Chapter 67: The New Quest

The mid-morning sun beat down on the stone-paved streets of the bustling marketplace. Exotic tapestries, open-air food stalls, and vendors shouting in a foreign language filled the crowded town square.

Stella, Lunaria, and Professor Julia walked slowly through the thick of the crowd, their eyes scanning the unfamiliar surroundings. Because they had landed their invisible space travel ship near the isolated riverside, they had to navigate the winding streets entirely on foot.

Stella stopped a passing vendor, forcing her voice into a polite tone despite her intense anxiety. "Excuse me. We are trying to find the path to the center of this island. Can you tell us which direction leads there?"

The middle-aged vendor blinked, looking at their regular clothing before pointing a finger toward the massive white stone walls towering high on the mountain peaks in the distance. "The center of the island? Why, you are looking straight at the royal palace gates, miss. The grand royal family lives up there, ruling over the entire kingdom."

"The royal family... lives there?" Stella whispered breathlessly, her green eyes stretching wide in total surprise.

Right beside her, Lunaria froze dead in her tracks, her long midnight-blue hair shaking as a look of pure confusion hit her face. Both of the former space warriors were completely shocked, their minds scrambling to make sense of the new information.

Stella quickly leaned closer to Lunaria's shoulder, dropping her voice into a frantic, low whisper so the surrounding crowd wouldn't hear. "How on earth did Leo even manage to get stuck inside a royal family crisis? This makes absolutely zero sense."

Julia stepped forward smoothly, her form-fitting travel clothes shifting as a slow, calculating look entered her smoky-grey eyes. A subtle smirk traced her lips as she looked up at the distant white towers. "We will not find our answers by standing in the dirt. We must move forward to the gates immediately."

With a calm, dominant stride, the professor led the way through the crowded market stalls, with a furious Stella and a worried Lunaria following close behind.

.....

Meanwhile, high up inside the lavish, silk-lined master bedroom wing of the palace, Eleanor sat flat on the soft cushion seat right in front of her large marble dressing mirror.

She picked up a golden brush, slowly running it through her long purple hair, but her eyes were completely out of focus. Her cheeks were painted in a blush, and a soft, genuinely sweet smile graced her lips. Her heart hammered against her ribs as Leo’s protective, alpha words from the garden violently looped through her thoughts over and over again. 'I'm going to proceed with the official engagement... we are going to pack our bags and leave this kingdom together.' She let out a soft, helpless whimper of pure, genuine happiness.

BANG! BANG!

A sudden, remarkably aggressive pounding against her wooden bedroom door shattered the quiet room.

Eleanor flinched, her blush vanishing as her breath caught in her throat. She stood up quickly from the dressing mirror, walked over to the entryway, and twisted the brass handle to pull the door open.

Her violet eyes stretched wide in absolute terror. "You... what are you doing here?!" she gasped out in a panicked rush.

.....

On the opposite side of the palace lounge, Leo stood leaning his broad frame against a marble support post, his eyes fixed entirely on the translucent neon-blue screens floating right in front of his face.

He filtered through the menu directories, checked the system message tabs, and refreshed the level status three times. Nothing. There was absolutely zero new quest information, zero target updates, and zero direction commands on the screen. Leo let out a long, irritated sigh, rubbing the back of his neck in pure frustration. Great. Five days until a forced royal engagement, and this stupid system decides to go completely silent.

PITTER-PATTER!

The sudden, chaotic sound of leather boots aggressively running down the stone corridor walkway cut through the silence.

Leo turned his head sharply. A squad of ten heavily armored royal soldiers was sprinting through the hallway blocks, led directly by a furious, wild-eyed Alistair Roslav. The purple-haired older brother was moving with absolute panic, his expensive suit jacket slightly disheveled.

Leo stepped straight into their path, blocking the lane with his broad shoulders. "Hey. What the hell is going on? Why is the entire army running a marathon through the palace?"

Alistair stopped dead in his tracks, his piercing violet eyes flashing with a white-hot, burning hatred as he lunged forward to glare into Leo's face. "Out of my way, street rat! My sister, Eleanor, has completely vanished from her private chambers once again! The window locks are completely bypassed! Tell me the truth right now, commoner... did you plan another escape with her?!"

Leo didn't back down. He gave the furious prince a dry, flat deadpan look, letting out a grounded rumble of a laugh. "Are you completely brainless, Alistair? Why on earth would I secretly kidnap her today when your father literally announced our official engagement in front of the whole family yesterday? Use your head. I've been standing right here."

Alistair gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached, his face turning an angry shade of red. He scanned Leo’s calm expression before aggressively turning to his armor guards. "Spread out! Check the lower garden and the palace stables immediately! Find her!" The squad quickly lunged down the stairs, leaving the corridor in a rush.

Leo watched them go, shaking his head. But the exact second the soldiers disappeared around the corner, a loud electronic sound detonated inside his mind.

DING!

A massive, burning neon-pink text box slammed into existence right in front of his eyes, forcing his breath to catch instantly.

[System Notice: Target 'Eleanor' has achieved emotional sync criteria.]

[Current Affection Level: 64% (Locked)]

[Brand-New Urgent Quest Initialized: The Royal Visual Date]

[Objective: You must enter the Virtual Reality network using the visor to go on an exclusive digital date with Eleanor within the next 48 hours. You must successfully raise her affection level to 70%+ to unlock the 'Real-Life Claim' mechanic before the grand engagement festival.]

[Time Remaining: 47:59:58]

[Warning: Failure to achieve 70% affection before the timer hits zero will result in an immediate global system wipe. (Lethal Death Penalty).]

Leo stared blankly at the pulsing countdown numbers, his jaw tightening as an absolute, exhausted groan escaped his lips.

What an absolute, fricking joke of a timing... Leo thought to himself, his mind completely overloading with stress.