Six figures were walking through the forest. They were members of the Blue Rose Syndicate. All of them had already taken off their masks or whatever covered their faces.

As for the remaining member of the team, she was on Adrian’s arms, literally being princess carried by the youth.

“Let me go.” Irene said with a straight face. “I can walk on my own.”

Adrian slid the hand under her legs to one of her thighs lightly fondled it. “No, my princess.” The charm of his voice intensified. “I am an opportunist. How can I let go now that I got ahold of you?”

She remained silent and rested her head on his safe shoulder.

Ley and Elise got butterfly in their stomach while the gents distanced themselves from the ‘lovebirds’, giving them some space.

Halseed, who was supposedly the oldest in the team, turned to Adrian. “What spell was it? We could not sense anything, but before we knew it- the vice commander, the greatest variable in our plan was already taken out. Looking at her state…” He gave Irene a glance. “It took a great toll on her as well.”

“Nothing special.” Adrian answered. “She just pushed the arrow one second into the future.”

A few hours earlier.

“Can you sense him?” Adrian asked.

“The first carriage. Right at the centre.” She said with indifference.

The convoy was about half a kilometre away. The road was straight. Adrian was using his <Absence> essence and Irene froze her very presence.

He took the only arrow he had with him and nocked it on the longbow. He took a deep breath and aimed at the the coach on the vanguard, stretching the string to the fullest.

There was light wind, rustling the leaves and swaying the branches. But he did not bother to care about the rules of archery and calibrate his aim according to the wind direction and velocity. The measure of distance was all he needed.

Flocks of birds were returning to their nests.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

She touched grabbed his shoulder with one hand while reaching out her other, her palm facing the convoy. An incredibly complex icy blue circle appeared, it was steadily rotating clockwise. “Yes.”

“Now!”

She clenched her hand into a fist. The rotating circle before her came to a halt, and so did everything.

The leaves stopped rustling, the branches stopped swaying. Not even a single leaf dared to move a millimetre.

The birds stopped flapping their wings. But neither did they fall down despite the gravity, nor did they glide forward despite the natural angle of their wings.

The Imperial procession, by any means was not an exception. They came to a stop. The horses had their foot on the air. The tired front coachman who was yawning had his mouth wide open.

Adrian did not waste anytime and released as soon as the spell began to function. The arrow glided through the air, not affected by any sort of variables. The laws of the world perfectly worked on that single arrow.

In a moment, the arrow reached the convoy.

Just when the arrow was before the coachman, the effect of the spell came to an end. One second was over.

Wind began to flow, trees began to dance, birds continued on their journey.

But this one second- was enough.

The bolt entered the coachman’s mouth and pierced through the back of his head. It entered through the small window on the front and drove itself into the old man’s heart.

The old man was able to sense the projectile, but when he did- it was already in front of him, with no ways of evasion.

One of the vice commanders of the Imperial Sentry, a level 8 capable of holding his own against a level 9, died an unforeseen death.

The magic circle disappeared. Irene staggered a step back, only one step away from the edge of the branch. But Adrian grabbed her in time and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arm around her waist.

He dropped the longbow down.

Halseed, who had no idea what happened, caught his weapon.

“Go with plan three.” Adrian looked down. “And I need that bow later, stay in your place.”

The baffled archer rushed towards his assigned position.

“I will be safe here.” Irene said, her voice a little weak. “You can go.”

“I have already prepared a spot for you.” He took her on his arms. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck as her fairy tale knowledge kicked in.

Edenshield was the most fortified city in the entire continent. Naturally, the residence of the ones in charge of the city, the Raymond family, was exceedingly secured as well.

There were quite a few establishments in the premises and the chief mansion was the biggest and grandest of them all. The guests manor which was situated a bit away from the fortress like mansion, was smaller. Despite its inferior size, the architecture and the idyllic environment more than made up for it.

After all, not many in the Empire were worthy of being honoured as the Duke family’s guests.

And Princess Cassidy, who had Imperial blood running through her veins, was of course- one of them.

The young man who rescued the princess led her to the central room of the manor.

The manor was completely tidy since they were expecting a plethora of guests- the Princess and some big shots of the mighty Imperial Sentry.

But alas, fate decided otherwise. Nobody in their wildest dreams thought that someone would make a move against a member of the Imperial family, let alone doing it this close to Edenshield- the garrison known for its supreme strength.

The Duke himself gave the princess a visit along with the city’s best doctor.

After a talk and ensuring she was fine, they left the princess alone. The security level of the manor was increased twofolds.

But the princess curled up on the bed. Since she left, she had this weird sensation that someone followed him, that someone had his gaze fixed on her.

She tried to shrug it off as her paranoia after facing that mysterious being. But that cursed voice rang in her ears once more.

“We meet again.”