“Watch out.” Xander’s heart seized with panic as he saw what was happening. Without a second thought, he spun around, trying to shield Willow, disregarding his own safety.
But Xander was surrounded by a swarm of assassins, utterly unable to break free.
Just as Willow was about to loose her arrow, a deadly arrow whistled through the air, shooting straight for her back.
Nicolas kicked an assassin, sending him sprawling behind Willow and using him as a human shield to intercept the incoming arrow.
The assassin coughed up blood and collapsed dead on the ground.
Willow’s face drained of color. With a piercing scream, she dropped her bow and arrow in panic, frantically scanning her surroundings. “Who? Who wants to kill me?” she cried out.
‘Everyone in these woods is loyal to me. There’s no reason anyone would try to assassinate me,’ Willow thought, utterly bewildered.
Suddenly, Willow’s face went even paler. She turned to Nicolas, her voice trembling with fear. “Michael has been faking it all along. He never truly meant to side with us.”
Michael was tasked with lying in ambush in the woods, waiting until most of Xander’s men had been wiped out before blasting open the massive gates of the Cavendish Family Cemetery.
Yet, Michael was still nowhere to be seen.
Just as tensions reached their peak, Xander’s captain of the personal guard suddenly bellowed, “Your Highness, they have cannons.”
At these words, a collective gasp of shock rippled through the crowd. Xander and Athena exchanged a glance, seeing the same grave apprehension in each other’s eyes.
The cannons packed a terrifying punch – once fired, the consequences would be catastrophic.
If those cannons go off, the entire Cavendish Family Cemetery will be reduced to rubble, let alone us mere mortals.
Willow and Nicolas also frantically scanned their surroundings, their faces paling as five cannons suddenly came into view. All five cannons were trained on Athena and Xander.
Nicolas breathed a genuine sigh of relief. Thank goodness Michael hadn’t turned against them after all.
A smug grin spread across Nicolas’s face. “At least you’re not completely blind. That’s right. Cannons are buried all around this Cavendish Family Cemetery. One word from me, and you’ll all be reduced to ashes.”
He paused, his gaze settling on Athena, then barked at Michael, “Michael, what are you waiting for? Kill them.”
Athena’s eyes widened in shock as she spotted a familiar figure in the woods. It was Michael.
Michael stood before the cannons, his face a mask of icy resolve. To her shock, he was clad in an outlaw’s garb.
Athena’s fists clenched involuntarily as she spat out, “Michael, you’re actually in cahoots with them?”
Willow shrieked, her eyes burning with malice. “Michael, think of your parents. They can’t have died in vain – quickly, kill Athena.”
Michael lifted his gaze toward Athena, yet remained motionless.
Willow, frantic and desperate, screamed at Michael, “Michael, you idiot. What are you waiting for? Kill her now. Or do you want to watch me and our child perish here? Your real enemy is Athena. She slaughtered your entire family.”
Nicolas also grew anxious and shouted, “Michael, do it now.”
A sense of unease crept into Nicolas – something about Michael seemed off.
Nicolas wondered, ‘Is he faking it all along? Is he playing us all along? Waiting for this very moment to turn traitor? No, absolutely impossible.
‘How could Michael, who loved Willow so deeply and did whatever she asked, suddenly abandon her and become infatuated with Athena?
The air grew thick with tension. Every eye was locked on Michael, waiting for his next move.
Sweat poured down Willow’s forehead as she charged at Michael, shrieking, “Michael, I command you. Kill Athena. What are you waiting for? Do it now!”
“Willow, get back,” Nicolas shouted. He sensed something was wrong, but it was already too late.
Michael lifted his bow, drew the string taut, and aimed it directly at Willow’s chest.
Without hesitation, Michael unleashed three arrows in rapid succession, each one aimed straight at Willow’s chest.
As Michael loosed his arrows, a strange rustling came from the woods. Almost simultaneously, Xander loosed an arrow straight at him.
The arrow whistled through the air. Michael stood his ground, making no move to evade as Xander’s arrow sliced toward him.
But in a bizarre twist, the arrow merely grazed past Michael’s ear, only to strike down the arrow behind him with pinpoint accuracy. The other two arrows found their mark – one in his thigh, the other in his arm.
“Attack,” Xander barked. Instantly, soldiers erupted from the surrounding hillsides, flooding the terrain and clashing fiercely with the assassins hidden in the woods.
Nicolas saw Willow collapse to the ground, an arrow piercing clean through her chest.
Still clinging to life, Willow gasped for breath. With trembling effort, she reached out to Nicolas, crimson bubbles forming at her lips as her mouth opened and closed. “N–Nicolas, s–save me.”
Nicolas’s brows knitted into a tight knot. Gnashing his teeth in fury, he spat, “Idiot, why did you go and get yourself killed?”
“Nicolas?” Willow gasped in disbelief. He had never scolded her before.
‘Hadn’t Nicolas always doted on me the most?’ Willow thought in disbelief.
Nicolas’s face twisted with fury, veins bulging as he ground out through gritted teeth, “If it weren’t for the cannons, do you really think I would’ve treated you so well? Too bad all those ideas of yours are now useless to me. You’re nothing but a fool – utterly pathetic.”
After casting one final, indifferent glance at Willow, Nicolas turned on his heel and strode away without a second thought.
Under the protection of his assassins, Nicolas swiftly cut through the enemy lines.
Deep in the mountain woods, a carriage stood waiting.
Nicolas climbed into the carriage, only to find Fiona and Cedric waiting inside, their faces pale with fear.
Nicolas’s face darkened with menace as he hissed, “Do as you’re told, or I’ll make you wish you were dead.”
Fiona lowered her head, her face ashen, a bitter, self-mocking smile on her lips. “You only keep us around because Cedric carries your bloodline. You’re still obsessed with reclaiming your throne, aren’t you?”
SMACK. Nicolas struck Fiona hard across the face. Fiona tumbled into the carriage, and Cedric, terrified, burst into sobs.
Cedric threw himself at Fiona’s feet, sobbing, “Mommy?”
Cedric tried to help Fiona up, but he was just too little; no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn’t move her at all.
Though trembling with fear, Cedric still charged at Nicolas, pounding on him with his tiny fists. “You’re a bad guy,” he cried, his voice shaking with fear and anger.
Fed up with Cedric’s pummeling, Nicolas seized the boy’s hand and snarled, “If you weren’t my own flesh and blood, you’d have been dead long ago. Hmph.”
Nicolas hurled Cedric to the floor, the boy slamming against the carriage wall as he burst into pained wails.
“Cedric,” Fiona whispered, her heart aching as she pulled the trembling boy into her arms. They clung to each other, shaking uncontrollably.
The carriage tore through the wilderness, yet Nicolas remained completely unconcerned about any pursuers.
Nicolas thought confidently, ‘My assassins are fiercely loyal – they’d surely keep Xander’s men at bay!
Nicolas shot a contemptuous glance at Fiona and Cedric, who were huddled together. “You’ve raised my son to be such a coward – what an utter disgrace to my name.”
Nicolas scoffed, poured himself a cup of coffee, and drained it in one gulp.
Fiona shot Nicolas a cautious glance. As he drained the coffee, a peculiar glint flickered in her eyes.
Before long, Nicolas’s face twisted in agony as he clutched his stomach.
Nicolas’s eyes widened in horror as he stared at Fiona. “Y–you bitch, wh–what did you put in the coffee?”
Fiona smirked, “Poison, of course.”
“You actually poisoned me?” Nicolas staggered forward in shock, but Fiona was quicker – she pulled a dagger from beneath the carriage seat and, without hesitation, plunged it straight into his chest.
The dagger plunged into his chest. Nicolas gaped in shock as blood poured from the wound. He opened his mouth, yet not a single sound escaped.
Indifferently, Fiona stabbed the dagger into Nicolas’s chest, over and over, until he breathed his last.
The violent commotion inside the carriage finally alerted the coachman. The carriage screeched to a halt. The coachman flung open the door, took in the horrific scene inside, and bellowed, “Oh, no, His Highness.”
The next second, the coachman lunged at Fiona with a roar. “I’ll kill you!” he shouted.