Sylas could scarcely believe his eyes.
The blood in his veins seemed to freeze solid.
He sat rigidly in his seat, completely at a loss.
For a moment, he thought it might just be a random gesture from Gwendolyn.
A coincidence?
How could Gwendolyn have seen the note?
Wasn't she afraid of cats?
But after tapping the cup, Gwendolyn turned her head quite casually, her eyes meeting his precisely.
The corner of Gwendolyn's mouth lifted.
She glanced towards the railing, then turned away.
A "Boom!" echoed in Sylas's mind.
Even the dullest person would understand Gwendolyn's meaning now.
She had received the distress signal.
Her earlier reaction was nothing but a feint to cover her tracks!
In that brief instant, a torrent of emotions flooded Sylas's heart.
Excitement, exhilaration, fear, worry.
Mingled together, they left him momentarily stunned.
What should he do?
What could he do?!
The railing?
Seeing Isolde was still admiring the view, Sylas turned to look at the railing behind him.
The pavilion was built on a small hillside, with the rushing river to the west.
But from the hilltop to the bank was at least a hundred paces.
Was he supposed to just jump?
He wasn't afraid of death.
But guards were stationed behind the railing too.
And he wore the Servant's Chain; they wouldn't allow him to jump from a height.
Just then, a thought struck him.
Sylas slowly stood up and, for the first time initiatively, took Luna from the palace maid's arms.
Then, pretending nothing was amiss, he walked towards the edge of the pavilion.
Isolde whirled around.
Seeing his movement, she was taken aback.
"Where are you going?"
Sylas twitched his lips, struggling to say, "Relieve..."
He lowered his head.
It was too embarrassing to say it in front of so many women.
"Go ahead." Isolde couldn't very well hassle him about this.
She just didn't understand why he needed to bring the cat to relieve himself.
Was he afraid someone would harm his cat?
But she couldn't be bothered to think about it.
The area with the latrine was guarded anyway.
Sylas couldn't carry a load on his shoulders or lift heavy objects; how could he possibly run?
Having obtained Isolde's permission, Sylas's legs almost gave way beneath him.
He made his way with difficulty to a corner of the hillside.
A temporary latrine had been set up there.
He walked in.
The latrine was open-air, with guards posted outside to prevent escape.
But the moment Sylas entered, he looked up and saw a Stonewold woman staring right at him.
Under normal circumstances, this would be the act of a peeping tom.
But now, Sylas felt only overwhelming surprise and joy.
The woman didn't utter a word.
She dropped a rope.
Sylas hurriedly tied the rope around his waist.
Then, both he and the cat were hauled up to the top.
It happened swiftly, almost in the blink of an eye.
Once on this part of the slope, the woman pointed to a barrel, about half a person's height, and whispered, "Young master, apologies for the indignity."
With that, she stuffed him into the barrel.
Sylas curled into a ball, unsure what was happening outside.
He only felt the barrel being pushed along.
He tumbled about inside incessantly.
Just as he was about to be sick, he heard a loud "Splash!" from outside.
Sylas's spirits instantly relaxed.
He must have been rolled into the river.
Next, he would go with the flow downstream, escaping the tiger's jaws!
...
After the cat incident, Amberfields had finally calmed down.
But when Isolde realized Sylas was missing, she became like a maddened lioness, ordering all the Aethelred Phalanx to surround the area.
The guards around Gwendolyn drew their weapons and raised their crossbows, ready to fight their way out.
They weren't afraid of death.
But they feared their nation's pillar might fall here.
The ruler of Stonewold, Mirabel, was too young to be of any real use.
Without Gwendolyn, Stonewold would cease to exist.
Then, they would end up like the people of Lyonesse: slaves of a fallen nation.
Gwendolyn remained calm and composed, though a trace of anger showed on her face.
She looked coldly at the frantic Isolde.
"Your Majesty, I do not understand your meaning.
Even in war, envoys are not slain.
We are merely here for negotiations.
Do you intend to kill now?
Is the mighty Empress of Aethelred an untrustworthy sovereign?"
"Give him back! Give him back to me!"
Isolde, supported by two maids, was so agitated she could barely stand.
She was like a tigress who had lost her cub, completely unhinged.
Gwendolyn: "What person?"
"Stop the nonsense! Give him back!
You stole him! Give him back! Ah..."
She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen.
Then, a maid next to her screamed in fright.
"Your Majesty... there's blood..."
"Quick, take Her Majesty back! Now!"
The attending officials no longer cared about confronting Gwendolyn.
If the Empress miscarried, the political landscape of Aethelred would be turned upside down again!
Isolde had no time to demand the person now.
Her face was deathly pale, like a sheet of paper.
She was carried onto a carriage and transported back to Northspire Palace.
The officials left behind had to manage the aftermath.
They apologized profusely to Gwendolyn, insisting there was no intention of hostility between the two nations.
Gwendolyn left in a show of anger.
Without Isolde's madness, the Aethelred Phalanx couldn't very well stop the Stonewold party.
The two sides parted on bad terms.
Back at Northspire Palace, Isolde's pregnancy was stabilized.
The accompanying physician's skills were excellent, preventing another major upheaval in the court.
After all, if the Crown Princess were lost, the Duchess of Arbor would once again rise to prominence.
But Isolde, as if mad, continuously ordered attacks on Sentinel Peaks.
She was convinced that the missing Sylas must have gone to Stonewold.
He just went to relieve himself and vanished?
The temporary latrine didn't connect to the river.
How could he just disappear?
However, her military orders were all held back by Celeste.
This was not the time for impulsiveness.
The Stonewold army held the strategic passes at Sentinel Peaks; the Aethelred army wouldn't gain any advantage.
Three days later, when Isolde finally calmed down, she realized she might have missed the crucial window to find him.
She urgently sent people back to Amberfields to investigate.
But alas, all traces had been erased.
The bare hillside revealed nothing.
Three days was enough time for the autumn wind to scour the hillside clean, even if Gwendolyn had done nothing.
Isolde was so angry she cried, jabbing her belly as she wept and cursed.
"Misandry! Your father ran away! Do you hear? He's going to be the death of me!"
But after poking a few times, she didn't dare move too much.
Having barely saved the pregnancy, she couldn't risk losing the child now.
After cursing, she sank into apathy, doing nothing.
Isolde suddenly became calm.
For the next two months, she would focus on the pregnancy and giving birth first.
Sylas had run away, but he wasn't dead.
There was no need to rush.
As for reopening the ports for trade, she agreed.
Official business was official business, private was private.
Let the Stonewold people enjoy their happiness for now!
Meanwhile, Sylas was in a dungeon beneath the Jade Wall, terrified before an array of torture instruments.
Gwendolyn sat primly before him, her voice icy.
"So, Lord Sylas, you actually have no way to defeat the Aethelred Phalanx, correct?
You lied to me."