"He fainted?" Hunter smirked when he saw Cassandra walking towards him.

"They."

"Look at that smirk. You look proud."

"This is not something that you could see every day. Think about it. Three heirs, fainting because of my fire. It\'s hilarious, I wish phone works here. I badly wanted to record their faces while enduring the pain."

Hunter smirked at her. "What was that for?" she asked.

"You deliberately made them faint, yes?"

"Your Highness is indeed the smartest." Cassandra nodded. "I had to remove the tracker."

"I understand."

"Something already damaged it in the first place. My guess is, the trackers got damaged from the fight." She handed him the four trackers. "I don\'t have a way. You should check it out."

"Are you asking for my help right now?"

"No, I\'m doing you a favor, your highness." She smiled. "There is a possibility that the trackers cannot withstand the heavy use of elements since all of their trackers were melted or at least a part of it."

He accepted the trackers. "Alright, I will look into it. However, the crown prince would never stop until he would receive the news of their deaths. If we continue to accompany them, there is a possibility that we would have to fight against assassins."

"And you can\'t handle it?" she asked. While a part of her still doesn\'t trust this man\'s motive, she had no choice but to treat him like an ally now.

"No, I was just concern. What if you won\'t be able to fight them? Your fiance is crippled. I can no longer fight demons. How could I fight against ten or twenty people? So I am terrified for myself this time."

She rolled her eyes. Right now, this man couldn\'t really show his actual skills in front of the four other people. "Then… let\'s send them inside the zone once they recover." She didn\'t want to be that reckless, too. She doesn\'t want them to know about her abilities. It would be troublesome if those other leaders would realize that her elemental ability become this powerful even without anyone\'s guidance while she was abroad. It would cause some problems for her grandfather.

"There might be assassins waiting for them."

Yes, that might become a problem. Jude and the others would take at least three days to fully recover their abilities.

"Why are you smiling like that?" he asked, frowning.

"I wanted to send them out of the zone."

"You wanted to use them as bait?"

She smiled. She was certain that this man didn\'t have any ability to read her mind. However, it seems that he could easily guess her plan. "I want to kill those assassins."

"You are powerful but… I don\'t think you would be able to fight against a lot of people."

"You can still use swords and elementals are weak against close combat fighters like you." Plus, he had been at the gates. This man should be able to help her fight.

"I can\'t help you." There was no hesitation in his words.

"I know you would say that." If only, her talent in sword is as good as her fire ability. The only good thing that she could rely on is the fact that guns didn\'t work inside this forest. Any mechanical device doesn\'t work either. Meaning bombs and grenades are useless, too.

WAIT!

Bombs!

"Did you come up with something?"

Slowly, a sinister smile appeared on her face. Just a vision suddenly displayed in her mind.

...

"Are you sure this plan is going to work?" Jude complained. "No offense. I am not underestimating you, but the people who attacked us… one of them can wield black flames. The others are all fire wielders. Though we are stronger individually, there were about twenty of them. I mean… let\'s be honest here, you are not your brother. Carmichael might be able to win against them, but… you can\'t. Hey, can you answer me?"

"Jude, I couldn\'t help but wonder why are you still alive until now."

"You — Are you cursing me right now?"

"You are arrogant and noisy. How come the demons haven\'t attacked you yet? I bet they could smell your arrogance."

"You— "

"Jude, calm down. We don\'t really have any other choice but to follow Lady Cassandra, right?"

"Tsk." Jude shook off Catlin Ymir\'s hand from his shoulder. "You are insane. If something goes wrong, we will immediately die."

"Ho- Ho- I didn\'t know that the Cephie clan\'s heir is actually a coward." Cassandra teased.

"Shut up! Tsk. And that arrogant fiance of yours… I never thought that he would agree to stay in that place alone. F*ck! What a coward!"

Cassandra laughed inwardly. Jude\'s temper had been like this since he was young. Being a water elemental wielder didn\'t affect his hot-headedness, especially in the middle of such a stressful situation. Cassandra knew that this was the reason why that old man Cephie hadn\'t been given the position of the head yet, even though Jude was more talented than him at his age.

"This doesn\'t concern him. Are you really that stupid? You wanted a cripple like him to fight? He would slow us down." Cassandra uttered. Since the day that Hunter carried her out of that forest, she already knew that Hunter plan to use her ability as a shield.

"Why are you protecting that man? He is a Royal. Did you really fell for him?"

Cassandra snorted in response. "Yeah… it was love at first sight." She could only grit her teeth inwardly. Hunter is just too sly!

For a few seconds, the group turned silent.

"Hey… you know that if you marry him there is a possibility that our families will abandon the fire clan, right?" Catlin Ymir said. "I know we were not close, but Carmichael and I bonded when we were guarding the gates. He is a good and honest man. I don\'t want to become his enemy. Moreover, you save our lives— " The man didn\'t continue his words. However, everyone in the group already knew what he meant.

The fire clan\'s position right now is really dangerous. However, Cassandra isn\'t planning to just stay in the sidelines. She came back to protect her family this time.

She smiled, saying nothing. Yes, this situation is indeed dangerous. But she already had a plan. And she would start by eliminating the crown prince.

"We\'re here. We should separate. I will stay behind you," she said. "Live and pay me back."

"...."