(In the point of view of Violet Belladonna)

***

"Where is this passageway leading into?" Sir Damian questioned with his hands holding the hilt of his sword tightly.

Earlier, he was using his right hand to support my wobbling body, but I told him that he should focus his attention on being alert for any nearby enemies rather than wasting his energy on a burden like me. He didn't like it when I implied that I'm a liability to him, but I'm sure he's very much aware that a mage without mana is just as useless as a toddler. Right now, the only able-bodied person in this darkened corridor is Sir Damian, but even he is filled with so many bruises; I'm sure we could easily be beaten if an enemy spotted us.

Needless to say, I am more than scared for the safety of the princes. This sudden attack caught us at a horrible time; it's so bad that a part of me thinks someone had orchestrated it from within Luxael's alliance. However, I'm sure every empire around us is aware that there's no benefit in destroying the coalition now that we're all working harmoniously together.

Thus, one could view this as an attack from powerful foreign invaders that we have never encountered before. That idea is much more terrifying than the thought of betrayal among us.

"Are you alright, Madame Belladonna?" I heard Sir Damian utter those words silently as he gently spoke to me.

I shook my head as I gazed at his bloodied countenance. "I'm doing quite well, Sir Damian, believe it or not. Thank you for your worries." I began to walk again slowly, but I'm sure the enemy would come running towards us if we won't hurry.

"Maybe it's really wiser if you hadn't taken that stone on the monster's back." Sir Damian then showed a worried expression on his ashen face. "At least let me carry it for you."

"No need, Sir Damian. I can take care of myself. Carrying the stone will only slow you down if an enemy comes running towards us." I then turned my head towards the loyal knight who's walking cautiously beside me. "If that happens, I'm sorry, Sir Damian, but I have no choice other than to sacrifice you for the sake of the princes. When the enemies find us, I will use my blood to activate this stone and transport the princes somewhere far from here using my psychic magic. I would have done it a long time ago if I can guarantee their safety wherever they may land, but I know that it would just add more unneeded problems for us." I then heaved a grunt as I pulled the heavy load behind me. I strapped the darn thing around my shoulders so I could use my hands to carry the princes. Luckily, they're both good children, for they haven't cried yet. At least not loud enough for me to notice. "Do you understand, Sir Damian? I'm doing this because I know that we might have to sacrifice our lives for the princes soon, so just keep being vigilant for now."

Sir Damian just looked at me with a dumbfounded gaze with his jaw dropped. "You really are something, Madame Belladonna. Aren't you afraid to die?"

"Of course I am. I wouldn't be human anymore once I stopped being afraid of the good ol' God of Death." I grunted as I dragged the stone while still trying my very hardest to carry the princes with my trembling body. "But I'm pretty much used to the feeling already—I'm still scared, but I can get over it. It makes me think clearly while still feeling afraid that my ass will get handed to me anytime soon."

Sir Damian heaved a relieved sigh as he slowly pushed the humongous stone on the floor with his feet. I wanted to stop him, but we don't have time to halt our step and bicker some more now. Besides, it eased the strain for me, so I don't really have a reason to have him stop what he's doing.

"Where are we anyway?" Sir Damian uttered with a raised eyebrow while scanning the surroundings with his eyes.

I did the same with a pair of furrowed eyebrows. This hallway was what greeted us when we turned the fifth fang hanging behind the tomb of Queen Lara. I had no time for sentimentalities and greetings for the dead, so I haven't said anything when I saw the newly built tomb of Queen Lara. However, I did shed a single tear for her memory when I finally had the time to look at her clearly after my fight with that wretched bride.

The surroundings look pretty much the same: dark stoned walls, floor, and ceilings; dripping moisture coming from above, making it impossible to walk clearly without slipping; and utter darkness that was further amplified because of the fact that I now have no mana to create a source of light.

Luckily, the passageway that we used to enter this dark hallway immediately closed when we passed through it. I thought that someone must have cast a spell through it, but after further examination, I concluded that a powerful magician must have used earth magic for it to close automatically when it fulfilled its role. I could only dream of being so powerful that my skills would still work without me doing anything or even being around the radius to cast the spell manually.

"Who goes there?" A deep and serene-sounding voice resounded throughout the hallway, making both Sir Damian and I alert and in position to attack in case the stranger who suddenly voiced out his words towards us is an enemy.

"We would like to say the same thing to you, stranger." Sir Damian uttered with a stomp, making the clanking of his armor ring throughout the tranquil but darkened hall.

"Hmm... That sounds like armor. You must be a warrior from Izrecael then." A bright orange-colored brilliance then spewed out before us, making both Sir Damian and I squirm since our eyes are no longer accustomed to the touch of light. When I finally managed to open my eyes to see the person who cast such luminance, I saw a short and thin man holding a cylindrical-shaped potion bottle. "Oh my! Damian!?" The stranger said as he extended his glowing potion bottle at Sir Damian.

"Uncle Bert!?" Sir Damian uttered as he slowly dropped his guard down perhaps because he knew that this person in front of us is one that could be trusted.

The person whom Sir Damian called 'Uncle Bert' then moved his hand to shine the light of his potion bottle literally a few inches away from my face, making me so blinded by it that I almost fell down. With an excited chuckle, the stranger before me took his beret off his head, revealing a messy chestnut hair and his sunken eyes surrounded by a thick layer of blackness. His pale face brightened as he smiled when he saw my face.

"And you must be Madame Violet Belladonna!" He said with a voice filled with excitement but still managed to be tired-sounding because of the lowness of his tone. "I am very pleased to have finally met you!"

I then looked at Sir Damian with a confused frown and finally realized that if the soldier called this man 'Uncle,' then this stranger must be one of the famed Carmichael brothers! Since he used a simplified nickname that is 'Bert,' then it is safe for me to say that I am now gazing at one of the strongest potion-maker in the empire, Roberto Carmichael!

"Oh, no, no! It is me who's very pleased to have finally met you, Sir Roberto, very, very pleased!" I spoke with a flustered tone as I shook the man's hands as firmly as I could.

Sir Roberto chuckled momentarily before looking at both of us with a stern expression through his dimly lit torchlight that shone from within his potion bottle. "You flatter me, but we have to hurry. The enemies are already circling us. We have to move."

We both compiled readily as we ran through another spiral staircase, which went on for eternity once more. However, it felt less constraining for me and Sir Damian because of Sir Roberto's aid. Surprisingly, the famed potion-maker has unbelievable strength as he volunteered to carry the heavy load on my shoulder with ease. Before I even realized it, we're already on the other side of the empire, far away from the darkness of the catacombs, blinded by the sheer brightness of our new scenery.

By the time we stepped out of the catacombs through an ornate wooden door with gold macabre inscriptions, a group of hurrying wizards, alchemists, and medical professionals welcomed us with gentle voices and countless words of gratitude. They pulled us gently towards huge beds that were already placed there before we even arrived and hastily cast different healing magic at me while the others quickly treated Sir Damian's wounds with stern expressions. Meanwhile, the princes were placed on two small cribs beside me wherein two other young wizards tended on their injuries if any. I say so, for I am confident that the princes are definitely not wounded.

"You have to forgive our haste, Madame Belladonna; this is a direct order from the king." Sir Roberto explained, though, I couldn't really see him because the magicians and the alchemists were circling me with their blinding wizardry.

"I figured as much. Don't worry about it, Sir Roberto. I am aware that the king always wishes to finish things as quickly as possible." I then groaned in pain as I felt that the many cuts and bruises all over my body were closing up and connecting to each other, stinging my body ever so slightly. I wanted to look at how Sir Damian is faring on the other bed, but I could not see nor hear anything from him. That thought alone is enough to frighten me since I know that these medical professionals have to fix his wounds without using magic. "Tell me, Sir Roberto, did the king say any changes regarding the plan to escort the princes away from Izrecael?"

By the time I stopped speaking, I had grunted. I did so while I felt something gradually being pulled out of my stomach before I started feeling my organs joining up together again. It felt as though they were being sown together with magical threads using the purest form of sorcery. Afterward, the skin at the same spot closed up with the greatest of ease like they were goos destined to stick together once they touched. I looked down at what the magicians had forcefully extracted from deep within my punctured intestine. There, on a table beside me, stood a chunky, bloodied, and sharp stone that must have been in my stomach the entire time, but I haven't realized it—somehow, I've pulled through with sheer determination alone while that thing is piercing my insides.

I heaved a light sigh and patted myself gently, giving myself the praise that I deserve for living another day.

Sir Roberto then sighed from the side, waking me from my daze. "I'm afraid not, Miss Belladonna." I heard a few mechanical sounds, loud hissing, and metallic clinking from the direction of Sir Roberto's voice. "Why do you ask?"

"I would be brazen and say that Sir Damian needs ample time to rest. He is heavily wounded, and he needs enough time to rest." I protested with a soft tone.

"... No can do, Madame Belladonna." The sounds coming from Sir Roberto's area paused for a few moments before it proceeded like usual again. "Believe me, I am on your side in saying that my nephew must be given enough time to rest, but the king explicitly told me that you and the rest of the soldiers he commanded to guard the princes will have to see through the end of this mission. The plans will not change, as well."

"... There goes the king's cruel side, I see—cruelly trusting and cruelly emotional. I understand, Sir Roberto. Forget that this exchange ever happened." I said as I raised my upper body while moving my hands and arms around, flailing it from one place to another.

When my wounds are finally healed, I stood up and thanked each and every person who helped in the process personally by shaking all of their hands and tapping their shoulders lightly.

Then, one of the young people, a girl who was tasked to heal the princes' wounds, approached me shyly with a flushed expression, "Excuse me, Madame Belladonna. Forgive me for asking, but I was told that there will be more of you guarding the princes."

When she said those words to me, I peeked at my surroundings subtly and saw that there are more than two beds around us, silently telling me that these people didn't expect just two patients.

The fact that we're the only ones who returned is a... grim message, to say the least.

"There indeed were more of us earlier," I said in a whisper as I gradually felt the sudden sadness coming all over the surrounding.

"May I..." The woman stuttered as her hands shook vigorously while she tried her hardest to smile. "I... Forgive me, Madame. One of your companions is my father, so I..."

I see...

Drats, I expected this to come, but it's still a hard pill to swallow. I couldn't say anything.

I placed my hands on the girl's shoulder as I looked at her straight into her eyes with as much gentleness as I could possibly pull off from within my already breaking heart. "I'm sorry."

The girl's eyes then started to become wet while still disallowing herself to show any sort of weakness before her peers. "I understand."

"I don't know who your father is, but..." The familiar voice of a man rang from a few feet away from us as he grunted heavily with a sigh. "... every man who came with us is brave, and they all died as warriors, great warriors. I don't know if this will help you feel any better, but you can assure yourself that your father's efforts are not in vain. He didn't let us down, and he most definitely did not let you down." Sir Damian tried his best to utter firmly as he sat on the edge of his bed. He's naked from top to toe, and the only thing covering him up is a cloth on his waist and a few bandages on his muscled torso.

After hearing Sir Damian's clumsily spoken words, the girl finally allowed her tears to fall out of her eyes as her body trembled. The only thing I could do to help her now is to wrap her in my embrace. I looked at Sir Damian while shaking my head; I know that everything he had just said was a lie. A pained smile then crept upon my face.

Fuck... They all died horribly. Perhaps Sir Damian's attempt to lighten the mood worked, so who am I to ruin such a beautiful moment?

The young healer then tightly wrapped her hands around me as she sobs in my arms. "I will never forget what they have done to us, Madame Belladonna." Her voice deepened as the people surrounding us all began to look at us with a much more determined gaze. "My father will be avenged."

My goodness, oh she better avenge him because whoever that poor soldier is, he must be lying down there, probably mangled up and with a high probability of having a really messed up brain that turned into soup. How could I possibly tell her that?

"Then you cannot honor his death here." That was good, right? I dare say that's motivational enough to keep this lady fighting for another day or so. "You all did your best here, ladies and gentlemen," I said while gently tapping the girl's back. "but the battle is still raging outside, and you have already done your job in healing the princes. Go! The battlefield awaits!"

Somebody save me from this awkward situation!