Chapter 383 The Kidnapped Holy Sovereign
Lunelle sat aboard the airship, thoroughly puzzled.
The news about the city had shocked her. Setting aside where it had come from, why had it been buried beneath the ocean?
She had no memory of such a city.
There was not even a single record of it in the Upper Realm's archives, which made the whole situation even stranger.
That should have been impossible.
The airship was enormous, but Lunelle was alone in the private lounge, scrolling through the information on her tablet.
Although she now held the title of Holy Sovereign, she was far from satisfied.
It was bad enough that Valerius controlled her from behind the scenes. Worse still, Zara's shadow continued to hang over her.
If Zara had not caused such a scene back then, no one would have known that Lunelle's claim to the title was illegitimate.
She might still be the Holy Sovereign in name, but she was not the rightful successor. Even the commoners of the Lower Realm openly mocked her for it.
At the thought, Lunelle clenched her fist and struck her knee, clearly remembering something that filled her with resentment.
"Hey... Why the long face?"
The sudden voice drained all the color from Lunelle's face.
In public, she had always maintained the image of a noble and elegant Holy Sovereign. She could never allow anyone to see her petty temper or her true personality. Hearing someone speak inside the private lounge made her heart leap violently.
Worse still, that voice was hauntingly familiar.
It was the kind of voice that appeared in her nightmares.
Lunelle turned and saw a young woman with delicate, innocent features. She was not quite as beautiful as Lunelle, yet there was an effortless confidence about her that made her impossible to ignore.
"You..." Lunelle nearly screamed.
Zara!
She was sitting in the seat directly behind her, leaning over the backrest with a bright smile that sent a chill down Lunelle's spine.
Lunelle had not even noticed when she appeared.
Zara immediately covered her mouth and raised one finger to her own lips. "Shh."
"Easy, easy," Zara said with a smile. "I only came aboard without announcing myself. There's no need to get so worked up. If you draw everyone in here, I'll have to use force, and neither of us wants that, right?"
Zara was only holding her mouth with one hand, yet Lunelle could not break free. An overwhelming force held her firmly in place.
Instinctively, Lunelle tried to summon the power of the Holy Sovereign and fight back.
But the power that normally allowed her to look down upon everyone else seemed completely suppressed. Like air escaping from a punctured balloon, it vanished before she could summon even the slightest response.
The fear in Lunelle's eyes deepened. She had no idea what Zara intended to do.
Zara clicked her tongue. "I wasn't planning to come after you, but Valerius hasn't shown up, so I guess I'll have to take you hostage instead.
What you people arranged on Earth this time was way out of line.
Someone was killed, not that he had anything to do with me, but I was personally humiliated.
The emotional trauma was so severe that I may need therapy.
Nothing short of proper compensation will soothe my wounded heart! "
"Besides, you're technically the Holy Sovereign now, so taking you should still get someone's attention. Come with me." Still smiling, Zara gave Lunelle's shoulder a light pat.
Before Lunelle could react, her eyes closed and she instantly lost consciousness.
Zara was considerate enough not to let her hit the floor. She caught Lunelle and allowed her to collapse into her arms.
The scene looked a little strange, but that hardly mattered.
Zara lifted Lunelle into her arms and disappeared from the airship.
"Holy Sovereign, we've arrived..."
Someone entered the lounge to summon Lunelle, only to freeze at the sight of the empty room.
When Zara descended from the sky, she was still carrying Lunelle in her arms.
Aurelion craned his neck. "Weren't you going to kidnap someone?"
"Yeah," Zara replied.
"Then why are you carrying her like a bride? Isn't that a little excessive?"
Lucian was speechless.
Zara clicked her tongue. "What else was I supposed to do? Throw her over my shoulder and haul her down like a sack of potatoes? That would've looked terrible. Just look at that gorgeous face. Would you have the heart to treat her roughly?"
Lucian gave a cold laugh. "What you're doing now isn't much better. I wondered what grand scheme you had in mind, but it turns out you just went to kidnap their Holy Sovereign."
Of course, he knew perfectly well what Zara had gone to do. Still, he had to say something so he could at least pretend he had known nothing about it.
Zara cleared her throat. "Stop making false accusations, Lucian! What kidnapping? I brought her here openly and honestly. She was simply so excited that she passed out."
Aurelion fell silent.
So did Lucian.
Sylphra stared at Zara in disbelief. She had actually brought the Holy Sovereign back with her. "If you kidnap their Holy Sovereign, won't that make you an enemy of the entire Upper Realm?"
Lucian answered before Zara could. "We've been enemies of the entire Upper Realm for quite some time. Kidnapping the Holy Sovereign was simply the natural next step."
Sylphra was speechless.
Why did he sound so proud of that? Was there something wrong with him?
"Don't make things up," Zara said. "I already told you, this wasn't a kidnapping. I invited her."
Then she shoved Lunelle toward Lucian. "Hold her for a second."
Lucian reacted instantly and stepped back.
With no one there to catch her, Lunelle dropped straight to the ground.
Zara fell silent.
[Is he even human?]
Lucian was speechless.
Was she even human? Why would she ask him to hold another woman?
Aurelion looked at Lucian with admiration. "Respect."
Lucian fell silent again.
Even Sylphra stared at him in astonishment.
Lunelle was far more resilient than an ordinary person, so the fall did not injure her. It did, however, jolt her awake.
She opened her eyes in confusion, but the instant she saw Zara, her bewilderment turned to terror. "You..."
"I was the first person you saw when you woke up," Zara said. "Doesn't that make me the one who brought you back? Shouldn't you be grateful?"
Lucian was speechless.
Where had this lunatic come from?
Lunelle clearly had the same thought. "Are you insane?!"
Her voice turned shrill with fury, ruining her usual elegant composure. "You kidnapped me! You actually kidnapped me! Are you truly determined to make an enemy of the entire Upper Realm?"
Zara sighed. "Seriously, do none of you have any new lines?"
Lunelle turned her head. She froze briefly when she saw Lucian, then noticed Dino and Aurelion in his arms.
Her eyes widened. "You... You two..."
She clearly had not expected the Upper Realm's two divine beasts to be associating with Zara.
"Traitors!" she snapped. "Do you intend to betray the blood oath sworn by your ancestors?"
Aurelion did not appreciate being called a traitor. "Holy Sovereign, I think you've misunderstood. I have absolutely nothing to do with this woman. Just like you, she turned me into a hostage. A dragon hostage, in my case. I'm a victim too."
Lunelle fell silent.
"All right, enough acting," Zara interrupted with a wave. "I don't believe for a second that you didn't already know what happened to Aurelion. We can talk about that later. Right now, I only want to ask you one thing."
She pointed at Sylphra. "Did the Upper Realm know that this woman was going to Earth to cause trouble?"