While Olivia tried to escape without her captors noticing, one of them asked, "Do you think it's safe to stop in this place?"
"Yes, it's safest for the duke to be returning to the mansion right now, so by the time he realizes his wife has disappeared, it'll be too late for him to catch up with us."
"I hope so, because if the duke catches us, he'll chop off our heads."
"Clam down, there's no way he can catch us. Besides, when he goes looking for his wife, he won't have any way of knowing that we're heading north."
While those two men were talking, Olivia carefully got off the cart, trying not to make any noise. Her heart was racing with fear of being caught while escaping, but she couldn't just stay in the cart and do nothing. If what the two men were saying was true, Leonard wouldn't be able to come to her rescue.
The two men were drinking water and eating, thinking Olivia was still unconscious, so they didn't pay any attention to her. Olivia sneaked behind them and hid in some bushes nearby.
Olivia looked around, unsure which path to take as all she could see were trees and she didn't recognize anything about that place.
Olivia took a deep breath and decided to go in any direction except the one they were taking, hoping her captors would take a while to realize she had escaped.
Olivia started walking very slowly to avoid making any noise. However, she stepped on a twig and the man with a scar on his face turned his head and saw Olivia trying to escape, he told Vanessa's father.
"She's escaping, hurry and catch her!"
Having been spotted, Olivia ran like a madwoman through the forest while her captors chased her. Luckily for her, being small, she could easily pass through the trees, while the two men chasing her struggled a bit more.
Olivia ran without looking back until she couldn't go any further and had to stop to rest a moment. She looked around, hoping she had left her pursuers behind, but the man with the scar on his face caught up to her, grabbed her hair, and Olivia screamed in fear at the sight of him.
The man shook her and said, "You are truly annoying, you made us run so much, even though it was useless."
Leonard was following Vandal, who would occasionally stop to pick up Olivia's scent and then run off like an arrow. As they searched for Olivia, Leonard heard a woman's scream, and he was almost certain it was Olivia. The terror of something happening to her flooded his body, and a cold sweat ran down his back. He tightened the runs and urged the horse to go faster.
Olivia was terrified as the terrifying man had caught her, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. When the man lifted his hand to strike her, Olivia closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. But then the man screamed in pain and said, "Damn beast, let go of me."
The man released his grip, and Olivia took the opportunity to free herself. As she moved away from him, she saw Vandal, sinking his fangs into her attacker's leg. The man hit Vandal to get him to let go, but Vandal didn't loosen his grip.
The other man, whom Olivia had forgotten about, emerged from the trees and grabbed her arm, trying to drag her back to the cart.
Olivia bit the man's hand, and he slapped her, sending her to the ground. Vandal released the man he was biting and stood in front of Olivia, growling in an attempt to defend her. The scar-faced man drew his sword, and just as he was about to swing it at Vandal, Leonard appeared and delivered a powerful blow with his sword, sending the man flying.
Leonard saw Olivia lying on the ground with her bleeding and went crazy. He quickly moved and decapitated the man with one strike. Vanessa's father, upon seeing what Leonard had done, tried to run away, but Leonard wouldn't let him and beheaded him immediately, watching his body roll to the ground.
Olivia, seeing Leonard covered in blood, felt momentarily afraid and remembered why her husband was so feared. However, he would never harm her. Leonard approached Olivia and fell to his knees beside her, embracing her tightly and asking.
"Are you okay?"
Olivia could feel Leonard trembling. She surrounded him with her arms and replied, "I'm fine."
Leonard stayed for a while, hugging his petite wife, until he clamed down. He pulled away slightly and checked for any wounds, but it seemed she was only disheveled with a slightly split lip.
Vandal curled up beside Olivia and licked her hand. Leonard had always hated Vandal, but that was the first time he had been grateful that Olivia had a wolf as a pet. He thought he would never tell her to get rid of him again.
"How did you know I was kidnapped?" Olivia asked.
"I had a bad feeling and decided to return to your side. On my way back, I found Vandal in the woods, which seemed strange, especially because he didn't growl at me but instead pulled on my sleeve, urging me to follow him. So I did," Leonard explained.
Olivia petted Vandal's head and said, "Well done, my little one."
"It seems I did right by following him," Leonard concluded.
"Why have they kidnapped you?" Leonard hugged Olivia again and thought that he should pay a visit to the king of Azur. Olivia told Leonard everything she had heard the two men say, and that Vanessa had helped them to kidnap her. Leonard's blood boiled with anger at the thought of anything happening to Olivia.
Leonard gathered the heads of the two men and put them in a sack with a dead rabbit, trying the sack to the horse.
Leonard carried Olivia in his arms and said, "I'm sorry I didn't want to make you see something so brutal. Are you scared?"
"No, I was scared before you arrived, but now that I'm in your arms, everything is fine."
Leonard got on the horse with Olivia, and when they returned to the mansion, the servants who had been looking for them were surprised. Leonard's clothes were covered in blood, and Olivia's clothes were dirty mud had small scratches from running through the forest and trees.
Sarine, upon seeing Olivia in that state, turned pale and nearly fainted. Her husband held her by the shoulders and said, "Calm down, honey."
She approached Olivia and asked, "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"
Leonard said to his mother, "We're fine, don't worry. Take Olivia to have a bath and rest."
"And where are you going? You also need a bath."
"I'll go later, now I have some more important matters to attend to."
Leonard took the sack with the heads and went to search for Vanessa, who was happily talking with a group of women. Seeing Leonard with bloody clothes, she asked, "Are you okay, Leonard? Should I call a doctor?"
"That won't be necessary. The blood on my clothes isn't mine, but that of two rats whose heads I just cut off." Vanessa felt a bit disgusted and asked, "Why did you go rat hunting?"
"Because sometimes it's necessary to clean up."
Leonard emptied the sack and the two heads rolled onto the ground. Everyone there screamed in terror upon seeing whose heads they were.
Realizing that one of the heads was her father's, Vanessa put a hand over her mouth, fell to her knees, and said, "This can't be."
"I found them just as they were trying to harm Olivia, so I couldn't hold back."
Upon seeing Leonard, Vanessa felt completely terrified. His gaze was cold and wild, like that of a tiger preparing to attack its prey. Vanessa began to tremble with fear. She had never known this side of Leonard. When she heard all those rumors about him being cruel and bloody, she thought they were just gossip. However, she was wrong. He was exactly as rumored, and now that she saw her father's head on the ground, she realized that she would be next.
Vanessa threw herself to the ground and begged, "Please, forgive me."
"You showed no mercy in sending Olivia, a pregnant woman, to certain death. Why should I show mercy to you?"
Vanessa lifted her head and looked around, pleading with her eyes for someone to help her. However, everyone looked away and showed no intention of assisting her. Leonard drew his sword and said, "Since I have known you since you were a child, I will be merciful and give you a clean and swift death."
After saying that, Leonard lunged at Vanessa and buried his sword in her chest, piercing her heart. As Vanessa's life slipped away, Leonard whispered in her ear, "I cannot forgive you for wanting to harm Olivia and my son."
Leonard drew his sword, and Vanessa's body collapsed to the ground. She watched him walk away realizing she had been foolish to believe she could make Leonard fall in love with her, knowing he already had someone rooted in his heart. She closed her eyes, welcoming death, as she believed it was the end for her.
Everyone present remained completely motionless, terrified by Leonard brutality. Sometimes his beauty made them forget what he was truly capable of, but that night, he remained them who he was.
When Leonard exited the room, several ladies fainted, and others vomited at the sight of the brutal scene. Leonard's father was outside in the hallway and upon seeing Leonard's bloodstained sword, he said, "Your mother has called for a doctor. You should go get yourself checked as well."
"I don't need to. The blood on me is not mine," Leonard replied.
"Then you should take a bath before seeing Olivia. She is pregnant, and seeing you in such a state won't do her well."
"I will do that. Father, do you think I was too brutal in killing her?"
"No, if I had been in your place, I assure you I wouldn't have let her die so easily. You and your mother are my most treasured possessions, so. When someone messes with your family, one can never be too cruel and ruthless."
Leonard was slightly taken aback by his father's words. His father had never been overly affectionate, but undoubtedly, he loved him in his own way. Leonard began to walk away and said, "I'll see you later."