Chapter 17

Adelaide's eyes fluttered open as she took in her surroundings before jolting upwards. Oh, right, she stayed the night at Filippa's house. It seemed as if the Sun was already high in the sky. She glanced at the clock, and it was twelve in the afternoon. Wait, didn't they have a mission? How could she forget?!

"Filippa, get up!" Adelaide violently shook her friend in a desperate attempt to wake her up. Filippa, however, didn't stir.

"Huh? Adelaide, what are you doing here?" Filippa drawled. In a panic, Adelaide grabbed a bucket, filled it with water, and dumped it on her friend.

"We had to carry out our plan at the crack of dawn, but we overslept!" Adelaide shrieked. And now, Filippa was panicking with her.

They had just woke up, and now their plan seemed impossible to accomplish.

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Filippa forgot all about their mission, and now it was afternoon. If she had woken up earlier, they could have gotten an idea as to how to destroy the shield protecting the castle. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself so she could think rationally. It was time to leave. And accomplish what they were supposed to do.

"C'mon, we're wasting even more time. I'll get my brother," Filippa said. She still couldn't seem to shake the guilt off.

"About time you got up," Dustin sneered. Right now, Filippa was anything but upset. She was glad to see her brother ready.

"We don't have time, let's go," Filippa instructed, and Dustin followed her to her room. She waited for Adelaide to come back and made sure to check if she was missing anything.

"Adelaide's taking too long," Dustin yawned. Filippa's eye twitched. She didn't need this now. 

It seemed as if her brother would go to great lengths to annoy her, even at the face of death.

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Dustin leaned against the wall, waiting for Adelaide to show up. Thankfully, she did show up. She snagged both of their wrists, and they all vanished. 

"Is this your estate?" Dustin questioned. His nervousness wasn't visible, but he couldn't help but feel vulnerable at the moment.

"Yes," Adelaide gritted through her teeth. What was he thinking doing small talk in an urgent situation such as this?

A brunette and raven-head such as himself approached the three of them. If Dustin didn't know any better, he'd say that was once the Queen of Mathilda, and the other was Leoric, Adelaide's brother.

"Greetings, Your Highness," Dustin spoke, giving a bow as Filippa curtsied. She nodded before handing a bracelet to the four to them.

"What's this for?" Filippa asked, putting it on.

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"It's a bracelet that lets us contact either of our parents in case we have trouble," Adelaide notified. 

"How can a bracelet have communication features embedded into them?" Leoric pressed on, squinting his eyes at the item.

"Simply because I used my Mana to craft this. There should be no errors in this at all," Honora answered.

"I can't believe you doubted our mother, Leoric." He simply looked away in embarrassment as Honora cleared her throat.

"Anyways, I think it's time you all started moving. Good luck on your journey." She gave an encouraging smile, but Adelaide couldn't help shudder from how cold it suddenly was.

"I'm really sorry for leaving a mess on your floor," Filippa apologized, letting a spot of ink fall onto the floor from her quill. She pushed the other three into the blot and waved at Honora before jumping into it herself.

Adelaide really hoped all things would go well.

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Filippa was met with the sun shoving all the ultraviolet rays in her eyes. She looked away to see a lot of people hustling and bustling about their daily business. In the distance, she caught sight of the castle. However, she couldn't make out any more features from where she was. She glanced at the floor to see that all three of her companions were glaring at her.

"It was an accident, all right?" she brushed it off. For now, they were going to have to keep walking. 

"I think I lost my needles," Adelaide muttered, and everyone let out a hearty laugh. Leave it to Adelaide to cheer everyone up.

"I'm more cut out to be a villain, but I'm here, so I gotta help now, I guess. We should take note of any inns just in case we don't manage to get through the barrier," Leoric advised.

"He's right." Dustin nodded.

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Leoric was sure that these people here despised them just as much as they did back home. They kept walking until the sun started going down, but they didn't seem to be getting any closer to the castle. It made his blood boil just thinking about it. Fortunately, a wrinkly old man approached them.

"Don't even think about it," Leoric growled, summoning his cyan blue sword and pointing it at the man.

"I agree. Do you take us for fools, Sir? We're not the League of Destiny for nothing," Adelaide stated, her icy gaze on the stranger.

"I admit I underestimated you four, but it's not like you can kill me for doing nothing. After all, I haven't murdered you yet."

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"You're right, I can't. But they can," Adelaide said, motioning to the others with a sly smirk. Filippa got into a defensive stance with her quill, Dustin stood right in front of the man with his bow and arrow, while Leoric had his sword right at the man's neck.

"You made one mistake, and it led to your demise. Any last words?" Adelaide questioned, staring at the man, emotionless.

"I-I'm sorry, I won't do this again! Please let me go!" he sputtered while Adelaide rolled her eyes.

"Pathetic," she scoffed. "All right guys, leave him alone. I found a way to get past the shield."  The other three hesitantly let go, still casting suspicious look at the adult.

"Hold on tight," Adelaide informed, holding out her hands, which Leoric and Filippa took. Dustin decided to grab onto Leoric's hand.