Chapter 35

---3rd Person POV, Holfort Palace, Several Weeks Later---

"Julius, are you sure you really want to do this?", Jilk asked, as the two princes met outside the palace dungeon, "If we are caught, you will likely lose your birthright and we will be disowned from the royal family."

"I am fully aware of that, but I do not care. Saving Marie is my highest priority, I could care less if I lose my status as the Crown Prince. If that happens, I would be free to pursue Marie without any input from our parents or anyone else.", Julius boldly proclaimed, full of determination, "If you are unwilling to help, go back to your room!"

"I am here to stay till the end, I was just making sure you were too.", Jilk said, waiting for the guards on the wall to pass, "Right now only the jailer should be guarding the dungeon, all the other dungeon guards are at dinner. They will start heading back this way in less than twenty minutes. We need to be in and out before then."

Currently on a mission to free their beloved Marie from jail, the two men were desperate to pull this off as her trial was set for a few days from now. Assuming that she would not receive a fair trial, as the palace was against her, helping her escape the capital was the only way to save her. Even if they would have to rendezvous with her sparingly in secret, it was better than watching the hangman's noose take her from them.

'Hopefully we can find the culprit behind all these baseless rumors, and restore her good name.', Julius thought, as the guards passed out of sight, "Alright, time to get moving!"

Silently slipping into the dungeon, the two men crept down the long stairwell and up to the Jailer's Office. Hearing the man snoring inside, they were grateful that they would not need to harm him. Retrieving his keyring from a hook by the door, the two of them split up and began searching the rows of cells for Marie.

"Marie, where are you?", Julius called out in a hushed voice, "If you can hear me, wave your hand through the bars!"

Hearing his voice, Marie rushed to the door and began vigorously waving into the hallway. Calling out to Jilk that he found her, the two men converged on her cell for a heartfelt reunion.

"I knew you would come for me; I just knew it!", Marie cried, quickly falling back into her usual act, "Have the liars been exposed?"

"No, the palace will not listen to reason. Your trial is set for a few days from now, we are here to smuggle you out of the capital before the bias court has a chance to find you guilty.", Jilk said, as Julius fumbled around looking for the right key, "Are you alright, Marie? Have they been providing you quality food and a soft bed?"

"My treatment has been fair, given the circumstances.", Marie lied, 'All I have been eating is stale bread, cold stew, and water!! Of course I have been suffering here!!'

Finding the proper key, Julius unlocked her cell and flung the door open for Marie. Embracing the two men, they immediately hugged her and began showering her with affection. Eating it all up, Marie was confident she had her hooks in the men enough to bring this whole charade to the end now.

"I had time to think about who would falsify information about me and provide it to the Crown. Given their disdain for our blossoming relationship, I believe your fiancés are likely the ones who caused all this. They have the motive, reason, and power to make this all happen.", Marie informed them, as Julius locked the cell back up.

"You believe our five fiancés are the culprits?", Jilk remarked, with a skeptical look.

"Hmm…it would explain where the photos came from. Angelica and her subordinates were in the dungeon with us, and we did have a rather heated argument prior to entering.", Julius conceded, "Given what happened last time she ordered an assault on Marie, this would be the next logical step in escalating matters. She probably got the other fiancés to join her using those photos and falsified evidence."

"I suppose that is true, I just…I just cannot believe that Clarice would stoop to this level.", Jilk said, still on the fence, "If it is true, we are partially to blame for all of it. We should have collectively ended our engagements several years ago. The five of us led them on till now, before we proceed with Marie, we should do the honorable thing and break things off with the five of them."

"That…that is a fair suggestion.", Julius conceded, "In that case, the upcoming end of semester party will be good venue to break it off. It will make it clear to the men of the Academy that they are free to pursue our former partners and give the women a chance to pursue other men immediately."

 Agreeing with Julius' suggestion, the two men began hashing out what they would say to their soon to be ex-fiancés as they made their way outside. While they talked with each other, Marie followed behind them with a wicked smile.

'These idiots are going to publicly humiliate the five cunts in front of their student and noble peers. After they drop this bombshell, no one in our generation will touch them leaving only the older nobleman in the sticks to take them!', Marie thought, almost drooling at the mouth, 'I cannot wait to hear all about their suffering while I live the high life with their former fiancées. Hehe, I will have to send them family postcards with our family portraits to them at the end of every year too!'

Returning the Jailer's Keys to their original location, the three of them quickly slipped out of the dungeon just as the guards were returning from dinner. Leading Marie to one of the many royal escape tunnels that dotted the palace grounds, she stopped them before they ran inside.

"There are a few personal items I need to retrieve from the Academy. I hid them in a cubby hole underneath my bed. They are important family heirlooms.", she lied, 'I have over a hundred thousand dia underneath my bed. There is no way I am leaving that behind. If I am going to live off the land, I need capital or I will end up a slave!'

"I understand, there is an exit that pops out near the Academy. I will guide us there, but we cannot go further with you. The two of us will draw too much unwanted attention, and could end up exposing you.", Julius told her.

"It is okay, you are already doing a lot for me as is.", Marie replied, with a smile.

With a new destination set, Julius led the group through the maze of tunnels that ran under the city. Arriving at the Academy fifteen minutes later, the two men hugged and kissed Marie goodbye before opening the exit for her.

"As soon as the semester is over, we will come find you!", Jilk swore to her.

"I will be hunkered down beneath my family's estate. The entrance is in my father's study, the bust of my great grandfather houses a magic circle which will release the mechanism that holds the door shut tight.", Marie advised, with a seductive smile, "We will be all alone there so I can reward you for saving me."

Understanding what Marie was hinting at, the two men looked away in embarrassment. Even though both were interested in her offer, to hear her say it so brazenly flustered them. Quickly scrambling out of the exit, the princes shut the exit and returned home while Marie made her way to the female dormitory. In a rush to get in and out as quickly as possible, Marie threw cautious to the wind hoping that no one would see her. Unfortunately for her, a group of girls returning from the Academy's library caught a glimpse of her as she ran upstairs.

---Stephanie's Room---

"That fucking bitch escaped the palace, and is here in the dormitory!?", Stephanie howled, having heard the reports from her subordinates, "She has a fucking pair on her to come back here after getting cozy with my Brad!!!"

Watching their mistress vent her anger by throwing vases and teacups at the wall, no one uttered a word to avoid becoming a target. Continuing to vent her rage for a few minutes, Stephanie got her temper back under control and walked over to the window. Staring up at the sky for a few moments, she took a deep breath then turned toward them to give them their orders.

"I want you to capture her and bring her to me.", Stephanie said, with a scowl, "She knows too much about my operations. If she gets caught again, she is liable to squeal on me to avoid the noose. Given everything I have been doing, that cunt will likely be set free for all the information she has."

"My Lady, we do not know where she went or where she is going.", one of the girls said.

Unhappy with her response, Stephanie stormed over to her desk, picked up an inkwell, and threw it at the girl. Pegging her straight in the forehead, the poor girl fell backwards clutching her forehead in pain as blood began to pour from the wound. Doing her best not to cry or get blood on the carpet, she quickly picked herself back up and fell in line again.

"You are blithering idiots, she came here to retrieve something hidden in her room!!", Stephanie roared, "Now go get me that bitch!!"

Understanding her orders clearly, the four women rose their feet and quickly vacated the room. Splitting up as they entered the hallway, they wanted to ensure that Marie had nowhere to run. If they screwed up here, they would be the ones receiving the punishment meant for Marie.

---Marie's Room---

"Thank god they did not find my stash of goodies!!", Marie said with relief, retrieving her money, fake id, and a magic stones, "This should be enough to get me back to my family's territory in one piece."

Having retrieved what she needed; Marie hurriedly ran for the door till she began to hear people running in her direction. Waiting for them to pass her room by, her blood ran cold when the sounds stopped outside her door. Before she could dive back under the bed to hide, the girls Stephanie sent kicked down the door and ran into her room.

"Look who decided to come back to us.", the injured girl snarled, "Lady Stephanie said to capture her, but did not mention if she needed to be conscious or not. After everything we have endured because of her, I said we teach her a lesson she will never forget!"

"YEAH!!", the other girls agreed.

Seeing no direct way out of this situation, Marie pulled a magic firestone out of a small magic bag. Imbuing it with a bit of her magic, the stone began to glow brightly which made her assailants stop moving.

"Let me pass, or I will throw this against the wall and kill all of us!", Marie threatened, slowly making her way toward the window.

"You are bluffing!! You would not go through all this trouble just to kill yourself!", one of the girls argued.

"I know what Stephanie will do to me if I go with you. Burning alive is a better choice than meeting my end at her hands!", Marie countered, as she arrived in front of the window "Now what is going to be?"

"If we do not take you in, it will be us on the receiving end of her wrath.", the injured girl stated, "Maybe we can- "

"Then good luck!", Marie said, throwing the stone at the opposite wall.

Diving out the window as soon as she threw it, the other four women dove for cover behind the hallway wall. The instant the firestone hit the wall; a gargantuan, fiery explosion blew out the walls sending dozens of women flying into the night sky. Leaving behind an intense, magical firestorm, the building quickly caught on fire sending the women's dormitory in a frenzy. Fleeing for their lives, the women trampled one another trying to reach the exits as the fire quickly spread throughout the building.

Hearing the explosion from across the shared courtyard, the men saw that the women's dormitory was ablaze and quickly leapt into action. Throwing on proper clothing, they ran out of their dormitory to help evacuate the women. While this was going on, people from all over the capital ran to their windows to see what was happening. Seeing the smoke rising from the Academy, the nobles quickly got dressed and began barking orders at their guards.

"Angelica, a fire has broken out on the Academy Grounds!!", Gilbert shouted, pounding on her door, "Father needs you to go out and help take control of the situation. Since we do not know if this is an attack, we must rush to the docks to prepare for battle!"

"I will get changed and head over immediately!", Angelica said, already in the process of changing.

Satisfied with her answer, Vince and Gilbert quickly left their manor to join the defensive line at the port.