A red-faced Sevianna boiled with anger as she stood in the same spot for half a day. She was furious at Adounis' stubbornness, but more than that, she was enraged that he had successfully deceived her!
'That kiss was too unfair!'
She only managed to calm herself when the sun began to visibly set. Finally, she took her first step from her spot and noticed a presence to her right.
It was Gareth.
He had actually left his personal guard behind! Now, Sevianna was even more concerned.
Yet her thoughts were distracted by Gareth's strange appearance. His expression was indifferent, but his face, ears, and neck were all flushed a deep shade of red. His eyes darted around, as though he was desperately avoiding looking at her.
"What?" Sevianna was like an erupting volcano. Somehow, she felt that even the most trivial things could set her off at that moment.
Gareth's face twitched slightly. He lowered his head and glanced at the ground. "Miss... Please change your clothes..."
Only then did Sevianna notice her outfit. That's right—she had just gotten out of bed and had intentionally dressed this way to tease Adounis. 'Even the beauty trap didn't work!'
Sevianna stomped toward her room and slammed the door, creating a beautiful masterpiece of cracks in the walls.
A minute later, she opened it with a calmer, but colder expression. Unfortunately, the door could no longer withstand her strength. It simply gave up, falling off its hinges and landing on the floor.
Sevianna merely gave it a glance.
She had changed into the same dress she had worn when she first met Adounis. Don't ask her why, but she suddenly felt the need for it. With purpose, she strode toward the protective force field that surrounded the entire castle, now visible since it had merged with the sealing spell.
Gareth followed behind her.
She observed the thin, transparent wall, her brows furrowing in response. Adounis had actually created the highest grade of sealing spell! There were even modifications on it that she couldn't make sense of. Her teeth sank into her lip in frustration. She found nothing in Sevianna's memories that could be of any help. Though she could probably break it with brute force, that would require the power of her soul, not Sevianna's.
The moment she broke it, the world would surely cast her out!
Sevianna bit her lip again and murmured all manner of curses under her breath. Left with no other choice, she resigned herself to waiting for Lily. So, she crossed her legs and sat down, venting her frustration on the poor weeds beneath her.
Lily's existence was unique. Her soul had merged with Sevianna's, allowing her to move freely without fear of being discovered by the world. She was an invisible presence, possessing not only Sevianna's memories but also some of her power.
Gareth looked on helplessly. He had been tasked by his master to keep an eye on Sevianna—make sure she was well-fed, ensure she didn't stay up too late, and prevent her from escaping. Honestly, he felt like he had been downgraded to being a nanny.
He noticed that the moon had climbed halfway up the sky, and the temperature outside was dropping. Even though he knew fallen angels had a higher resistance to sickness, he was still worried. If his master found out he let Sevianna stay outside, Gareth imagined he'd have a sword at his neck in no time.
"Miss, please come back inside. It's cold."
Sevianna didn't move. She didn't even acknowledge his presence. It was as if the air itself was speaking instead.
Gareth wanted to cry. After a moment, he thought better of it and tried using his master's name. "His Highness will be worried if you stay out in the cold." His words finally got a reaction—though it was a negative one.
Sevianna abruptly turned her head and glared menacingly at Gareth—making him shrink his neck and step back in fear. But his words worked. Sevianna grudgingly stood up and glanced at the dark sky before heading towards her room.
Gareth did not leave but stayed outside the door, acting as if he was guarding an important treasure. He was a loyal man to the prince, so despite his complaints about the job, he faithfully did his best. Besides, this was the future madam!
For the next three days, Sevianna's fear rose to the point that she almost wanted to destroy the castle to vent her anger. But Sevianna's personality shackled her to keep quiet so she emitted killing intent instead. She was about to go insane! Added to this fact was that she had taken her habit from the last life. She couldn't keep her heart from getting restless if she didn't see him after three days.
On the early morning of the third day, Sevianna was about to bore holes in the sky as she stared at it as if her life depended on it. In a way, it did. Her knuckles had turned white as drops of blood seeped through. She had hurt herself, but she barely noticed the pain.
Gareth was getting anxious as well.
But his worries weren't directed toward his master—they were to the girl who looked like she was about to kill everyone in anger. She was a fallen angel, ah! Only the Demon King and Prince Adounis can stop her if she went berserk! Even if all of them were to go up against her, he was sure they wouldn't even get to touch a hair before their heads flew off their bodies.
Sevianna was still wearing the same dress. She had not slept or eaten anything in the past few days. But that was fine, since as a fallen angel, she could go without sleep or food for a month before finally feeling fatigue or hunger. Her mind was spinning in circles—sometimes optimistic, but most of the time, pessimistic.
It was almost noon, yet there was still no sign of Lily. Sevianna was about to cry. Tears had already begun to form in the corners of her eyes, and her heart had not stopped racing in fear.
BANG!
A sudden smack made Sevianna and Gareth abruptly look up. There, a few feet above the trees, was Lily, floating!
Sevianna was so happy that her eyes sparkled as a tear fell from her eye. But she quickly wiped it away.
'Lily! Break the seal!!!'
Sevianna had not forgotten that she was not allowed to act out of character, so she could only scream her order through telepathy. However, her eyes did not hide the fear in her heart.
Lily had banged her head against the protective force field. She was so dizzy from the impact that she could not process Sevianna's orders right away. Then, when she stabilized, she saw the reason for her terrible headache—though it was figurative, as she had a stuffed teddy bear body—and realized Sevianna's desperate order.
She immediately condensed power around her body, drawing it from Sevianna's soul, and flew a few feet back before throwing herself towards the force field again.
Crash!
The force field shattered into thin-looking pieces and vanished after floating for about three seconds.
Lily had used brute strength to forcefully break the force field.
Gareth's eyes almost popped out. What had he just seen? He pinched himself stealthily and jerked at the pain.
'Holy crap, I'm not dreaming!'
He had actually seen a flying teddy bear break his master's highest-leveled protective force field and seal! He froze, his mouth hanging open.
Lily didn't wait to be instructed and immediately flew into Sevianna's embrace.
Sevianna stretched her wings as far as she could, and with her red glowing eyes, she pushed off the ground. Because of the force, the air turned into blades that cut through the grass in the vicinity, while Gareth was pushed back a few steps.
When he looked up, he found a huge crater where Sevianna had once been standing.
'How powerful!'
But that wasn't his priority.
'She really did it! She escaped!'
Gareth, who had thought his mission was merely babysitting, could not believe that he was suddenly elevated to a proper guard. But he hadn't taken his job seriously when she was already miles away!
He suddenly felt the cold blade against his neck...
Sevianna was flying madly toward the borders while listening to Lily's explanation. Her face grew dimmer and dimmer as she listened to Lily's detailed report. The more she listened, the gloomier her expression became. She stared at the horizon, a raging flame burning in her eyes.
She flew even faster.
Back when Adounis had stolen a kiss from Sevianna, he took the chance to escape when he saw her in a daze. He had to admit that he gained quite a lot from their little lover's quarrel—he got her indirect confession and a kiss to boot. His restless heart may not have been at ease, but he was now willing to confront whoever was at the border after getting his fill.
When he arrived back at the main castle, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, some generals, and a few marshals had already exposed their wings, ready to fly at a moment's notice. The view from above this scene was terrifying. It was like looking down into a dark abyss, with a sea of devils lined up in perfect order, their grim faces sending shivers down the spine.
They were soldiers straight out of hell.
Adounis walked up to his father who was standing at the castle's entrance. He could not come even if he wanted to. As the Demon King of over millions of devils in the world, he had to wait in the main castle to act as the last boss. Even though his heart craved the craziness in the battlefield, he couldn't act rashly.
The Demon King patted his son's shoulder lightly and nodded. He would love to say encouraging words but he didn't know what.
Adounis didn't really care what his father was thinking. After getting his father's confirmation, he turned back to the armed devils. He narrowed his eyes for a moment before closing them completely.
His black, featherless wings abruptly appeared and disturbed the air in the surroundings. They were pitch black, with horns sticking out on the bent part. His wings were noticeably darker than the rest, almost appearing devoid of light reflections.
Adounis flew over the devils first and stopped mid-flight. He swept his cold gaze over the large army and hoped that they would be enough.
"Let's go."
No battle cries were necessary, for the devils themselves hungered for war. Silent for years, now they stood ready, their hearts aflame with the desire to conquer the world. They would gladly place their life on the line for the glory of their race... that or they just craved bloodbath. It was rare for an in-between.
Thousands of wings beat the air, causing an influx of disturbance to the terrain. Thankfully, they had built a flight zone for this sort of thing using the hardest rock as its base. Otherwise, how many varying sizes of craters would have been left behind?
Adounis led the army of devils to the border. While he flew, flashes of images of Sevianna sitting on the bed of flowers and singing the familiar song appeared in his head. He smiled softly at it when suddenly it shifted.
There was a girl on the center of a platform holding a strange instrument and wearing strange clothes. She focused all her attention on her singing while tapping her foot to the beat and "playing" the strange instrument. Surprisingly, the song had a familiar rhythm to the one Sevianna had hummed.
Adounis' eyes were filled with confusion. He was even more confused when the girl finally opened her eyes as the song ended. She was in a daze, with her cheeks tinged with a shade of red. Why did he feel as if this girl's eyes looked just like Sevianna's?
He compared the girl's singing to Sevianna's humming and found that they were both singing the same song and wearing the same expressions—as if they were madly in love.
Adounis' heart skipped a beat. He could not help but think that he was missing something incredibly important. He tried to grasp hold of it, but it seemed to slip off his mind.