FLBE Chapter 10 Part 1

Early in the morning, Roan arrived at the Imperial Palace and clicked his tongue at the sight of Rhetrik, who looked cold and withdrawn. Apparently, the ominous feeling he’d had when letting her go had come true. Furious, Roan showed none of his usual composure or warmth.

 

“I entrusted her to you, and you lost her?!”

 

Rhetrik clenched his fists at Roan’s reproachful tone. As insolent as Roan’s words sounded, Rhetrik was too consumed by thoughts of Liena to be bothered. He was so furious he could have destroyed the entire nation, yet he kept his mouth shut.

 

“Are you certain it was Lance?”

 

“No one else but that rat bastard could sneak in and out of the palace like that.”

 

“Ugh…! I really can’t believe this!”

 

Pressing a hand against his forehead, Roan barely held back the curses that threatened to spill from his lips. He paused to catch his breath. He had expected Lance to pull something eventually, but he never imagined Lance would seize this moment to whisk her away. Roan’s fury mounted at his own complacency.

 

Then Rhetrik dropped a bombshell.

 

“I will declare war on the mages.”

 

“…!”

 

“From this moment on, no mage may set foot in this land. Let them all stay crammed into their tiny island.”

 

“Do you really think Lance will bring her back just because of that?”

 

“We have to make her come back of her own free will.”

 

“Hah. How? Are you going to threaten her again with those despicable acts?”

 

At Roan’s blunt words, Rhetrik clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Despicable Acts….He recalled the cruel words he had last spoken to her:

 

> “From now on you are not allowed to leave this room. If you disobey me again, no matter how precious you are as an Omega, I’ll have your head. And I’ll hang the heads of those you cherish beside yours. Emma, and all your friends you long for, will join you.”

 

He couldn’t forget the look of resentment in her eyes.

 

‘Had she left of her own accord, or did he force her?’

 

The possibility that she might have chosen to go with Lance gnawed at him. It felt as if his heart had been ripped out. Part of him was consumed by anger at her betrayal; she’d left him even after all his warnings. She hadn’t chosen him.

 

‘You’ve taken my heart, and I will find you no matter what. I’ll do whatever it takes to bring you back. And when I do, I’ll lock you away where no one can ever reach you. Until your dying breath, you’ll belong only to me.’

 

Rhetrik’s eyes once again glimmered with a dangerous madness. Across from him, Roan’s sharp gaze gleamed just as fiercely.

 

***

 

Liena, feeling awkward on her first night in an unfamiliar place, tossed and turned all night as endless thoughts flooded her mind. She only managed to fall asleep as dawn approached, waking up much later than usual. When she finally opened her eyes and was greeted by the blazing sun directly in her line of sight, she blinked sleepily and murmured to herself.

 

“Wow… I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

 

Who would have expected to see the blazing sun head-on the moment they opened their eyes? Yet, strangely enough, it didn’t feel blinding or hot, as if some sort of magic was at work.

 

“How fascinating.”

 

It was then that the reality of where she was truly sank in. The floating island in the sky. The mystical land of magicians that seemed to touch the heavens.

 

The thought made her let out a dry chuckle. What kind of life had hers become, to be so spectacularly eventful?

 

Slowly rising from her spot, Liena took a long look around her unfamiliar and peculiar room. Am I really going to live here from now on?

 

If she had it her way, she would return to where her friends were right away. But no one understood better than she did that such a thing was impossible. There was no safe place for her on the surface where she could hide from Rhetrik. Having betrayed and fled from him, facing him again would mean certain death.

 

“Haa… Emma will be alright, won’t she?”

 

As the thoughts that had plagued her all night began creeping back into her mind, Liena shook her head vigorously and stood up. She couldn’t stay stuck in the past; she had to focus on how to survive from now on. Who was she to worry about someone else’s future when her own was so uncertain?

 

“Still, I wish I’d at least been able to see her one last time.”

 

She regretted not checking on Emma’s safety or even saying goodbye. It reminded her of how she’d parted from her friends before, unable to properly say farewell. The thought of it left her with a lingering attachment to that place.

 

As she headed toward the bathroom, intending to wash up, her steps faltered. It felt like just yesterday that she’d been pampered by the gentle hands of maids every day. Come to think of it, in the palace, it was the maids, and in the temple, it was Roan who had bathed her. She couldn’t recall the last time she had bathed herself. A laugh slipped out at the realization.

 

How had I grown so accustomed to being treated like a princess in such a short time? She had finally escaped the place she had so desperately wanted to leave, and yet her heart seemed to linger there.

 

After a while, Liena emerged from the shower and made her way to the dressing room. When she saw what she hadn’t noticed properly the day before, her jaw dropped in surprise at Lance’s thoughtfulness.

 

“What the…? This isn’t a boutique, so why are there so many clothes?!”

 

The dressing room was neatly arranged with outfits and accessories suitable for every occasion and setting. From tidy casual wear to extravagant dresses, everything was lined up in an array of colors. She couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh at the sight.