To be reborn as a porcelain doll Part 16

In the area where the arrow was aimed, there were intense traces of blood. Felix followed the blood traces with his horse. After a while, near the waterfall, they saw a large wounded deer lying down. The arrow had pierced its neck, and blood was flowing wildly.

Alyysia felt a bit nauseous but resisted and said, "Felix, you're truly a skilled hunter."

Felix, with an inflated ego, praised himself, "Yes, that's why I'm the Crown Prince!"

Alyysia laughed at this, and Felix, after killing the struggling deer with his sword, was about to take it for the ritual ceremony tomorrow when his sharp senses noticed something. He quickly mounted his horse and swiftly rode towards the camp.

Alyysia didn't understand what was happening and asked.

"What's happening, Felix? Why didn't you take the prey?"

"Just hold on to me and don't move."

Then an arrow was shot from the forest. As if he knew it would happen, Felix blocked the arrow with his sword. More arrows were shot from various places in the forest, and Felix continued to block them, progressing forward.

"ASSASSIN!"

Alyysia shouted loudly. Felix showed no reaction on his face; he continued to move towards the camp with a serious expression, as if he knew this was going to happen.

As the arrows continued to come, this time they started targeting Felix's horse. Felix was protecting both himself and his horse. The group targeting Felix didn't care about Alyysia; they probably thought Felix would use her as a shield even if she got hurt.

So, instead of targeting her, they made direct moves to take Felix down. When Felix appeared in the view of the camp, his face relaxed a bit. However, at the entrance of the camp, several figures suddenly appeared, setting fire to the trees and quickly fleeing. They didn't have any weapons.

Felix caught the scent of the burning leaves, and his face contorted in disgust. It was a type of potion used to prevent wizards from casting spells. They had applied it to the trees because this was a forested area. Before the start of the hunting competition, security searches didn't anticipate the application of a potion to the tree leaves. With the leaves burning and scattering, the scent of the potion would spread everywhere, making it difficult for the Heartless Dragon Vahenndart to intervene. 

Felix cursed internally; the group that organized the assassination had thought of everything. Therefore, Felix couldn't escape directly through the fire, as there were still a few masked figures waiting in ambush. He considered changing his route and escaping through different paths, thinking frantically about how to get away from here.

Meanwhile, in the camp, the fire had already been noticed, and all the nobles had gathered at the entrance with worried expressions. Fires were still breaking out in various areas of the forest, resembling a ring of fire.

The Heartless Dragon Vahenndart took the initiative to enter the forest immediately, but the scent emanating from the ashes caused his face to contort, much like Felix's.

"Molin elixir..."

The Heartless Dragon Vahenndart, of course, knew what Molin elixir was because he was a wizard, and this elixir was his most formidable enemy. Molin elixir was a potion created by a wizard and sold to kingdoms and other groups.

In an era dominated by wizards, a wizard, solely for personal gain, betrayed the entire wizard legion to develop this elixir. Even though the era of wizards had come to an end, the wizard who betrayed them was mercilessly tortured until all his limbs and muscles were torn apart by a ruthless wizard with eight mana circles.

!

Even after death, his soul was imprisoned, and he continued to suffer torture in the fires of hell. The screams of the betraying wizard were spread throughout the wizard world every week through communication magic, serving as an example to those considering betrayal, saying, "This is how your end will be." 

All wizards despised the wizard who developed this Molin elixir. Despite their self-interest, wizards would never engage in an act that would jeopardize their entire future and progress. However, this particular wizard dared to do so, and his subsequent torture was deemed by some wizards as insufficient.

The Heartless Dragon Vahenndart sighed and returned to the camp, quickly requesting the belongings of the Crown Prince from the servants. After the items were brought, the Heartless Dragon Vahenndart performed a vitality tracking spell and found that the Crown Prince was still alive. He breathed a sigh of relief.

If he couldn't protect the Crown Prince, the likelihood of receiving future protection missions in the entire wizard world would be low. Task-assigning wizards focused on results rather than the events experienced by the wizards on a mission. However, there was nothing he could do; his adversaries had used Molin elixir. The Heartless Dragon Vahenndart's face turned cold, and he began to scan the entrance of the forest to investigate the trail of his enemies.

Meanwhile, Felix and Alyysia were still fleeing, but an arrow had hit Alyysia's arm, causing it to bleed. Felix was panicked due to Alyysia's injury, but he was still frantically thinking to avoid their deaths. 

As the horse moved rapidly, eventually, a cliff came into view. However, this time, an arrow hit the horse's neck, causing Alyysia to fall to the ground. Felix managed to catch her, avoiding a direct fall.

From the right, left, and front of Felix and Alyysia emerged a group of people with their faces covered by black masks. They all had intentions to kill, wielding bows and swords.

Felix had no choice but to move towards the cliff, deflecting arrows with his sword. The assassin group knew Felix was skilled with a sword, but they underestimated how proficient he truly was. Despite their numerous attempts, he managed to parry all the arrows. However, due to their careful preparations, Felix couldn't escape.

Approaching the edge of the cliff, Felix looked down at the raging waves of the waterfall. If they fell here, the group targeting him wouldn't be able to do anything before meeting their demise.

Felix, still searching for a way to escape, had a moment of realization. He leaned down and whispered to Alyysia, "Do you trust me?"

Alyysia, currently injured and somewhat pale from blood loss, nodded quickly, affirming her trust. Felix sighed in relief. Without waiting for the enemy group to open fire, he jumped towards the cliff.

They were shocked for a while and didn't move.The apparent leader of the enemy group rushed to the edge of the cliff and saw Alyysia and Felix in the water. Turning back with a grin, he said, "We didn't even need to kill them."

Behind the leader-like figure, the group raised their swords in celebration. After confirming that Felix and Alyysia didn't resurface, they threw a white liquid into the water and departed.

The group that orchestrated the assassination attempt knew about this waterfall and cliff; forcing Felix to fall here was part of their other plan. They had succeeded in achieving their goal, and the place was known as the Waterfall of Death. 

Night had already fallen, and the camp group was even more tense. The fire had long gone out, and all the guards knew that Felix was missing. Some thought Felix was already dead and tried to console the Second Prince, approaching him to gain favor.

Others believed that an assassination attempt had been made on the Crown Prince, but they had no objections because a situation affecting their interests had not yet occurred. It was not too late to switch sides, and they approached the Second Prince with good intentions. Kalpsiz ejderha Vahenndart frowned at the hypocrisy of these nobles.

Meanwhile, behind the waterfall, a glimmer of light caught their attention. As they approached the source of the light, they found Felix, who had lit a fire and continued to add wood to it. Beside the fire lay Alyysia with a pale face; her arm had been bandaged and treated by Felix.

The reason Felix and Alyysia had managed to escape was that Felix remembered the geographical shape of this place. He recalled his father mentioning a cave behind the Death Falls when he was a child. Therefore, the ideal method to escape was to jump from here. Additionally, Felix possessed a ring that could clone himself and the person he touched when activated, a secret known only to the Imperial family.

Felix could never part with this ring, and to avoid arousing suspicion, it regularly altered its appearance. Furthermore, Felix had used wind control magic to reach this place, and he had succeeded.

The reason they didn't notice Felix using magic was the shock and momentary hesitation caused by the sudden jump. Thus, the plan was successful, creating the illusion that they fell into the water. However, the assassin group had still poisoned the water to ensure their mission. Even if they survived the fall, they would die from the colorless poison.

While Felix stared at the fire in focus, Alyysia moved slightly from where she lay and opened her eyes, asking, "Felix? Where are we?"

Her face still filled with fear and concern from the events, and she remained pale due to her injuries. Felix quickly dropped the wood in his hand, approached Alyysia, and, with a smile that could melt all worries away, gently stroked her head.

"Rest a bit, I'll check your wound."

"Okay."

As Felix opened the bandage he had made with the torn piece of Alyysia's dress on her arm, Alyysia's face contorted in pain. Felix was still very careful not to hurt Alyysia too much.

When he opened the wound, a pink scar appeared; there was no sign resembling any injury except for a small blackness. The reason for this was the basic healing magic Felix had learned. Although he couldn't create magic circles, he could still control mana and perform some spells.

He intermittently healed Alyysia's body, allowing the wound to heal quickly. However, due to the Molin elixir, Alyysia still felt pain. The pain was weaker compared to the wizard, but it was still quite agonizing.

Felix healed Alyysia's wound again and, while closing the bandage, he realized how close he was to Alyysia. His face blushed for a moment, and he got caught on Alyysia's wet dress as she passed through the waterfall into the cave.

Blushing even more, he quickly closed the bandage and wanted to go to the fire because he didn't want to lose control. At that moment, Alyysia kissed Felix on the lips. Felix was surprised and moved away from Alyysia.

His whole face was red, and he looked at Alyysia with wide eyes. Alyysia puckered her lips.

"Another way to warm our bodies is this. But if you don't want to, you can tell me."

Felix stammered.

"A-Alyysia, you're acting like this because you're injured..."

Before Felix could finish his sentence, Alyysia kissed him again and said, "If you don't want to, you can push me away."

Felix, completely shocked, hesitated while looking at Alyysia and, finally losing his will, kissed Alyysia passionately. In the silent forest, the sound of crickets and water increased, and the reflection of moving black figures was visible as the fire flickered.

In the darkness of the night, Mary opened her eyes due to the intense heat coursing through her body. It felt as if she had suddenly entered a sauna; it was so hot that Mary's entire mind went numb for a moment. However, as this warmth subsided, a crazy smile formed on Mary's face.

Her usual fixed smile was now completely broken; her porcelain cheeks cracked, transforming into a demonic grin. Moreover, with the heat spreading throughout her entire body, Mary could feel every part of herself as if she had just awakened from a winter hibernation, much like a frog.

As Mary's entire body warped due to the heat, her red eyes gleamed with an ominous glint. All the objects in the room began to tremble, and an intense red energy enveloped the surroundings. With the ever-increasing energy, Mary's body became increasingly distorted.

After a while stopped tremble objects and red energy dispersed but the flow of energy into Mary's body had not stopped. As Mary stretched and expanded her entire body, the long-lost system reappeared.

[A vision related to the future is being shown]

"What?"