Chapter Thirteen: Grand Escape

Ava could hear her own heartbeat as she entered the enemies' territory. She hesitated, unsure whether to press on in the darkness or turn back, feeling uneasy about the situation.

However, she didn't want to disappoint the old man by going back without accomplishing anything. Determined, she chose to press on until she stood in front of a forest. Without a map, she had no idea where she was heading.

A moment later, a mysterious figure emerged from the shadows, approaching Ava with silent steps. The person remained elusive, concealed by a hood. It came closer, until Ava recognized who it was.

"Allen?" Ava muttered. "What are you doing here in the Spade Kingdom? Shouldn't you be in the Forbidden Forest?" Ava asked curiously.

"It's a long story, Ava. But would you like to come with me to my house, have some coffee, and talk about this matter?" Allen invited politely.

"I'm sorry, Allen, but—" Ava wanted to refuse, but she didn't manage to finish her sentence when Allen interrupted.

"No, it's okay," Allen replied. "But I can help you save your best friend from Caleb. You know, two minds are better than one." He smiled as if he were planning something.

How did he know about it? Ava wondered. Perhaps he was just insisting, or he had been tagging all along the way to this kingdom, or maybe there was something more. Ava was quite confused, but still, she decided to go with him.

They were walking for half an hour already, and the path towards Allen's house was quite rough. Steep rocks almost covered the road. Though she didn't like it, Ava did not complain.

Eventually, Allen told her that they were almost there, just a little more enduring. Then they stopped in front of a huge birch tree. As Allen wiped the leaves, Ava's eyes turned wide at what she saw.

"Is that your house?" Ava asked when she saw a huge castle. Her jaw dropped, wondering if it was all her dream—that she was in a fairytale and Allen was her prince charming. But what about her beloved Shawn?

"No doubt," Allen replied with a smile on his face. "I can finally introduce you to my family. You don't know how much they want to see you."

Ava was still confused by what was happening. What about Shawn? She wondered again. Isn't he the protagonist of this story? Why would she leave him behind and choose to go with Allen?

Allen led the way towards the castle, while Ava could not help but follow the enticing man. Out of her knowledge, she was already under his spell. She was enchanted the moment they met.

They walked on the passageway with the aligning lamppost alongside them, hand-to-hand. If Shawn could see this, he would die of a heart attack, Allen thought. Perhaps he would apologize to Ava for marrying an orc and beg her to stay with him.

But things like that wouldn't happen. Allen and Ava had entered the gate, then continued to the throne room, where two figures were sitting. The king and the queen of Spade Kingdom. No wonder it was Caleb and Lynx.

What's going on? Ava screamed in her mind. No, no, no, this could not be happening. How could she trust someone like Allen? The son of their greatest enemies?

"Father, Mother, behold, my beloved woman!" Allen introduces Ava. "She will be the next queen of our kingdom, whether she likes it or not."

Ava's mind was racing. She realized how naive she was to trust Allen without knowing where he came from, without knowing that all this time, he was just fooling her, pretending to be a kind man, though the truth was, he was an enemy. It was unpleasant to know that after all those years they spent together, he would just betray her.

"I did not expect to see you here, my wife's old friend," Caleb finally said. "Now, you'd be one of us. You'll marry my son in the next twenty-four hours."

It was Ava's first time meeting Caleb face-to-face. She didn't expect him to appear creepier than how her master would describe him. He had two horns on his head, resembling his demonic origin. He looked exactly similar to Allen, proving their father-son relationship.

"What?" Ava screamed in her mind, but all she could do was hope that someone would come to save her before she could lose something so important.

If Shawn married an orc, that was in order to save the Diamond Kingdom, and his story was different from hers. She would never do this to take revenge against him. She should find a way to escape this fate.

Allen was so excited for his wedding that he could not wait for it. He had been so in love with Ava ever since they were young. She was always there to protect him from their enemies. She was the most ideal wife for him. He'd be willing to give her thousands of children.

Caleb was a little bit annoyed when his son argued with him, asking him for his blessings right away. He knew he had to be patient because the preparation wasn't done yet.

"You'll be mine soon, darling." Allen kissed Ava's forehead. "Let's see if your boy will come to save you. But I don't think he would even try. I already sent him an invitation."

Gross! Ava wanted to scream as Allen's lips touched her forehead. Nobody had ever kissed her there, and she didn't expect to receive it from her trusted friend.

Please come and save me, Shawn! Ava screamed in her mind. She couldn't break Allen's spell because his magic was too strong and he was a demon. She knew it was hopeless, but still, she didn't want to be in despair because that was what makes a demon stronger.

Time was running fast, but it seemed like nobody's going to save her from these demons. She wondered if the old man was even worried about her not going back soon. She regretted that she didn't follow his advice.

Once the pact was made, she knew it would be over. She would be forever a slave to these demons, just like what they did to Lynx. She had to escape from them, but she didn't know how.

She only has three hours left. She wondered if they would make it there before the wedding. There are two hours left. One hour, but nobody was coming. Soon, a familiar servant was changing her dress. It took her a moment to realize it was Shawn.

"Shawn, why are you here?" Ava asked, a glimmer of hope sparking inside her eyes after seeing him. She asked, although she knew that he had come here for her rescue.

"Shhh, don't scream; I'm here for you." Shawn, in a servant's attire, told Ava to lower her voice so that they wouldn't hear them. "Don't worry, I have a plan."

Ava was totally released from Allen's spell with the help of Shawn's new power coming from the ring given by the orcs' king. She couldn't stop herself from hugging and kissing him. She didn't expect him to come to her rescue.

"It's okay now," Shawn said as Ava let him go. "We only have one chance to do this, or you'll forever be a demon. Now, go to your groom and do as I told you."

Ava, who was released from the spell with the help of Shawn's power, pretended to be under Allen's spell and acted all along. She didn't know why she had to do this if they could both escape.

The truth was, there were so many demons around, watching and observing every move they made, so they had to be very careful. They just hoped that their plan would work.

Shawn had prepared a box of explosives. They could create smoke that could cover the whole room. He knew it was a bad idea, but he had to make it work. He would sneak out with Ava as soon as the smoke spread.

Soon, the wedding ceremony had started. Ava was walking on the aisle, halfway towards Allen. Caleb and Lynx were watching. As she reached the altar, someone screamed that there was a fire, and the smoke had gathered around. She knew it was Shawn; he was really bad at acting, but it seemed like it worked so well.

Everyone was in a panic, going back and forth as if they didn't know where to go. It caused a commotion, while Ava and Shawn stuck to the plan and managed to escape.

As the smoke cleared, Caleb was so angry that he had thrown a glass of wine on the floor. It was scattered into pieces. He knew that it was a bluff. He couldn't believe that someone outsmarted him like that. He thought that everything was secured.

"Who did this, son?" Caleb asked angrily. The mana on his body kept flowing with anger; it created a dark shadow surrounding him. "I'm going to kill him for ruining your wedding."

"No, no, no doubt, it's Shawn, father," Allen stuttered in fear. Although it was his own father, he didn't know what he could do. He had no idea how powerful he could be. They had been separated from the moment he was born, and he knew nothing about his parents.

Allen couldn't recall when he started to see strange things. He met some demons who knew his origins. They were watching and observing every step he took as he learned and grew.

The moment he knew that his real parents weren't the people who raised him, he decided to kill them, and without any debt of gratitude, he used them as subjects for his experiments.

"Tell me, son. Who's this Shawn and where he came from?" Caleb commanded. "I'll let him taste my revenge for ruining your wedding."

"He's an adventurer with an unknown origin. I heard other people calling him a stranger and saying that he came from a planet called Earth," Allen replied. He still couldn't maintain a normal tone, frightened that his father would kill him.

Caleb stopped asking. The shadow disappeared. His anger slowly faded after hearing his son. He, too, couldn't believe that there was a planet called Earth out there. He became more interested in Shawn's mysterious origin.

On the other hand, Ava and Shawn finally got outside the Spade Kingdom. There were demons chasing after them, but they managed to escape using their skills.

Shawn had become stronger since he had the ring of King Orc the Great. This ring possessed four kinds of magic: water, fire, wind, and earth. All he had to do was master it to become invincible.

"How did you know I was in danger?" Ava asked. She couldn't help herself but hug and kiss her savior for the second time, as if she were addicted to his lips. It took them a while before the kiss ended.

"Aside from that unbelievable invitation, the old man also told me about your plan. Were you out of your mind to go to your enemies' territory alone? Did you even consider those people who are so worried about you?" Shawn asked, a little bit angry.

Ava realized her mistake. If she had only followed her master's order, she would not be in grave danger. But everything happened already; she should be glad she survived.

But still, she couldn't imagine how it felt to be saved by someone she expected to be so weak. What would they say to her? That she was the weak one? No, she couldn't accept that. She'd rather die than be criticized.

"Now that you found out something, you shouldn't ever plan to go back there. I know those demons are planning to attack us; we should better be prepared," Shawn said.

Ava was speechless along the way. She wondered how careless she was to fall under Allen's spell, though her true love was just in front of her. She just noticed that Shawn wasn't that bad at all. He wasn't just handsome and cool with the way he moved; he also became so strong that he even managed to save her and their kingdom. Those qualities of his made her fall in love even more. She decided to stay with him from now on, and that would probably change the course of their story.

Ash and the old man were glad to see Ava and Shawn safe and sound. They knew something must have happened because it took them so long to come back, and they were so worried that something could have happened to them.

Ash was eager to know what happened, so he began questioning Shawn, but he was tired and it was already midnight, so they decided to talk about it tomorrow and have a rest for now.