The cold breeze of the night couldn't compare to the chilly aura Alexander was letting out as he waited patiently for Eleanora to come to him willingly.
But no matter how many seconds passed by, all of them seem to stay frozen at the same position till Noah tried to get up but failed because of his buttock pain.
Even before he could stand on his feet, he fell on his butt again with a loud thud and his face turned pale.
"…"
"…"
Noah's face instantly flushed red in embarrassment as everyone turned their attention on him, who failed to get up and then suddenly he was pulled up by someone harshly.
But to his surprise, it was his own father who pulled him up and looked at him coldly.
"You brat… Just let me reach home today and I swear I will teach you an unforgettable lesson!"
Duke Hertz gritted his teeth as he glared at his son on his embrace and Noah buried his face into his father's chest to hide his red cheeks.
How dare this immortal man to rebuke him like this?
He is the master of the magic tower, the only descendant of the ancient dragon blood of Valentino Empire, the great mortal who has been living for centuries.
But today he fell on his butt twice, that too in front of everyone!
And now he even got scolded!
Just how embarrassing it was?
His dignity has shattered into millions of pieces!
Previously Duke Hertz wanted to spank his son's buttock as soon as he finds him as his sudden disappearance created a mess in the duchy.
His wife fainted due to crying too much as she discovered that he was not in his room.
Later he came to know that Eleanora was also missing and they thought someone must have kidnapped them.
Otherwise how can two of them disappear all of a sudden at the same time?
Alexander had almost reached Raven duchy to confront Duke Raven but luckily he suddenly changed his rout and now they found them in this carriage.
Noah's magic is not the same as Duke Hertz and more powerful than his father's, thus Kieran can't detect him by sensing his magic powers.
But Alexander and Eleanora share the same kind of magic; thus he can easily detect her at some closer distance.
So as soon as he sensed her magical powers, he immediately changed his rout and finally found her in the carriage… with the crown prince.
Kieran sighed as he watched his son to pressed his lips together tightly to control his sobs but his grey eyes were already teary.
Seeing this sight of him, he couldn't rebuke him further and instead, he stroked his dark purple hair gently.
'He must have fallen down quiet hard.'
Kieran shook his head before he turned toward Alexander, whose face was turning dark in every passing second.
"I am leaving first then… take care."
He spoke as he pressed Alexander's shoulder and gave Liana a suspicious last glance as he knew his friend knows how to handle things better.
Then he get into his horse and Noah stick to his father like a gum as he couldn't sit because of the pain on his buttocks.
'Damn you, Crown Prince!'
'I will take my revenge on you for sure!'
Noah pouted angrily as he cursed Cathain on his mind and started to feel sleepy as Kieran's embrace felt warm to him.
He slowly closed his eyes as he fell asleep, not noticing the other person's cold eyes turning soft before his thin lips curved up into a small smile while holding him more protectively.
…
In Dalton Duchy~
Alexander entered the duchy with long strides while carrying Eleanora on his arms with a frown on his face.
Cathain, Dominic and Liana were following him from behind quietly as they didn't wanted to provoke the man before them anymore.
Even Eleanora silently stayed in her father's arm as she still recall his intense gaze.
She was so horrified that she had willingly pushed Cathain in the carriage and went to her father willingly with a pitiful face.
Sometimes you need to ditch your friend to save yourself first, so that you can save them later.
And it was not the first time that she has ditched him.
She would always get away by acting cute to her father and let Cathain face her father's fury for taking her out in the middle of the night.
So Eleanora didn't felt bad for Cathain at all as she also knows he is an expert in getting away from her father's wrath.
'Sorry, Cath...but you can at least do this for your beautiful ex girlfriend-'
But as soon as they reached the hall room, her thoughts suddenly paused and she became surprised to see a young woman crying painfully while other maids were trying to calm her down.
And as the woman finally heard the loud footsteps, she impatiently looked up before running towards her with a wide smile.
"MY LADY!!"
~Your Majesty!!~
Eleanora became shocked all of a sudden as the lady approached her and she started to hear some weird voices ringing in her mind again.
~I will always be with you, My lady~
~R…un… my…l…lady~
~S-She…be-betrayed…y…you~
And then a shiver run down Eleanora's sprain as a horrified image suddenly flashed in her mind.
She was so shocked that she couldn't even hear what this lady before her was saying.
All she could see was this lady's head laying on the ground with her eyes wide open, staring straight in to her eyes just like now.
The same concerned eyes…
"My lady? What happen?"
~My Majesty? Are you okay?~
Eleanora was trying her best to response, but she couldn't.
Then she could also feel someone shaking her, it was that same silver haired man; her father of this world.
But his image seems to overlap with someone else who looked a little weak, messy hair, and older than the person before her.
"ELEANORA!! WHAT HAPPENED?!"
~Papa is sorry, Elle… Papa couldn't save you~
"SAY SOMETHING!!!"
~Papa has always loved you princess!~
"ELEANORA, WAKE UP!!! ELEANORA!!!"
~Please remember this always…~
"ELLEE!!!"
Eleanora's trembling hands slowly rose up to cover her ears as everything seemed too noisy to her.
Everyone was shaking her, shouting at her as they asked what happened and this made her feel sicker as she felt suffocated.
Where she watched Cathain's face turning pale as his body seem to be tremble with fear.
He couldn't approach her and just stood there still, staring right into her eyes like he was trying to deny something but couldn't.
Her heart was paining a lot, like someone was clenching it tightly and she coughed violently to breathe.
Where the different voice started to ring in her mind which she couldn't recognize.
~Long live the moon of our empire!!~
~Empress Eleanora Cath...~
'STOP THINKING!!!'
But then suddenly her mind seems to stop hearing noises and a soothing voice calmed down her mind with a loud reminder to stop thinking
And surprisingly those voice stopped ringing in her mind.
'Calm down… Take a deep breath…'
'Inhale…exhales… everything is fine…'
Her mind seems to listen to that voice and she could feel her breathing getting stable.
She took a few deep breaths as Liana instructed her to do and everyone stared at her with amusement.
Liana was stroking Eleanora's hair gently as she spoke in her mind.
And like every other time, she succeeded this time too.
'Now… stop thinking about everything else…'
Liana thought in her mind and those same words echoed in Eleanora's mind as she completely calmed down this time.
'You are feeling sleepy… aren't you?'
Liana again thought and Eleanora's mind answered.
'Y-Yeah… I am feeling sleepy. I need to sleep. I am feeling sleepy.'
Eleanora didn't knew what was happening but her eyelids felt so heavy like she hasn't slept for years and drifted into deep sleep.
As her breathing became normal, Liana finally opened her eyes as she stopped stroking Eleanora's hair and then she finally felt everyone's gaze on her.
She instantly turned stiff as she lowered her gaze in fear.
Her body started to shiver as she bit her lower lip nervously.
'Crap! Will they… kill me now?'
.
.
.
[A/N: Liana's power doesn't allow her to listen to someone's thinking but she knows that when she controls someone's mind, they listen to whatever she says and guesses a close answer.
She knows that whatever she is saying, Eleanora's mind agrees with it and this is how she calms her down.]