259 Lost Isle Alley (2/2)

”We had no choice. If our son… the prince hadn't gained phenomenal skills overnight and we were taken to the palace so suddenly. Who would know the prince's capabilities better than us, the ones who raised him? Even now, we have no idea how he suddenly becomes so capable but those unaware would suspect his skills were taught by us. Facing the Queen's direct scrutinizing gaze. Even if we have a perfect disguise, it's impossible to guarantee that something won't slip. It was too risky. We have no choice but to escape while we had the chance.” Brian explained with a sigh.

The inner elder also sighed, but his eyes soon fell on the child with a chilly gaze.

”And what about this child?”

His intention was simple. Why did they bring the child and not just get rid of it?

”This… this child's history is too tragic, but it's also because of the tragic experience that no child her age should experience that she has great potential and affinity to learn our arts, elder…” Helen said as she tightens her grip slightly on the child's hand.

Mia was very sensible for her age. She did not throw any tantrum for her present predicament and just observed everything quietly.

The inner elder looked deeply into her black eyes that were deep like the abyss and felt an instinctive numbing chill with tingling scalps. It was not the first time they told him the story.

A child who experienced the true cruelty and ugliness of reality the world had to offer at such a tender age of 5 would be forced to mature and develop their intelligence early in order to survive. One would not know how terrifyingly crafty the child will become if she was allowed to grow.

Others would see the child as a child, but he saw a witty little demon. Although the elder had only heard the story from another's perspective, he believes it was not luck, that the little girl was able to temporarily escape the gang's clutches and get saved by the prince.

”Then you should continue to teach her well.” The inner elder acknowledged after refreshing his memory, before peeling his eyes away from the little girl. All was well if the little girl doesn't turn on them once she spread her wings.

”I heard that both the Bloodfiend Sect and the Illusory Butterfly Sect started a war with the kingdom. Is that the reason for the Bloodfiend Sect's craziness?” An inner disciple inputted.

The Brian, Helen, and the other inner disciples were startled when they heard this.

Although the Illusory Butterfly Sect was also mentioned, no one found it strange that the inner disciple did not add an 'our' in front of it.

”When and where did you hear that from?”

”From an Earl when I was disguised as one of his servants yesterday.”

”You crazy bastard. That was a pretty risky move, but well done. Unfortunately, there are no prizes for that.” Another inner disciple said dully. Who would be happy about hearing such bad news?

Bang!

Another inner disciple smacked the wall of the hidden chamber with his clenched fist.

”Dammit! Those fools never learn! They are still walking down the road of self-destruction!” He said with gritted teeth.

In a single breath, the inner disciple had cursed all the upper echelons of the Illusory Butterfly Sect, but no one rebutted him as they were all had similar thoughts. The underground chamber was soon plunged in a gloomy mood, Brian and Helen included.

Mia blinked her deep eyes and rubbed Helen's hand with her little thumb as if to console her. Helen smiled weakly and rubbed the little girl's head with affection.

She had truly taken the little girl as her daughter. It was a pity that they were caught in a situation with a bleak future.

The inner elder sighed, seeing that the inner disciples had also caught wind of the news now and did not deny its authenticity.

”That's right, the Illusory Butterfly Sect joined hands with Bloodfiend Sect to wage war against the Crawford Kingdom. In the end, those fools were unable to contain their greed. We are now stuck at an impasse and to be honest, our chances of survival aren't looking great.”

Everyone felt sad.

Due to a disagreement in opinions with the ways the Illusory Butterfly Sect were doing things, they had long left the sect and were labeled as traitors as a result of that choice.

The Durham Kingdom was no longer safe with the Illusory Butterfly Sect hunting them, and the Bloodfiend Sect had always been at odds with the Illusory Butterfly Sect. They could escape to the Valaran Kingdom, let alone travel through it to seek refuge in the Ishaan Kingdom.

With no other choice, they could only hideaway in the Crawford Kingdom.

The other inner disciples had settled in the other cities, but they hid in the Capital for the sole desire of being able to live openly under the sun freely instead of hiding away in its darkness.

They were inner disciples when they left, but they are already old enough to be elders now.

Leon's birth was their first ray of hope in realizing their desire 17 years ago.

For that purpose, they had foiled the Illusory Butterfly Sect's plan and saved the baby Leon at that time when he would have died in the fire.

According to the original plan, Leon would have been slowly introduced to their circle through his adoptive parents and one day become the mediator between them and the royal family, but they never commenced with the next step because they felt that Leon wasn't old enough to make mature decisions and intended to wait until he was 18.

After all, it was the same as handing over their lives to the boy. One misstep and they could lose their lives under the Queen's blade.

They were no longer affiliated with Illusory Butterfly Sect, yes, but there was no doubt that they once were.

There was no doubt that they would have died, had they exposed themselves prior and the Queen manages to deduce the mastermind behind the rebellion and saw them as one and the same.

After a long silence, an inner disciple opened his mouth.

”How about we take a gamble?”