Another day passed with no news of the escapees from Long Bay Correctional Facility.
While the royal forces moved through the cities of Scott Province, with groups searching for the fugitives in the forests and dangerous areas, the noble powers were already taking care of their territories to make the situation more difficult for the fugitives.
But there wasn't much that could be done beyond what was already happening. The province was a large area with many possibilities. If someone powerful really wanted to hide, finding them in a short time would be challenging.
So, while the search continued, most of the provinces' powers tried to go about their business as best they could.
Meanwhile, it was another night in Millfall, and the city was relatively quiet, as it had been lately.
But that wouldn't last long!
...
At the Fuller family estate in the center of town, Shelby and Molly were there with Nina and Eve to celebrate the recent success of Vicente's little sister, who had been voted best student at the local academy.
That's why Shelby had come to the residence that evening, bringing gifts for her favorite student.
"Congratulations on all you've accomplished, Nina. If you keep this up, you may be able to help your brother a lot in the future." The orange-haired woman said to her student as she smiled and looked into the eyes of the girl in front of her.
Nina felt excellent when someone complimented her, but she liked it much better when her brother was involved somehow.
Shelby knew very well that Nina wanted to be able to help Vicente so she wouldn't fail in her praise.
"Hehe, thank you, Miss Staples." She said with a goofy smile on her face.
"Hmm." Shelby looked at her watch and saw that it was time to act. "Nina, what do you say I teach you something new? I recently got some more advanced books on non-elemental magic. Would you like to study some with me?"
It would be strange for someone to offer a chance to study during a celebration on Earth. As valuable as it was, studying wasn't all that exciting. Even scholars would see it that way in circumstances like Nina's, celebrating after a long day at the academy.
But in Polaris Realm, things were different. Because of the value of magic in almost everyone's life, opportunities to learn were highly valued.
In a way, reading an old book about something that was rarely talked about in public was even better than partying or relaxing!
When she received the offer, Nina gave Eve a cute look and asked the woman to allow her to go.
"Sigh... Fine, but I don't want you to spend all night on it." Eve said as she gestured to Nina.
Shelby laughed. "Don't worry. I'll be home before midnight. I guess that's not much, is it?"
"That's right, it's not much!" Nina said as she stood up, took one of Shelby's hands, and led the woman to her room.
Molly stayed behind with Eve while they went to study together, something that had happened more than ten times in the last few months.
Considering how often this had happened, Eve and the Mazzanti family soldiers around weren't too worried and naturally gave the two of them space to be alone.
In the midst of this, Shelby took advantage of her opportunity!
After a few minutes with her student, Shelby stood up and said. "Nina, I want you to read from pages 100 to 140. I know it's a lot, but there's something important in between, and I want you to go to bed thinking about it tonight.
In the meantime, I will talk to Molly about something, and I'll be back in a little while to talk about what you've understood."
"Okay!" Nina easily accepted.
Shelby left the room, taking care to leave the Fuller estate without attracting too much attention.
Vicente's soldiers would notice her movements, but they would never testify against her, so she didn't worry about them. Her point was hiding her movement from people outside this family and pretending she was still at the Fuller estate with Nina.
The town had recently been under curfew and martial law. Still, as someone who knew the place well and most of the local soldiers, Shelby had no trouble making her way to the Staples residence.
Once there, she didn't use any of the usual entrances. She used an alternate entrance to avoid attracting attention by entering her residence.
'It's time,' she thought as she found herself inside her family's home, already with a gun in her hands.
That was the Mazzanti family's most advanced weapon, one capable of killing even Mages!
She planned to massacre her own family with such a thing!
'You forced me to do it, Amy and my dear father. There's no love in this family, so I can just change everything about it.' She thought as she walked carefully with a mask on her face. 'From tonight on, I will rule this family!'
Stopping in front of the dining room where her father, Amy, and other family members were, Shelby used a magical device to activate the Staples mansion's defenses.
She had been careful to alter the defenses of her property. It would now be impossible for anyone to escape from this place!
As soon as she had confirmed the activation of the estate's defenses, she entered the dining room with her gun pointed at the people there.
Baron Staples and Amy realized before Shelby entered that something had happened, while the two strongest knights in the family appeared in the room, wondering how the estate's defenses had been activated.
But soon after, everyone in the dining room saw a person dressed all in black, with her identity hidden, appear in the room holding a Mazzanti family gun.
"Shit, that can't be!" The Baron exclaimed as he saw the gun barrel pointed in his direction.
Then, there was a long "bang" as sparks flew from the barrel of that shotgun, with the first shot aimed at Baron Staples' head.
Shelby's older brother, Amy, and the others in the room screamed in horror as they witnessed the Baron's death, but they wouldn't have much time. Soon after, Shelby would kill the people in her family one by one.
She would kill her hateful stepmother, her cruel older brother, the family guards, and even the servants!
That night, almost the entire Staples family of Millfall would perish at her hands, a terrible event that few people would understand.
But of those who would know, they would all see Shelby in more or less the same way.
An ambitious, cruel, and ruthless woman, capable of killing her own father to achieve her goals!
That night, her plans would finally come to a head, and everything would change for her from then on!
