“—Lazer.”

As Lazer continued to break the eggs, he heard the girl’s voice from the end of the darkness.

He woke up in shock.

He found himself semi-kneeling on the staircase, similar to a wounded beast that was not going to go away easily. Her call woke him, and he began to feel the pain of his wounds again. His hands were stained with his own blood as well as that of the other humans. He looked past the dead bodies on the ground and noticed that there were only three humans left. They held weapons in their hands but did not rush forward. Instead, they stayed on the alert and maintained their distance from Lazer, waiting for Pallan’s instructions.

Pallan tried to stop his chest from thumping violently and fiercely grabbed the girl—who was struggling to break free—as he walked to the platform at the top of the staircase. He stared at Lazer, squeezing his hands rudely so as to create a painful look on her face.

Lazer looked at the vulnerable life in Pallan’s hands—one that could be destroyed at any given moment. This felt familiar—he remembered how Hassad had Diana in his arms. However, at the time, Lazer was able to remain calm. In fact, he was not at all bothered by the incident.

“Enough is enough, chameleon,” Pallan panted, staring at Lazer gloomily. “I have one request and one request only. Your life for hers.”

“My life…?” The girl was in shock, completely unable to comprehend the situation. “Why? I… am not Diana.”

“Who cares about who you are? I only care about the death of this traitor.” Pallan squinted, his tone full of contempt. “If he does not die, my kingdom will never be able to have its justice.”

“Ah…,” said the girl, finally understanding the situation. She looked at Lazer in surprise and said, “It was you that they wanted all along!”

“Be quiet,” said Lazer, finally returning to his senses. However, this was followed by absolute despair and exhaustion.

“When did you know? When I was kidnapped, or even before that?” The girl frowned with agitation, feeling both angry and sad. “Why, you could have told me earlier…!”

“Enough, be quiet,” he said as he lowered his head after being stung by her voice.

From the moment that she stopped trusting him, he knew that it would be impossible to regain her trust; even confessing everything to her would be futile. He wanted to confess everything to her, but what good would it do? Right now, he was searching for ways to save her. However, she was still too far away from him. Pallan had ample time to kill her even if Lazer charged at them with all his might.

First, she was kidnapped by Shaquille. Then, she was sent out by Diana to die. Now, she was captured… it felt like it was her destiny for these bad things to happen to her, that she would be in trouble every time Lazer relaxed a little and let his eyes off her.

—His life never went well… why couldn’t he at least protect her from harm?

“So the life of an incompetent king is worth you going through all this trouble to avenge him?” Lazer sneered, raising the corner of his mouth. “Even if I had let William live, Theodore would have usurped the throne sooner or later. Everyone knows how much he wanted to be king. It is strange that he did not come to thank me in person.”

There was a subtle change in Pallan’s facial expression. His slightly distorted facial features revealed his intention to kill, and this caused the girl to shiver.

“You have covered your tracks well… If it weren’t for you accepting the Juan family’s job, it might have taken me another five years to find you,” whispered Pallan, quickly exposing a dagger as it flashed from his waist. Before Lazer had time to react, Pallan had placed the dagger on the girl’s neck.

Lazer froze again, almost forgetting to breathe.