Spirit Prince (3)

Edited by: Kuro and Lille

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The day after Fel rescued the two kids, chaos ensued on the estate. Earl Rottrett's servants knelt, foreheads to the floor. Everyone held their breath, afraid of making any sounds as the Earl's footsteps echoed throughout the main hall of the mansion. What was once a beautiful, gold-decorated hall, was now cold and desolate. Not that there weren't any people, but each person felt as though they were all isolated from one another as they listened to the footsteps of their Master.

"Who were the ones responsible for putting the slave collars on the two children?" His voice was eerily calm, plaguing the ears of all the servants.

The Madam of the house was nowhere to be found as she had taken her child, shielding them from the atrocities that were about to be committed. She had no strength to stop him, so she could only protect her baby.

The head butler, who was standing behind the Earl, looked over at two young men who were in charge of bringing in slaves. "Those two over there were the ones assigned." If no one was going to say anything, he would. At least he could save his skin.

The two guards that were pointed out went stiff. Their body started to shake unconsciously, trying to figure out what to say, but what could they say? They were sure that they double-checked the collars, locked them up, and ensured they could not escape. Not only were the collars on the ground, but the door was locked and there were no signs of the kids. What could they even say in this situation when they knew they were going to get killed?

The Earl stopped in front of the two guards, who realized that all the other servants had gotten up and dispersed elsewhere. They were all still in the main hall, just not anywhere near the two guards.

"Do you have anything to say before you die?"

"Master, please have mercy on us!" The first guard almost bit down on his tongue.

The second guard nodded, his head still to the ground. "We made sure that the collars were on. Please have mercy!"

"Drag them out." Earl Rottrett made the gesture to cut their necks off at the head butler and continued, "Assign new guards. We can't have incompetent people handling my goods."

"Master, please have mercy!"

"Master, we beg of you!"

Their screams resounded throughout the main hall but no one stepped forward to help them. They were mercilessly dragged out by their legs, the screams plaguing the minds of the other servants.

"Increase the number of guards, we can't have my merchandise disappearing anymore than they already have."

"Yes, Master!" Everyone said, dripping with cold sweat as they knew any more mistakes meant their life.

******

A week later, Fel heard System 225's *Chirp, chirp.*

[Emergency Mission: Help Serena escape tonight.

[This mission is mandatory. If you fail it, you will fail this world.]

'Eh? Serena? Emergency Mission? This is new.' Fel sat up on the rag called his bed.

[Actually, she was supposed to get kidnapped next week, but after saving the two kids, he couldn't wait any longer and kidnapped Serena haphazardly. Serena being brutally murdered is what sparked Earl Rottrett's economic downfall. What's more, Serena's servant has made it to the estate and is looking for a way to get inside to save their Lady.]

'She must be important for the servant to already be here.'

[She's the Archduke's daughter. It's no surprise they were able to track her here.]

'It seems Earl Rottrett messed up here...'

[Not exactly, in the previous life, on the day after he kidnapped her, he was able to rape and kill her. Dumping her body and blaming it on some bandits. There was no way to prove it so, in retaliation, the Archduke messed with the Earl's territory. This led to the fall of their territory which came quicker than expected.]

'Immediately leading to Fel's death, how obnoxious. Earl Rottrett is really despicable. He dragged so many people into his nasty hobbies, it's about time someone cut him down.'

[Good luck, Host, on rescuing Serena.]

'Thank you, System.' Fel looked out the window. The sun was still up. 'System, do you have news on those two kids?' He asked this every day since he had rescued them.

[Ah, yes, they have arrived at a town in the neighboring kingdom. Some knights patrolling in an area by the border saw them and took them to the orphanage in the neighboring kingdom.]

To think they made it all the way to the border on their own… He was glad that they survived.

He was scared that everyone he rescued wouldn't survive, but it gave him hope that even these kids made it. Fel decided to train a bit harder until nightfall so that he could quickly and safely rescue all the victims.

When the sun disappeared from the sky and the moon replaced it, he decided to leave the room. He asked System 225 one more time about the positioning of the guards before heading out. He already knew that Earl Rottrett would increase the number of guards, but they always had the same weak spot in their defense, so it made no difference to him how many guards there were.

Since Fel and Serena were in the same hallway, it would be easy to reach Serena. The challenging part was getting her out of the estate where her people were waiting for her. If she was not cooperative it would be difficult to get her out. He could only hope that she would be obedient.

Fel quickly arrived in front of Serena's prison. She was lying on the ground, her dress covered in dirt. Her once silky brown hair was tangled from the rough-and-tumble that she had to endure on her way to the prison. Serena looked as if she had given up on ever escaping from the prison. The biggest reason was the slave collar around her neck.

He quickly unlocked the gate. Hearing the sound, Serena quickly woke up and scooted until her back was to the wall. Her eyes filled with fear for a moment, but soon confusion set forth. She saw a handsome young man with bright golden eyes. His white long hair was accompanied by two fluffy ears at the top of his hair. A luxurious tail hung low, swaying as if it had a mind of its own. His clothes were in tatters but he still seemed elegant. He looked clean in comparison to her, and his hair was shining, as though he was not enslaved at all. The thing that shocked her was the collar around his neck that was engraved with the Earl's insignia. She knew it was the same collar she had on since she could feel the engraving of the insignia.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Serena questioned, nervous and scared. She remembered earlier that she begged her father to take her with him to the neighboring country while he negotiated as a stand-in for the King. Her father was once a prince who was granted the title of ArchDuke. He stepped down from the fight for inheritance and helped his older brother win the throne. The King trusted his brother more so than even his wife.

Serena, a sheltered princess, wanted to see the world that her father told her about. It seemed so bright and colorful, very different from her life in the Archduke's estate that felt stagnant, like a beautiful cage.

Anyway, she remembered going incognito in the capital of Frayx, and after eating dinner, she felt a horrible pain in her neck. The next thing she knew, she was in this prison.

Serena was just a 17-year-old girl who only worried about socializing in high society. She was not strong like her brothers and was used to being pampered, but even so, she was kind and smart. At the same time, her being sheltered led her to be naive.

Fel put his right pointer finger to his lips and made a 'Shhh' sound. She felt like she was in a trance as she stared into his eyes. She almost forgot the fear she had when she saw him.

"I can help you get out of here, but you must listen to everything I say. You must not question anything that will happen, do you understand?"

Serena mindlessly nodded her head.

"Good, listen carefully. Rule number 1, don't make a sound. Rule number 2, don't touch anything. Rule number 3, when I say run, you will run. Rule number 4, when I say crawl, you will crawl and not look back. Got it?"

She nodded once again.

Fel moved away from the gated door and quickly approached her. She was a little startled but didn't move away from him.

"Don't move. I am taking this off your neck."

Serena immediately relaxed and almost offered her neck to Fel. Fel felt amused at her obedience and put his hand on the collar. In a matter of seconds, he overrode the owner and detached the collar. A click sound was heard and it fell to the ground in front of Serena.

"Do you have the strength to move?"

She nodded. Luckily, they kidnapped her after her dinner so she wasn't exhausted from hunger.

"Good, follow me. Remember to follow the rules." Sometimes, it was easier when people listened, but Fel knew rules could be used as a double-edged sword.

The two slowly left the basement area. Fel walked through the mansion as if he owned it. When he hid, she hid, when he turned a corner, so did she.

When she saw Fel knock out a guard, she shuddered in fear. The handsome young man with a slave collar on his neck was strong. She wondered why he was kidnapped but was still able to move freely. If he had such strength, why did he stay? But she quickly ended those thoughts. She was lucky that he was here. If he wasn't, her fate would have been worse than death.

Fel and Serena entered a typical, unused room seen in most mansions owned by nobles, so there was nothing special about it. But the location was perfect for them. He opened the window and helped her out. He closed the window but left a slight crack. If a person opened the door, they wouldn't be able to see it, but if they walked up to it, they would be able to notice it was slightly open. He didn't worry about that as the guards of the mansion were quite negligent even with the increase in number.

From the basement that was at the furthest east corner, it took a bit for them to arrive at the westernmost room. The room was the place that was closest to the walls and where Serena's guard was hiding. Serena's knight was just outside the walls, hiding inside the forest.

This escape route was the easiest to use because there were a lot of objects that could hide them. From fake mountains to different kinds of trees, it was a beautiful garden, but also the biggest weakness in the defense. Luckily, it was easy to get Serena over the wall without alerting anyone. He just had to make it back before anyone would notice his disappearance. He didn't have much time before the sun came up so he took Serena by the hand and weaved her through the garden.

She did her best to keep up, but soon found she was out of breath. She vowed that if she made it out alive, she would diligently train with a sword just as her brothers did.

Serena would one day become the strongest knight of the Yale Kingdom, but that's a story for another time…

When they approached the wall, Fel kicked a part of the wall. After the kick, part of the wall crumbled, showing a hole big enough for one person to crawl through.

"Crawl into this hole and stand by the entrance."

She followed his instructions and crawled through the one-and-a-half-foot-thick wall. After seeing her standing, he crawled through.

When Fel got out, he found a sword pointed at his face. He hadn't even left the hole completely. He didn't panic but he stared blankly at the man. He moved the sword out of his face with his hand and crawled out of the hole. He stood up and brushed himself off, ignoring the glares coming from Serena's knight.

He immediately heard a *Chirp Chirp* in his mind.

[Emergency Mission: Help Serena Escape, has been completed. Congrats to the Host for his hard work.]

Fel then focused himself back on the man in front of him. The man, who was 25 years old, was named Kris. He looked like a butler, but it was obvious he was well-versed with the sword. He was Serena's butler and knight and was the sole person to track her to this estate. He had already put Serena behind him and was prepared to cut Fel down if necessary.

Kris glared at Fel and said with a harsh tone, "I thank you for helping the young miss escape but as someone with the slave collar of that Earl, I can't trust you. Why did you help the Young Miss out of the mansion?" Kris believed he would've been able to save Serena without Fel's help.

"Is this how you thank a savior? Since the Lady is safe, I suggest you leave as soon as possible. The sun is about to rise and it will be dangerous for all of us." Fel turned back and was about to leave when his hand stopped the sword coming toward his neck.

Kris was shocked that this young man was able to stop his sword without leaving even a scratch on his hand.

Fel turned his head slightly and glared. "Do I need to make myself clear?"

The man stumbled back and held his head. He looked at Fel in disbelief. He quickly apologized and picked Serena up, dashing into the forest. He was embarrassed but he knew they couldn't stay any longer.

At that moment, Fel had used Space-time magic to send him a vision of Serena being raped and murdered. That vision was like a prophecy to Kris. Only Space-time users could see into the future and the more powerful users were able to let others see the future and their possible paths. But it was rarely used as knowing someone's destiny was akin to destroying their future. That was only in some cases though. A lot of things were possible with magic, but it was still shocking to meet a high-level Space-time user.

He knew when to back down and quickly left. He would never forget the kindness that Fel showed him.

Serena knew that she may not be able to meet Fel again, but she still vowed to become strong enough to thank Fel for saving her life.

******

When the sun rose, Fel was lying on the brown mat. His eyes were closed but he circulated magic throughout his body. He was always training and found joy in it. He was the type of person who loved to do repetitive things but also hone them to perfection. He didn't need any cheats, he just needed the motivation, which he had plenty of. Day and night, every hour of every day, he trained until System 225 called him about the next set of victims.

His motivation was to rescue the victims of Earl Rottrett and find his parents.

With that goal in mind, he trained his body and soul.