Chapter 46 The End, Or a New Beginning?

The grand hall was now a cauldron of emotions. Vincent lay sprawled on the floor, his cruel plans disrupted by Alitia's furious intervention. He scrambled to regain his composure, his gaze darting between us, uncertainty dancing in his eyes, a stark contrast to the arrogance he had previously displayed.

Alitia, her anger uncontainable, loomed over him, her voice a whip of accusation.

 "Speak, Vincent! What have you done with Valerius?"

Vincent's sinister smile had been utterly extinguished, replaced by an uneasy look of shock. He gasped in disbelief, struggling to comprehend the unfolding events.

 "W-what?! H-how did you..."

Vincent's sentence trailed off as he noticed the Box Prison, once imprisoning Luminecia's leaders, had vanished. In its place stood the very people he had sought to ensnare. Helen playfully waved in his direction, while Lumi and Goblinworth, glared back at him with disbelief. Panic gripped Vincent as he realized the extent of his failure, and he shouted, "You! It was you Lumi, you released them! I should have..."

But Vincent's sentence was cut short as Alitia delivered a resounding slap across his face, her patience at its end. She repeated her demand with chilling determination, "Where is Valerius? Tell me now, or I will break your bones one by one!"

After enduring a few more strikes from Alitia's fierce onslaught, Vincent finally surrendered, his resistance broken. He confessed, his voice trembling with defeat, "Alright! Stop, I surrender! I will tell you everything! He and his proteges are fine. They are tied up in a room within this manor. I needed them alive so I could pin the blame on them, they are fine I promise!"

In the chaotic aftermath of Vincent's confession, the chamber buzzed with frenzied activity. Helen moved swiftly to restrain Vincent, her restraints coiling around him, rendering him immobile.

"Oh lookie who we have here, isn't it Vincent the traitorous snake," she hissed with her usually warm demeanor.

Alitia, her earlier fury still burning, darted off in search of Valerius. She called back over her shoulder to me, "Kazuki, stay here with Lumi and make sure she's alright. I will be back as soon as possible."

Helen was keeping a close watch on Vincent as he seethed in defeat. The other captains scattered to ensure the safety of the guests, each taking on their respective roles with a sense of urgency. Council members, too, fanned out, assisting in any way they could.

Lumi was surrounded by her parents and Goblinworth, comforting her. 

I turned my attention to Helen, curiosity getting the better of me.

 "Helen," I began, "how did you all manage to escape the Box Prison? It seemed impenetrable."

Helen's smile radiated confidence as she shared her thoughts. 

"Lumi and her rune coding sequence proved to be the key. She found a way to nullify the box prison's magic. But hey, I will let you in on a little secret," she leaned in closer toward me, "It was not necessary. I could have broken out of it if I wanted on my own."

Vincent, still defiant despite his current position, scoffed. 

"Heh! Preposterous! Box Prison is obsolete. If not for Lumi interfering, you all would have been dead."

Helen couldn't resist a playful retort, her hand connecting with a comical whack to his head. 

"Oh shush, you rascal! You will have all the time to talk about your silly plans and thoughts in the prison cell with some rat."

Concerned about Hermit's condition, I looked back, my voice edged with worry. 

"Oh no! Hermit! He was struck by a fireball earlier! We must assist him immediately. It was a direct hit, and there might still be a chance to save him, but we need to act fast!"

Helen began walking toward Hermit, her tone light.

 "Oh, don't worry about him. I will take care of Hermit. Keep an eye on Vincent for me. I'll be right back."

I watched her approach Hermit, who was indeed looking quite charred. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she nudged his charred body under the table with her feet, then returned with a nonchalant smile.

 "Nothing to worry about; he's just fine. Give him a few minutes to rest, and he'll be good as new."

The atmosphere in the chamber shifted from tense to relieved, and even Vincent seemed momentarily taken aback by the bizarre turn of events.

Just as I was about to ask further about Hermit's condition, Lumi, still holding Goblinworth in her embrace as some oversized stuffed animal, rushed over with a beaming smile dragging the goblin behind her. 

 "Kazuki, you did it! You helped save us all!" 

Then she turned to Vincent and smacked him across the face, "And you Vincent, I can not believe you did this to me, I thought we were friends! You deceived me, I really thought of you as a close friend. How could you?" she cried, her voice a mix of sorrow and anger. 

With a kick to his knee and a heart heavy with the weight of the betrayal, Lumi left Vincent to grapple with his guilt and returned to the comforting embrace of her parents, seeking solace in their presence.

Vincent, his arrogance momentarily shattered, remained silent, unable to muster any words in his defense.

Amidst the tension, Goblinworth, with his innocent demeanor and peculiar way of speaking, approached Vincent, his tone filled with bewilderment and sadness.

"Master Vincent?" he asked his goblin-esque words carrying an almost childlike innocence.

 "Why are you a bad friend? Why break a promise with Goblinworth? Master Vincent, you promised to be good friends with Lumi if I didn't tell anyone about friendship whips." His eyes, wide and innocent, bore into Vincent's in search of answers.

Vincent chuckled, his malevolent words dripping with sadistic pleasure as he taunted Goblinworth, reveling in the butler's torment, "Ah, the idiotic goblin butler, Lumis pet goblin!" he sneered, his voice oozing with venom.

 "I have to say, I truly relished every moment of your suffering, you imbecile. Your pitiful screams of agony were nothing short of delightful as the whip tore your filthy skin off your back, a truly sweet serenade to my ears. And if, by some miracle, you haven't grasped the extent of my deception yet, given your minuscule brain the size of a nut, those 'friendship whips' were merely a guise for my own amusement. I deceived you, you utter fool! All your suffering was for nothing!"

Goblinworth stood there, his posture slumped, as if the weight of Vincent's cruelty had physically crushed him. A tear rolled down his cheek, his eyes wide and glistening. He tried to stop the tears, but they flowed uncontrollably. His ears, once perky and expressive, now drooped low, touching the ground. They trembled with each heart-wrenching sob that wracked his fragile frame. His lips, usually curved in a mischievous grin or a toothy smile, twitched and contorted with the anguish he couldn't put into words. His throat constricted a painful knot that stifled any attempts at speech.

Helen playfully slapped Goblinworth on the back, her voice gentle and reassuring.

 "Hey there, chin up, old chap! We'll make sure Vincent gets what's coming to him. You did admirably, little goblin."

Goblinworth gave a sudden, surprised sneeze into his sleeve, wiping his face with the same sleeve in an attempt to compose himself, only to accidentally smear his own snot all over his face.

 With a yelp of embarrassment, he stammered, "Master Helen, your kind words bestowed upon a lowly goblin such as myself are far too kind. I am humbled by your generosity, and I thank you. I am but a humble goblin, unworthy of such praise."

After a few minutes, the guards came and rushed forward to apprehend Vincent, their stern expressions unwavering as they seized him and hauled him away. His malicious laughter was replaced by indignant protests, but they fell on deaf ears as he was dragged towards the holding cell, his fate now sealed.

With the grand feast in shambles and our spirits dampened, the guests dispersed, returning to their respective homes. We climbed back into the carriage that had brought us to the event and made our way back to the mansion.

The atmosphere within the carriage was somber, a stark contrast to the joviality of our earlier arrival. Goblinworth, usually so cheerful, sat in quiet thinking or he just had a blank stare, honestly, I couldn't tell the difference. He was cocooned within his oversized ears, absentmindedly sucked on his thumb, his form twitching with suppressed sobs.

Lumi had nestled herself into her mother's arms, she had succumbed to exhaustion, her small frame cradled in her mother's arms as she slept, her innocent features untouched by the turmoil that had unfolded. 

Meanwhile, Lumi's father wore a fierce scowl, his fists clenched in silent anger. The world he had so painstakingly built for his family had been threatened, and the rage in his eyes reflected his determination to protect what was rightfully theirs.

Upon returning to the mansion, we all retired to our rooms, the weight of the day's events heavy upon us. The night passed, and the arrival of a new morning brought with it a sense of renewed hope. With Vincent safely locked away and Lumi out of harm's reach, I rose from my bed, my thoughts filled with anticipation for the adventures yet to come in this fantastical new world.

The end of part one.