Aimlessly, a huge sum of blood oozed out of Ritha's waist due to the deep wound and intensity of the pain was brutal for her but instead of falling down on the ground, she held the collar of masked man before she could be stabbed for the third time.

The dagger which was about to pierce Ritha's wound, stopped in midway while Luca's breaths were caught in his throat. He was struggling hard to get out of Ritha's grasp but she was adamant to make him her shield.

She knew that at this time of adversity, where she was deeply injured, fighting with armed foes would be a wrong move. She played smartly and instead of counter attacking, she opted for defense.

Leaving Luca's collar, she held his left hand and spun him with a force. Trapping his neck between her arms, she used her free hand to draw out the sword from waistband. In the process, her hands slightly brushed the wound making her flinch in pain.

Instead of displaying her pain, Ritha brought that sword near Luca's chest and threatened masked ladies (Balbina and Aelia) to not move even an inch when they both tried to come near her. Ritha walked backwards dragging Luca in the process and her motive was to move towards down hallways where ample of soldiers were present.

Balbina's body turned immobile seeing her beloved's life in danger while her dagger fell down when her shivering hands unclenched. She wanted to get her Luca out of Ritha's grip and stab her to death but alas! Only if our thoughts could turn true by imagination!

'No! No! This can't be happening! We would be busted if this lady escapes alive. '

While Balbina was soaked in worry of her lover, Aelia was fast enough to pick up Balbina's dagger and forcefully made her hold it. She glared at Balbina in warning to not let her grip lose. She whispered encouraging words in her ears to boost her confidence. Closing her eyes, Balbina nodded and calmed herself because she knew that this was not the time to fuel negativity.

After nodding in agreement, they both moved towards Rithambara who was getting weaker by each passing second due to loss of severe amount of blood. On top of it, Luca's weight and resistance was making it even harder.

Ritha once again warned them to not come near but Aelia was already close to her and planned to stab before she could kill Luca. Ritha, who had fought with trained warriors, knew Aelia's mindset and instead of stabbing Luca, she jabbed Aelia with her sword. Aelia was so engrossed in the plan that she didn't know when sword perforated her skin.

Her eyes rolled back because of the pain and a screech left from her throat when Ritha twisted sword in a painful manner. The throbbing of the wound was too much for her old form to take but she tried her best to separate the sword from her body

She cupped Ritha's hand and tried to push it away but in vain!

Her eyelids dropped down when the final twist ruptured her veins and she collapsed down on the ground. Her lifeless body fell near Ritha's legs and got covered in the blanket of blood. Her own wound was leaking blood covering her black cloak and legs while Ritha's blood painted her face.

Balbina cupped her forehead in shock while her eyes started flowing.

'Aelia is dead! Aelia is dead! "

Even before she could register this fact, she heard Luca's panting whose face was red due to lack of oxygen supply. She wanted to scream in anger but couldn't! Seeing Luca in so much pain, her mind couldn't register what to do next but she knew that she had to do something or else, along with Aelia, she would lose her lover also.

She knew that going near Rithambara was futile because she could either stab her or Luca. So, she opted for the wise option and threw her dagger with full force towards Ritha which stuck her hands.

Her injured waist was already giving her a hard time while this another hand injury made her grip lose on Luca who was fast enough to break free from her clutches.

Balbina picked up Aelia's dagger and started moving towards Rithambara but Luca screamed , "No! First do something with dead body of her or else soldiers would recognise it! "

Gasping in shock at the fact, Balbina hurriedly went towards Aelia's dead body and stabbed her face innumerable times which made it beyond recognizition. She removed her black cloak and sliced her other body parts.

Meanwhile, Luca tried to fight with Ritha single handedly. He tried to snatch her small sword but Ritha beat him into it and pinned him to the nearby wall. He managed to elbow Ritha right on her wounded spot which was the last thread to Ritha's resentment.

Her mind went numb with the pain and her knees went weak causing her to fall down like a broken glass. She tried her best to keep her eyes open but at the end, she failed and let her drowsiness carry her in a far land.

The lovers sighed a heave of relief which was short lived when they felt commotion echoing in the hallways. Bedazzled, they looked at each other and ran as far as there legs could carry them.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

It seemed like Goddess of irony was playing her sweet sour game. At one place, joy was bustling and at other, death game was heaving up the air.

Since Aurelius was restless after the news, he personally went down amidst the celebration to call Augustus. Augustus was dancing with few ladies when Aurelius approached him. He was dressed differently and was center of attraction, therefore Aurelius didn't face difficulty in spotting him.

He came closer to him and instead of beating around the bush, he whispered in Augustus's ears, "Britain has removed their army from Mare Nostrum. "

Now, this was something which struck like a thunderbolt in his mind.

'Britain has removed their army?'

He knew the seriousness of the matter and henceforth, excusing himself from ladies, Augustus followed his friend inside the palace. This matter wasn't something which they could discuss in public. Therefore, without even uttering a single word, they chose to discuss it in private.

To avoid chaos of the celebration going on in the ball room, they took the route of empty hallway which wasn't empty as they predicted.

Augustus and Aurelius stopped in their tracks seeing a dead body. While Aurelius went near the dead body which was tarnished badly, Augustus's eyes fell on Ritha's unconscious body in pool of blood

The scene infront of him shook his heart with extreme terror anticipating the worst. Throwing away his armour, he ran like a maniac towards his love.