Chapter 68: Ambush in the Shadows

The complete, pitch-black darkness felt like a physical weight pressing down on Eleanor's chest. She struggled against the rope cutting deep into her wrists, her breath coming in rapid, terrified gasps.

"Help! Is anyone out there?! Leo!" Eleanor screamed into the empty space, her voice echoing hollowly off cold metal walls. No one answered. The absolute silence was thick and terrifying.

TAP. TAP. TAP.

The sudden, steady sound of slow leather boots clicking against a concrete floor broke the quiet. Eleanor instantly froze, her violet eyes wide with panic as she strained her ears, looking up and around through the blinding blackness.

FLICKER.

A single, dim yellow light bulb buzzed to life high above, casting harsh shadows across the room. Eleanor blinked rapidly, her vision slowly adjusting to the weak glow before she looked straight ahead. Her jaw dropped in absolute, jaw-dropping shock.

Standing right under the light, his platinum-silver hair catching the dim glow and his face twisted into a cruel, mocking sneer, was Prince Felipe.

"Smile, my beautiful princess," Felipe murmured smoothly, his striking blue eyes flashing with a dangerous, unstable spark as he looked down at her. "Why don't you offer me that exact same glowing, happy smile you gave that rat when he won our little sword match in the arena?"

Eleanor shook her head, her pale face painting itself in an intense, panicked shyness as she glared back into his blue eyes. "Felipe... are you completely, entirely insane?! Let me go right now! My father will have your entire house executed for touching a princess!"

Felipe stepped forward aggressively, leaning his upper body incredibly close to her face, his warm breath hitting her skin as his calm mask shattered into raw, trembling anger. "No! I will absolutely not let you go, Eleanor! You are my rightful gold, and you will marry me at any cost! Even your pathetic little commoner cannot stop what is meant to be! But do not worry... I will personally ensure he is killed before our wedding day arrives."

Eleanor stared back at him, her entire body shivering in pure, reality-shattering fear as his cold words echoed through the dark room.

.....

Meanwhile, back inside the luxury guest wing of the palace, Leo was frantically pacing across the marble floorboards, aggressively rubbing his large hands through his messy chocolate-brown hair.

I am completely doomed, Leo thought to himself, a heavy wave of anxious panic hitting his chest as he stared at the neon-pink countdown timer floating in the air. Forty-eight hours to complete a virtual date, and the princess is literally missing. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

Driven by pure desperation, Leo focused his eyes and tried to ask the System directly. Hey. Tell me her exact location. Where is Eleanor?

DING!

A translucent neon-blue arrow map instantly slammed into existence right in front of his face, pointing directly to a specific set of numbers well outside the palace borders.

Leo blinked in total surprise, a dry, sarcastic chuckle escaping his lips. "Wow... nowadays you are becoming incredibly generous with the data drops. It's really, deeply suspicious of you. What's the catch?"

He tracked the map carefully, and his expression turned thoroughly serious. The pulsing dot was far outside the main city gates, hidden in a remote industrial zone. I need to travel there right now, Leo thought, his jaw tightening with a resolve. But I don't have a single vehicle, and the courtyard guards are tracking my every step. I have no choice... I need to ask for Alistair's help or I will never reach her in time.

Leo sprinted down the stone stairs, veering into the main courtyard where Alistair Roslav was still furiously barking orders at his armored soldiers.

Leo stepped deep into his personal space. "Alistair. Stop the search. I know exactly where Eleanor is."

Alistair spun his frame around, his piercing violet eyes narrowing into a highly suspicious, furious glare as he clutched his sword hilt. "Where is she?!"

"I just heard a random palace servant whispering that a suspicious group was dragging a hooded woman past the main city borders toward an old warehouse," Leo lied smoothly, forcing his voice into a calm, urgent rumble. "She didn't run away on her own, Alistair. She was taken."

Alistair’s brow furrowed deeply in total confusion. "A warehouse? Who would've taken her there?"

"We don't have the time for your endless questions!" Leo growled out, his eyes flashing with a terrifying authority that caught the prince completely off guard. "If we don't leave now, no one knows what will happen to her! Order your men to get a car now!"

Alistair stared dead into Leo's eyes for a long, tenseseconds, calculating the truth. Finally, he aggressively turned to his vanguard captain. "Get the car! Now!"

Leo let out a long, quiet sigh of relief, readying himself as the soldiers scrambled to the garage.

.....

Meanwhile, near the grand outer wall of the palace grounds, three distinct figures slipped through the morning tree lines.

Stella, Lunaria, and Professor Julia stopped behind a massive boulder, looking up at the towering white marble structure. Stella scanned the area, her green eyes wide with frustration. "Look at this place... there are heavily armored guards standing on every single watchtower. How the hell are we supposed to sneak inside without triggering a massive alarm?"

Julia let out a velvety, deeply amused chuckle, her form-fitting travel clothes shifting as a slow smirk traced her mature lips. "You carry such short memory, little one. Have you truly forgotten about my time-stopping power in a specific area? I can freeze this pala—"

"Wait! Hold your steps!" Stella interrupted, her eyes locking onto Princess Ophira's glowing tracking device. She tapped the glass screen frantically as the blue dot representing Leo suddenly began accelerating down the map lines. "The location has changed! He isn't inside the palace anymore... he is rapidly moving away from the palace toward the outer borders!"

Lunaria and Julia immediately leaned their heads closer, their eyes tracking the moving neon arrow on the screen. Julia tsked, "He has already left my time freezing area limit."

Lunaria whispered breathlessly, her midnight-blue hair shaking in deep worry. "He is heading toward the remote industrial area. We must go right now!"

"Fools," Julia Vance muttered with a cold, dangerous grin, turning her body smoothly to follow the signal line. "Let us track his movement. The chase continues."

.....

By the time the afternoon noon sun blazed directly overhead, the large armored transport vehicle rolled to a heavy, dust-covered stop outside a massive, abandoned metal warehouse near the coastal wasteland.

Alistair and Leo stepped down from the cabin, followed by twenty elite royal guards with swords drawn. Alistair scanned the rusted iron structure, his face pale but his tone disciplined. "Is this the exact warehouse, commoner?"

"Yes," Leo said seriously, his hand tightly gripping the hilt of the steel broadsword he had taken from the palace rack. "This is the place. Let's go."

They aggressively kicked the heavy iron side doors open, marching straight inside the dark, echoing interior. The vast space was pitched in suffocating shadows until a sudden row of dim overhead spotlights violently buzzed to life, illuminating the absolute center of the warehouse floorboards.

"Leo! Alistair!"

Eleanor’s desperate voice pierced the air. She was sitting tightly tied to the wooden chair right under the lights, tears streaming down her blushing face as she screamed their names in pure relief.

"Ah... you guys actually managed to arrive here on time. How thoroughly fascinating."

A mocking voice echoed from above. Leo and Alistair snapped their heads upward, their eyes locking onto a high metal catwalk overlooking the floor.

Prince Felipe stood tall against the railing, his platinum-silver hair catching the light as a wide, malicious smirk traced his lips. "I was fully planning on sending a formal messenger to give you the location of where Eleanor was resting, but it seems you street rats have a very sharp nose. But unfortunately... your rescue plan ends right here."

Felipe sharply clapped his hands together twice.

CLAP! CLAP!

SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!

From every single dark corner and hidden doorway of the warehouse, dozens of heavily built, armored rogue soldiers marched out into the light, drawing sharp steel swords that gleamed dangerously. Within a fraction of a microsecond, over fifty enemy fighters completely spread out in a massive, dense ring, surrounding Eleanor’s chair and locking Leo, Alistair, and the royal guards into an absolute, lethal ambush cage.

"Kill the commoner, and bring my princess to the transport!" Felipe roared out authoritatively from the catwalk as the entire army lunged forward.