Chapter 460 Despair is like a snake, anxiety is like sand

At first, when Isabel saw Queen Sofia, she felt happy from the bottom of her heart.

It wasn't a utilitarian thought like "I can get through this ceremony easily"... but simply that she felt incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to see her deceased grandmother again. It was like seeing an acquaintance or classmate mentioned in the newspaper, and feeling happy about it.

Isabel also noticed that the introduction mentioned that this "announced the destruction of the Kingdom of Avalon" and that it would take place in the near future. So it had some reference value... As Queen of Avalon, Isabel had to take this promotion ceremony seriously.

Maybe she could get some information from it to help the real Avalon avoid this future.

But soon, Isabel saw how cowardly and weak she looked.

She couldn't help but feel embarrassed and wanted to take her off so that she could get on top of her. It was also the first time she saw from the perspective of an outsider how immature she had been.

But after that, when Isabel realized that Queen Sofia was going to arrange a marriage for "her", the smile on her face disappeared.

——Am I what you can get?

Anger and resistance immediately sprouted in Isabel's heart, and her hostility towards Queen Xingti and the prince instantly reached its peak.

Isabel made up her mind then that she would not continue to act like this even in her dreams.

But then, she saw her grandmother poisoned by Minister Droste, herself framed and wrongly accused, saw the contemptuous face of the vicious woman from Star Antimony, and saw the knights of the Round Table slaughtering each other...

When Isabel woke up, she subconsciously clenched her fists and her whole body couldn't help shaking.

It wasn't out of fear, but out of anger.

Isabel had a very good temper. From the time she was born until now, she had never lost her temper. She had never felt anger from the bottom of her heart, or disliked or even hated someone so much.

But this time, she tasted what "anger" was for the first time.

It was a feeling like breathing violently into a pot of burning charcoal - the heart and lungs felt the burning heat, the head swelled up, and there was a burning sensation in the bottom of the eyes that made the eyes sore and tears almost flowed out.

She was not afraid or sad, but her tears kept flowing as if she was stimulated, her chest kept heaving, and she breathed tremblingly.

Isabel could feel some cool liquid flowing from the back of her head to her spine. Her body, held in Shafiya's arms, was shivering as if it had a fever. She curled up harder and harder as if she was trying to turn into a fetus again, trying to compress herself like a cat.

The power from the Path of Beauty continuously amplified her turbulent emotions and stimulated her inspiration. Isabel's pupils burned with turquoise flames, and the power from her heart reverberated in the air like ripples, blurring the air around her.

——If she had a powerful bomb at this moment, Isabel would have wanted to rush back to the Temple of Silver and Tin and explode with them!

But soon she thought about it again, she still had Avalon to protect, and Aiwass was also waiting for her...

Isabel gradually regained her senses.

"...Don't be afraid, Isabel. They shouldn't be able to catch up."

At this moment, Shafiya suddenly spoke, whispering comfortingly: "There will always be a way... I will protect you."

As she spoke, she put Isabel, who was in her arms, on the ground and reached out to wipe away the tears that had accumulated in her eyes.

...So the import is already completed?

Isabel was stunned and speechless, and she realized this belatedly.

This is the largest clock tower in the Red Queen District, where Janice overlooked the entire Glass Island when she left.

Isabel stood in the same place as she was then, watching the dark clouds gradually spreading outward from the Temple of Silver and Tin, and seemed to hear the hallucinations of fighting and cursing in her ears.

The wronged Isabel didn't whimper in frustration, nor did she become hysterical out of fear and confusion, which comforted Shafiya somewhat. She simply folded her arms across her chest, huddled in a ball, and stood there silently and stubbornly, her pupils staring blankly ahead, as if she were looking at some lingering illusion... Only the tears flowed silently down her face.

The genuine and passionate emotions were so contagious that Shafiya, who witnessed it all, felt wronged and sad for her, and her nose became sore just thinking about it.

...Little Isa is such a good child, and it’s really not easy for her.

But what can I do...

Shafiya sighed inwardly, feeling hopeless about the situation. She could only frown slightly and gently wipe away the tears from Isabel's face. But soon, she realized that this might not work, so she simply hugged Isabel and let her cry in her arms.

She didn't say anything.

Because Shafiya felt that even if she said a lot now, Isabel probably wouldn't understand.

Based on her knowledge and understanding of the little princess...Isabelle's mind at this moment has probably become blank.

Her only relative, her elder, the monarch of Avalon, was poisoned by Minister Droste, a man she and her grandmother trusted. The knight elders, who had been so kind and gentle to her, slaughtered each other without mercy, leaving the banquet hall, once filled with laughter and joy, covered in blood and death. Someone even robbed her of her very existence and name, turning her into the assassin who murdered her grandmother...

Everything happened in an instant, from the time they drank the poisoned wine to the time they fled the scene, the whole process took less than a minute.

Even if it wasn't the timid Isabel, but someone else... when they saw this series of silky smooth moves that happened like dominoes and made it impossible for them to react, their brains would probably freeze for a moment.

She had to stay here and protect Isabel.

This thought came to Shafiya's mind.

With the Queen dead and the appearance of the imposter Isabel, the throne is likely to fall into the hands of the Star Antimony people. Avalon is in great danger then... The Iris people are completely untrustworthy. The Everfrost Empire's living conditions are too harsh, and they are even less likely to cooperate with the cunning and dangerous goblins. Therefore, they have only one option left: to join the elves of the Theocracy.

Although the Church is currently in a state of turmoil, they have no choice.

Isabel must be escorted to the Theocracy.

She could definitely do it easily - even though she was a law mage and didn't know how to ride, as long as she found a pure-blooded griffin, she could ride it and take Isabel away safely.

Strictly speaking, given the Griffin's speed, it could have taken Isabel directly to the Theocracy. But Shafiya would have been worried.

Isabel had never left the Glass Island, not even the Red and White Queens' Quarter. As the only princess of the Avalonian royal family, she had never lived on her own. She was so shy just trying to communicate with the people of Avalon that she stuttered, and her Elvish wasn't fluent enough to communicate properly. If she were sent directly to the still-chaotic Theocracy, she'd probably get lost... or even be abducted by the goblins.

Not to mention, Xing Ti dared to act so boldly, their army might already be on the way. If Isabel were allowed to leave on her own, it would be tantamount to murder.

If Shafiya follows the whole process, Isabel's safety problem can be solved.

...But if that's the case, we won't be able to get Queen Sofia's body.

If the body had been dead for too long, the blood would begin to deteriorate. Once the blood began to decay, it would no longer be usable as ritual material—and the "Shadow of Avalon" ritual was only one step away from completion.

Prince Albert is suspected to have passed away, leaving only John and Isabel as the remaining descendants of the Du Lac family. They are only in their early twenties between them, and neither can be sacrificed to activate the ritual.

She must resurrect Lancelot.

Otherwise, Isabel wouldn't have been able to take Avalon back from those people on her own. The Star Antimony people even prepared a double that looked exactly like Isabel... Who knows if it was a trick of those necromancers and alchemists? Maybe she even had the blood of Du Lac!

Anyway, Isabel is also a transcendent in the path of beauty, and she cannot activate the Scepter of Avalon.

Regardless of whether she was real or fake, the many privileges of the Avalon monarch could not be exercised. And those traitors who betrayed Avalon and turned their swords on their colleagues would definitely not turn back even if they died - they would die anyway, so they might as well stand there and die.

Janice has left Avalon, Meg, the pillar of the kingdom, has passed away, and Grand Justice Arius has also grown old.

She and George alone couldn't accomplish anything.

There were even descendants of the founders of the country among the traitors, and perhaps their guardian spirits also participated in the coup... After all, the order given to them by the Pope was only to maintain the survival of these apostolic families, and did not say that they must stand on Du Lac's side.

If they only saved Isabelle but couldn't recapture Avalon later, that would be a failure... Perhaps Isabelle would need to sacrifice her own life to complete the ritual in the future. In that case, saving her now would be like not saving her at all.

Therefore, if you want to take back Avalon from those hateful Star Antimony people, you must get Sophia's blood as soon as possible.

The Star Antimony people must not know the existence of the "Shadow of Avalon" ceremony, so they would not attach too much importance to Sophia's body.

As long as I can secretly touch the corpse...

...But in that case, Isabel couldn't just leave it here.

Although the traitors didn't have the Eye of Avalon, they couldn't directly target Isabelle. That aside, there was a possibility that I wouldn't be able to return alive... If Isabelle wasn't sent to the Theocracy, she would always be in danger. It wasn't just the Star Antimony who wanted to kill her, but the entire Round Table's survivors.

—In other words, the entire Avalon.

As long as Isabelle died, the fake's identity would be completely confirmed. Then, she would be the only Du Lac, the Queen of Avalon. The knights' loyalty to her and obedience to her commands would become justified... and all of Avalon would be in the hands of the Star Antimony.

"Ah, what should I do..."

Shafiya felt an abnormal headache and grabbed her hair, pulling and tearing it.

She was so anxious that her scalp felt like it was about to explode.

The dual pressures of saving Avalon and preserving the Du Lac family fell entirely on her.

And now she has just given birth to a child a few months ago... Her own daughter is still waiting for her at home!

She can't speak yet and she is still drinking milk.

No time for delay. No time for exposure. No time for failure. No time for death.

Shafiya suddenly took a deep breath and hugged Isabel tighter, as if she also wanted to draw some peace of mind and courage from the princess.

——But she only felt dizziness in front of her eyes.

Despair is like a snake, anxiety is like sand.

(End of this chapter)