An arrow whizzed by and stuck beside Rhys' head, almost hitting his ear, but the aim was completely precise only hitting the wall behind Rhys.
"Long time no see, Rhys." Leon greeted after his arrow almost caused a melee among everyone who was there.
"Aha, long time no see and you celebrate with a ruckus." Rhys laughed softly pulling out the arrow beside him.
"That's better than the way you welcome guests, no celebration whatsoever. Not very pleasant."
"Haha, I actually prepared a more pleasant welcoming celebration. You'll probably like that better than these little minions." Rhys pointed at the soldiers who were ready to attack if Leon attacked suddenly.
Leon just smiled a simple smile.
Rhys tossed Leon's arrow back to its owner, and Leon swiftly greeted it before it whizzed into Shan's eyeball.
There was no reason, no one understood. There was an instant silence. Leon stared intently at Rhys and vice versa.
"They're talking through hearts?" muttered Mat who was standing at the end of the hall himself. Watching from a distance.
Mat indeed couldn't read Rhys' mind, because it was his master who was above him. Same with Leon's mind which he couldn't conquer either. In terms of race type and level, Leon was still above him because the man was actually like royal blood. Not far below Rhys.
The ones who had the ability to understand each other's heads were Rhys and Leon themselves.
Seen from any angle and using any angle, Leon and Shan's arrival was like surrendering themselves to Rhys. There were many troops there ready to attack them.
Rhys was an even match for Leon, but Mat was an uneven match for Shan. Worst case, both of them would die, best case, one of them would die.
"I could have killed you right here, very easily," Rhys said. "But, that wouldn't be fun because this story would be over."
"Sit down first, like a guest. This is your home too, isn't it?"
Rhys raised his hand ordering all the troops to leave them.
Leon still didn't move when Rhys sat down again. He continued to watch the man's movements and Shan watched around them.
In Leon's innermost heart, he still suffered greatly every time he saw Rhys and reminded him of Elisabeth. Whether it was fate or not, everything that was happening right now sometimes still felt very unreal.
"We're not here to visit, where did you hide Gretta?" Leon asked straight to the point. He would not be able to sit quietly without ascertaining the state of his girl. That Rhys was not a man to be trusted.
Rhys laughed as he covered his mouth, he glanced at Leon sharply. "You're so cruel Leon, how can you discuss another girl after killing my sister?"
"Did you really forget her that quickly?" asked Rhys in sadness.
"Hypocrite face!" said Shan quietly looking disgustedly at Rhys.
Leon didn't give any reaction, in his deepest heart he agreed with Rhys' words. It was his claws that had taken Elisabeth's life and until now the guilt still surrounded him.
"You didn't kill her on purpose, Leon. You never intended to hurt her either. Rhys was the one laughing on top of it all." Shan tried to remind him when he saw Leon's expression that had changed slightly from before.
In every relationship there will definitely be such a thing as a separation that starts from the word meeting. But, there are some breakups that are very painful and unwanted. A breakup that can give you hatred for the person who left you or self-hatred for keeping the relationship that once existed.
Leon is no different, he also has feelings and has deep wounds. Elisabeth's death was only a few days after the death of King Adelmo who had considered him as his own child. He felt that he failed to take care of both of them.
Would Elisabeth hate him as much as he hated himself?
"Leon," Shan called back to wake Leon up.
Leon sighed in submission. "I will never forget her just as you will make sure to remember her." Leon looked back at Rhys sharply. "Blood is thicker than water, Rhys, but you don't know how far it can chase you and drown you."
"Downstairs," Shan whispered in Leon's ear.
Leon quickly advanced towards Rhys and turned into a werewolf to attack the man. Rhys accepted it and Shan ran to find a way to the room where Gretta was locked up.
Mat, who had left the place because of Rhys' direction, realized that the situation in the greeting was no longer conducive. He followed in and saw Rhys arguing with Leon, while Shan was no longer there.
Mat chased after Shan who was obviously now heading towards Gretta's place. Shan had spent the same amount of time as them in the palace. Although he was only a second in command, but he was included in the royal line of trust along with Leon.
Because of that, Shan was quite familiar with the ins and outs of the palace and even the whole of Orlin. He often got assignments at the border and dealt with the commoners there. So, finding the dungeon even if it was a private royal room was not difficult for him either.
As soon as he saw the two guards standing guard in front of the room, Shan immediately attacked them. He didn't have much time, he had to move fast.
He took down one guard, leaving the other one ready to face him. They looked at each other.
With a serious look, Shan moved to attack the guard in front of him.
"As expected, Leon's men never disappoint." Mat came at the perfect time for him. Stopping Shan's steps.
Mat advanced towards the two men's fight, the guard who was on guard earlier retreated as Mat walked in front of him.
Unexpectedly, Mat opened the door of the room and showed Gretta's face inside who was lying weakly.
"Come in, pick her up and take her away," he said.