CHAPTER 394: A KIDNAPPING

Daniel frowned deeply, rage flashing in his eyes for a moment. He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened—it simply didn’t make sense.

How could someone be kidnapped inside the Lionheart estate? Was that even possible? With this many guards around?

Without answering Selera’s question, he turned and headed straight back to the palace.

"Hey? What happened? Where are you going?" Selera wasn’t stupid; she immediately realized something had happened. A sudden, bad premonition rose in her heart.

Without hesitation, she followed Daniel. Naturally, Olivia followed both of them as well.

When Daniel returned to the palace, he immediately went to the floor where his and Ilaris’ rooms were. To his surprise, he saw Rynor leaning against the wall, his body covered in blood.

He first glanced at both rooms, then walked toward Rynor. Luckily, his injuries weren’t too severe.

Selera and Olivia arrived soon after, but when they saw the bloodied man, they both frowned and kept their distance. It was obvious something serious had happened.

"What happened?" Daniel asked after making sure Rynor was still in decent condition.

"My lord, when I returned from the training grounds, I heard noises coming from the Dark Elf girl’s room. I wanted to check what was going on, but I was suddenly struck from the shadows and knocked unconscious." Rynor replied.

"Struck from the shadows? With your level of power, how could anyone even do that to you?" Daniel frowned, still unable to understand how this was possible.

"I’m completely confused myself. I couldn’t even sense that person’s presence. Whoever it was, they were either extremely powerful... or extremely skilled at their craft."

"They took Ilaris with them?"

"Yes, my lord. They took the Dark Elf girl. At least, when I woke up, she was gone." Rynor nodded.

Daniel rose to his feet, and his aura erupted, shaking the entire palace as though a massive earthquake had struck.

Everyone living on the lower floors instantly woke from the tremors and evacuated the palace.

His gaze fell on Selera, his eyes radiating a chilling coldness—a bone-freezing cold that could make anyone tremble.

"M–me..." Selera stuttered, terrified by the look in Daniel’s eyes. It wasn’t hard for her to guess what was going through his mind right now.

But before she could even say anything, Daniel suddenly appeared in front of her and grabbed her by the throat.

"Was it you?" he asked coldly.

"It wasn’t me! I swear!" she shouted fearfully, swearing over and over.

But Daniel didn’t seem convinced. A destructive, overwhelming force burst out of his body, reducing the entire palace to ashes.

The shockwaves of that power sent tremors across the Lionheart estate, instantly drawing the attention of many.

Even those who had evacuated earlier were horrified when they saw the palace vanish into ash—and above it, in the sky, the white-haired boy holding their young lady by the throat as if he intended to kill her.

"Why is that white-haired boy holding the young lady?"

"Don’t tell me he’s actually going to kill her? This is the Lionheart estate! How does he even dare?"

"What the hell happened? How did things end up like this?"

Whispers erupted everywhere. With every passing moment, more and more people gathered, and soon even the guards arrived.

Seeing their young lady in danger, the guards wanted to interfere and suppress the bastard immediately. But suddenly, blood began to rain from Daniel’s body.

Every drop of blood that touched the ground transformed into a majestic, terrifying creature. The Fallen surrounded the guards from all sides, suppressing them completely.

"You lured me away from the palace, and at that exact time, the girl was kidnapped. Do you think that’s just a coincidence?" Daniel asked coldly. Even then, he didn’t actually tighten his grip—he hadn’t been applying any pressure at all.

"It wasn’t me! Why would I want to kidnap that girl? I never thought about becoming your enemy!" Selera said with fear in her eyes.

Even though she wasn’t feeling any physical pressure on her throat, when she looked into those golden eyes, she could feel death itself. Never in her life had she felt so close to dying.

"It wasn’t her. You should let her go." Olivia stepped forward with a frown, trying to pry Daniel’s hand away.

"And what makes you think I’d believe your words?" Daniel sneered, shifting his gaze onto Olivia.

The moment she felt his eyes on her, her body trembled. For an instant, it felt as if death itself was staring straight at her. Still, she didn’t back down.

She might not like this woman, but she had made a promise—and she had to uphold it.

"Because I know her! I can swear she would never try to be your enemy! Even if you rejected her offer, at most she would just give up on the succession." Olivia said, suppressing her fear.

Daniel gave no reply, his gaze locked on both of them. The aura radiating from him grew stronger and stronger, and under that crushing pressure, both of them felt like they could collapse at any second.

They had never seen this side of him before. And now, more than ever, they were certain—they never wanted to become his enemy. That would be no different than suicide.

Before Daniel could respond, several powerful presences rushed in from the distance. Naturally, they were none other than the Elders of the Lionheart family.

And among them was Andreas.

"Daniel, what are you doing?!" Andreas shouted, his voice filled with worry. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The Elders frowned deeply, ready to act at any moment to save their young lady. In fact, if it weren’t for Andreas’ order, they would have already interfered and killed that bastard on the spot.

Was it just because he had conquered the stairway that he had become this arrogant?

"Ilaris has been kidnapped, and I suspect her." Daniel said indifferently.

His words left everyone present in shock—especially Andreas, whose eyes immediately flared with killing intent.