As soon as she saw the guard pull the nullifying handcuffs out of his leather pouch, the viscountess relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. If the spell had not acted in time or if just one thing had gone wrong, the outcome could have been very different.
That night she had been working late due to all the paperwork that had accumulated over the week. Although earlier she had felt the urge to throw all those documents in the trash and go to sleep, she now considered herself very lucky. Had she not stayed up late because of work, she might not have been able to spot the intruder until it was too late.
At first, she had thought the intruder was a thief who had simply bitten off more than he could chew. So she planned to inform the guards to deal with him quickly and then she would go to sleep. However, that was a perfect opportunity to test the artifact's power, so she changed her mind.
