Six people who tried to save themselves by going into the sewers. They were still on all fours and Athena remained at the very front. Walking on all fours wearing a dress is of course very inconvenient and a little difficult.
It just so happened that they were all wearing dresses, except for Athena's father who was a man among five women.
"Take it easy, my daughter. We can pause and take as many breaths as we can." Athena's father said.
Hearing those words, Athena paused for a moment. Likewise with Lucy, Aubrey, and Victoria who were in the last position.
The culverts were of course not high. Humans who entered the sewers could not sit up straight. Athena remained bent over and she began to feel soreness in her back and neck.
The culverts turned out to be quite long. The six of them had been trying to crawl without a break for about thirty minutes. No wonder if the culverts are very safe, apparently they have to travel quite a long distance if they walk on all fours like that.
"I saw the light!!" Athena exclaimed cheerfully.
Then everyone smiled happily. Especially Lucy who had been complaining of pain in both knees.
"Come on, we have to get out of here." Athena's mother said enthusiastically.
They returned to continue their journey.
They crawled again, but only about five minutes and they were able to get out of the sewers.
A gust of wind hit Athena's face which was covered in sweat. Her hair also looks a little messy and some strands of hair look sticky at the neck.
Athena immediately helped Lucy out, then she helped her mother and father. The girl gasped for breath and chose to rest for a while, because it was her father who wanted to help Victoria out of the sewers.
Victoria's position was indeed at the back, therefore the five of them were still waiting for Victoria. Athena's father had already stretched out his right hand and was trying to see into the dark sewers.
"Your Majesty, are you all right? Take my hand, Your Majesty. I will help you out carefully." Athena's father said.
But the five of them did not hear any response from inside. Athena's father tried to go back inside to hear if there was any movement from Victoria or not. But inside the sewers it was just dark and quiet.
There was no sound of movement like someone crawling.
Athena's mother panicked and she tugged at the back of her husband's shirt. "What did you hear? Where's Queen Victoria? Are you sure she's been behind you the whole time??" Athena's mother asked very frantically.
Athena who heard the commotion, she immediately approached her mother and looked at her father. While Aubrey continued to hold Lucy's hand so she wouldn't panic.
"What do you mean? Where's Queen Victoria?" Athena asked.
Athena's father immediately shook his head. He looked scared and worried. "My daughter, I really have been checking on the queen for a long time. She kept behind me until we stopped for a moment."
"Then after we pause, where is Queen Victoria, father?"
"I don't know... I really didn't notice that she had disappeared." Athena's father said. His voice was shaking. A sign that he had told the truth and was so worried why the queen wasn't behind him.
Athena's mother immediately slumped down. "The queen must be back in the palace. She can't leave her husband and son in there."
Athena nodded slowly. "Then let me follow her. I promised Prince Royce that I would look after his mother and sister. You all stay here, I will return with Queen Victoria."
But the mother immediately held her daughter's hand. "No!!! You can't go!!"
"That's right, you can't go back there, Athena. If you go, who will look after us all? Only you are good at martial arts. I can't even swing a sword." Athena's father said with teary eyes.
"Then what about the queen? She must not be killed, father!!" Athena said angrily, her tears slowly flowing.
"Just let me go!" Athena's father said.
"No, Erick! You can't leave!! No one can leave here!!" Athena's mother said firmly.
Then Erick, Athena's father, he clasped his wife's hands. "Nancy, listen to me, I'll be fine. At the door of the sewer, there will always be soldiers standing there. I'll ask for their protection and take the queen with me. I promise." Eric said.
Nancy burst into tears and kept shaking her head. "No, I won't let you. You can't fight, Erick."
"Mother... we still have to save Queen Victoria. The queen must not be killed, ma'am. And Prince Royce is not officially the heir. If the queen is killed, what will happen to the Diamond Kingdom after the war ends? The kingdom could be ruled by the enemy. If the queen is alive and well, the kingdom is still worthy of standing and we can all get help from other kingdoms. Then I'll just go." Athena said.
Nancy immediately gripped her daughter's arm tightly. "I'd rather not let you go, Athena."
"Then just let me go. I promise you all, I'll come back even if it's hard." Eric said.
Athena immediately hugged her mother and removed her mother's hand from her father's arm. So Erick immediately turned around and went back into the sewers.
***
While in the palace area, the soldier who was still standing in front of the sewer door. He was very surprised when he saw Victoria out of there.
"Your Majesty the queen!! Why did you get out of there? Where are Athena and the others?" asked the soldier nervously. He immediately crouched down and covered Victoria with his large shield.
"I have to meet my husband and my son!! I won't let them fight alone. I can't live without them!!" Victoria said firmly.
The soldier helped Victoria to her feet. "But you must survive, Your Majesty. You are the queen of this kingdom. You must not join the war!!"
Victoria didn't care what the soldier said. She also slapped the hand of the soldier who tried to restrain him from re-entering the palace.
Then Victoria immediately ran to avoid the soldier's grip. She didn't care about the current situation. She just wanted to meet her husband and son.
The inside of the palace was very messy. Lots of things had been broken, and even the walls of the palace had parts that had fallen off or were crushed. Maybe there was a brief detonation from the enemy throwing a small bomb.
Victoria saw her husband up ahead. Arthur was still standing beside King Philip, and Royce was still discussing with Frans.
Victoria smiled happily as soon as she saw them. The woman quickened her pace until finally she was near her husband.
"Arthur!!"
Hearing his wife's voice, Arthur was very surprised and rolled his eyes. "Victoria? What are you doing here? Hurry up, get out of here. You can't be here!! The enemy is trying to increase their army. Many of our soldiers have died."
"I can't calm down at all. I want to continue to be by your side."
"Now is no time for that, Victoria. Think of Lucy!! Did you leave her?"
"She's safe with the others. They're out of the sewers."
"Then why did you come back here??!!!" Arthur asked furiously.
Victoria was still sobbing softly. "I must accompany you." The woman said in a hoarse voice.
"Mother? What are you doing here?" Ask Royce. He just realized that his mother returned to the palace. The look on his face was angry and did not expect that Victoria was reckless to come back to see him and his father.
"Royce, are you all right my son?"
"Mom, there's no time to worry about us. Let us fight and save yourself!!" Royce said firmly.
Victoria shook her head slowly. "I just want to be with you."
Arthur and Royce both looked furious. Of course, today Victoria's behavior was very strange. Shouldn't the queen have saved her?
"Go back after them and stay with Lucy, please..." Royce pleaded earnestly. Sweat was already pouring down his neck and forehead.
"I'm not coming back without my husband and son!!" Victoria said firmly.
Arthur wanted to yell at his wife, but that didn't happen. The man immediately rolled his eyes when something even worse had just happened in front of his eyes.
"MOTHER!!!"
"VICTORIA!! NO!!"
A sharp arrow had shot swiftly and pierced Victoria's neck. So that made the woman immediately fell and Arthur caught his wife's body quickly.
The atmosphere became chaotic again and Frans immediately threw a bomb in front of the palace gate. The queen has been killed, and all the soldiers must take revenge against the enemy.
DUAARRR!!!
The bomb exploded. Makes a lot of enemies instantly killed instantly. But one thing that is most unfortunate, the explosion of the bomb also destroyed the palace gate.
So that the rest of the enemy troops immediately rushed in and did not care about the heat from the former bomb explosion that was felt on the soles of their feet.
"ATTACK!!!" Frans immediately shouted loudly.
Made all the soldiers rush forward as soon as they heard the instructions from Frans.
Arthur and Royce were still grieving. King Philip also helps Arthur to bring Victoria's body to a safe part of the palace.
Today, Royce officially lost his mother. And Arthur had lost his wife. Today, they will never be able to forget that.
*****