Chapter 181 - FOOTSTEPS

Veronica shuddered. 'Why is the sack moving? Could it be that someone is inside? But why?'

She saw the man kick the sack mercilessly and yell, "Shut up bitch! Keep making sounds and I'll throw you to the wolves!"

The person inside the sack stopped making noises. But the sack was trembling.

'That person must be scared to death.' Veronica felt so bad for the human inside the gunny sack.

The man spat on the ground in annoyance. Then, he grabbed the sack and pulled it to the dead end.

'There is only a wall. Why is he going forward as if there is no wall in front?' Veronica pondered. 'Wait! What if he is a magician and can walk past the wall…'

She didn't finish her thought before he disappeared behind the wall.

"!!!"

Her jaw dropped as she gaped at the wall.

She couldn't believe her imagination came true. Even when she was assuming that he would walk through the wall, she did not expect her own assumption to come true.

Never in a million years had she expected this to happen.

She was thoroughly impressed.

'Magic is the almighty!'

[A/N: Anyone needs science when magic is this awesome? I doubt it. ;p  ]

After the man vanished inside the wall, Veronica abruptly stood up.

"Did you just see that? He walked through the wall!" she exclaimed.

Merlin frowned and stated, "He didn't walk through the wall. The wall is an illusion. There isn't any wall there. They used a magic illusion."

"Magic illusion?" Veronica never expected that. She was slightly disappointed.

"Maybe that's what Darius was talking about," Sebastian suddenly mentioned.

"I think so," Merlin agreed. "Since it was an illusion and it was unexpected, no wonder the royal guards couldn't find them."

"What are you talking about?" Veronica was utterly clueless.

Sebastian answered, "We are talking about human trafficking."

"Human trafficking?!" she gasped in surprise.

That was unexpected.

Merlin narrated shortly, "Yes when Arthur went to the palace, the Crown Prince showed his concern about trafficking. He has a caring heart for the commoners. Since Arthur wasn't around for years, the Crown Prince told him that human trafficking increased and his men couldn't locate them."

"As a result, Arthur discussed it with me, Ovior, Darius, Zinnia, and Ironin. Sebastian was present, so he knew as well. With Arthur's command, we had started to assist the royal guards since yesterday."

"I see…" Veronica was in deep thought.

'Not good. She is plotting something. We must retreat!' Sebastian's sixth sense was giving him a red alert.

He quickly suggested, "We should contact others and surround this place."

Veronica interrupted, "Wait! We don't know what's inside. Why don't we see how the human traffickers are collecting and sending humans to faraway countries and who is behind this? I read that the big crimes always have people with power and money in tow. Aristocrats must be involved. If the soldiers capture the traffickers, they might not find the real culprits behind the operation. Do you get it?"

"That's true," Merlin agreed thoughtfully.

'Wait! Are you serious?' Sebastian was stupefied. He was looking at Merlin in disbelief.

But then, Merlin added, "Mistress, let me escort you to the tower first. Then, Sebastian and I will go on a secret mission."

Sebastian sighed in relief. 'That's more like it.'

He almost thought that Merlin lost his sanity.

"No way!" Veronica stomped her foot on the ground to emphasize her point. "I'm the one who gave you a plan. How can I be left off? I won't have that."

Her legs were itching for another adventure. Her idol Marshall Nomes's inspiration was boiling in her blood.

How could she let them have all the fun while she stayed at home?

So unfair!

Merlin tried to persuade her patiently, "Mistress Veronica, I understand your logic. However, if the incident causes one scratch on your skin, we will be sent to suicidal missions and you cannot stop it unlike last time. We are not powerful enough to survive missions like that."

When he calmly convinced her, Veronica quieted down. She remembered Ironin's warning and sighed inwardly.

'So, what now? What am I supposed to do? Because of my position, I can't even do what I want? Then what's the point of this marriage? I can't travel properly. I can't have the adventure that I dreamed of my whole life… Is everything I ever dream about is a lie? When Arthur told me that he would show me the world – was it also a lie?'

The more she thought about it, the more sadness she felt.

Her heart was suffocating her. It was like something squeezed her so tightly that she couldn't breathe.

She felt like a caged bird.

Just like she was in the temple.

She realized that nothing had changed. No matter where she went, her position was still the same.

She was trapped.

Her heart was in turmoil and yet she didn't show it in her face. She kept her facial expression normal.

She opened her mouth and began to say, "I understand what you mean. I'll do as you say. Please take me–"

She wasn't able to finish her words before a door opened forcefully.

Bam!

The three of them were startled by the sound.

On the left side, there was the restaurant where they were supposed to go. It was a huge restaurant for commoners. Above the restaurant was the hotel.

The entire time they walked in the dark alley, they crossed more than seven buildings on their right side, but on the left side, the restaurant remained.

And, the backdoor of the restaurant opened and scared the wits out of them.

The lights from the restaurant illuminated the dark alley. Noises from the inside reached their ears.

It seemed like some kind of performance was happening in the restaurant.

Veronica squinted her eyes when the light suddenly fell on her face.

"Araa! Is this the new girl you brought?" a fatty woman came out and asked in a coarse voice.

Three of them had no idea what was going on.

The fatty woman didn't wait for the answer as she was in a hurry.

She urged her, "You girl, your performance will start soon. Hurry up and get ready."