I Accidentally Kidnapped The Ultimate Villain – Chapter 43

Ch 43

“Aria Linashis Kalendia. I hope that becomes your name soon.”

Surprised by the soft sensation, Aria trembled. Lionell chuckled at that with a breathy laugh.

“Coward.”

She was having trouble thinking because of the sensation of his lips on her cheek.

“Don’t, don’t tease the coward, and hurry up and go!”

“Okay. I have a place in mind. You be careful too.”

“Yes.”

“If by any chance…….”

“Yes?”

“If my uncle doesn’t wake up…….”

His face was contorted as if he was having trouble continuing, so she thought she should cut him off.

“He will wake up.”

At her words, he smiled bitterly again.

“So go, Your Highness Lionell.”

“Okay.”

Her heart wavered as Lionell looked back several times as he left. But for his sake, who was worried, she thought it would be better for her to go see Cardinal Johannes.

There would be someone assisting the Cardinal. But if it was like the original story, they would never leave Cardinal Johannes like this.

However, she sent Lionell to do other things because finding the orb was more urgent.

While he was looking for the orb, she would protect Cardinal Johannes.

This was the most reasonable way to help Lionell.

◈◈◈

“Ah, are you Princess Aria?”

“Yes.”

Thanks to Lionell, who had assigned someone to her even while he was rushing, Aria was able to get to where the Cardinal was without much difficulty. The temple had been perfectly restored with magic, but the disarray was still there.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”

“Yes.”

Lionell would be looking for the orb. Then she had to stay here and protect the Cardinal in case something happened.

Holy Knights were guarding the door in front.

Thinking back to the original story, the Holy Knight Commander, the Vice Captains, and most of the Division Commanders were injured in the terror attack. So the remaining personnel were those without rank, the new recruits.

But there was no one she could trust.

That’s why she had said she would come alone first. Because she couldn’t remember anything about people in what she had read about the temple.

“No, don’t be scared.”

She came all this way to protect him, and she couldn’t ruin it because of fear.

“I will do what I can.”

She said to herself as if she was repeating it in her fear, and tears came to her eyes.

“Why are you crying?”

“……Leon?”

When she wiped her tears at the sudden familiar voice, a spirit beast with shining white fur appeared in front of her, blinking its bright blue eyes as it looked at her.

“You’ve grown a bit.”

“Yeah. Aria filled me with energy. And you’ve grown too.”

“I haven’t grown. I’m an adult, I won’t grow anymore.”

“Not that.”

The spirit beast stretched out its front paws, pulled its body as if stretching, and then approached her. It was once as small as a puppy, but now it had become as big as a dog.

“Why did you come out when I’m not alone right now?”

“That one is asleep.”

The spirit beast’s long snout turned towards the Cardinal, who was lying dead on the bed, and then back to her.

“Spirit beast.”

“Leon.”

“Yes. Leon.”

“Yes.”

Aria wondered if she could hug it as it wagged its tail and rubbed its face against her leg. It had grown so big that she felt like she would fall backward if she hugged it.

“What abilities does a spirit beast have?”

“Spirit beasts can purify.”

“Purify?”

“Yes.”

Then it wouldn’t be of any help.

“It would have been nice if you could grow bigger, it’s a shame.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“I’m going to hide His Excellency. It’s dangerous like this.”

Aria approached to check on Cardinal Johannes’ condition. He was lying down as if he were asleep.

His breathing was shallow. The fact that he couldn’t wake up even after being healed with divine power meant that he needed time to replenish his divine power.

Then, he would surely wake up again if he had the orb. Because it contained a vast amount of divine power.

She thought that perhaps Lionell might awaken and return just like in the original story. Because there were many cases of divine power in his mother’s side of the family.

“You can’t come in.”

“No, I can. I have to.”

Aria looked at Cardinal Johannes as she lowered him. His white hair was the same as Lionell’s. But his face didn’t look like his at all.

━ Wh-, who…… Cough!

━ Everyone, form ranks!

From outside the door, she heard the sound of a sword being drawn.

In her urgency, she pulled back Johannes’ blanket and put her hand under his back. She tried to lift him as he was, but he was heavier than she thought.

“Hah……!”

“Fool.”

Then Leon, in his large form, bit Johannes’ shoulder. And then dragged him down.

“Where are you taking him?”

“You…… you! You said you couldn’t grow…….”

“I can only do it for 5 minutes. Where are you going?”

“We have to hide.”

The room was large. But there wasn’t a suitable place to hide.

“Under the bed.”

“Okay.”

Leon lowered Johannes’ sleeping body to the floor and shoved him under the bed. Aria helped Leon push Johannes completely under the large king-size bed and then opened the window.

And after messing up the inside as if they had escaped in a hurry, she crawled under the bed as well and hid.

“If by any chance…….”

“I’ll hide you when it’s urgent. But it’s only for 5 minutes.”

“Okay. Thank you!”

Leon looked at her worriedly before disappearing again.

―Bang!

The door opened, and the sound of footsteps entering could be heard.

Aria was so scared that she couldn’t breathe properly. She was so nervous that her pounding heart was painful. But she was even more afraid that the strangers would hear her heartbeat.

She was afraid that they would hear her breathing, so she unconsciously covered her mouth tightly and tried to calm herself.

She was so nervous that she felt like she was about to cry, so she tried not to breathe as much as possible.

Why am I so weak? If I were as strong as Lionell or Killian, I would be able to fight in this situation.

She felt pathetic for being afraid of this situation while thinking that.

“Did they run away through the window?”

“It’s the first floor.”

“Maybe this side is a decoy.”

“Should we go check other places too? It’s annoying.”

“We will search inside.”

I have to remember the voices. Aria tried to listen as closely as possible and memorize the voices.

But the speed at which those who came in were walking was strange. And judging by the sound of metal clashing, they seemed to be wearing armor. She heard the sound of a sword being put back into its sheath, as if they had put the drawn sword back.

―Thump! Clang!

It sounded like they were searching the closet. She could see things falling to the floor with a clanging sound.

“What about under the bed?”

“Would they really crawl under here?”

After saying that, the voice got closer to the lower side. And then the sheet that was covering the bottom of the bed was lifted.

‘Hup.’

She covered her mouth. To prevent any sound from escaping.

Their eyes met, and the man’s eyes were dyed bright red.

Aria made eye contact with the man who was looking straight ahead of her. However, the man reached out and waved his arm under the bed as if he hadn’t seen Aria. Aria was nervous because it felt like the man’s fingertips were about to touch her hair.

“What is this smell?”

“What? Is there something underneath?”

“I smell a woman’s scent.”

The man reached his hand in deeper. Aria looked at the hand that had passed right next to her shoulder. He waved his hand in the air again and then turned back, but the clothes he was wearing were the Holy Knight Order’s uniform.

“It seems like they really did run away.”

“Let’s chase them.”

“Okay.”

The hand covering her mouth was trembling.

Tears streamed down the back of her hand, but she couldn’t make a sound. She had to hold her breath and wait until it was okay.

◈◈◈

Around that time, Lionell had come to the room where Johannes was last in, in order to find the orb. Johannes, who had lost consciousness, had been moved to the room of the previous Saintess, not his own room, so Johannes’ original room was empty without an owner.

The reason why they hid him in the room of the previous Saintess was because everyone avoided that room, saying it was cursed.

Johannes must have sensed something before the explosion and used his divine power. That was why there were no casualties, and everyone only ended up with injuries.

Then, the reason why he couldn’t wake up now was clearly a side effect of using more power than his limit.

To wake him up, he would need to be poured with more divine power than the power the Cardinal had used. Since it was empty, it would take time to fill.

“Please.”

Lionell closed his eyes for a moment and hoped that he could use divine power just like his uncle had. But there was no reaction in his hand.

“I guess it’s not possible.”

He sighed and began to investigate the room again.

“Your Highness, I think it would be better for me to look after the injured.”

“Okay. I need to find this first.”

“Yes.”

The aide bowed first and then left. Lionell was lost in thought as he watched him leave.

The place where my uncle would hide things.

The reason why the orb was created in the first place was to prepare for times like this. Because divine power would replenish after being used.

“Your Highness.”

“Hm.”

“Are you alright?”

“No. I don’t know if Aria is okay.”

When he thought of Aria’s appearance, who was trying to act okay while being terrified, Lionell thought he needed to hurry.

“Is His Excellency being well guarded?”

“Yes, the temple said that they would guard that side.”

What was the reason for targeting Cardinal Johannes?

It was too bold for it to be a simple attempt to weaken the Crown Prince’s support base. And Cardinal Johannes was not dead yet. Then, could they move again to kill him?

When his thoughts reached that point, Lionell stopped abruptly.

“……I’ll go see Aria for a moment.”