RISE OF EROS

The prince's mouth was open in surprise when he saw the two new intruders who knocked out his men with a single blow. These two new intruders wore similar clothes to the man who held the dagger to the prince's neck and although not to the same level, the prince could sense the dangerous aura they had.

The most tragic thing was that the prince had not been able to identify how these men got into the room. Although the prince is not a skilled warrior, he had witnessed different abilities due to the position he held, but none like these men.

People specialized in stealth normally used shadows to move around, but it wasn't like they could ignore physical objects, for example, this basement only has one entrance and to enter regardless of your shadow ability, you need to open the door.

This was the reason why the prince was so confused, because the door had not been opened, nor the walls destroyed, so he could not identify where these men came from and that scared him because it only showed how strong the enemy was.

Despite the prince's thoughts, there was nothing he could do to escape and he too was knocked unconscious with a blow to the neck and was carried along with his two subordinates to the castle.

Although the three men brought the prince and his subordinates to the castle, only the prince was brought before the king's presence, because he was the leader and the king wanted to see him, however, for his subordinates the dungeons were their fate.

The king asked the captured prince his intentions and his organization, but the prince refused to answer, so he was handed over to the members of Hell, and in less than an hour he had already spilled all the beans.

When the king and the ministers found out that the organization Gistaly worked with were remnants of the extinct kingdom of Nufa, they were surprised, but not alarmed because they were not afraid that was in a way the pride and arrogance of a great empire.

Despite the fact that the issue of the terrorists had been resolved, security was not loosened and martial law lasted for the three days established, which annoyed many, especially in the red light district, since they could not open their businesses, but before the king's orders, no one dared to say it out loud.

On the other hand, Andrew wasn't upset at all. Although it was true that he had lost a little money by not being able to open the doors of the Heavenly Palace for business, in reality, these three days allowed Oto's men to make a lot of progress in the repair work.

It wasn't as if this allowed them to finish before the agreed time, but it did benefit them in the fact that customers would not have to see the exterior of the still incomplete establishment for several days when they visited at night, as it left a bad impression.

It seems silly, but if you think about it, it is not. The first impression enters through the eyes and if customers always see a half-finished building, it would cause a bad image of the Heavenly Palace, so the three days of forced closure by martial law were advantageous in removing that image from the minds of their customers.

At the end of martial law, Andrew took the opportunity to visit Candice, since it had been a while, and had not asked her how the fashion show ended, so in Oliver's company, he went to the Cherry Blossom store.

There, as always, they were received by Gastón who respectfully greeted them and led them to Candice's office. By the time they got to the office, Candice already knew of their arrival and greeted them with a smile.

After some small welcome cordialities, Candice invited Andrew to sit down and asked Erick to serve them tea, but noticing that Erick was frozen with his mouth open she couldn't help but frown.

She didn't understand Erick's reason for freezing like that, but she noticed that Erick was looking at Oliver and a doubt arose in her heart, but it was not the time to ask, so she scolded Erick to get out of his stupefaction and serve the tea.

After waking up to his surprise, thanks to Candice's scolding, Erick apologized and poured the tea, and stand behind Candice, the same way Oliver stayed behind Andrew.

The conversation was not long, just a few words about the fashion show and the latest martial law. That's how Andrew found out that the fashion show was a success and that everyone was waiting for the next one, so Candice urged Andrew to create new designs.

Andrew just smiled a little awkwardly, but he didn't commit since he had much better things to get than clothing designs, but obviously, he didn't say that to Candice.

After talking for a while, Andrew said goodbye and returned to the Heavenly Palace, but in Candice's office, she asked uneasily, "Erick, what happened?", to which Erick replied with an ugly expression on his face, "My lady, previously I felt that this slave Oliver was strong and after meeting the knight who served as a guard for Mrs. Teresa, I could understand that Oliver was at that level".

Erick paused and Candice nodded her head indicating that he should continue and he did, "However, looking at him today I can tell that that slave is even stronger."

Candice couldn't help but have a dignified expression on her face and with seriousness and a little heaviness she asked, "How much?" to which Erick replied with a grimace, "I honestly can't say for sure, but I can estimate that beating 5 people similar to Mrs. Teresa's guard level wouldn't be difficult for him."

When Candice heard Erick's response, she couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of cold air, because she couldn't believe it, but noticing Erick's seriousness and the way he had acted when he saw him, she could only accept that it was true and that worried.

In the beginning and even now she always thought that she was above Andrew. It wasn't that she looked down on him, but that she felt she was on a higher level, but now that she knew that Oliver was so powerful, Candice felt that she was inferior and it bothered her.

Money and influence are very important in this world, but if she were to wonder which is the most powerful means, it would be brute force. The combat power when it reaches a certain level can break any chain or law.

In fact, all the laws and regulations are supported by force, just think about it, if the royal guards are not strong enough to enforce the law, what good is the law?

It was for this reason that Candice worried about her because now Andrew had the strength to force her and although she knew he wouldn't do something like that, she still felt pressured and that's why she made a decision.

She needed to improve the strength of her subordinates and she only had one person who could help her, her friend Teresa or more specifically her husband, because as a marquis, Donald had his means, but for Candice to ask for them out of the blue would be very rude, so she decided to take a detour and ask for Teresa's help.

As Candice prepared to visit Teresa, Andrew was arguing with Oliver about the same issue that was bothering Candice. As she thought, Andrew did not have any bad thoughts towards Candice, for two very specific reasons.

First, she had been genuine to him from the beginning and he appreciated that, so he would never be so treacherous as to return kindness with cruelty, in fact, he detested such characters and disdained becoming one.

The second reason is that he was not a fool to think that, because Oliver was more powerful than all of Candice's organization, he could now suppress her, as the lady had powerful support.

She not only had connections with many nobles, but she was very close to a marquisate and that connection alone was already powerful enough to wipe out most of the organizations in the city.

Oliver had certainly increased his power considerably after receiving the guardian seal, but it would be too arrogant, to think that he alone could compete against a marquisate, not to mention that making enemies with a high-ranking noble like a marquis would lead to trouble with the empire. That itself, was something Andrew would not do for any reason.

For these reasons Candice's worries were unnecessary, but even so, the lady had ambition and she knew that she couldn't always depend on Teresa and so she wanted to increase her strength.

Ironically, while she was thinking about how to ask Teresa for help when she was in the carriage on the way to the Flower Mansion, a strange thought came to her head, "I could join Andrew and thus merge our strength", but she quickly pushed that thought away.

What she hadn't noticed was that, although she shook her head trying to shake off that strange thought, her cheeks were a little red and although Erick, who was with her, didn't know the reason, he was surprised, because it wasn't something you could see often in the Candice's face.