Even with concealment magic, one could hide appearance and aura but not sound.

In the enclosed space, the sound of falling echoed throughout the passageway.

The conversation that was heard suddenly stopped.

“Is someone else here?”

Revals asked, scanning the surroundings with wary eyes.

“No. There’s no way anyone else could be…”

“Check immediately!”

“Yes!”

The hired men began to inspect various parts of the cavern with torches.

Karina’s palms were sweaty.

If they were discovered here now, the situation would become complicated.

Looking at Aiden, he seemed too shocked to move from his fallen position.

As Karina was about to move towards Aiden, Mikhail quickly pulled her back.

With the momentum, Karina found herself tightly embraced in Mikhail’s broad chest.

Holding Karina, Mikhail silently and slowly lifted his body upwards.

Looking to the side, she saw Aiden’s body also rising into the air, his hand tightly covering his mouth.

Mikhail stood against the wall while holding Karina.

At the same time, the hired men approached the area where Karina’s group was with their torches.

The flames from the torches flickered back and forth beneath Karina and Mikhail’s feet.

Karina’s body stiffened with tension.

Mikhail patted her as if to say it was alright.

She felt her body relax slightly at his touch.

‘Ah, this is maddening.’

Mikhail looked down at Karina quietly nestled in his arms.

Though Mikhail’s face remained calm, his inner state was not.

He knew this wasn’t the time, but it was hard to resist.

Karina’s scent from up close felt unbearably sweet.

He could acutely feel her slender body under his arm and her warm breath.

Her face with its fine features looked up at him.

His image was reflected in her clear green eyes, as vivid as a forest.

Mikhail’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

He couldn’t stay still with the desire rising in him.

Mikhail clenched and unclenched the fist of the hand braced against the wall.

And soon he gave up on restraining himself.

Mikhail decided to take this opportunity to fully indulge his desires.

He deliberately pressed closer to Karina.

He tightened the arm around her waist, pulling her even more firmly against him.

Their bodies were pressed together without any gaps.

“…!”

Karina’s eyes widened.

“You…!”

The surprised Karina tried to push Mikhail away.

“Shh! Stay still. What will you do if we’re discovered?”

Mikhail whispered softly in her ear so only she could hear.

Karina closed her mouth with a troubled expression.

Seeing her flustered look, Mikhail smiled slightly.

Even her surprised face was too cute.

He wanted to take her away somewhere where they could be alone.

‘No. I have to completely sever her ties with that man first.’

When Karina achieves all she wants and smiles happily.

Then he would confess his feelings again and stay by her side forever.

‘Hoo.’

Mikhail inwardly sighed, painfully suppressing the rising desire.

“There’s no one. It seems to have been a mistake.”

“Let’s go.”

Despite the hired men’s words, Revals still looked suspicious.

Squeak!

Suddenly Mikhail spotted a mouse scurrying across the floor.

He immediately flung the mouse towards where many pickaxes were propped up.

Squeak squeak squeak squeak!

Crash!

Along with the loud squeaking, all the pickaxes leaning against the wall tumbled down.

“What was that?”

The hired men frowned as they looked towards the source of the sound.

“It seems it was just some mice.”

One of the hired men said as he spotted a mouse scurrying away.

“Since you’ve come to check the situation yourself, shall we go?”

“…Fine.”

Revals said in a displeased tone.

“I made it clear. There must be absolutely no mistakes.”

“Yes, yes.”

With that, Revals and the hired men disappeared into the inner passageway.

Only when their voices could no longer be heard did Mikhail carefully lower Karina and Aiden to the ground.

“Phew.”

“Whew.”

Karina and Aiden sighed as if they’d aged ten years.

“I really thought we’d be caught.”

“I’m sorry.”

Aiden said in a shrunken posture.

“I didn’t say that to blame you. I’m just glad we got through it.”

Karina smiled softly.

Then she narrowed her eyes and turned sharply to look at Mikhail.

However, Mikhail’s expression was the same as always, as if nothing had happened.

“They’re gone, so let’s hurry. We don’t know when they might come back.”

“…”

But given the situation, it was awkward to question him.

And if she was asked what exactly she wanted to question, that would be awkward to answer too.

‘Wasn’t that hug too tight? When you whispered in my ear, your breath startled me? I suspect you were indulging your own desires by embracing me?’

Karina shook her head.

The situation had been urgent and dangerous.

If Mikhail denied it, she would feel embarrassed for having such a ridiculous misunderstanding.

And if by chance.

‘If he actually admitted it…’

Even then, she didn’t know what to say.

That answer would be even more flustering.

Karina shook her head more vigorously, shaking off all the rising questions.

“…Right. Let’s hurry.”

She decided to focus on the task at hand for now.

[This is the timeline separator]

“It’s over there.”

Jeremiah arrived at a rocky hill overlooking the copper mine owned by Lambarda.

“It’s bigger than I thought.”

“Pardon?”

Visually, the size of the mine didn’t look that large.

This was because only the area where copper was being extracted was visible from the outside.

But Jeremiah wasn’t talking about the visible size of the mine.

He was speaking after sensing and gauging the enormous energy emanating from inside the mine.

“The new mana stone was discovered near that area.”

Ron pointed to a spot where only a small passage was open, with no other markings.

There was just one old mountain cabin and some empty carts nearby.

Despite there being nothing much, sentries stood guard continuously as if under strict orders.

“Those standing guard are likely mercenaries.”

“It appears so.”

The guards were carrying longswords on their waists and backs.

“How can we search the interior?”

“For now, the best option seems to be assembling a small team to sneak in after dark and investigate without being noticed…”

At that moment, Jeremiah, who had been watching the mine entrance, furrowed his brow.

Something anomalous was picked up by his senses.

‘What is that?’

Something rippling and different from the surroundings emerged from inside the mine.

It was so faint that even a slight lapse in concentration might cause him to miss it.

Jeremiah stared intently at the area around the mine, his eyes wide open.

And a moment later, his eyes widened even further.

‘Karina?’

Jeremiah spotted Karina and her group emerging from the anomalous sensation.

‘Why is Karina there?’

Jeremiah couldn’t take his eyes off Karina.

He saw Karina’s group hiding themselves in the undergrowth.

Ron, who was also observing the mine from the hilltop like Jeremiah, spotted them too.

“Oh? Is that…!”

Ron exclaimed in surprise, craning his neck to get a better look.

“No way, why is the Grand Duchess there…?”

His voice was dumbfounded.

But Ron quickly regained his composure and glanced at Jeremiah’s reaction.

Jeremiah’s expression had hardened.

[This is the timeline separator]

Karina’s group drew a magic circle inside the mine, exited, and rendezvoused with Heistine.

“We’ve set up the work inside the mine, so now let’s start evacuating the children.”

Karina and Aiden nodded at Mikhail’s words.

Originally, the plan was to explode the mine and use the ensuing chaos to escape with the children.

But after learning that the mineral in the mine was mana stone, they changed their plan.

‘If it’s possible to move the entire mine interior, wouldn’t it also be possible to teleport the children outside all at once using magic?’

Mikhail affirmed Karina’s suggestion.

‘With mana stones, we can go much further in one go. Much more stably too.’

So before leaving, they took a large amount of mana stones from inside.

Karina’s group, hidden in nearby bushes, moved towards the old cabin where the children were sleeping, avoiding the guards’ eyes.

Heistine knocked out two sentries and agreed to keep watch at the door for any more arrivals.

Mikhail began drawing a large teleportation magic circle next to the cabin.

While Mikhail was drawing the magic circle, Aiden and Selena were to enter the cabin and quietly wake the children.

‘Huh?’

Karina was taken aback.

“The cabin door is locked.”

At the news of the locked door, Heistine thoroughly searched the pockets of the unconscious guards, but no key was found.

“These guys don’t seem to have it.”

They couldn’t waste time searching for the key.

“We have no choice. We’ll have to break down the door.”

Taking the children out one by one through the window seemed like it would take too long.

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea. If we break down the door to enter, the children will be scared.”

Heistine, who had assessed the situation, approached the door and closely examined its hinges.

“What are you doing?”

“Usually, places this old aren’t very sturdy.”

Saying that, Heistine easily pulled out the round iron pin at the center of the door hinge.

Karina’s eyes widened.

“Was it that easy to remove?”

“Many old doors are like this. Or you can just hit old hinges with a rock and they break easily, but that makes noise and someone might notice.”

Then he pulled in the opposite direction and the door opened very easily.

“It’s better to be as quiet as possible.”

Karina looked at him with curious eyes.

“Where do you learn things like this?”

“Working as a mercenary, you get all sorts of jobs. Well, you learn a lot of things.”

Heistine shrugged and answered in a nonchalant tone.

Selena was right.

Heistine, with his mercenary experience, was truly helpful.

“Anyway, thanks for opening it.”

Karina and Aiden entered the cabin.

At first, the children inside the cabin were afraid of Karina’s group.

Aiden and Dino comforted the frightened children.

“These are people I asked to help us. They’ve helped us a lot before too.”

“You can trust them! They’re here to rescue us from this place.”

Dino added, and Philip nodded vigorously in agreement beside him.

The children were easily swayed by the persuasion of Aiden and Dino, who had been captured with them.

After glancing at each other, when Aiden urged that they should hurry, the children agreed and followed Karina’s group’s instructions.

Mikhail, who had placed mana stones at regular intervals around the magic circle packed tightly with children, spoke up.

“Preparations complete.”

“Good.”

Karina checked the cabin interior one more time to make sure no children were left behind, then spoke.

“We’re going to use magic to take you to a safe place.”

Karina reassured the children and then spoke to Heistine and Aiden.

“I’ve already contacted Selena. She should be waiting at the destination point. You two go with the children and help them return to where they originally came from.”

Heistine and Aiden nodded.

“Then Mikhail and I will move the mine and slip out of here quietly.”

“Understood.”

“Be careful.”

Aiden spoke with a slightly nervous, anxious expression.

Karina smiled as if to say not to worry.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

Mikhail activated the magic circle.

Whirrr.

Light rose from the magic circle, enveloping the children inside.

The mana stones around the magic circle also resonated, emitting a bright red light.

In an instant, along with the light, the many children vanished.

Right after that.

“Stop!”

As soon as the children were teleported, Revals appeared, leading a group of fully armed mercenaries.