"My beloved soulmate asked me a request just not long ago. Her exact words were, stall me some time. Thus, I am here to do just that."
The dark spear within Fabian's grip trembled, making him glance at it and smirk. A dark shroud came from his spear, sending a sense of dread down Miguel's spine.
'No,' whispered Miguel in his heart, shifting his attention to Giselle. "Giselle!! Stop this —"
CLANG!
Miguel nearly bit his tongue when the dark spear suddenly appeared before him. Thanks to his fast reflexes, he blocked the attack on time. If he was a bit slow, Miguel would've lost a limb that second.
"That's rude, Count." Fabian smiled until his eyes were squinting. "Isn't your priority this ceremony? You should let the chief leader do what she must do."
Miguel ground his teeth. "What are you two planning?"
"My only plan is to stall time — do I have to repeat the orders I got?" The swords between them rattled as Fabian leaned forward. "Her Majesty was truly a woman with a thousand plans. How can you fall for her petty tricks? You should've continued investigating the fort and shouldn't have listened to her. Now you're in trouble."
CLANG!
Miguel repelled Fabian with all his might and then jumped away, creating a distance from him. His eyes were shaking as Fabian's remarks repeated in his head over and over.
How did this man know about his initial worry?
Just weeks ago, Miguel had been in the fort every day to check to ease the restlessness in his heart. However, a week before the full moon, he stopped. He shifted his focus to the Queen's activities, and he found out about Suzanne and the witches' movements.
"No…" Miguel whispered as a realization struck him.
All the encounters and conversations he had with Aries from the very beginning suddenly made a point. From the very beginning, Aries had been hinting at Miguel to focus on her. She never said it directly, nor was she hasty about it. She kept her hints minimal. Miguel didn't notice until now that he realized he subconsciously followed what Aries had been wanting.
Focus on her and her movements.
Miguel held his breath, wide-eyed. Fabian's smile was still dominating his face, as if pleased to see Miguel's reaction.
"You…" Miguel's voice rumbled low while his chest suddenly pounded against his chest. "... what is Abel Grimsbanne up to?"
"That, I don't know for sure. Though I have my guess."
Miguel closed his eyes and stabilized his breathing. When he reopened his eyes, he took another deep breath before his voice thundered.
"Stop, Giselle right this instance! It's a trap!!"
All the members of the Raven who heard Miguel's voice stopped. They all cast their eyes at him, only to see Miguel standing several steps away from Fabian. They heard about the infamous butler in the House Grimsbanne and they were not surprised Miguel couldn't go past him.
They didn't know the details of Miguel's orders, but that one sentence was enough for them to follow his orders.
It was a trap.
BOOOGSH!
Just as the members of the Raven were about to flee the battle to execute the order, a member suddenly flew into the wall. They halted, eyes falling on the person who suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Oy, oy… where the hell do you think you're going?" Dexter spat out blood to the side, fixing his stance as he pointed his sword at them. "Earlier, I kept telling you to get out of my way, but you didn't listen. What makes you think I'll let you get away now?"
Dexter sneered, his laughter was laced with sinister. He didn't know the reason Miguel suddenly spewed such orders. If there was anyone who wanted to stop this ceremony, Dexter was first on the list. But his gut feeling was telling him to ride the sudden wave that struck them.
Whatever nonsense Fabian spewed that changed Miguel's mind, Dexter wouldn't let these Ravens get their way. After all, Aries was the most scheming person Dexter had met in his life. She was a woman known to have a thousand plans. It would be foolish to think that the orders she had given Suzanne and the witches were her only plan.
There must be another one or two.
Meanwhile, Conan and London were still fighting ferociously. This time, however, Conan wasn't in a rush anymore.
"What, Your Highness? Weren't you in a rush just moments ago?" London huffed, holding his sword against Conan's. "Now I am letting you. Matter of fact, I'll help you stop the ceremony."
Conan smirked. "You know, after exchanging blows with you, I've grown attached!"
"Is that so? Have you fallen in love with me? Just like your brother?"
"Whatever makes you happy." Conan laughed. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
CLANG!
Conan and London repelled each other, only to leap toward each other to have a showdown of strength. As their swords sparked against each other, London spoke.
"Your Highness, just what will you gain from this?" he asked, unfazed by the strength Conan was displaying. "Just what were you and Abel planning?"
"No idea!"
CLANG!
"All I know is that I need to make sure she'll live," Conan continued when their swords met once again. "You worked with her before. You should've known her way of making plans. Only Lady Aries knew the entire look of the plans — we only know a bit of it."
CLANG!
London clenched his teeth as he continuously exchanged blows with Conan. Each of their attacks was powerful, but now London was being pushed back. Conan's urgency previously was gone and had been focusing on him, putting London at a disadvantage.
Abel had been going into his house ever since Aries was crowned the Queen. Although Abel had been in his estate, London still, until now, had no idea what the man was planning. He tried investigating on his own, following Abel's trail, but failed miserably.
The only hint he got from Abel was: "Choose your priority."
What Abel meant by that was if London planned to side with Aries without questions, London should be prepared to sacrifice the mainland. If London chose the latter, then he should do his best to stop Aries. Thus, he was here, fighting for his motherland. No hard feelings.
'I don't regret my decision. But at this rate…'London huffed as he slid back after failing to put more strength into blocking Conan's attack. '... I'm afraid he tricked me so I won't see through his plans.'
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