Harry Potter: The Arcane Thief (Litrpg)

Chapter 212: Panicked Princess

Princess Antilla paced back and forth in the command room of the Royal Castle. She had mobilized all of the forces at her disposal in order to find Axel.

The orders they received was to find the Black Ops division. It can't be revealed that their goal was to find Axel, otherwise it would be too easy for the Kraken to figure out that there was something fishy about Axel's identity, thus putting him in even more danger.

"Any news?" She asked the General. Communication was not possible between the Trench and Atlantis, so information was difficult.

"There has been none, as of yet, Princess," said the General. That made the princess even more anxious. The ship of the Black Ops division had been caught in a spacial turbulence. The longer the news of sightings doesn't come, the deeper it means Axel and the Black Ops were teleported through the rift.

Beep—

Though, the General's e-brace blinked at this moment, attracting their attention.

The General listened to the news, and his expression turned grave upon listening to the news. "Bring him here as quickly as possible."

"What happened?!"

"The Kraken… has managed to awaken the Royal Relic."

"The… Trident?" It took several seconds for Antilla to process the information, after which, she firmly shook her head. "Preposterous! That cannot be possible!"

"I'm afraid that's what I heard, princess. The Kraken's executives, along with Royal Relic wielder, collectively attacked our Relic Wielder Division which had been dispatched for the Seal. This information is directly reported by a surviving Relic Wielder Asphor, who managed to make it back."

"No..." Antilla just shook her head. "There is no way the Royal Relic can be controlled by anyone without the Royal Bloodline!" The Royal Relic has been made by the finest Magi-craft Maesters of the Aether to resist the Entity's coercion. Antilla refused to believe that someone from the Kraken managed to the control it!

The princess and the General made their way to the Royal Sanitorium where Asphor was being treated. His relic, the Speed Cloak was hung beside him while the man himself was writhing in pain while lying in bed. This was the same relic wielder who had arrived at the Biopark at the time of the Monster outbreak.

"What happened to him?" Asked the General to the Menders, but Antilla's eyes were already shaking with shock. "That energy… it can't be!"

It was a very strong water affinity magic. It can only mean one thing: The Kraken had managed to take control of the Royal Relic.

As Antilla began dispelling the water energy spell, her surprise only magnified. How could someone from the Kraken have such a powerful water affinity?

Asphor breathed a sigh of relief, his long beard trembling. "Thankyou for your grace, Princess," he said, trying to get up in order to kneel.

But a wave of energy forced him back into bed. "Who was it?" Asked Antilla, her blue eyes glowing with power.

"I… I do not know, Princess. It was just… water. A lot of it. And the Royal Relic."

The water glass beside the bed shattered as Antilla failed to control her frustration. "Is there anything you can tell me about the Wielder? Anything?"

Asphor took a deep breath, recalling everything. "His voice was definitely male. And his way of talking was very old fashioned. Also, he said something about 'Lila being too soft on us."

"No… No… it can't be…" The energy radiating from Antilla suddenly faltered. "Are you sure he said that? Did he use those exact words?!"

"I… I think I'm sure. His exact words were: "How weak. Lila has been too soft on you guys, not putting you through enough training."

Antilla closed her eyes. She couldn't keep them open. Because if she did, the people present would see just how terrified she was right now.

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"Lila… that's the same name—" The General had also figured it out.

Lila, was Antilla's nickname. And the only people who've ever used it are her Royal father, Royal sister, and…

"The traitor" she whispered, her voice trembling. Asphor Regius Varnox, her Royal Uncle, who took the life of her mother and sent her father to the deathbed. "He's still alive."

Antilla walked out of the Sanitorium, going straight towards the Armoury.

"Princess…" Said the General, following after her. "Princess, you can't be thinking about—"

"I am," replied Antilla. "I'm going there myself."

"That's not possible, Princess. This is war time, and an expedition would take at least a month, and this if you return safely. And the whole time, the Kingdom would be without a ruler, and that is if you manage to return safely."

Despite not having the qualifications, Antilla was currently the Regent, who had been ruling the Kingdom in her father's stead. Because Atlantis cannot function without a ruler. Someone needs to be there to make the decisions. The Kraken would take advantage of it and the Kingdom would be in Chaos.

"I don't care!" But, would Antilla really think about that right now? "That traitor is somehow still alive! And Axel currently might be in the deeper layer of the Trench! Do you know what that means?! The Royal Relic drastically increases the wielder's sensitivity to water affinity! My sister could tell my location from the other end of the Kingdom! Do you understand?! I have to go!"

The General sighed as he made a decision. "In that case, I'll go with you," he said, stopping the princess in her tracks. "Princess, you have to understand. He's too powerful. Even if you do go, you'll end up losing your life. I'll have to go there by myself."

The Kingdom be damned, saving Axel takes priority. The Princess quickly began making arrangements.

…

Ever since the release of the Biography of Axel, the Wizarding world has been in a huge turmoil. With his already massive popularity and with the shocking revelations of the book, it was no doubt that Axel had become the most famous person in the Wizarding World.

But, it would be wrong to assume that this Book was a good thing for Axel. The book had revealed many things which would have been better left hidden.

There were too many people who were more than a bit Jealous of Axel's bursting popularity and desperately wanted to have to share. The people who had been doing all they could gather fame were extremely vexed to see someone so easily get something they had been dreaming about their whole life.

And the things revealed in the book were enough to give them something to bring down his fanatic popularity.

A smear campaign was launched, with Axel Hunt as the target.

"Does Axel Hunt Deserve To be Idolized?"

There is no doubt that Axel Hunt had a tremendous amount of talent and potential. And that is why, he has become the dream idol to all the young wizarding population and the dream lover of most of the female wizarding population. Many young hotblooded youths have even opened the Savage Cult, practically worshiping Hunt.

But, is this truly right? In most people's opinion, seriously not.

"The boy is a thief and a murderer. If I had a kid, I would never want him to learn anything from the guy." That's what the star actor Ferguson had to say about the prodigious boy.

"I mean, once a thief, always a thief. Besides, isn't he always quite rude and selfish? He didn't attend classes and even beat up his teacher Gilderoy Lockhart in front of everyone. The kid has no respect for law and authority." This was the opinion of Tony Macklegan, a famous inventor and author.

Many more celebrities have also come forward, sharing their opinions on Hunt.

And these statements aren't technically wrong. It is true that Hunt's past offenses have a reason behind them, but even after getting admitted into Hogwarts and gaining fame and a promising future, the genius has shown no improvement in his attitude. Breaking school rules, assaulting a teacher, threatening to quit sports and actually quitting, these things show a general lack of care of anything other than himself.

This leads us to the question: Is it right for him to be so loved by the people?

…

Such attacks on Axel were now becoming a daily occurrence, trying to portray Axel in a negative light.

Of course, these attempts were met by harsh responses from Axel's supporters, who jumped to support him. But there were many people who also felt that Axel's attitude was a bit much.

And while this was going on, another commotion started.

A huge amount of information was leaked.

It contained information on most of these big shots who had been talking shit about Axel, exposing their scandals and law breaking deeds.

Turns out, many of the people criticizing Axel, were no better themselves.

But…

There was another thing that created a much, much larger commotion.

It was a video.

It first showed Andromeda Tonks leading a young Axel Hunt through the Diagon Alley. In the beginning, Axel looked quite wary and distrustful. But, as time passed, the tense expression on Axel's face slowly seemed to relax, until he would smile from time to time and even respond to Andromeda.

The scene shifted, and it showed a conversation between a young Axel and the Minister of Magic Bellatrix Black.

"What's up, minister?"

"Cyrus Greengrass," That's all Bellatrix said.

Axel frowned.

"What?" He asked cautiously, seeming ready to run.

"Cyrus Greengrass." The Minister repeated. "The name of the man you killed. Thought you should at least know that," she said in a sweet voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The Minister laughed. "Oh come on, Axel. You don't need to lie to me. We both know you did it. In fact, if I, the minister, wanted, it would have been your crime even if you didn't do it."

Axel gritted his teeth, "What do you want?"

The Minister raised her eyebrows, "Straight to the point, huh? I like it. Well, what I need is very simple actually. And it causes you no harm. The only reason I didn't simply get it from you was that I wanted to do this without breaking any law and reading people's minds without their permission is illegal."

"You wanna read my mind? Why would you want to do that?! I have nothing! You're the minister of magic! You can gain nothing from this!" Said Axel, finding this situation extremely annoying.

Bellatrix shook her head, "You actually do have something that I want. You see, Andi's husband was tortured to insanity about 10 years ago and she's been trying to find a solution for this whole time. Now, you were tortured as badly as him, but here you are… somehow totally sane."

"So?"

"So I just need to look at the memories to see how you did it. Andi's already checked your whole brain so biology has nothing to do with the reason."

Axel glared at her. "Andromeda wouldn't have agreed to let you do this," He said, trying to threaten her using her big sister with the 'I'll tell on you' tactic.

At this, Bellatrix actually laughed, sounding genuinely amused.

"I see. She did a very good job in manipulating you."

Axel paused,

"What... are you talking about?"

"It's funny really. How she's created a perfect image of herself in your mind so quickly. Let me enlighten you, you gullible kid, Andromeda is a Black! She's no kind woman!

"!!!"

Axel seemed to catch on to what Bellatrix was implying but seemed unwilling to accept the reality.

But the Minister didn't stop here. She mercilessly tore apart the last of Axel's small hope.

"You think she did all this out of kindness? Wrong! Wake up, kid! Who are you to her?! A nobody!

Do you know how many have died for the sake of finding a cure for her husband?! How long has she known you for?! A day and a half. You tell me kid, who's she gonna choose between her husband she's known for decades or you?"

"She's kind? My perfect pureblood arse! She did all this because she thought it was the easier method! Just throw some money and some kindness to a homeless kid and he'll give you anything you want and still thank you afterward. But looking at you, I can tell. You wouldn't have agreed, would you? So, for the sake of my sister, I'll do this and then we go our separate ways. Now, do you agree or do I need to force you?"

In the beginning, Axel's face was showing a lot of emotions. Regret, sadness, unwillingness, anger, etc. But right now, his face showed no emotions. He seemed completely calm.

After a pause,

"....I agree," he said with no emotion.

"But let me tell you in advance, you won't find anything that'll help your sister."

Bellatrix was surprised to see his calm reaction.

"What's the matter? You aren't angry at me?"

"I'm angry at you, but I'm also grateful," he smiled mockingly.

"I was getting too hopeful and positive about this world. You reminded me once again that I should never trust anyone and learn to be satisfied with loneliness."

….

Watching the complete video, Daphne threw away the magi-mirror, her expression livid.

Martina, who had watched it together with her, also wasn't faring any better. Purple magic swirled around her, responding to her intense emotions.

"He never told me…" Daphne whispered, blinking away her tears. Axel had never told her about this incident. Axel had always made a face whenever the name of the Minister was mentioned in front of him, but…

"I had no idea..." She had no idea that there'd be such a reason behind it.

Two years. It took her two years in order to make him believe that she wouldn't betray him. She had always wondered why. Why was it so difficult for him to believe her? Why would he not even let her be his friend, let alone his lover? Why does he always push her away?

Well, now she knows why. He had just survived the worst and most traumatic event of his life, being in a vulerable state. At this time, Andromeda came forward like a guiding angel, treating him with kindness he had never experienced before.

He must have been happy.

But then came along a gigantic bitch and burst his bubbles, telling him that all of it was just a hoax.

When Axel said the last words, Daphne could feel her heart breaking for him. Because knowing him so well, she could tell. That Axel truly believed he didn't deserve to be treated well. That there's no one who would treat him well unconditionally.

...