THE CHILD OF THE PROPHECY [EDITED]

CHAPTER 24

24 : The final stage.

▬▬▬▬▬

"LEANA CHAÉUSE, YOU ARE hereby stripped of the title as the Empress and are now sentenced to death by guillotine," the emperor announced in front of the Imperial Council. "Your crimes consist of orchestrating the overthrow of the imperial family, planning the revival of the Holy Empire, and committing adultery with the Head Cardinal."

The Imperial Court was filled with gasps and whispers as the nobles heard the emperor's announcement. There were also violent reactions from the empress' faction and from those that fiercely opposed the sentiments of the emperor. But they all met a certain end, in which they were escorted by the imperial knights to the dungeon to suffer together with the scheming empress.

Leana, now the former empress, couldn't understand how her plans were revealed. She was extremely careful with her every movement. So how?

"How did he find out?" She muttered to herself.

Leana flinched, the thick metal restricting her arms brushing against her fragile skin when she heard a familiar voice in her head. She heard the same laugh again, which bothered her. She couldn't focus on how she could escape from the emperor's contempt because of the weird voice.

As she searched the imperial court, she noticed an unusual person standing at the very corner of the court, a few steps away from where she was kneeling. It was wearing a dark, blue cloak. She could visibly see the smirk on the person's face.

"Should I let you escape?" The voice rang in her head once again, giving her an excruciating pain.

Her body lowered on the floor, catching everyone's attention. Leana silently begs for the voice to stop yet deeply, she wanted for that person to help her.

"Answer me, Leana," the voice repeated. Leana responded by crying in pain as the voice pierced deep inside her mind.

"Yes. Please..."

As she cried in pain, dark smokes filled the imperial court. The imperial knights and the nobles panicked.

"There's an attack! Quickly take the emperor!"

They quickly secured the emperor's safety. The dark smokes slowly faded in a blink and as it cleared out, the former empress had disappeared.

"Search for the empress!" The head of the imperial knights ordered dispatching half of the imperial knights to look for the escaped empress.

Leana, on the other hand, was able to make her way to the secret passage leading to the church. Her footsteps were quick even though her body was a little injured from the torture she had gone through.

She was starting to feel hopeful when she saw the glimpse of light at the end of the passage.

"Euhk!"

The empress winced when she fell on the ground. Her breath quickened and her heart raced abnormally. A cold, thick thread wrapped around her ankle, halting her movements.

Leana could only cry as she silently prayed for herself. She didn't want to die yet. She still had a lot of goals she needed to accomplish. She wanted to witness the revival of the Holy Empire, the very thing she wanted to achieve in her life.

"I apologize, your highness," she heard the menacing voice speak. It was a different voice than the one who had helped her. As she slowly turned around, she met the odd pair of eyes from a bulky, distorted figure who had stopped her.

She couldn't understand how or why he had become like that, even his voice changed.

"This is how far you can go," the voice added.