The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 214: Predicament

Inside Leticias hazy mind, she heard the voice of Leo.

At first, she thought that it was only a hallucination but his voice was too clear to be one moreover, the person who he is talking to sounded like Auguste.

Thus she opened her eyes.

Inside her distorted sight, she saw Leo and Auguste.

Leo is closing in on the old man.

Wait! If you want the Saint then I will return her!

No need! If you say that she already belongs to you guys then as suitable for someone of the Adler house-I will just plunder and steal her back from you!

Saying so, Leo stabbed his sword into Augustes chest.

Just like that, Auguste let out a scream and turned into dust. Then, Leo turns his eyes toward Leticia.

When their eyes met, Leo gently smiled at her.

Ahh, hes the real Leo.

Leticia thought to herself.

The only one who can show her such a smile is him.

The moment she convinced herself of that, her consciousness started to fade.

The thread of tension was snapped with her peace of mind.

Le, o..

Its okay now. Leticia.

Leo enters the prison cell and slashes the chain that binds Leticias hands then moves in to hug her.

Leticias relief is further deepened by the warmth of his body.

Still, Leticia manages to hold on to her consciousness.

After all, She thought that she had to say something to him. Still, she couldnt say what she wanted as she doesnt have enough strength to think properly.

Thats why she simply put her thoughts into words.

thank you.for the miracle..I wanted..to meet you

Me too. I wanted to meet you. From the bottom of my heart.

..I have to give you my reply..

Dont worry about that. I am not in a hurry. Even if it is an eternity, I will wait for you. After all, if someone were to rob you away from me then I will just have to steal you back.

.Fufuso you can be this forceful sometimes too..

You dont know? Remember this. The Adlers never miss their prey.

.well, thats scary

With a small smile, Leticia slowly exhales.

Then, her consciousness began to fade away again.

This time, she didnt resist it.

Thus, Leticia slowly closed her eyes while feeling the warmth from Leos body.

Leticia

Leos face distorted as he saw Leticia fainted.

There is no visible injury on her body but there is no doubt that something was done to her.

Considering the dead spirit mage he just faced, he could guess that it has something to do with him.

Glaring at the ashes of Auguste, Leo clicked his tongue at the ill-feeling he felt toward the old mage.

For Leo who could count how many times he clicked his tongue in his entire life, this ill-feeling is new to him. He realized that even after he killed the man out of irritation, he still wanted to kill him all over again.

So Leo takes a deep breath and calms himself down.

He managed to rescue Leticia. All he is to do now is get away from this place.

Telling himself so, Leo carries Leticia and escapes the basement with the holy staff in hand.

The Griffon Knights who infiltrated the basement together with Leo were delighted to the point of tears when they learned that Leticia was safe.

They offered to carry her but Leo refused and led them out of the basement.

Leticia-sama!?

Is she safe!?

Its okay. She just fainted.

Saying so, Leo carried Leticia to Noir.

Blanc, Leticias ride, is also with them but Leo decided that it would be dangerous to leave the fainted Leticia to Blanc so he chose to ride on Noir together with her.

Your Highness! Is that not too dangerous?

Its alright. Forgive me. Its not like I do not trust you. Its just that we have to be careful.

The Griffon Knights then realize that they have to be wary of the possibility of an imposter replacing them like what happened back in the castle.

Leo did not let his guard down even after he managed to get Leticia back.

He cant be relieved until he can get her to safety.

The Griffon Knights who felt his intention did not get angry at Leos suspicion and apologized for their carelessness.

That was thoughtless of me. My deepest apology. We shall escort you, Your Highness.

Please do.

Saying so, Leo straddles Noirs back with the unconscious Leticia.

Then, when Noir flapped his wings, the other Griffons began to rise.

That was when it happened.

MAGIC!!??

A barrage of fireballs was fired at them from afar

The fireball itself is not so difficult to evade but their number is unusually large. They can count at least a hundred fireballs flying toward them.

The number of fireballs simply overwhelmed Leos group that only had ten people in it.

They could have avoided it if they are flying but they are currently gaining altitude. Moreover, the Griffons are already exhausted from the long journey, they can not possibly avoid it.

Leo warded off the oncoming fireballs but with their number, he couldnt defend against all of them, and some griffons raised screams of pain as they were hit.

Kuh! RAISE THE ALTITUDE!

If this keeps up, they will all be shot down.

Leo who judged so ordered the Griffon Knights to forcibly raise their altitude.

Thus, although the Griffons suffered some damage, they managed to rise up to a safe altitude.

However, Leos eyes caught an army approaching the fake village.

Their number exceeded one thousand and many of them seemed to be mages.

Leading them is a black-skinned elf woman.

With a single glance, he can tell that she holds tremendous power.

So the Dark Elves were connected to Grimoire huh..

As the situation grew worse, Leo frowned.

It is impossible not to notice an army of this scale. There must be some kind of trick as they couldnt spot them until now.

The Griffons they are relying on were injured so traveling a long distance is already impossible.

However, if they have to fight, he has to do something about that Dark Elf.

Moreover, with the force he has at hand, it is impossible to deal with them.

Judging so, Leo immediately gave his order.

Escape to the East! There should be an old castle just a little ahead! That is our destination!

After giving his command, Leo set the course toward the east.

He then took a deep breath and glanced at Leticia who is still unconscious.

I will definitely protect you..!

Muttering to himself, Leo headed for an old castle to the east.

The old castle was only a small abandoned castle in the east.

It was tattered and looked like it was about to collapse.

After he landed there, Leo let the Griffons rest and lie Leticia down.

What about the enemy?

I can see their horsemen. Their main force will arrive soon, Your Highness.

How did they prepare an army of that scale inside the Imperial Capitals territory!

A Griffon Knight raised his complaint while kicking away a pebble.

It was the thought that everyone there shares.

With the festival going on, a crime organization shouldnt be able to conduct a large scale operation like this!

I know. There must be a traitor among the upper echelons of the Empire. This must be one of their hands.

Leo indifferently told them so.

It is nothing surprising.

It was expected that there would be a traitor inside the castle when Leticia was abducted.

After all, the Kingdom and Grimoire wouldnt be so stupid to start something without any cooperation from the Empires side.

Uu..where is?

At that timing, Leticia wakes up.

The Griffon Knights rushed to Leticias side. Leo wanted to talk to her but he remains silent.

Leo..?

We are at one of the Empires abandoned castles. The enemy prepared a thousand troops and ambushed us on our way out. I ordered us to stop here to rest but before the Griffons could fully recover, we would be completely surrounded.

..their target is me. Please leave me and goyou wouldnt be able to escape while taking care of me

Please stop joking. If I would leave you here and run away by myself, I wouldnt be here in the first place.

But.at this rate, you will

I am a prince of the Empire. Right now an army of criminals is marching on my land. I cant overlook it. MoreoverI must have told you this before. The Adlers never miss their prey. We would never tolerate our prey being stolen. I have no intention to give you up.

Leo.you still have a future.it is foolish to hold a castle while you cant expect any reinforcement..

I am here because I wanted you to be in that future with me. And holding this castle is not so foolish of an idea either. I am not alone after all.

Saying so, Leo started preparing for battle.