Six

Minerva yawned. She was carried by Shirley all along but she felt tired that she wanted to sleep.

Although she fell asleep in the afternoon, she still felt sleepy.

The door suddenly opened and Cassie went inside. Right, it was already nighttime. Cassie would have to lull her to sleep like she always did.

She yawned once again and Cassie smiled a little.

Seriously, Cassie was too pretty especially when she smiled. Most of the time she would look serious and strict. She remembered that Shirley would sometimes tell Elise how she was intimidated by Cassie. Minerva hoped that Cassie would smile often as it suited her. 

If Shirley saw Cassie smiled, she would surely gape in shock.

Before Cassie could start to sing, they heard a knock on the door. Cassie furrowed her brows. Then, Minerva became confused when she was instantly carried by Cassie in her arms.

"Lady Santcliment, it's me, Julia. May I come in?"

Cassie became serious, "Hold on for a moment."

Then, Cassie ran into the left wall and pressed something. A door suddenly appeared and Cassie hastily opened the door and ran.

Minerva felt confused. What was this? Why did Cassie run? Wasn't it just Julia?

Minerva looked around and she saw that they were on a strange corridor. It looked like a secret passage that she saw in the movies. But why were they here?

Wait, did it meant that there was an incident? Was it not Julia that knocked on the door?

But if it was true, how did Cassie know?

Cassie hugged her tightly as she ran on the wide corridor. When she was about to turn right, she was greeted by a dagger.

Minerva widened her eyes in shock as she saw that the dagger the masked man held was about to stab her.

However, before the dagger could reach her, Cassie instantly turned her back thus she was the one who took the stab.

'Cassie!' Minerva shivered when she felt that Cassie stiffened. However, she did not mind at all as she continued to run.

"Don't worry, Little Miss. I would protect you." Cassie mumbled as she continued to run away.

Minerva shivered. Was this an assassination attempt? But why? Who would target her? Was this one of her so-called father's enemies?

However, how did they managed to invade the mansion? If her assumption was true that this was a secret passage, how come they knew that they would come here to run?

"You had nowhere to run, Lady Santcliment." A hoarse voice of a man echoed behind them. Although Minerva could not see him, she knew that the one who was supposed to stab her had followed them.

She could feel the fast palpitation of her heart. She knew that she was the target of the masked man. However, Minerva didn't have the luxury to guess more about the reason why this masked man wanted her life as she concentrated more on how to outrun him. Especially now that Cassie was injured.

Minerva felt frustrated. If she wasn't in the body of the child, she could have helped Cassie in this situation. But since she was trapped in this, she could do nothing but become a burden.

She bit her lips. Her so-called father was a strong mage, right? That was written in the book that Shirley read for her! Shouldn't he had used some magic or whatever that is in case of this incident like this happen?

"Damn it. How did they know about this secret passage?" Cassie muttered under her breath. Minerva didn't know on which part of her back was stabbed. Regardless, she knew that Cassie endured the pain as she thought more about how they could survive in the circumstance they were in.

Cassie continued to run as she hugged the child in her arms tightly. Even if something happened to her, she had to make sure that nothing would happen to the Little Miss. She just had to look for a way to get through this. Although she was injured, she just needed to call for a mage and she would be healed instantly.

Her eyes darkened when she recalled what happened earlier. There were knights outside the Little Miss' chambers and even Kevin, who was the strongest knight in Azenla Empire, had guarded the Little Miss yet these assassins managed to pass through them. Even gone as far as to impersonate Julia.

If they managed to do this feat, it meant that among these assassins that were sent, there was a strong mage involved.

Cassie gritted her teeth. If her assumptions were true, then the Little Miss would be in danger. She didn't possess any mana hence she was unable to protect the Little Miss.

Moreover, she didn't know what happened to Julia and the others but their safety wasn't her priority now. She could only hope that they could survive on this point.

Cassie continued to run even if her back ached from the injury and she felt the loss of blood but she stubbornly persisted. However, her eyes widen when she saw another masked man ran in their direction. She was now cornered by them!

"Haven't I told you earlier, Lady Santcliment? You have nowhere to run." The masked man behind them said smugly. Although he was mad that he was unable to chase this maid who ran fast like a mad dog despite the wound that she had, he was still confident that they could corner them as they already knew the layout of this secret passage.

Cassie did not heed the masked man's words. The other assassin who ran in their direction was almost near them but she still chose to run into him.

Just when they were about to bump into each other, Cassie swiftly dodged the attack of the masked assassin and kicked him in the chest using a knife that was hidden on her shoe. When she was about to pass through him, she suddenly fell as someone stabbed her leg.

"You're all useless. Just a mere girl without mana yet managed to outran you both? If I did not come, they would have escaped! Trash!"

Minerva clutched her tiny hands onto Cassie's clothes as she saw her groaned in pain. She tried to peek at her leg and she saw that she was stabbed by a staff.

When she looked towards the one who held the staff, she saw that the person wore a black cloak and she could not see if this person was a man or woman. She was sure that this was the one who talked earlier. But their voice was a bit different as it felt illusory. She thought that their voice was familiar like she heard it before. When she tried to compare it with Shirley's voice, it was matched. But if she also tried to compared it to Elise, Julia, and Kevin's voice, it was also matched. It seems that this illusory voice was used to confuse the others and also to mask their identity.

Although Minerva could not see the face of this black-cloaked person, she could still feel that they stared at her.

"Interesting. So this was what the jeweled eye possessor looked like when they were a child. Who knew that I could see it with my own eyes? It was a good thing that this was assigned to me." The cloaked person said and they chuckled.

"Child, you did not need to worry as I would help you from the misery that would befall you later. There was only a small chance that you would survive on your fifth birthday anyway, so why endure for long when you would have died soon? Come and go with me, daughter of Duke Ivrea."

Minerva unconsciously shivered when she heard what they said. Their voice was laced with malice as they laughed like a maniac. She did not have the time to think about what they said about her survival on her fifth birthday as she was in a grave situation now.

She glanced at Cassie who was still stubbornly hugged her as she groaned in pain. However compared to before, she felt that her hug was not strong enough. It was as if she was weakened. Did the cloaked person do this to Cassie?

"The beautiful jeweled eyes would finally be mine!" The cloaked person laughed maniacally as they were about to take Minerva.

However, Cassie, who was in a weakened state, still refused to hand over the child in her arms. She hugged Minerva as tight as she can. Cassie coughed a mouthful of blood but she still laughed.

"So I… was right. You… were all…" Cassie once again coughed but continued, "Y-you were all… the dogs of the Imperial Family."

Cassie grinned at the cloaked person even if she looked pale, "Pathetic. Y-you were also… as useless… as them. Pathetic. Extremely p-pathetic." She laughed loudly as she coughed once more.

"Imagine… being an underling… of that loser of a king. W-weren't you… the same as him? W-would you barked… if I gave you… a bone?" Cassie taunted.

She was about to continue when the cloaked person pressed down the staff that was still on her leg. Cassie groaned as she once again coughed a mouthful of blood.

"Truly, Cassie Santcliment's mouth was like a venom just like what the rumors said. Don't worry, Lady Santcliment. As I could see that you didn't want to part with the child in your arms, I would also present your death together with her."

Cassie laughed at what the cloaked person said, "I-is that so? Let's see… if all of you… could get out of here alive…"

"You could talk all you want. After all, you were about to die soon." The cloaked person said. Then, their attention went back to the child in Cassie's arms.

"Go and get the two of them." The cloaked person instructed the two assassins. The both of them silently obliged.

Just when they were about to reach Cassie and Minerva, Cassie slowly opened her half-lidded eyes as she smiled gently at the three of them.

"I would like… to thank the three of you… for your time… Goodbye…"

The cloaked person's eyes darkened when they heard what Cassie said. Without further adieu, they promptly tried to grab her on the arm but strong mana exploded towards the child's body which made the three of them flew towards the wall.

'Damn it!' The cloaked person thought. They quickly stood up even if they felt severe pain and tried to run away. However, they suddenly felt that they could not move their limbs any longer.

"I'm sorry if I was late. My child threw a tantrum and I was unable to leave quickly. But thank you, Cassie. You did extremely well."

Minerva stared at the back of the man that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Earlier, she tried to observe her body if she could feel any mana. She badly wanted to help Cassie but she felt so useless that it made her helpless.

Just as she ran out of ideas, she suddenly felt a force on her hand and a yellow light unexpectedly erupted that resulted in the crash of the cloaked person and the two assassins to the wall. Then, a man with long silver hair appeared out of nowhere.

Just as she wondered who this person was, he slowly turned around and looked at her.

Minerva suddenly widened her eyes when she saw the eyes of the man.

Yellow jeweled eyes…

Then… Did it mean that this man in front of her was none other than the famed Lorenzo?