Her breath caught.
Before she could react, the door was pulled open forcefully. A hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her out.
"Leave me—!" she struggled, panic rising instantly, but another man held her from behind.
Her phone slipped from her hand.
"No noise," one of them said sharply.
Something was pressed near her face.
A strange smell.
Her vision blurred.
The sky above her faded into a pale grey as everything spun slowly.
And then—
darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🦋 PART II~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Artavius pushed the door open and stepped inside the mansion, the silence hitting him instantly. It felt… too empty. No voices, no noise, no one around. Just him.
He walked in casually, dropping his bag on the chair before pulling out his phone. A message from Cassian.
"The girl is in the basement. I hope you will handle it. She is the daughter of an important man in business, so keep her nicely. We just have to make her father follow our orders. It will take ten days. And you should know… she is a princess."
He opened it, reading it once… then again.
"A girl?"
He let out a small breath, almost amused, shaking his head slightly.
"Oh… she is a princess, hmm?"
A pause.
"…I don't care."
He locked the phone and tossed it onto the table, his eyes drifting toward the medals lying there. First rank. Again. Sports, studies—everything perfect.
And still—
nothing.
His expression softened just a little.
"I'm missing you, Aunt Evelyn…" he murmured quietly, his voice lower now. "I hope you were here with me."
For a second, he just stood there.
Then he exhaled lightly and turned away.
Fifteen minutes later, he was walking toward the basement.