell wore an astonished look as he watched the empress’s leg shake and her tears dance in her eyes terrifyingly.

The empress had never behaved like this before. The empress never knew fear or cried, but she was frightened to this degree just because of a few complaints her son made of her.

“Castell… hurry! Hurry and gather the army! No, no, no! Send the Valkyries! Three teams. Send three teams. I don’t care what method they use, but they must rescue Nier, a complete Nier… No, no, no… That won’t do… that won’t do… I’m going to personally go. I need to apologise. I need to apologise, or my son will ignore me… If my son refuses to acknowledge me… No… no… If he doesn’t call me ‘mom’ then, I can’t live on…”

The empress was fl.u.s.tered to the point where she didn’t know what to do. She changed her order several times in a row. Her hands were quivering, leaving her with a dilemma for

whether to pick up paper or her pen or her sword. Her legs quivered to a shocking degree like they were going to give in.

“I do not think His Majesty will be so heartless as to break off your relations.h.i.+p…”

“He said so himself! He said he would kill himself if something happened to Nier! This won’t do! This won’t do! I can’t let that happen! I don’t want to live anymore if my son dies… What meaning would there be left if he died?! I’m going to personally lead a team there! I’m going to personally lead a team! I need to see with my own eyes that my son and Nier are both safe and sound…”

The empress picked up her sword and tried to strap it to her belt three times.

Castell smiled helplessly as he reached his hand out to press it on the empress’s shoulder. He suggested, “Calm down, Your Majesty. You need to rest up well tonight. You need to prepare to set off to the elven lands tomorrow… Leave this with Alice… I would a.s.sume she could destroy the castle gates with one punch.”

“Yes… yes… You’re right… I’m not going… I’m not going to the elven lands anymore… I’m going to wait here… My son should be in our lands… He’ll come back… he’ll come back… I need to apologise… I need to apologise… Son… Son…”

The empress’s hands shook as she wrote her decree. She then leapt onto her bed and cried in a tone of despair.

Castell couldn’t help but smile hopelessly before leaving.

G.o.d knows what the prince said… Maybe it isn’t the prince’s fault given the empress killed a chef just because he frowned… But since the prince is in danger, I need to help him in any case since…

since… I don’t want to see the empress suffering like that.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty… don’t leave me! Don’t leave me! Please… don’t leave me!! I want to protect you… I want to stay by your side! Don’t go! Don’t! No!!”

“I won’t leave you. I won’t. You guys go on ahead. I’ll find you in the palace afterwards.”

I watched Nier, who was crying and shouting, get forcefully dragged away by Freya and Luna by breaking off our grip on each other.

Behind us were the sounds of horse hooves moving quickly and the roars of humans.

The leader of the mercenary group pulled Freya and Luna away as he anxiously exclaimed, “Hurry up and come with me if you want to live! The church’s cavalry is right behind us.”

“That’s right, you all go on ahead.”

I looked at the three of them with a smile. I then said to the mercenary leader, “Keep them safe until you arrive in the city or until you reach an army camp. Leave this to me. I’ll stop our pursuers.”

Freya looked at me and shouted, “Onii-sama! You don’t have any skills! How are you going to stop them?! Staying back will only give them a hostage!”

“We just saved Nier, so I won’t let her meet with danger again. Of course, the same goes for the rest of you. Plus, the church’s pursuers definitely won’t dare to kill me, but that won’t be the case for you guys. I’ll be safe if I stay behind, but you won’t. So leave first. I’ll be fine. Trust me.”

“Hurry! Miss! If someone wants to die, not stopping him is the best form of respect you can give him!”

Our pursuers came closer and closer. We had no horses, so even if we went into the forest, we still wouldn’t

still wouldn’t be able to outrun the horses. Moreover, I was on the brink of collapsing right now. n.o.body can help me with my berserk mana. I virtually couldn’t see anything in front of me right now. It just looked like a blanket of blood. Every part of my body was screeching like blood was going to shoot out from everywhere.

I couldn’t move anymore. My limbs started to become stiff because my mana couldn’t maintain my normal bodily functioning any longer. Unless someone deals with the mana inside my body, the immense pain will make me literally want to find a tree and kill myself by running into it.

Nier was already bringing us down in her condition and if we included me, then there would be no way for us to escape.

Someone had to stay. I couldn’t abandon Nier. If I’m here, the church’s troops won’t dare to do anything to me. And after I get captured, the empress will definitely do everything in her power to rescue me. On the other hand, if Nier gets captured again, then she definitely won’t be so lucky again.

Yes, I was already late when I carried Nier out of the church.

It wasn’t because we delayed things, but just because their cavalry moved way too swiftly. When we returned to our small boats, there were lights all around the sh.o.r.es already. It looks like the cavalry in the vicinity nearby had all come in already. I can only blame it on us being too flamboyant with the explosions.

We managed to row our way to the forest on our small boats under the lead of the mercenaries, and then we ran for our lives. There’s a small town with an army camp once we escape this forest. I believe that the Valkyries

that the Valkyries should also have set out by now, so we’ll be safe as long as we could get out of the forest.

Unfortunately, we were discovered in the end. The cavalry was in fast pursuit behind us. That was a true cavalry squad. We can’t outrun them even if we’re in the forest. They continued to close in on us, while Nier’s body… erm…

Why did my clothes get wet when I carried Nier again…? And the way Nier looked at me was freaking scary. She looked at me the same way Vyvyan does on full-moon nights…

Nier’s hands kept creeping down toward my lower abdomen as well. What on Earth happened…?Even if you’re moved and want to use your body to thank me, at least wait until we arrive at safety before doing that kind of stuff, woman!

We turned a corner and a path leading to the end of the forest was finally in sight.

That was when I stopped. I couldn’t run any longer.

The trees growing closely together in the forest kept most of the moonlight out, but it shone brightly outside of the forest. The moonlight is very bright on full-moon nights, but I couldn’t leave.

I had no choice but to stay in the forest. If I expose myself to the moonlight, I’ll explode like a vampire in the sunlight.

If someone must stay behind, then I’m the best choice.

If anyone else is captured, they’re dead for sure.

However, I don’t intend to get captured.

“You just need to imagine the result of your magic. Of course, while your mana is berserk, there’s still a small portion that can be used.”

The mana of elves is boosted on full-moon nights.

And I am a descendant of the Galadriel tribe.

We’ll get to see just how pure my mana is tonight…