CHAPTER 31: IT BEGAN

"No letter! You gone? How DARE you make me feel like I was dumped even though I am sure you didn’t try to do this?! You could’ve died and I wouldn’t even know it!" Zoey shouted.

Luke looked at Zoey sadly when she let go of his hands and then said, "I knew what was going to happen, I was scared, it was obvious what my dad was going to do."

Zoey’s face soured at these words, and the young woman replied, "You could have fought for us...come on Luke..."

"I know..." was all Luke could do.

However, Zoey finally seemed to calm down as she looked into Luke’s eyes and then gave him a big hug.

"If you think I’m going to give up on you, Luke, you’re ridiculous. I’ll never leave your side now." Zoey said, and Luke smiled and said, "You have responsibilities to take care of."

"Not anymore. I’ve already withdrawn from the competition to become a Duchess., I was going to give up the position when we got married in the future, but I had to do it now," Zoey complained.

"Get back to work," Luke said as he looked around at the people of the village and then ordered Keving to give Zoey’s bodyguards a place to settle.

After that, he took Zoey by the hand and said, "It’s not as big and beautiful as a duchy or an imperial palace, but...at least it’s home," and started walking towards the mansion.

When the two entered the mansion, Luke asked Zoey if she was hungry, and when Zoey answered no, the two went directly to Luke’s bedroom.

"You should rest, you’ve come a long way." Luke said, and when he said this, Zoey immediately took out the magic bag hanging on her waist and said, "I have gifts from Her Majesty Emma."

With that, Zoey lay down on the bed and all the hair on her body became erect as if she were lying in a sea of cotton.

"Woah...." Zoey muttered.

"My gift is working pretty well, isn’t it?" Luke asked playfully.

"No way! Have you figured out how to use it?" Zoey questioned back.

"Mhm. I built the walls of the town, the buildings and farms inside, this mansion and everything else." Luke replied and then took off his coat, lying down next to Zoey.

"How’s...everyone?" Luke asked curiously.

"Your father is a moron, did you know that?" Zoey giggled at the question.

"I am aware, yes," Luke replied.

"He’s a shadow of his former glory. The Emperor’s been decimated by the workload. The others seemed to be doing well, though. The empresses and princesses were very angry...They may have gone mad the moment I pointed out that the engagement had been illegally broken. The empresses were the ones who helped me when I couldn’t contain myself and left the throne room crying." Zoey said.

Luke didn’t respond to these words and just smiled and shook his head. Then, with the pleasure of finally being surrounded by a familiar scent, he hugged Zoey and then said, "I’m sorry for running away. I won’t do it again," and closed his eyes.

"I know you won’t," Zoey replied, and the two just fell asleep. Their three-month longing had exhausted them so much that the only thing they could do when they met each other was to fall asleep miraculously.

When the duo woke up again, the day had already turned. It was crazy to think that they had slept for a whole day, but that’s what happened. After they finally got out of bed and took turns showering, Luke kindly showed Zoey the whole town and even the merman and mermaids.

The merman and mermaids living in the lake were shocked that Luke had a mate in their eyes.

Luke was a very good man in their eyes, though, so there was no point in being shocked.

Kevin and Callum’s reports showed that no magical monster portal had been opened.

The town was safe. Even if the huge walls of the town failed their purpose and the ballistas were useless, Callum’s presence was worth a thousand magical beasts.

When Zoey and Luke had a nice dinner alone, Luke finally got down to business and logged into the shop panel to check his gift.

What he saw surprised him.

Dozens of items seemed to be unlocked, but...everything was locked until yesterday. Luke looked politely at Zoey sitting in the seat next to him and smiled.

"What happened?" Zoey questioned when she realised, and Luke smiled and replied, "You really are my good luck charm."

The first lock that was unlocked in Luke’s gift was the magic circles.

Magic circles were hard to find because there were not many people who could draw them.

Magic circles could be used for many things. From removing common diseases from the body, to strengthening the body and even teleportation.

Of course, even if they won the gift, it was impossible to find a magic circle user good enough to teleport.

Nevertheless, it was an immutable fact that this power was given to them.

Luke was really looking forward to trying out the magic circles, but it wasn’t something he was going to do now. In his eyes, it certainly made more sense to get used to using magic circles.

But first, he had to understand what magic circles were for. That is, the magic circles he could buy.

He carefully looked at each unlocked item and realised that he could buy better quality water.

He didn’t quite understand what better quality water meant, but it was possible for a fairly cheap price.

So he simply bought a jug of water, took it out of his inventory, filled a glass on his desk and drank it.

The water tasted so good. It was like drinking sugar. Okay, that would be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was really good.

So the days began to chase each other. One day after another, half a month had passed since the start of winter, and with that, the news had finally arrived.

While Luke and Zoey were busy having breakfast alone, Kevin entered the dining room and gently said, "Your Majesty, it has begun."

With that, Zoey stood up and then muttered, "Then I’m leaving."

Zoey was one of the few "magic sword users" in the world. It was one of the greatest gifts a warrior could receive, and even this was enough to raise Zoey’s value to the highest levels.

Add to that the fact that Zoey was a really good warrior and had even trained under Callum once, and that made her the best warrior in the village after Callum and Kevin.

"Be careful," Luke said and stood up and gave Zoey a big kiss on the cheek.

When the scene changed after almost ten minutes, Callum and Zoey were already standing on the ramparts looking around.

The sound of magical beasts rising from kilometres away was indeed chilling. The fact that they could be heard from miles away made it all the more frightening.

The gaze was sharp, the vigil was complete, and the will to win the victory was at its peak.

However, the voices of the magical beasts were getting closer and closer. With every minute that passed, everything was becoming more dangerous.

The footsteps of the magical beasts became louder and louder, and after almost a minute, the first magical beast appeared.

A wolfish beast with a white fur and a white fur coat, out of the mouth of which bubbled white fluids resembling bubbles, came out of the woods in the distance, and everyone’s gaze turned to it.

In just a split second, nd Callum gave the order to the elf next to him, and the first ballista was fired.

"SWIIIP!!!"

A sound piercing through the air rose into the sky, and the arrow loaded in the ballista travelled at hyper speed towards the monster.

"BOOM!!!"

As the sound of an explosion rang out, other magic beasts began to appear.

Immediately, dozens of ballista bullets were fired, and dozens of arrows began to pierce through the magical beasts.

It wasn’t snowing today, which meant that a race with excellent eyesight, like the elves, wouldn’t miss any ballista bullets.

Over and over again, there were the sounds of explosions, and Callum thought it was time to move.

Jumping casually over the tens of metres long wall, Callum’s sword glowed as blue as his body, and the middle-aged man sprang into action.

One step after another, leaving shards of magic in his wake.

Callum was fast, very fast. In just a minute, he was covered in the blood of magical beasts and had already killed over a hundred of them.

Dozens of ballista bullets passed Callum every minute. Everyone working together seemed to be helping him, too.

It was going way better than anyone could ever think of. It seems the enemy was going to Esphia instead of here.