Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight! novel Chapter 553

Florian and Hendrix began running again, weaving through the chaos, their footsteps slamming against the marble floor.

The crowd was a blur of terrified faces, nobles and servants alike pushing past in frantic waves, their screams echoing off the palace walls.

Florian's chest tightened, his breath uneven. His mind kept circling back to the shadow that had flown past them.

"I swear I saw..." he mumbled, voice breaking, but Hendrix didn't answer.

Hendrix's grip on his wrist only tightened as he conjured a faint shimmer of magic around them.

Florian realized with a jolt it was concealment—an invisibility ward, or at least something close.

The panicked nobles brushed past without sparing them a glance, as though their eyes slid right over the two of them.

Florian's shock grew heavier with every step. His head was buzzing, torn between the memory of Heinz's words earlier and the sight of that monstrous blur.

Until—

"ATHENA?! ATHENA, ARE YOU THERE?! WHERE'S—" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The voice cracked through the noise like lightning. Florian's head snapped toward it.

Scarlett.

Her fiery red hair was loose, tangled, her face streaked with tears as she stumbled through the crowd.

Beside her was Camilla, equally panicked, her sobs raw and loud. Both girls' dresses were torn at the hems, as if they'd been pushed or dragged through the chaos.

"I—I can't see the other girls… my… my family…" Camilla's voice shook violently, her words fractured as she clutched at Scarlett's sleeve.

Scarlett's desperation was sharper, her eyes darting through the smoke-filled corridor. "Athena! Where are you?!" she cried again, her voice breaking mid-shout.

Florian's heart clenched. His legs faltered, instinct screaming at him to stop, to reach out, to do something—anything—for them.

But Hendrix's pull was unrelenting, dragging him forward.

Their eyes met for a split second as they passed—Scarlett's wild and frantic, Camilla's wet and pleading.

And then they were gone, swallowed back into the crowd.

Florian stumbled but forced himself forward, his gaze lingering behind.

'I should've… no, I… I can't. Not now. Not when even Hendrix looks this serious.'

"I hope Athena's with my mother," Hendrix muttered, his jaw tight as he pulled Florian closer, his voice grim but low, meant only for him.

As they neared the ballroom, the air grew thick with panic. The corridor bottlenecked into chaos—screams, sobs, and the thunder of shoes slamming against the polished floor.

Dozens of nobles and servants pressed together, clawing to escape through the narrow exits.

The crowd surged like a tide, desperate to flee the inferno that was consuming the ballroom behind them.

Hendrix clicked his tongue sharply, his grip tightening on Florian's wrist. His jaw was clenched, eyes darting over the frantic masses.

Florian swallowed hard, looking up at him.

"This is… okay, right? This is okay because they're bound to come out here," he whispered, though even as he said it, his voice shook.

Hendrix didn't answer right away. His expression had darkened. "Assuming they let my mother come through at all," he muttered under his breath.

Florian's stomach sank.

'Ah… so that's it. That's what he's afraid of.'

Hendrix wasn't just worried about the fire, or the chaos—it was Monica. He was worried she'd never be allowed to reach safety.

And Florian understood.

The nobles despised Monica, whispered about her, resented her position.

With Heinz's disdain for her well-known, it wasn't impossible to imagine that some of these desperate people might see this as an opportunity to push her into the flames—or to simply ignore her cries for help.

Florian's throat tightened. He wanted to say something to comfort Hendrix, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, his eyes drifted sideways, drawn toward the window beside him.

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