Chapter 332 - The cost of Salvation
Due to the high speed of the girls' ice sh.i.p.s, the group quickly arrived in Viset. Demi-humans of different races were impressed and curious about the mysterious group, and soon rumors about the Alliance having a King would spread everywhere like smoke in a strong wind.
Lucien prepares to head towards one of Viset's prisons with Scarlett, and the captain of the guard, who was following Ghalenna and by her order, must help Lucien find and release Scarlett's brother.
But before he goes, he can't help but look at Ghalenna and Ghilanna talking in the back on his ship. He knows that everything will be fine as Ghalenna seems willing to stop making excuses and assume her failure as a mother. Still, Lucien has a hard time fighting the urge to pamper both mother and daughter.
His other wives understand how Lucien does not like them suffering and wanna always help them with any problems, but some things they need to solve independently.
Angela notices his concerns and speaks with her usual gentle smile. "Don't worry about them. I don't know if they will ever be friends again, but this is something they have to work out on their own. Anyway, Cassidy and I, as mothers and Queens, understand Ghalenna situation well, and we can try to give her some advice."
"As Queens and mothers, you are perfect." Lucien smiles too.
Angela blushes a little but makes a sorry expression. "Nah, you ignore our faults. I made the same mistake as Ghalenna myself when I allowed Julius to send Lena to the Nunid Kingdom."
"That is not true!" Lena quickly exclaims and then explains. "I wanted to do that for our people even though you were against the idea. That was just my selfishness while you wanted to protect me. You are indeed a perfect mother."
Angela smiles at Lena and then talks to Lucien again. "Go find Scarlett's brother; Cassidy and I take care of everything here."
"Yes." Cassidy nods. She has no problem when Angela speaks for her as they both consider themselves sisters and think the same way about almost everything, just Cassidy being the strong fist while Angela is the soft heart.
Lucien agrees, then looks at Marie and Lena. "You can take your sisters and the troops to explore. Most of the troops are demi-human, so I bet they like this city very much. But please try not to get in trouble."
He talks to Rose. "Please take Ghalenna's troops wherever they want, and then you should explore too. This place looks beautiful."
"Yes, hubby." The girls agree with excited smiles on their faces. Part of the group will be on that ice ship with Angela, but most of them want to explore the city with Lucien's troops, who mainly want to visit their races' areas.
Lucien doesn't waste any more time and embraces Scarlett with one arm while extending the other to the guard captain, who blushes deeply.
"I... I just..." The captain of the guard doesn't know what to do. She really wants to accept flying in the arms of the most handsome man she has ever seen, but she does not want others to think that she 'likes' men.
[But he's the King... is he really our King?] She gets confused because everything is so crazy.
Lucien motions for her to approach. "Let's go; this will be quick."
"Quickly... hum..." She approaches while still is a little hesitant.
*Whooosh*
They quickly fall toward the ground, causing the guard captain to scream in surprise and adrenaline while Lucien and Scarlett are already used to it.
"AaaaaahhhhHH!!" The woman continues to scream as she starts to get used to the fall. She closes her eyes when they get too close to the ground, but Lucien flaps his wings and stabilizes the flight several meters from the ground.
Lucien is not very impressed with Viset as he still thinks this city is smaller than Portgreen. Also, Viset's buildings have a more rustic architecture, with smaller houses having unique characteristics of their people races.
"Oh?" The guard captain opens her eyes as she feels the wind stop hitting hard on her body. She realizes that Lucien is slowly flapping his wings in the same place as he smiles at her with an amusing expression.
She blushes again while hugging his waist tightly. "Elves were not made to fly, hehehe..."
"Of course." Lucien chuckle.
"..." The guard captain quickly understands how different Lucien is from any other man. He is so devilishly attractive in all his actions.
"Where to now?" Lucien asks as the captain of the guard is lost in thought.
"Ah?!" She recovers quickly and points to a big building next to the city center's largest building, the royal castle.
People on the streets of Viset are shocked to see Lucien flies above the city. They first think that he is a manticore man wanting to cause problems, but Lucien's unique characteristics are incomparable.
Soon Ghalenna's troops are taken to the ground by Rose and begin to relate the unimaginable news. Also, Lucien's troops love to tell about his incredible feats while exploring the city with his wives.
Lucien flies into Viset prison, alarming the guards, who quickly assume a fighting posture but calm down as they hear the captain's orders.
[Why is she flushed?] One of the guards thinks as she looks at the captain in Lucien's arms.
[Is that a smile?!] Another guard thinks.
"You can walk now," Lucien speaks a few seconds after landing on the ground, and the captain does not stop hugging him.
"Oh! Sorry!!" The captain notices her subordinate's strange look while Lucien smiles, and she gets extremely embarrassed.
"Did you like it?" Lucien asks.
"Yeah!" The captain responds without thinking and quickly regrets it. "N-no. I mean..."
"Elves don't fly, right?" Lucien chuckles.
"Yes..." The captain nods while mentally thanking Lucien for remaining so friendly.
To avoid the mood getting awkward, she quickly and respectfully talks to Scarlett. "What is his name again, my lady?"
"Willard is my brother's name," Scarlett speaks quickly. She cannot hide her eagerness and concern. She sought all methods to gain power and be able to take revenge on Rein and rescue her brother. And now, thanks to Lucien, everything is happening.
The captain nods to Scarlett respectfully and quickly looks at her subordinates with a stern expression. "Is there any Willard here? Think about it carefully because it is imperative."
While one of the guards quickly starts looking at the prison records, another guard starts to think out loud. "Willard... I feel like I've heard that name before..."
Then her vision passes from Lucien to Scarlett, and she quickly exclaims. "Oh, the depressed hybrid!!"
The other guard looks at her friend. "Him? Are you sure?"
The first guard nods. "I'm pretty sure I heard him say his name was Willard and that he was going to kill Rein with his own hands."
"Where's him? He's fine, right?!" Scarlett asks.
The first guard looks at Scarlett with a sorry expression. "He really looked like a good person... but a werewolf and fox hybrid is still very dangerous. Also... he looks a lot like Rein's bastar-"
The guard stops talking when she realizes that Scarlett also has some similarities with Rein. And from the way she looks concerned about Willard, it's pretty obvious what's going on.
"Take us there," Lucien speaks authoritatively, and no one feels any d.e.s.i.r.e to disobey him.
Led by the guard, Lucien, Scarlett, and the guard captain pass through several corridors and go down some stairs until they reach the lower floors of the prison where the most dangerous people in the Alliance are arrested.
They arrive in a small, dark cell. The guard quickly opens the door, and the group sees a very injured werewolf-fox demi-human lying on the cold floor while trying to protect his face from the light of the guard's lantern.
"Brother!!" Scarlett runs towards the man because she quickly recognizes that red hair, which is identical to hers, despite being dirty and damaged now.
Lucien follows Scarlett inside that smelly room while the other girls wait outside. L.u.s.t quickly tells him the horrible situation that Willard is in and makes clear the only option so that he can walk out of this cell on his own.
Willard recognizes Scarlett's voice and the brightness of life returns to his eyes. "Sister!!! I'm so glad you are okay!!"
Scarlett kneels on the floor and starts to cry while hugging Willard's head. "Your fool brother!! You should have come with me..."
Willard starts to cry too. "I... I should. But that man... I had to kill him for our mother. But I failed... and then this woman came... they call her the Great Queen."
"Everything's fine." Scarlett tries to calm Willard because his condition is horrible. "The Queen is my sister-in-law, and Rein is dead. I killed him myself, slowly and painfully."
"Really?!" Willard starts to smile. But then the sparkle in his eyes starts to fade. "I resisted... I couldn't die without avenging our family and knowing that you were fine. But now... now I can die in peace."
"No, no!!" Scarlett exclaims in fear. She tries to stop him from closing his eyes. "After all we've been through... now is the time for our life to really start. You can't give up!!!"
As she becomes desperate and afraid, Lucien's warm hands begin to comfort her. Then he shows her a bottle of green liquid. Rein and Lanzo would die again just by seeing that bottle.
Lucien looks hesitant, but Scarlett quickly pleads with him. "Give it to him, please! Save him!"
L.u.s.t made it clear that normal healing potions would only help Willard to die a more comfortable death as it cannot heal the old inner wounds inside his body.
Then Lucien opens the super potion with his essence and brings it closer to Willard's nose as he speaks. "If you drink this, it will heal you completely and make you feel stronger than ever..."
Willard's eyes open again, but he looks incredulous. "Does something so incredible really exist? There has to be a side effect, right?"
Lucien makes a sorry expression. "There are no negative side effects, but if you find out what this is made of, you will hate me forever."
Willard starts to think about it, but Scarlett's sad and worried expression makes him have no doubts anymore. "I just don't have to ask what this is made of, right?"
"Yes, that is a good plan." Lucien nods.
So Willard takes the potion with Scarlett's help as his hand trembles a lot. He prepares to drink the potion but then looks at Lucien again. "Is this an invaluable treasure?"
Lucien laugh. "Don't worry, brother-in-law, I have a lot of that."
"So I accept." Willard smiles and drinks the potion. He quickly gets shocked by how good that is. And as Lucien said, he starts to feel good and stronger immediately.
With Scarlett's help, Willard drinks the whole potion and then looks at Lucien with a curious expression. "That... you lied to me. There is no way that something so incredible and delicious is not an invaluable treasure."
Scarlett smiles as she sees Willard getting better quickly. "Yes, it is truly an invaluable treasure, but hubby has a lot, a lot of it."
Lucien smiles as he brings another super potion from his storage ring. "What about a second one? I bet you want to get out of this stinky hole right away."
Willard is hesitant to drink all that Lucien's treasure stock, but he really wants to get out of that cell on his own.
He takes the potion while looking at Lucien with an expression of gratitude. "I will never forget it."
Lucien shakes his head. "But I really advise you to forget it."