Chapter 62: Unlikely Alliances

The door block clicked shut with a sharp, heavy echo, locking Leo inside the massive luxury guest room. He walked slowly toward the grand arched window, his hands shoved deep into his pockets as he looked out across the palace grounds.

Down below, the vast stone courtyard of Zhelora was fully illuminated by the bright morning sun, lined with rows of heavily armored soldiers patrolling the walls. Leo let out a long, exhausted sigh, his mind completely lost in a dark, anxious loop. This is an absolute mess, he thought to himself, his jaw tightening. If Prince Felipe wants a fair and square fight, I need to figure out exactly how to bypass these guards and find a way out before my life crashes completely.

TAP. TAP.

A sudden, remarkably soft and rapid clicking sound came from the side wall partition.

Leo spun his tall frame around quickly, his eyes narrowing as a hidden panel in the wall slowly slid open. Stepping out from the narrow opening was a quiet figure wrapped completely in a flowing black hood that masked her face entirely.

Leo took a cautious step back, his voice dropping into a sharp, hushed whisper. "Who the hell are you? How did you get past the door locks?"

The figure reached up with trembling, slender hands, slowly pulling the black fabric away from her face. Long, luxurious purple hair tumbled over her shoulders, revealing the beautiful, tear-stained face of Eleanor. Her usual egoist, high-and-mighty armor was completely gone, replaced by an intense, deep pink blushing facial flush as she looked up into his eyes.

"Leo..." Eleanor whispered breathlessly, her voice cracking with deep emotion. She stepped closer, her hands clutching her shirt sleeve in absolute shyness. "I... I used the royal servants' passage to reach this room. I came because... because I desperately needed to offer you a formal apology for dragging you into this disaster."

Leo looked down at her flustered expression, a grounded sigh escaping his lips as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, Princess, it's fine. What's done is done. But you need to understand something, I am absolutely not planning to sit around on these fancy cushions waiting for Prince Felipe's little match. I need to find an immediate way to escape this island and get free, no matter what."

Eleanor’s violet eyes widened in a sudden, panicked terror. She quickly shook her head, her voice a frantic whisper. "No, Leo! You don't understand the severity of our army! Trying to break through the palace gates is incredibly, deeply risky. The guards have authorization boundary to execute any commoner attempting to breach the outer wall!"

Leo didn't back down, his eyes flashing with absolute, unyielding alpha focus as he stepped deep into her space. "I don't care how risky it is, Eleanor. I am getting out of here."

.....

Meanwhile, the morning sun was just beginning to hit the residential district.

Inside her apartment, Stella stood completely frozen right at the entryway threshold, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs as the heavy door swung inward.

Her emerald eyes stretched wide in absolute, spine-chilling terror. Standing right under the corridor light, her elite hourglass silhouette dressed in a flawless, high-fashion blazer suit, was Professor Julia. Her warm honey-caramel hair was pinned up elegantly, and her piercing smoky-grey eyes carried a cold, deeply knowing warmth that made the air instantly turn to ice.

"Y-You..." Stella gasped out breathlessly, her face going completely pale. Driven by pure survival instinct, her hand violently shot down into her school bag, pulling out the sleek metallic laser device to point it straight at the professor's face.

Julia didn't even blink. She didn't initialize her geometric shield or show a single ounce of panic. Instead, she simply tilted her head to the side, a slow, subtle smirk tracing her lips as she calmly reached out her slender hand and pushed the laser barrel to the side.

"Put the toy away," Julia murmured smoothly, her velvety voice echoing through the quiet entryway. "I didn't travel down to your resident to initialize a combat. I just came to get back leo. He is kidnapped, isn't he?"

Stella’s breath caught sharply in her throat, her mind scrambling in a complete, chaotic storm. She kept her grip tight on the device, her voice trembling slightly with intense anxiety. "How... how do you even know about that? And why on earth are you getting so worked up about him? If he's gone, nothing is standing in your way anymore. Isn't that exactly what your empire wanted?"

Julia let out a low, deeply amused chuckle, stepping forcefully past Stella's frame to walk straight into the center layout of the studio apartment. She looked around the small room with absolute, mocking calm, her smoky-grey eyes scanning the furniture. "My, my... what an incredibly cute, primitive little space you've built here to survive."

She turned her body around slowly, her expression turning thoroughly serious as her gaze locked dead into Stella's emerald eyes. "To answer your inquiry... I have my own ways and we should think about saving him."

Stella let out a sharp, cynical laugh, her jaw tightening as she stepped deeper into the room. "Save him? Don't make me laugh, Julia. You don't care about his safety at all. You want something out of this alliance, don't you? Tell me the truth."

Julia's smirk widened into a wide, malicious grin under the room lights. She offered a slow, formal nod of agreement, her velvety voice dropping into a cold rouse that sent a shudder straight through the room boundaries.

"Correct," Julia whispered smoothly, her smoky-grey eyes flashing with an intense, unyielding hunger. "I want the System inside his body, and I will do whatever it takes to claim it no matter what."

Stella’s fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white, an absolute, furious rage exploding across her pale face.