The Heir Of The Grand Duke (Official)

Episode 20 - The Cost of Honor

“Don't look back!” The Emperor tightly gripped the young heiress’ hand as they ran through the hallways looking for safety. “We need to get somewhere safe.”

“Your Highness, are we near any evacuation areas?” Spoken Maddison, still dressed as the fake Lawrence Madeline.

The Empress gulped and shook her head. “I’m afraid the direction we went will take us a long while before we reach the Evacuation area.”

“Then I suggest we keep running then.” Said the exhausted Alejandra. “Your Highness, lead the way please.” She looked towards the Emperor.

“Naturally.” He nodded.

They ran across the marble-floored hallways seemingly stretching infinitely. With every turn on every corner, a new hallway appeared like some kind of mocking insult to this tiresome endeavor. Alejandra felt more and more impatient as they circled mindlessly to what felt like looping paths.

“I swear, this whole place wasn't like this before.” The Emperor grit his teeth as he opened doors to similarly looking rooms.

As they continued to run, Maddison, or Lord Madeline stopped in his tracks catching the rest of his group off guard.

“Why’d you stop?” Alejandra raised an eyebrow.

“There's something off…” The noble scrunched his eyebrows.

The Emperor felt his chest droop and a gut feeling in his body arise as he glanced around the hall they found themselves stuck in. “We’ve been going in circles all this time…I may be old but I trust my senses enough to know something’s amiss.” He agreed.

“That must mean we're under an Adjudicator’s Magic then?” The Empress shuddered and stood closer to her husband.

“Likely so, Your Highness.” Maddison smiled warmly. “Fret not, this is but a simple spell.” She walked towards one of the walls and it suddenly collapsed, revealing a hallway behind it.

“How did you–” The Emperor blinked.

“This wall was the only one that had looked exactly the same every time we had turned a corner.” She explained. “I figured there’d be something wrong with it.”

“That's…amazing.” The Empress praised.

Maddison faltered a bit from her words but nodded. “Thank you, but we have to go quickly now.” She glanced around. “The fact that we were put on a loop means someone has their eyes on us.”

“And with their Illusion Magic,” Alejandra added. “They could be hiding themselves anywhere.”

“Let's continue on for now, but keep your eyes peeled for any strange appearances in the environment.” Maddison instructed. “We are not safe anywhere..and for all we know we might be leading them straight to the Evacuation area.”

The Emperor gulped. “So where do we go?”

“A place where we can confront them.”

“Then the second garden near the treasury.” The Empress suggested. “An open room and a wide space, it’d also be hard to hide in such an open area.”

“Then that settles it.” Alejandra purses her lips. “Let's go.”

“Stay behind me, My Lady.” The fake nobleman smirked.

“Although I admit you are strong, I am more than capable of defending myself, thank you.” The Lady glared back.

“Of course, My Lady.” She leaned down and kissed the top of her hand again to which Alejandra jerked back rather quickly.