The Daughter of Cursed Steel Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Chains Of Defiance

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Chapter 3: Chains Of Defiance Later that night, after the celebration had finally begun to die down, Logan returned to his room. The moment the door shut behind him, the quiet felt almost unreal after the endless noise of the banquet. For a while, he simply sat on the edge of the bed in silence, then eventually leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, waiting. He waited for the castle to settle. For the laughter in the halls to fade. For the drunken voices to quiet. For the perfect moment when most of the nobles, guards, and guests would either be asleep or too intoxicated to notice anything unusual. When Logan finally felt the time was right, he rose from the bed without hesitation. His expression hardened with resolve. One by one, he began to prepare himself. He donned his armor once more, fastening each piece into place with quiet, practiced movements. He secured his sword at his side, gathered the few belongings he intended to take, and then reached into his things to pull out the enchanted hair clip Princess Sophie had given him. For a moment, he simply stared at it in silence. The tiny jewels set into the golden piece shimmered faintly in the dim light of the room. This was it. Somewhere along the way, this world had stopped feeling temporary. And now, everything that mattered was tied to the choice he was about to make. There would be no turning back after this. Logan exhaled slowly and tightened his grip around it before speaking under his breath. "All right... let’s get out of here." He then placed the magical clip into his hair and activated the enchantment woven into it. At once, the magic took hold. His presence faded. His body disappeared from sight. Even the air around him seemed to still, as though the spell itself was swallowing away any trace of his existence. Now hidden from view and nearly impossible to detect, Logan quietly moved to the door, eased it open with care, and slipped out into the silent castle halls. As Logan quietly slipped out of the castle and moved through the city, he kept to the shadows and side streets, weaving his way through the sleeping capital as unnoticed as possible. Shrouded by the item’s enchantment, he passed through narrow alleyways and silent stone paths, carefully making his way toward the city gate. For a while, it worked as he weaved his way throughout the city unnoticed by everyone. But eventually, the spell began to fail. The magic woven into the hair clip had started to run out of mana. The enchanted glow within the tiny jewels dimmed rapidly, and with it, the invisibility cloaking his body began to unravel. In only a few moments, Logan was visible once again. He came to a stop in the middle of the dark street and looked down at the hair clip in his hand. The once-bright jewels now barely shimmered at all. "Damn..." For a brief moment, Logan hesitated. Not out of fear of being caught, but because he knew if he stopped now, he would lose the only chance he had left. Logan looked down at the magical clip in his hand, thinking about whether he should wait for the magic to recharge. Or keep moving while trying to avoid the guards and make it out before anyone realized he was gone. He lifted his head and looked ahead. The city gate was right there, just a few hundred feet away. But then he became startled as the sound of alarms started to ring out throughout the city. The sharp sound tore through the night and echoed across the capital. Logan’s expression darkened instantly. "Damn. They caught on quick," he muttered. He glanced once more at the drained hair clip in his hand. Then he placed the clip into his pouch, hoping it would not take too long for it to recharge the now-depleted mana back into the enchanted jewels. "I guess I will have to do the rest of this the hard way." Then he broke into a run toward the city gate. Logan burst from the shadowed street and closed the final distance to the gate. The guards stationed there barely had time to react. One turned at the soun