Finally able to see the gates of the castle, Ellyad heard footsteps breaking through the darkness below.
“He’s there!” The shout pierced the ears of all the soldiers. Behind them, accompanied by a large contingent of troops, Lady Lofisso surged forward, reaching one of the outposts and shouting up towards Ellyad on the upper bridge:
“Dare to flee? Do you think you can escape the consequences of breaching the contract…weird?” Lady Lofisso had expected to see Ellyad lying on the ground, writhing in pain. However, to her surprise, Ellyad was now standing calmly on the heights, glaring coldly at her.
Soldiers from the other outposts immediately pursued Ellyad, but he swiftly turned and fled with rapid strides, vanishing before Lady Lofisso and her entourage, leaving only the swirling silhouette of his gray scarf fluttering behind him.
“How is this possible? The contract is still intact.” Lofisso gripped the magical contract book in her hand, faintly seeing the runes on it emanating light. These runes only appeared when the penalty for breach of contract was activated, indicating that the contract was still in effect. So she couldn’t understand why Ellyad could still move freely like this. Unable to worry about it now, Lofisso could only follow as they stormed into the palace, determined to find Thrett before Ellyad did.
To her surprise, the soldiers in front of Lofisso blocked her path. “Miss Gururu, you cannot pass through here.”
“Do you dare to block me whilst knowing who I am?”
“Your request to enter the palace was formally denied. The court has decided to prohibit members of the Gururu family from entering or leaving the palace recently to avoid negative rumors spreading within the court.”
Lofisso had rushed to the palace at the very moment Thrett was captured, demanding his release. However, due to the sensitivity of the situation, which involved whether the ministers could successfully usurp the entire country, even the bodyguard of a condemned princess could not be easily let go. At that time, Lofisso had been adamant, and fearing her causing trouble, the court had temporarily banned her from passing through.
“What are you joking about? Get out of my way!” Lofisso shouted furiously, delivering a roundhouse kick to the soldiers, knocking them down. Then, she pulled out her elegantly curved war scythe and hoisted it onto her shoulder, charging past the checkpoint towards the castle, leaving the aftermath to the servants who followed behind.
Ellyad, who had been looking down at her from above, his eyes filled with arrogance, was declaring war on her, proclaiming his unwavering determination. At this point, what she cared about was not winning Thrett’s favor anymore, but rather a matter of pride, unwilling to lose to a mere lowly and unknown individual.
—
With a focused gaze fixed on the direction of the castle, the contract that Lofisso held moments ago was almost within Ellyad’s reach. He couldn’t help but entertain the thought of rushing down to smash it. However, with Lofisso accompanied by numerous guards and having already attracted attention, more soldiers would likely be dispatched from the castle soon. Ellyad lacked confidence in making a clean escape without shedding blood, so he continued to sprint towards the castle. Now, Thrett was bearing the brunt of the penalty for breach of contract on his behalf. Every half second mattered; even if Ellyad were to meet Thrett, he couldn’t revoke the contract in Lofisso’s possession. He clenched his eyes shut, furrowing his brows. Regardless, if he didn’t find Thrett before Lofisso, he could very well lose him, a risk he couldn’t afford to take.
The chilly air brushed against his cheeks repeatedly. Deep down, Ellyad harbored a glimmer of hope that Thrett would find a solution to their problem. However, the reality was uncertain; no one could provide Ellyad with a definitive answer.
Ellyad infiltrated through a window in the wall, lagging behind Lady Lofis’s successful penetration into the castle by a step. Silencing his movements and concealing his presence were skills Ellyad excelled at. It was late at night, and there weren’t many guards or active servants around. Their vigilance hung lazily on their tired eyelids, and an air of carelessness pervaded the palace. Ellyad took a deep breath, calming his emotions, and chose to search the lower levels of the castle. Based on his experience being imprisoned by Lofisso, the cells for prisoners were likely located underground. After all, in this country, where land was scarce, it was unlikely that prisoners of low status would be housed aboveground.
As Ellyad descended deeper into the castle, the guard presence diminished significantly, allowing him to easily evade the patrolling soldiers in the shadows.
Room after empty room in the dungeons lay deserted, devoid of any guards. If there were prisoners here, it was inconceivable that not a single guard would be stationed to watch over them. After scouring the entire underground dungeon, Ellyad sighed heavily, feeling frustrated at his lack of sharpness, having wasted so much time searching. Anxiousness crept over him.
‘Where could you be… Thrett, please tell me where you are,’ Ellyad called out mentally, unable to make a sound in this place, hoping for another miracle.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
True to his plea, Thrett responded, allowing Ellyad to sense his presence amidst the darkness, his magical aura shimmering faintly like a beacon in the abyss.
Ktbeut ojlca, Siisjv mbeiv gbeutis qlcqblca tlr ibmjalbc, rmjcclcu atf qlamt-yijmx, fwqas mfiir jgbecv tlw, offilcu mfgajlc atja Ktgfaa kjr cfjgys.
“Lw?”
Fqbc mibrfg lcrqfmalbc, Siisjv cbalmfv j rfa bo lgbc rtjmxifr jcv j mbiijg islcu bc atf oibbg bo bcf bo atf mfiir. Ktbeut tf ralii vlvc’a rff Ktgfaa’r oluegf, Siisjv rqbaafv j rwjii, gbecv yijmx bypfma lcrlvf.
Summoning his sword, Ellyad swung it at the lock on the cell door. The sword, like a knife through butter, made no sound upon impact, cleaving the door open effortlessly. He pushed the door open and entered, approaching the spot where the collar had fallen. His eyes widened in astonishment.
‘Am I seeing things?’
The black object resembled a doll, roughly the size of an apple, with a round, adorable head and body. However, it was dressed in Thrett’s usual black high-necked suit, complete with all the accessories he typically wore. The only difference was its miniature size, making it look like a toy model.
‘Is this… Thrett?’
The doll resembling Thrett appeared to be asleep with closed eyes, its chest gently rising and falling, proving it was indeed a living being. Ellyad rubbed his eyes vigorously, blinked several times, and finally squatted down, using his fingers to lift the small, round black Thrett. Ellyad cradled the doll-like figure resembling Thrett in the palm of his hand, intending to try calling his name. If this doll truly was Thrett, then calling out his name would surely awaken him.
“Th-Thrett.”
“Hmm?”
The doll immediately woke up, sitting up and rubbing its eyes. It even lazily stretched.
Ellyad quickly withdrew one hand, covering half of his face. ‘It really is Thrett!’
Surprisingly, the tiny Thrett didn’t seem to notice anything unusual about his appearance, nor did he show any signs of surprise. Instead, he got up and leaned forward, asking Ellyad, who seemed to be overreacting, for a reaction.
“Ell?”
‘He’s talking to me!’ Ellyad seemed to be getting flustered. Despite his earlier judgment that ‘if this doll wakes up when called, then he must be Thrett,’ Ellyad’s mind couldn’t accept it when the doll actually woke up.
“Hey, Ell, are you okay?”
Ellyad had never experienced anything like this before—holding such a small and cute creature in his hand and conversing with it. He shook his head vigorously, trying to shake off his astonishment, thinking perhaps such things weren’t a big deal for magical beings.
“Why did you turn into this form, Thrett?”
Little Thrett scratched his head and said, “I’m not sure. It seems I’ve became like this while I was asleep.”
“I see.”
“Is it strange?”
“No, it’s very… remarkable.” Ellyad almost blurted out ‘cute,’ but he quickly corrected himself, guessing that Thrett might not appreciate being called cute.
Thrett’s memory stopped after he was captured. When he opened his eyes again, Ellyad was already in front of him, and he himself had turned into this small and insignificant form. However, he wasn’t shocked because before losing consciousness, his weakened state had automatically triggered the rule of the demon king’s immortality, releasing the seal on Thrett’s body. So, he somewhat expected that there would be changes after he passed out, but he didn’t anticipate it would be like this. Shrinking to this extent was almost like being on the brink of death, and his body had evaded disaster in a manner similar to animal mimicry or feigning death.
However, even if he was affected by the influence of the Hero’s Totem, it shouldn’t be severe enough to require all the seals to be released. Thrett couldn’t shake the feeling that during his unconsciousness, he must have been subjected to another powerful attack, resulting in his current form after the seals were released. It seemed that the attack was not to be underestimated.
Nevertheless, Thrett didn’t really mind his appearance and form, nor did he care much about the attack he endured while asleep. Seeing Ellyad looking somewhat shocked, he thought it was his own appearance that made Ellyad uncomfortable. So, he patted Ellyad’s finger reassuringly and said:
“I think my body will recover after a while,” Thrett said, although he himself didn’t mind, if Ellyad couldn’t accept it, that would be another matter.
With his cute little face, Thrett spoke to Ellyad with certainty, his mismatched eyes sparkling like glass beads, truly resembling a doll. This appearance made Ellyad turn his head away again, covering half of his face. He couldn’t reconcile this image with Thrett’s original tall and handsome appearance.
“Hmm?” Thrett suddenly looked up, silently observing Ellyad for a few seconds before asking, “Ell, are you okay?”
Although Thrett had initially asked Ellyad if he was okay, Ellyad could sense a difference in tone this time.
“Why do you ask like that? Oh, compared to me, Thrett, are you okay?” Ellyad was well aware of how terrifying the punishment could be, but seeing Thrett’s unique appearance just now, coupled with his calm expression from start to finish, made Ellyad forget about his punishment being transferred to Thrett.
“I’m perfectly fine, how about you?” Despite his appearance becoming comical, Thrett’s demeanor remained undiminished. With his hands on his hips, little Thrett asked Ellyad again, his expression looking quite serious.
“I…” Ellyad immediately recalled all the hardships he had endured after being separated from Thrett, the beatings, abuse, and humiliation, all of which were difficult to articulate. Therefore, he swallowed back these painful experiences and replied, “I’m fine too.”
Ellyad speculated at the same time, perhaps the strange man had said something wrong. Thrett seemed perfectly fine, except for his changed appearance, he had hardly suffered any injuries or discomfort. So maybe the caster wasn’t Thrett, or perhaps the punishment hadn’t been transferred to Thrett after all, which would explain why he was perfectly fine.
Thrett stared thoughtfully at Ellyad for a moment, then softened his expression, sighed, and raised his short arms towards Ellyad, gesturing for him to bring Thrett closer. Ellyad obediently held the tiny Thrett in front of his face.
Thrett leaned in close to Ellyad’s cheek, resting his head near Ellyad’s jawline, and spread his arms to pat Ellyad gently. “As long as you’re okay,” he said.
In fact, just now, Thrett realized that he had cast three spells on Ellyad not long ago, all of which had been used up. It was to prevent any mishaps that Ellyad might encounter while he wasn’t around, and the condition for activating the magic was precisely calling Thrett’s name.
He had initially thought that those three spells were just to reassure himself, after all, Thrett was confident he would always be by Ellyad’s side to protect him. However, now he found that the three layers of magic on Ellyad’s body had disappeared, which meant Ellyad had definitely encountered some life-threatening situation and had repeatedly called his name.
Thrett also realized that even the third layer of magic, which was only used when all else failed, had been exhausted, making it clear why he had ended up in this state. Thrett had shrunk because he had taken the brunt of some magical attack in place of Ellyad.
Thinking about how he had promised to protect Ellyad, yet allowed him to suffer so much, and in the end, Ellyad had come to him personally, even hiding the hardships he had endured.
At the thought of this, if Thrett hadn’t cast those three layers of protection for Ellyad, he wondered if he would still be able to see Ellyad now. The fear that had been lurking in his chest awakened silently, causing little Thrett to cling tighter to Ellyad’s cheek. If he could return to his original size now, he just wanted to hold Ellyad tightly in his arms, because only by doing so could he dispel the fear in his heart.
Thinking it was just Thrett’s simple concern, Ellyad comforted him, saying, “You too, it’s really great that you’re safe.”
Actually, as long as he could see Thrett again, everything that had happened before didn’t matter to Ellyad. He placed his hand on Thrett’s small back and said with relief, “Alright, let’s escape.”
However, Ellyad had no idea that Thrett had long sensed what he was trying to hide and deliberately showed a calm demeanor to Thrett.
He placed little Thrett on his shoulder, wrapped him in the scarf, and silently escaped from the underground dungeon along the original route.
As Thrett looked up from Ellyad’s shoulder and caught sight of his worried face peeking out from the scarf, he reached out and patted his small head, smiling lightly. “I’m really fine,” he said as he adjusted the scarf to prevent little Thrett from falling.
Finally, Thrett silently retreated into the scarf, cursing quietly in his heart, ‘I’ll definitely make everyone pay.’
Thank you for the chapters, I couldn’t bear to read the chapters before, I waited to read these all at once and now there is Thrett again 🙂
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞
I TOLD YOU LOFISSO! I TOLD YOU YOU AND YOUR STUPID GURURU FAMILY WOULD BE DEAD AFTER THRETT IS OUT OF PRISON!!! HAHAHAH