Chapter 364 Bewitch of Water

"Kai..." Bree called out coyly as she held Kai’s arm gently. "It’s an honest mistake."

"An honest mistake?" Kai sneered, staring at the two Guard Angels like they were practically morons. "Abigail was walking through the snow practically naked, and these two didn’t find that strange and gave her the permit anyway? How is that an honest mistake?"

Talitha said it earlier; she found Abigail’s clothes in the bathroom.

And that meant Abigail was only wearing her underwear.

Even someone without a brain could tell that something was wrong with her.

At least, one would assume that she had gone insane—as going on her underwear in this kind of weather would practically be suicide. Not to mention, she made it clear that she was going to the hive, which meant she needed to go there by a Pegasus or a Griffin.

Just the cold wind alone would eventually kill her.

Going at speed through the sky? She would only quicken her death.

As people who are tasked with keeping a lookout, the Guard Angels should know better.

But for some reason, they ignored those things and let her go.

Kai’s anger was entirely justified as these two were severely incompetent.

"I admit my stupidity, Red Prince Kai!" The other Guard Angel dropped to his knees; the fear already gripped him so strongly that his entire body was trembling uncontrollably. "She said if we didn’t let her through, she would tell you we tried to assault her. We were afraid to stop her. We didn’t know what to do."

Hearing this only made Kai even more frustrated.

His anger burning inside his chest curdled into a throbbing ache behind his eyes.

Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a frustrated sigh.

Becoming a Red Prince has put him at the top of the food chain, and it was really convenient.

Everything became so easy—as nobody wanted to give him a hard time, especially the people working for the academy. For the last few months, Kai was quite satisfied with his privileges, but he didn’t expect it to be abused like this.

"Let’s not do this right now." Matilda intervened. "The hive is far. We can still catch her."

"She’s right." Bree nodded.

"Fine."

Kai exhaled roughly through his nose and then nodded. "Fine. We’re going with your Griffin, Bree."

As much as he wanted to use Feeny, she had been flying non-stop through the snow for hours upon hours. She wouldn’t be in an optimal state to rush towards the hive, so it would be better for them to go by Bree’s mount.

Bree turned around, heading straight for the Aerial Stable.

Before leaving, Kai addressed the Guard Angels one last time.

"Forget what happened tonight." He said loud enough for everyone to hear. And then a long, deliberate pause. One that was intended to suffocate the Guard Angels with tension. "If what happened tonight reaches anyone at all, I’ll get angrier. You don’t want me angrier than this."

In synchrony, the Guard Angels, save for the ones kneeling, saluted.

All of them would keep what happened close to them.

Only then did Kai turn around and head for the Aerial Stable with Matilda beside him.

...

Miles and miles away from Eventide Academy, a Pegasus cut through the violent air.

The powerful beast was struggling. Its wings beat heavily; each flap a laboured effort against the howling snow, but the rider kept pushing it forward, ignoring its struggle entirely. Abigail flared her mana and her Halo, creating a barrier that stopped the snow from hitting them.

The wetness of the melted flakes would only make the Pegasus freeze faster.

She can’t have that, so she held the barrier up.

As a Supernal of Amphitrite, she could somewhat control water.

At least, as long as the water was natural like this, she could influence it.

Along the way, the Pegasus stopped abruptly and neighed in a fierce protest.

It bucked violently, banking left and right like a mad horse, almost knocking her from its back.

Abigail gripped the reins, trying to regain control—but the Pegasus only became even more mad. Rapidly, their altitude was dropped, and the ground was rushing up to meet them. A nose-dive fall like this would wrack them.

She would not be able to endure it.

Falling like this would make certain of her death.

Before they could crash, Abigail pulled hard and managed to wrestle it back to obedience. She forced the beast to level out, narrowly recovering from the fall. It flew up again, but the sheer adrenaline of the near-crash coursing through her body acted like a thunderclap.

It pushed the thick, magical fog inside her mind away.

Abigail blinked.

Around her, the world began to snap into sharp focus once again.

She suddenly felt the extreme cold more clearly. A deep frown carved itself into her forehead as she looked down at her trembling body. "By the Gods..." She muttered in shock, realizing that she was in her underwear and a simple bra.

Embarrassment didn’t cross her mind right now.

All her focus was fixed on her skin that was already turning blue from the frost.

Even though her resistance to cold was higher due to her Patron Goddess, she would succumb to the cold soon enough unless she found shelter. She looked around at the empty expanse of the sky.

Her breath plumed in the freezing air.

"Where... where am I?" She questioned aloud. "What am I doing here?"

Abigail pulled on the reins again, signaling for the Pegasus to turn around. She reached deep into her mind, desperately trying to find the memory of how she got here, but she remembered nothing after turning the shower on.

Just then, she reached for her neck again, feeling thirsty.

It hit her like a physical blow, a parched, burning ache in her throat that demanded relief.

But the thirst wasn’t trying to make her drink water; it beckoned her to find water instead.

Abigail’s eyes drifted downward, drawn by an unnatural pull.

On the cloud floor beneath her, there was an odd puddle of water.

As she stared at it, a bluish glaze swept over her eyeballs, slicking them like glass. Suddenly, the confusion on her face melted away, replaced by a blank, eerie stillness. She looked forward again and tapped the Pegasus with her heel, signaling for it to continue onward.

Soon, the massive, swirling cloud of the Hive came into view.

She urged the exhausted Pegasus through it and emerged on the other side.

Emerged into calmer air.

A female Guard Angel rushed forward when she saw something burst into the Hive’s territory like a cannon. She was relieved to see that it was a person riding a Pegasus, not a Star Beast or anything troublesome like that.

But she frowned when she realized the rider was only wearing her undergarments.

She took the Pegasus’ bridle once it landed to help calm the frantic beast.

Abigail slid down from its back and paid no heed to the Guard Angel at all.

"State your business," the Guard Angel demanded. "I need to see your permit."

Finally, Abigail’s eyes landed on the Guard Angel, but she didn’t speak. She simply lifted her hand—offering the brass badge she had been clutching so tightly in her fist the entire way. It was the badge that she got from the Guard Angels on the front gate.

For a moment, the Guard Angel inspected the permit.

"This is a valid permit," She nodded. "But what brings you here? What are you doing out here in the middle of the night like this? And where are your clothes?"

"..."

"If you don’t answer me, then I’ll have no choice but to bring you in for questioning."

In Abigail’s current appearance, the Guard Angel couldn’t tell whether she was even from the Eventide Academy. Despite the permit being identical to the academy’s, she could’ve stolen it from a lazy Guard Angel.

So, she needed more proof.

Just before the Guard Angel could question again, another Guard Angel approached.

She approached them with a measured stride from behind.

"No need to fret about it, Linda." The Guard Angel commented in a friendly voice. "Abigail here is with me. I was informed that she would be coming right about now, so I’ll take it from here. You go back to your station."

"Oh," Linda nodded. "If you’re the one informed, then I guess she’s your responsibility."

"Yes."

"Did you ask why she was like this? It’s strange."

"Do you think I’d ask the academy? Rule number one to survive—don’t ask questions. Did you forget about that already?"

"R-Right... I’ll leave her to you then."

Linda walked back to her station, leading the exhausted Pegasus to a nearby stable just outside the Hive.

Once they were away from the prying eyes, the Guard Angel’s demeanor shifted entirely.

The polite, accommodating facade vanished, replaced by a chilling, icy authority.

"Follow me closely," she said; her voice sharp and cold. "And keep your head down."

Abigail obeyed without a word. The magical fog had already begun to creep back into her mind, thick and soporific—clogging her thoughts like wet cotton. The brief moment of clarity she’d experienced on the Pegasus had been swallowed whole.

Both moved through the darkened, serpentine alleyways of the Hive.

Despite the curfew, the Hive was never truly asleep—the rhythmic clanking of distant machinery and the occasional shadow of a night-shift worker kept them on edge. The Guard Angel navigated the shadows with practiced ease, keeping them out of sight.

"You shouldn’t have resisted," the Guard Angel murmured, not bothering to look back. "Now you’re ten minutes late. He is not going to be happy."

Abigail didn’t answer. She couldn’t.

The magical fog was clouding her mind—leaving her a hollow, docile vessel trailing behind the Guard Angel in her undergarments. Even with the biting cold and the frost gathered on her skin, she was utterly oblivious to them.

Soon, they arrived at the center of the Hive.

Here, the architecture shifted. The cracked mud, rotting timber—and haphazardly stacked bricks of the outer districts gave way to something much sturdier. They stopped before a modest house made of solid, well-laid brick, painted a neat, dull grey.

It was one of the finer dwellings in the Hive, a stark contrast to the squalor surrounding it.

The Guard Angel stopped at the heavy wooden door.

A sharp, piercing flick echoed inside Abigail’s skull, like the snapping of a taut wire.

She blinked several times, regaining consciousness as the magical fog evaporated from her mind.

Abigail gasped from the freezing air flooding her lungs, and she immediately shivered at the cold air.

She felt the sting of the cold against her bare skin, the ache in her limbs, and the profound, disorienting terror of not knowing how she got here. She looked wildly at the Guard Angel—her mouth opening to demand where she was and what was happening.

But the Guard Angel had already pushed the door open.

The sight beyond the threshold stopped the breath dead in Abigail’s throat.