Chapter 60: The Royal Escort

The bright overhead bulb of the apartment cast a harsh, unforgiving light over the room. Leo stood completely frozen by the entryway, his hands still resting on the light switch as his eyes locked onto the couch.

A third figure slowly stepped out from the deep shadows near the kitchen counter. Unlike the two massive, silent guards in black suits, this man was dressed in an incredibly expensive, tailored three-piece designer suit that screamed high-society wealth. He was tall, moving with flawless, elite elegance. The most shocking feature, however, was his hair, it was the exact same striking, deep purple shade as Eleanor’s, framing a handsome face that carried an absolute, chilling confidence.

The purple-haired man let out a low, smooth chuckle, adjusting the silver cuffs of his shirt as his sharp violet eyes drifted over to the tied-up princess.

"Did my highly intelligent, stubborn little sister truly believe she could simply pack her bags, run away across the borders, and hide out in a commoner's room without us ever locating her?" Alistair Roslav asked, his voice filled with a smooth, mocking amusement. He leaned his back against the wall, staring down at Eleanor’s trembling frame. "You seem to have completely forgotten about the royal tracking device our parents had embedded inside our skin when we were children, dear sister."

Eleanor’s entire face painted itself in absolute, wide-eyed shock. Her jaw dropped as a sudden wave of pure, horizontal terror hit her chest, realized that her entire months-long escape had been a total illusion from the very start.

Alistair turned his sharp gaze away from her, his heels clicking against the floorboards as he slowly closed the physical distance toward Leo. He stopped a mere foot away from Leo's broad chest, scanning Leo with an icy, evaluating stare. "Now then... would you be so kind as to explain who exactly you are, commoner? And more importantly, why was my royal sister hiding inside your tiny apartment before I order my guards to execute you right where you stand?"

Leo felt a sudden, heavy surge of fear hit his chest. His muscles went completely rigid, his breath catching in his throat as the terrifying presence of the high-society family cornered him. He opened his mouth to explain, but before a single syllable could escape his lips, Eleanor’s desperate voice violently cut through the room.

"He is my boyfriend!" Eleanor screamed out frantically, her voice cracking with tears as she struggled against the heavy ropes binding her wrists behind the chair. She glared at her brother with absolute defiance. "I love him, Alistair! He has nothing to do with my escape! I only left because I absolutely refuse to marry that disgusting nobleman our parents found for me!"

Alistair stopped, his brow furrowing slightly. He slowly turned his head, his sharp eyes darting between Eleanor’s crying face and Leo’s tense profile. He stepped back toward the center of the room, looking Leo up and down once more, scanning his broad shoulders and athletic build before letting out a cold, cynical smirk.

"Well, I must admit, sister... your taste in men is remarkably good," Alistair murmured smoothly, crossing his arms. "But unfortunately, this gentleman does not belong to a single royal family line. By bringing a commoner into your rebellion, you have completely betrayed our family's blood. Therefore... he must be executed."

"No! Please, spare him!" Eleanor wept openly, her high-and-mighty pride completely shattering as she begged her brother with absolute desperation. She hunched her shoulders, her heaving chest shaking against the ropes. "I will do whatever you want! I will go back home, I will listen to mother and father, I will even look at the marriage papers! Just please, leave him alone and don't hurt him!"

Alistair’s dark smirk widened into a wide, malicious grin as a sudden, entertaining idea hit his mind. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You know... I have a far better idea. Let us bring this handsome gentleman back to our kingdom together. We will throw him straight in front of our parents at the palace gates, and we will let the King and Queen decide exactly what kind of punishment a commoner deserves for touching a princess."

Before Leo could even open his mouth to deliver a furious warning line or try to use his hidden system strength to fight back, the two massive guards in black suits lunged forward with flash-speed. They aggressively grabbed Leo's broad shoulders, spinning his frame around and tightly tying his large hands behind his back with heavy, thick chords.

"Move," the guard growled in a gravelly tone, aggressively shoving Leo and Eleanor out the front door and down the dark corridor stairs.

.....

Meanwhile, down in the residential courtyard, Stella was walking slowly toward Leo's apartment building. She carried a soft, quiet smile on her face, hoping to break through his avoidance and speak to him about the Julia crisis.

But the exact second she stepped around the corner of the brick wall, she froze completely dead in her tracks, a sudden wave of profound shock paralyzing her body.

Through the dim evening shadows, she watched as three sleek, luxury black cars initialized their engines near the sidewalk curb. Her green eyes widened in total horror as she saw two heavily built guards aggressively shoving a tied-up Leo and Eleanor straight into the backseat of the center vehicle. Alistair Roslav stepped into the front passenger seat with flawless etiquette, and the doors slammed shut with a definitive bang.

What on earth is happening?! Stella thought frantically, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs as she hid flat against the concrete wall, her fingers digging into the brick as the three luxury cars rapidly accelerated down the avenue, disappearing into the dark city traffic.

.....

Inside the cramped backseat of the luxury car, the atmosphere was incredibly thick and heavy. Alistair sat silently in the front, staring out the window, while the driver navigated the streets at high speed.

Leo let out a long, deeply exhausted, and thoroughly annoyed sigh, rolling his eyes toward the car ceiling before closing them tight. He thought to himself, his mind in a complete, chaotic storm. First an alien war, and now I'm getting forcefully kidnapped by an actual royal family because a princess decided to hide in my closet. My life is a complete disaster.

Suddenly, he felt a soft nudge against his right arm.

Leo blinked his eyes open, shifting his chin downward. Eleanor was sitting pressed flush against his shoulder due to the tight space, her face completely red and stained with fresh tears. She looked up at his sharp jawline, her lips moving silently as she mouthed a single, deeply vulnerable word: Sorry.

Leo didn't offer a sweet smile or a comforting pat. He simply twisted his face into a thoroughly disgusted, highly irritated, and annoyed expression, looking away from her immediately to stare out the opposite window. He was completely done with her troublesome high-society drama.

Twenty minutes later, the three luxury vehicles rolled to a heavy stop right on the asphalt of a private airport hangar. The guards aggressively pulled Leo and Eleanor out of the car, guiding them up the metal steps and straight into the interior of a massive, ultra-luxury private royal jet. The automated doors locked shut with a definitive click, and the jet immediately began taxiing down the runway, preparing to soar across the night skies.

.....

Back in the residential district, Stella ran at absolute flash-speed up the stairs and slammed her apartment door shut, locking herself into her bedroom room. Her face was completely pale, her chest heaving as pure, anxious panic took over her entire body.

"Leo... hold on," she whispered frantically, her hands trembling violently as she reached into her bag and pulled out the glowing metallic tracking device Princess Ophira had given her.

She quickly initialized the glass screen, filtering through the tracking channels to locate the unique signal of Leo's System.

A large digital map grid popped up in front of her eyes. A bright, pulsing neon-blue dot representing Leo was currently moving at extreme speed away from the city borders. Stella’s emerald eyes violently contracted in total, wide-eyed shock as she tracked the line. The pulsing dot was moving straight across the vast expanse of the big ocean, heading directly toward the isolated, hidden kingdom across the seas.

What's going on? Stella thought in absolute terror, her fingers clutching the metal device.