An collided against a tree, snapping it in half. His body tumbled a few meters before flipping over and landing back on his feet. Green blood oozed from the corner of his mouth yet he remained unbothered by it.

His eyes flickered as if to search for his enemy. Despite his powerful spiritual awareness, the shackles of the lower plane were severely hampering An’s abilities. He might be a protector, however he was a protector whose hands were tied behind his back and whose leg was crippled.

Planer shackles were an unequal trade. The stronger the existence, the stronger the restraint attached to them. As An was considered exceptional in the higher planes, the lower plane was practically strangling his abilities at all times. Keeping up the fight was already his limit.

An felt something penetrate his spiritual awareness and rush towards him at high speed. He reflexively launched a punch at the object and shattered it on collision. A log or a rock? An wasn’t sure as his body moved immediately after impact.

He traced along the projectile trajectory to its source and found a blurry image in his sights. This was the tenth time now that the creature was sighted by him, yet its abilities were too troublesome. Fluctuations rippled outwards and forced away An’s spiritual awareness creating a small spiritual vacuum in the area.

From An’s perspective, the creature disappeared from sight. Although it disappeared from his spiritual awareness, An’s eyes were locked onto that blurry image. Without regard to his condition, An accelerated and used his body as a projectile.

His eyes caught the blurred figure abruptly move to the side however An had already been through this multiple times now. If he couldn’t figure out a counter against it, his reputation in the higher planes would be wasted.

As the blurred figure dodged him, An condensed his spiritual awareness into a nearly solid form. The streak of fog traced after An leaving a wake like trail behind him. Moments later, the burred creature came into view while screaming.

Without giving it a chance to collect itself, An sprinted at the creature and tackled it to the ground. Without the camouflage to protect it, the creature was barely capable of defending itself. An could tell its cognitive model was focused on spiritual enlightenment and stealth. Using enough strength to bend steel, An twisted the creature’s joints until earth shattering screeches and snaps resounded.

Limbs were twisted out of norm until An finally felt the situation was under control. He took his first good look at the creature under the moonlight. It was humanoid, however its cultivation method altered its body in distinct ways.

Skin heavy in pigment that fluctuated between various colors and eyes small enough to be nearly invisible were its most prominent features. Too much of its body was distorted to determine if it was male or female, however the screeching laugh that started moments later revealed the truth.

“You’re too late Dragon! Hahahaha! I’ve already sent word, he’ll know her location soon enough”

“Oh? You’re talking about this?”

An pulled from his pocket a small turquoise orb riddled with cracks. The pinhole eyes of the woman stretched open at the sight. She could hardly believe what she saw.

“I happened to catch this after you ran off. So this is how you communicate with the higher planes? Fascinating. I’ll be sure to study it later. Now then, how about you tell me about yourself?”

An’s smile was cryptic and his face warped in shape slowly. The cryptic smile turned horrifying as it pulled back to his ears. A mouth full of teeth and serpentine eyes stared into the depths of the creature’s soul. The fear seeped into her heart and the pain faded.

Two hours later, An walked from the forest while dragging a battered body behind him. His eyes, unfathomable. This wasn’t the only agent sent to the lower plane and from what the creature revealed, this was only the first wave to test the water.

An knew at this point that Sol’s cover was likely blown. The danger would only grow faster at this rate. He knew it was time to step up her progress or she would be helpless in the future. Judging by the first wave sent down as scouts, An would have his hands full in the future and wouldn’t be able to protect the girl with only his power. She had to become self reliant to a certain degree.

Prince Elric just finished his debriefing with Queen Blonsall. The woman was proud of her son for taking affirmative action. Even though it was somewhat forceful, it was nothing she couldn’t smooth over with a bit of time and an edict or two. Rather than keep her son too long, Queen Blonsall sent Prince Elric off as soon as she could.

The longer the deed went undone, the more likely things were to fall apart. Despite her concerns, Queen Blonsall actually held a lot of confidence in her son’s plan. She provided the drug that knocked Sol out and she knew the effects of that drug first hand.

As Queen, her control of the imperial harem required her to control the women and make them subservient when needed. With enough uses, Queen Blonsall learned the aftereffects of the drug, and its addictive properties. However she knew best how long it would keep a person unconscious.

More than once or twice she used it to remove anyone who threatened her position. Her thoughts moved onto the next stage as she watched her son leave. It was time for her to perform her duties and whisper sweet nothings into the King’s ear. Lifting herself from her cushion, Queen Blonsall left the Imperial Villa and returned to the Palace in great confidence.

Prince Elric stopped in front of his bedroom and took a deep breath. The image of the throne and its power passed through his mind. The budding guilt he had was crushed before it could sprout and he proceeded to pull a vial from his pocket.

The girl was too young and the Prince held no inclinations leaning that way. In order to prevent him from backing out or failing to perform, he downed a potent aphrodisiac and gave it a moment to kick in. With determined eyes, Prince Elric forced his door open and undressed as he made his way to the bed.

His body grew hot and he felt the bulge on the bed calling for him. Unable to hold himself back, Prince Elric ripped the blanket cover off the girl and then froze in place. It wasn’t her! Panic raced through Prince Elric’s mind, however the girl’s body was revealed in full to him.

The desire was already peaking and that panic was clouded over by lust and excitement. Despite knowing something was wrong and it was critical to follow up with it, Prince Elric’s will lost to his lust. He hopped onto the unconscious girl and fulfilled that burning desire.

The deed was done and despite her unresponsive part in the matter, the maid was killed promptly after. There was no way Prince Elric would risk letting his seed take root in lowborn blood. From start to finish, the maid never knew what happened to her. The bloody sheets were cleaned and Prince Elric issued orders to lock down the villa.

Within her room, Sol finished recounting the night’s events to her brother. The solemn look held on his face was nothing compared to the murderous aura he exuded. One has to know that Sol Reviarra was considered the jewel of their family. Be it him, his father, or his mother, none of them would stand and allow someone to bully Sol.

In fact, when Christopher first met An, he nearly killed the boy on the spot after learning he was staying near Sol so often. Had it not been his father and mother who reassured him that the boy was beneficial to Sol, he would never have let the matter go.

Sol kept an innocent smile despite her heart feeling pinched. Family was family after all. She spent a moment to calm her brother down before discussing the immediate future. She was in no way convinced her substitute would last long.

Considering how far Prince Elric was willing to go this time, the likelihood of her leaving the Villa was abysmally low. When she first escaped, Sol considered running then and there to get distance from the Villa, however doing so was the equivalent of handing her future to the Prince.

Without her there to defend herself from accusations, the Prince could easily falsify whatever he pleased. At that point, no matter what truth Sol knew, the fabricated story would be the truth that she ran away from in everyone else’s eyes.

That being said, Sol reached her arm out and allowed her brother to link with her. He then escorted her from the room. Despite the early hours, the banquet itself was a continuous thing. 72 hours straight was allotted to the banquet.

Participants would select the attending time to match their goal. Often the midnight shift was reserved for the more lacy and risque encounters. Witnessing Sol dressed in her banquet attire leaving her room with arms linked with her brother, the two guards were speechless.

They knew something went horribly wrong, however the situation was beyond what a lowly guard could react to. They left their positions and quickly made a report to their superiors. It didn’t take long for word to reach Prince Elric’s ears. He soon departed for the Villa intending to take Sol with him.

Sol and Christopher entered the banquet much to the surprise of everyone present. The two were too innocent and pure compared to the surroundings. The dichotomy of their situation drew everyone’s attention and yet Sol merely made her way to the snack bar to sate her hunger.