1338 A Swift Rescue

Fire?

The 5 guards were shocked, seeing the thick smoke seep into the hall from the long winding entrance hallway.

"Quickly! Water? Water! We need water!"

"Yes!" They all responded, dashing into the only storage compartment in the wing.

That's right.

Because this was a guest wing, out of the many rooms, one was used for storing goods that were explicitly used in the wing.

Bedsheets, pillowcases, new and unused sponges for wiping themselves after pooping, and even spare buckets were all kept there.

And whether there were guests here or not, the two 5-feet tall massive drums of water always had some level of water in them. The servants would carry buckets of water from below and fill the drum whenever they saw the water in there running low.

Again, when guests weren't staying here, they would use this water to mop the entire floors and everything else in the wing.

Believe them; it saved time rather than running up and down the many flights of stairs and floor levels in the building.

Knowing where the water was, the men hastily made their way into the storage room and grabbed a bucket, planning to dunk it into the drum and get the water out fast!

In this moment of chaos, no one had time to think things through properly.

Landon and a few others followed these men, while 2 others stayed back to be on lookout duty.

.

Woosh!

The door was opened.

And once all 5 guards stepped in, they were so divided on the task at hand that they didn't even notice Landon and his men pointing their weapons at them from the back.

Thup!

The rain of heavily dosed tranquillizers made their mark on their prey.

With that, they quickly hid their weapons away, picked up their buckets and acted naturally.

And soon enough, all Humpty Dumpties fell with loud bangs.

Bang!

The high dosage had a fast-acting knock-out effect.

Landon and the rest don't touch them at all, leaving the fallen men in the positions they were. It was best for these people to think they had fallen from tiredness.

If anyone came in now, they would be able to hear their drowsy snoring.

Landon and his team removed the tranquillity shots on their bodies, sighing from relief.

So far, so good.

"Mina, Rody, Tristan... Search the other rooms. I'll take the middle one above. Now go!"

.

Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock.

Landon stormed up the stairs towards the room where all 5 guards stood earlier.

And sure enough, he made the right guess.

Lying chained up and covered with a blanket was a heavily panting woman with pain in her eyes.

Her mouth had been gagged, her hands chained to the bedpost, and her hair all messy.

Patches and trails of blood-stained her cheeks and the pillow she lay on.

Landon had a hunch that the woman:s naked body underneath the blanket should presumably be covered in blood too.

Paula's body shook, seeing the palace guard make his way to her.

No!.. Was this person trying to take advantage of her now? She had just escaped from one man's brutality. So how could she be willing to get forced into the hands of another?

It was true that in this moment of chaos, Alexander might never know if anyone touched her or not. She had thought that thanks to whatever turmoil was happening outside, she could at least rest easy knowing that no one would touch her.

But now, she understood how naive she was. Provided she stayed in this palace for even a breath's time, her troubles would never end!

.

With protest, she hauled her aching body upwards like a cornered animal. "You!~~..._what are you going to do?"

Landon felt uneasy, seeing the look she gave him.

Hey... No one liked to be mistaken as a predator, though he understood her.

Seeing him continuously approach her, Paula was almost at her wit's end. But just when she thought his hands would reach for her body, she suddenly heard several crackling noises.

~Chang! Chang!

Paula looked at her now freed hands in shock and confusion.

"Mrs. Paula, I have come to save you and your granddaughter."

"What?!" Paula was shocked.

Why? Why would this person save her? She didn't know them at all!

She had so many questions to ask, but Landon didn't give her any time for this.

"Mrs. Paula, take this and wear it first; I'll go get the rest of the items."

.

With that, Landon headed out to gather the other clothing parts from a few of his soldiers.

Before infiltrating the building, they had already stolen a simple enemy attire for her.

At present, the majority of those here weren't wearing armor. So it made carrying these clothes easier.

That said, a simple person still couldn't carry all the items.

Even without armour, the amount of clothing the guards wore underneath was a lot. And so, Landon and 2 others had divided her simpler attire amongst themselves, strapping the many pieces of clothing to their bodies. Landon gave her all the chemise and tops she had to layer. Now, he was going to get her pants and her boots which they specifically bought on the way over.

They had purchased a pair of boots for a 13~16-year-old male. Men typically had bigger feet than women. So they were hoping that this size should do the trick for her. And if it were still too big for her, they would stuff a scrunched-up pillowcase or fabric inside to fill up the gaps.

In a flash, Landon went out and came back in again.

A minute and a half more, Paula was finally dressed.

Landon tied her hair in a bun and hastily gave her a little make-up to change her features with swift hands.

Well, rather than calling it make-up, he had just rubbed dirt across her face and also used chalk to highlight and mould a few corners too.

In the end, she now looked like a feminine man.

Good... They were finally ready to roll.