"Arion!"
Hana yelled in panic as she almost ran towards Arion if Eric hadn't grabbed her hand to stop her. Hana ould feel her brother's grip shaking as much as their bodies were shaking right now.
"How could they be with you?" Eric hissed angrily. His eyes were glued to Arion who was in an unconscious state inside the ball of electricity. Either asleep or unconscious.
"What are you doing with our nanny!" Noam shouted angrily as he stepped forward with an angry stomp. His hand holding the sword was clenched tightly.
Fortunately, Zane stopped his friend from acting rashly, even though he was also angry at the moment.
Dean shrugged indifferently, "I don't know. Maybe they're dead, maybe they're alive. Who knows?" He said with a wide smile.
The anger on their faces didn't bother him, he even enjoyed it. Playing with people's emotions was his hobby.
"Where are they?" Zane asked calmly, even though he was holding himself back from getting carried away.
Dean's smile widened, "Try guess."
Rose clicked her tongue impatiently, "It's no use. We won't get any information from him."
Her eyes focused on Kalyca, sleeping peacefully in their captivity. Were the babies so drugged that they felt no danger around them?
Then she sensed something strange. The magic ball holding the babies was of the lightning type. Most people who possessed lightning magic were from the Gewitter Kingdom.
Rose's eyes widened as she realized something. She quickly looked at the person who had created the lightning ball. Although the person's condition was very messy, with several wounds on his body, there was no mistaking that she was a servant of the Gewitter Kingdom.
Rose's gaze sharpened, "Hey, the magic orb that trapped the babies was created with lightning magic, and the person who created it was wearing the uniform of a Gewitter servant." She whispered to her friends, hoping they would realize what she meant.
They gave her a quick glance before paying attention to what she meant. Instantly, they gasped as they realized the same thing.
"What the hell..." Eric muttered in disbelief. They had a traitor among the palace servants?
Before he could say anything else, Hana's hesitant voice interrupted him, "Emily?"
They could see Hana step forward with a look of disbelief. Eric quickly pulled his sister to stop her.
"Why are you on the side of the enemy?" Hana asked, her voice shaking. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Although she didn't know her very well, Hana remembered Emily. She was one of the maids who had looked after her several times when their mother was unable to look after them and they were looked after by Nova.
At that time, Natalie was sick from exhaustion. So it was mostly Nova who took care of the twins at that time, because Arsen was very busy with work and occasionally took care of his sick wife. They were still very young, about 3 to 4 years old.
At that time, Eric really didn't want to be taken care of or talked to by any other servant than Nova. So Nova had a bit of trouble calming Eric down when he started to get upset.
Emily was one of the many maids whose age Nova approached. They weren't very close, but they weren't strangers either.
At that time, Emily already had grandchildren close to the twins' age, so she was still an expert in taking care of small children. That's why Emily offered to take care of Hana while Nova calmed Eric down.
Hana was surprised because Emily was very gentle and loving with her, just like Nova. That's why Hana was happy to be taken care of by her. They had a great time together.
But she was transferred so that her working hours would end up being shorter, Emily asked for it herself. The reason was that her daughter was sick a lot and there was no one to take care of her granddaughter. So she had to go home early and take care of both of them.
Hana felt sad at first, but with time she got over it. After all, she always had Natalie and Nova with her, so she was never lonely.
Even though the memory of Emily was weak for her, she never really forgot her and the time they spent together. As Emily moved on to duties unrelated to the twins, Hana rarely saw her.
But she hadn't expected their meeting after all this time to be in different camps. It made Hana's heart ache to think against her.
Emily looked straight at Hana. There was no sign of regret on her face, "I have my own priorities, Princess."
Eric frowned, "What do you mean? Don't make so many excuses! A traitor is still a traitor!" He said coldly and sharply.
Hana ignored her brother's words as she tried to convince Emily, "Please, Emily. Give Arion and the others back to us. Please." She pleaded sadly.
She could not fight against Emily. It felt so wrong. But she didn't want Arion to be held captive by them anymore. She wanted her little brother back.
Emily was silent for a moment, but then a spark of electricity appeared in her right hand that was extended towards them, "I apologize."
Eris gasped before yelling, "Dodge!"
A huge explosion hit the spot where the children had been standing. Luckily, they managed to dodge the lightning strike in time.
Noam clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Absolutely no restraint even on the children. Well done."
Rose snorted as she straightened, "What did you expect? Their goal is to kill us. Why would they hold back?"
Zane sighed, "Focus."
Hana jumped back to her feet, "Emily!"
Eric pulled his sister's hand, "It's no use, Hana! She's with the enemy!"
Hana tried to protest, "But--"
Eric grabbed Hana's right shoulder as he glared at his sister, "Whatever the reason, her current existence threatens our lives and Arion's. We can't go soft on her just because you know her!"
Hana fell silent. She looked down and bit her lip, feeling frustrated and helpless. She felt indecisive about which option to choose.
Dean clapped his hands happily, "That was a touching reunion, Emily."
Emily ignored him as she glared at him sharply, "Get your affairs in order. Don't you dare break our agreement."
Dean chuckled, "Of course we won't forget."
He turned to his two companions who had been kind enough to wait for them to finish their conversation, especially the grumpy Herris.
Dean smiled broadly, "Have fun, Herris, Hans."
Hans smiled back broadly, "My pleasure."
Herris growled as he pushed Hans out of the way, "Move! They're mine!" he hissed angrily, not accepting that his prey would be taken by Hans. It seemed that he was still affected by Eric's provocative words.
Hans snorted before rolling his eyes in boredom, "Then move faster."
The five children slowly retreated as the two intruders approached them with wide smiles and angry growls.
"This is bad." Zane whispered seriously as he watched the two adults closely.
Rose glanced at Hana who was still shaken. She didn't understand what kind of relationship Hana had with the servant named Emily. But she knew that Hana was in no condition to fight right now.
"Are you three capable of facing both intruders at the same time?" Rose asked the three boys seriously.
They looked at each other, "I'd be lying if I said we could even defeat them easily," Noam muttered sourly. He didn't like being told of his weakness.
"Then let's split into two teams. Eric and Noam, you fight the big guy. Zane and I will take care of the other guy. It looks like the guy named Dean and the servant aren't interested in fighting." Rose said firmly, not wanting anyone to protest her.
Hana frowned, "Wait! What about me? I told you I can help!" Her protesting words stopped immediately when Rose gave her a sharp look.
"Are you kidding me? In your current state, you'll only get in the way. Your hesitation will come back to haunt us," She said sarcastically and mercilessly. Not hiding a hint of his sarcastic tone.
Hana gasped before falling back into silence. Rose was right. In her confused and indecisive state, she would only hinder them.
Eric snorted at Rose's cruel words to Hana but said nothing. A part of him actually agreed with Rose's words, "Hana, stay behind."
Before Hana could protest again, Eric immediately looked into the golden eyes that were very similar to hers. He said seriously, "Decide what your heart wants. Us or her."
Hana bit her lip before nodding hesitantly. She positioned herself behind her friends, not wanting to get in their way.
Eric prepared his sword. His face looked very cold and serious, "Don't let anyone die".
Noam laughed out loud. He grinned, "Not going to and not in the mood!"
Zane smiled quietly. At least they would fight together, "We came in fives. So we'll go home in fives."
Rose prepared her bow. Her eyes stared intently at her target, "Finish it quickly."
Hana gripped the bow tightly in her hand. Her golden eyes looked at the four of them as they prepared to attack, not caring that they were many times smaller than the enemy.
Hana looked down sadly, "What am I going to do?"