Sylvia trembled. They were really here. She looked up through her long lashes, only opening her eye like a slit.

She could see the old men looking at her as if she was a thing of marvel. One checked her pulse. One checked her hair. They were obsessed with her.

​​

Standing behind them was the King and to Sylvia's disappointment, Mikel was nowhere to be seen.

It's fine. Everything is fine. It will be fine. She told herself and waited.

After they superficially inspected her a bit, they nodded at each other. The prison cell was eerily silent and no one spoke anything.

One of the old men then raised his hand and muttered something, Sylvia's cuffs instantly shattering.

Her body fell down on the ground with a thud, more pain screaming through her nerves.

But she didn't care. This was in fact a pain that she welcomed. They had freed her! That could only mean she was going to be rescued soon!

Her heart pounded loudly and though her body was a husk, she was alive and alert inside.

Images of her carriage being stopped on the way and an intense battle scene swept across her brain.

She could see Mikel carrying her away and then later kissing her and apologizing to her.

Of course, she was planning on forgiving him. It was not his fault that things had come to this.

Engrossed in her own world, Sylvia waited. She waited and waited and watched the old men but no one seemed to be moving.

They whispered something to each other that she was not able to hear and finally after a few minutes, one started covering the prison floor or at least a part of it with some sort of white powder.

Huh? What are they doing? Sylvia wondered. She was nervous. She knew that she had to be absolutely alert and ready today.

As she was watching…

"Should we do a slave bond before the teleportation circle?" Someone else commented, breaking the silence and also along with it… shattering all of Sylvia's hope.

"Tele… Teleportation circle? Not ca… carriage?" Her eyes widened as the words slowly sunk into her brain.

No… If there was no carriage… then how could she escape…

Her heart crumbled instantly and the new seedling of hope that had just grown was squashed.

But swirling in her misery, she didn't realize that she had mouthed the words out loud instead of just thinking it.

"What did you say, honey?" One of the old men squatted on the floor, lifting her chin with his finger.

"Carriage?" he narrowed his eyes, looking at her with clear and distinct disdain.

He saw the despair on her face and immediately read her like an open notebook. "Oh! Baha ha ha ha! Were you planning to escape during the carriage ride?"

Everyone else joined in and the bunch of elders laughed at her, their ringing laughter stabbing her like cold steel.

"Oh. Ha ha. No. No. No, my dear. It is not going to be that simple. Let me tell you what is going to happen."

"You will be teleported out of here. Right here from this prison. You will be sealed in another cell, except this one will be more comfortable and better."

"You will have food everyday. You will get to sleep. But the rest of your life will be in a room."

"We will even help you become stronger. You will live a long and healthy life, perhaps a longer life than Lucious here."

He pointed at the King who was simply standing in a corner, his head bowed down as if he was a security guard.

"But honey… You now belong to the Mage Council and there is no escape. The sooner you learn to accept this, the better things will be for you."

The man's words were like venom that spread through Sylvia's body. She shuddered and her brain turned blank.

That's it. It was all over and she knew it. It was really all over.

Hmmm… One of the other elders looked at her, observing her reactions. "I think its better we do a slave bond first." He muttered.

"I agree." Someone else said.

She watched as one of the elders stepped forward and started muttering something. She watched him being enveloped by a strong aura.

A slave contract huh? She smiled, a bitter smile dancing on her lips. For some reason, this time she knew that it was going to be a permanent one.

But she no longer cared… She was done.

The aura around the man became stronger and stronger and as he approached her to touch her hand to complete the bond, suddenly the bright luminous aura completely disappeared.

Sylvia did not react as she had no idea what was happening. The others, however, had weird expressions on their faces.

"What happened?"

"The spell failed?"

"How could it be?"

Did something not work? Sylvia's eyes tiredly flitted around the room, observing the look on their faces.

Her vision was blurry and her throat was parched. She didn't even know if she was imagining things.

But one thing was certain. The atmosphere in the prison had suddenly changed and there was fear and panic, and not just her own.

All the elders were standing on their feet, their eyes alertly flickering. "What is happening?"

"Marlow, finish the teleportation circle quickly. Let's first take her out of here."

Sylvia felt someone drag her body and she didn't even struggle. She didn't see a point in it anymore.

However, as she was shoved aside to the center of the circle, she suddenly saw a familiar silhouette.

Not that of Priscella… Not that of Theo… Not that of Leol… and not even that of Mikel...

Standing in front of her was a big snow white wolf with mysterious blue runes covering its body.

Sylvia raised her hand to fondly touch the wolf. "Are you here to send me off, darling?" She muttered, half-conscious and half-not.

But unexpectedly… the wolf answered her back…

"NO. I am here to take you with me."