The morale of Aldric’s troops surged, and they chased after the retreating attackers, determined to make their enemies pay dearly for their incursion. Aldric’s gaze remained cold and unyielding, his focus fixed on the retreating figures.The sight of his soldiers pursuing the retreating attackers filled him with grim satisfaction.
With his chest heaving from exertion, Aldric’s eyes scanned the battlefield, ensuring no threat remained. The battle had been won, for now. Aldric knew this was just the beginning; the Raysin family would not give up until they had exacted revenge on him, on Islinda. Wait a minute...
"Fuck!"
Aldric abandoned everything and sprinted towards his quarters. He had gotten carried away with the thrill of battle and forgotten his promise to check on her, even though he had charged Kalamazoo to protect her.
Aldric hadn’t even reached his quarters when he bumped into Kalamazoo. His heart skipped a beat, fearing the worst, especially when he saw Kalamazoo clutching his bleeding side.
"Where is she?!" he demanded.
"She escaped. I tried to stop her, but she attacked me," Kalamazoo managed to say.
Aldric didn’t waste a second. He bolted to his chambers, breathless by the time he got there, only to find the bed empty. He picked up the chains and realized they hadn’t been picked but broken. Either Kalamazoo had been foolish enough to fall for her tricks, or she had been strong enough to break the chains and had been playing along with him.
"Fuck!" Aldric cursed, punching his fist into the wall out of frustration. No, she couldn’t have gone far. He had to find her.
Aldric ran out of his room, frantically searching everywhere. Panic began to set in. What would he do if the demon was really gone? She was in Islinda’s body, for crying out loud! He couldn’t lose his mate like this!
There was no sign of the demon in the places he searched. Just as he was about to call his men for help, he stumbled upon something uncanny.
Some enemies had managed to break into his castle, and it wasn’t uncommon to find a body or two in the hallways. However, this time, bodies littered the way to one of the rooms as if the enemies had targeted someone inside.
Aldric’s heart went cold. He ran in.
"Islinda!" he called, heart racing and expecting to see Islinda’s body on the ground.
However, Aldric arrived just in time to see the demon decapitate an enemy, and the headless body fell to the ground in a heap.
Aldric was dumbfounded at the sight. Islinda’s still-naked body was splattered with blood, and there was no guessing whose handiwork it was. Hers.
"For the record," Azula said, licking the blood off her fingers, "my name is Azula."
Strangely, Aldric thought her name sounded cute, until she ruined the moment by saying, "Islinda is gone."
His face turned grim at once. "I told you not to leave the room."
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