THE NORTHERN CONTINENT'S EMPRESS

Chapter 19: By Your Side (3)

To be honest, it was the first love that Empress Helena felt the first time she met and get to know Cale better. It was one of a kind experience, a bittersweet feeling that she will definitely cherish. 

But she knows that tying the knot together with a wonderful kind of man like that will just end up as a pipe dream, so she made sure to give up early on. However, it was hard to do so, especially when he was exceptionally kind, teasing, and charming. She cannot hold back her shuddering heart that she had to beg him to not make her fall in love with him anymore. 

It was such a childish move, but she had no choice but to do so, she was desperate, desperate to stop herself from falling harder than she already was for Cale. It was hard, and it hurts at the same time. 

"Empress Pauline!" She heard Miss Rosalyn call her name and she stopped in her tracks, in the middle of the empty corridor of the Palace, looking back at her with tears running endlessly from her eyes. 

"Empress..." Miss Rosalyn slowly walked towards her and gave her a handkerchief. Empress Helena didn't take it this time. 

"Miss Rosalyn... It's best if we part ways like this... I... I don't know... I don't think I can't stop myself anymore," Empress Helena said in a small voice, her hands where on her chest, expression looking sad and in pain. 

"Empress Pauline, you can tell me anything, I'm here for you," Rosalyn said taking a step forward but the Empress took a step back, shaking her head with a saddened look. 

"No, no Miss Rosalyn, you are not. Just go back to the party, I will go back to my quarters instead," Empress Helena said and turned to walk away. Miss Rosalyn didn't listen to her and followed her with quick steps, calling her name while they pass the garden. 

"Miss Rosalyn, Please..." Empress Helena turned around to face Rosalyn with a frustrated look on her face. She really doesn't want to talk about it. She's heartbroken, annoyed, and embarrassed- She just wants to rest for the night.

"But Empress-" Miss Rosalyn stepped forward to hold her hand, just in time to avoid a spear that suddenly came out from nowhere. Both ladies became alert. They both look in the garden's direction and found a number of hooded assassins targeting them. 

"They seem to be too unknowledgeable, to think that they can infiltrate this Palace," Rosalyn suddenly turned serious as she opened her palm and create flames with her mana. 

"...Be careful... they feel... Dangerous," Empress Helena suddenly said to Rosalyn that made her turn to look at the Empress with a confused expression. Before she could ask about her words, the assassins suddenly strike first, and Empress Helena had no choice but to create an ice wall with her mana. 

"Empress?!" Rosalyn looked at her after Empress Helena took her hand and they run off to the other side of the Palace. 

"Don't ask questions, run!" The Empress said as they were followed by a series of footsteps.

'I hope they are fine...'- Empress Helena thought as they escaped to the dark hallways going deeper inside the palace. 

+

The ballroom was a chaotic mess. There was a mysterious group of people who were throwing poison around from the balconies. Cale looked at them and called Raon to stop them.

"Human, don't use any mana... This poison gets activated with mana," Raon said while protecting Cale. He looked back at the black dragon with confusion on his face. 

"What? Who can do such a thing?" He asked. Raon shook his head, there was no answer with him. Cale looked around one more time before remembering two ladies who were very proficient with mana... He just realized that they could be in grave danger. 

"Choi Han! Protect the Crown Prince, tell him to not use any mana, it's risky!" Cale said to Choi Han before calling Raon to look for Rosalyn and Empress Helena. 

He encountered a few more assassins from the other side of the Palace and immediately put them all to sleep, Raon using ropes that he have from the spatial ring he was holding. They were going deeper inside the palace, but there was still no figure of the two ladies. Cale looked around worriedly, not knowing the next set of events made him on edge and panicking. 

"Human? Human! I can hear footsteps coming our way! We should hide!" Raon snapped him out of his thoughts and they went to the dark hallways together. Cale strained his eyes to hear the noises up ahead, are those- Rosalyn and Empress Pauline's voices?! They were here?! Wait, there's a commotion- shit!

"Raon, let's go!" Cale hurriedly said to Raon as they went to the end of the dark hallways and found that it was a dungeon of sorts. Empress Pauline's eyes and his met, along with the assassins noticing his presence. 

"Run!" Empress Pauline rushed from the middle of the room to where Cale was standing, pulling Rosalyn with her. Cale wanted to order Raon to use a forcefield but he was a few moments late. Before his eyes, he saw dozens of arrows shooting toward them. His eyes widened when a figure was pushed towards his embrace, followed by a thick layer of ice covering the entrance.

"Empress!" It was Rosalyn who was in his embrace. Cale looked up at the thick wall and found a bit of light seeping through it, he saw the stains of blood splattered on the ice. His eyes widened, mouth hanging open as he stepped forward. They heard a muffled scream from the other side before the ground shook a bit.

After that, there was silence. The ice wall was eroded by Rosalyn's flames, and they both stepped inside the room to investigate. Large spears of ice shot through the ground, and blood was splattered everywhere, bodies dismembered here and there. On the side of the room...

laid a lady dressed in blue, in a pool of blood.