CHAPTER 286: THE HIDDEN GATE

From between the thick leaves, he could see the royal capital.

Beyond it, a bright line shone like the sea.

Near the coast, many buildings sparkled with reflected light.

The group of similar rooftops must have been the palace where they had been just a short time ago.

There was no way those people who had seen them on the rooftop would guess they were now deep in the mountains.

Let them search however they wanted.

Dominic gave a short snort toward the arrogant and selfish Isolde.

Shiao Yi’s head gently dropped against Dominic’s chest.

"Are you sleepy?"

"Yeah. Once I felt safe, my energy just... slipped away."

Shiao Yi must have been searching for him without proper rest for days.

His cheeks were thinner and his eyes were sunken.

Dominic sat down with his back against the trunk of a large tree.

He pulled Shiao Yi onto his lap, letting him lie between his legs.

"Sleep for a while."

"Mm..."

Shiao Yi drifted into sleep while using Dominic’s arm as a pillow.

Shiao Yi’s clothing was dark and fit close to his body, showing every line.

It was too tempting for Dominic.

He took off the front closing coat of this country and laid it over Shiao Yi like a cover.

Dominic had made Shiao Yi worry so much.

Watching Shiao Yi sleep in his arms, trusting him completely and resting without fear, filled Dominic with a deep and overflowing love.

Dominic touched Shiao Yi’s cheek, which had become sharper and thinner from exhaustion and traced the slightly dry lips with his finger.

He was sure his own face looked foolishly soft right now.

However, no one was watching.

He followed his feelings and ran his fingers through Shiao Yi’s short black hair.

Ah... even the hair felt dry and rough now.

As he stroked Shiao Yi’s head, Dominic fully enjoyed the fact that Shiao Yi was here with him.

The sun was about to fall beyond the sea and the twilight was giving its place to the darkness of night.

On the high ground surrounded by trees, a fire crackled and popped as they roasted rabbit and mountain bird on sticks.

They had no salt or spices, but Shiao Yi had teleported to the rocks across a distant inlet and soaked the meat in seawater.

When they ate it, the saltiness was perfect and the taste was good.

The teleportation was very useful, but it could also be considered a luxurious waste.

This country had once been an island.

It was rich in food from both the mountains and the sea and rain from the mountains provided plenty of water.

The rice was grown widely on the flat lands.

It was a wealthy, well governed, and safe place, thank to Queen Isolde who ruled this land properly.

She could have stayed satisfied with the peace she already had, but it seemed the queen had ambition.

Maybe because she had such strong magic power?

How much magic had the walls of that room stored up?

And what did she plan to use all of it for?

The more Dominic thought about it, the worse his feelings grew.

When he told this to Shiao Yi, Shiao Yi spoke as if remembering something.

"When I was hiding in the ceiling of her office, the chancellor said something strange. Something about a plan they’ve been preparing for many years and that it would be carried out soon."

Isolde had said something similar.

Dominic and Shiao Yi looked at each other and nodded.

Without speaking, they knew they shared the same thought.

The place they teleported to was the roof of the building that held the stone room where Dominic had been imprisoned.

The palace was still loud and chaotic, they are probably still searching for him.

But no one seemed to expect them to return to the scene.

There was no sign of people nearby.

The queen’s private building at the back of the grounds was quietly sinking into the deepening night.

Standing on the dark roof where no light reached made them even harder to notice.

Shiao Yi whose dressed in black kept watching the surrounding, so Dominic was able to focus on the magic flowing out from the stone room.

The magic that was stored in huge amounts was carefully guided so it wouldn’t explode and it moved underground in a waving band.

The thick and concentrated magic power make it looked like a giant snake twisting its body as it traveled.

The snake of magic power stretched outside the palace grounds on the high hill.

When Dominic looked in that direction, it seemed to reach past the line of trees in the forest and stretching toward the sea where moonlight glittered on the breaking waves.

Dominic signaled to Shiao Yi and pointed with his finger toward the direction they should move.

Shiao Yi took Dominic’s arm and made a series of small jumps through space.

Each time they moved, Dominic followed the trail of magic power and pointed to where it continued.

The magic power that was flowing from the stone room led them behind the palace grounds, through the trees and out to an open high place.

From the high ground, a narrow path went downward and hidden below was a small inlet.

The area was full of rough rocks and in the middle of the sandy space stood something like an altar.

The magic went under it, deeper and deeper into the ground.

It was being sucked downward as if something hungry in the earth’s depths was swallowing it without end.

There was no magic circle drawn there.

It was simply a place where something had opened a mouth and was endlessly eating magic.

Downward, far below.

Deep, deeper, forever downward.

Almost as if it were trying to reach the bottom of the world.

"What... is this...?"

Dominic exchanged looks with Shiao Yi.

Shiao Yi nodded.

"A gate... an exit and entrance. So this is where it was."