As the basket started to lift, her brother's eyes widened in disbelief! Once he snapped out of his trance, he became furious! How dare she run away with Father's last invention! His eyes narrowed with determination and anger as he stormed into the lab as quickly as he could. The tables and chairs that Alisa had left out of place frustrated him as they slowed him down.
The more things that he noticed were out of place and missing, the angrier he became. He bellowed, "Elisabeth Blanchard, what do you think you are doing? Get down from there this instant!
You are going to the Count's mansion tomorrow and need to get your beauty sleep. I will NOT allow you to run away from your responsibility!"
Alisa thought to herself, I was right to run away tonight! Escaping from Count Silas would be more
difficult than escaping from her brother. She frantically tried to add more fuel in the brazier to escape, but hot air balloons are not exactly the fastest flying machines. It would be comical if it did not affect the rest of her life! Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!
As Alexander got closer, she grew more desperate! It would be preferable to jump off this tower balcony and die than be married to a Count who was old enough to be her father! What a
creep! He had noticed her when she was just 13 years old! With the mentality of a modern woman, this was unacceptable to her! If she died, there was a chance that she could be reborn in a new world, bur there were no guarantees. She may fade into oblivion. It was best to try and escape first.
He reached out and nearly grasped the sleeve of her dress as she backed into the furthest wall and slammed into the other side of the basket. The abrupt shift in weight caused the basket to tip over
the edge of the balcony. Alexander's eyes widened in panic as he caught himself and grabbed the edge of the basket. Despite his small frame, he held on and pulled with all his might. Her breath caught in her throat as the basket's decent began to slow but his surge of adrenaline quickly ran out, and he lost his grip. The balloon fell from the edge and she met his bloodshot eyes. He gasped for air as he slumped to the ground, temporarily defeated, but still determined. Although no words were exchanged, she could tell that he would not let this go from the furious glint in his hazel green eyes.
The sudden drop jolted Alisa, from the lingering dread caused by her brother's gaze. She frantically added more fuel. It was challenging work, but she did not want to die again so soon, despite her
earlier thoughts. Luckily, the hot air balloon had been in the tallest room in the tower on top of the mountains. She had a little extra time to get it to float! The ground had seemed so far away at first, but it was getting closer at an alarming rate. Finally, the balloon was able to catch a gust of wind, and the balloon had inflated enough to fly away from the tower!
Alisa slumped back a little and allowed herself to feel relieved, but this feeling did not last long. It was exhausting trying to steer and add fuel by herself. This body was petite and not extraordinarily
strong, so she struggled with the heavy pieces of wood. Her father had invented this hot air balloon, and it was slightly different from the ones she had read about. It worked better with 2 people to operate it, as her brother found out after their father died on his solo trial flight.
She could not keep this up the entire trip to the Kanta Mountains! It would take her about a month to reach her destination, and she needed to eat and sleep. Otherwise, she would starve before she even arrived. Alisa got as far away from her brother's tower as she could manage before her arms started to get tired. She hadn't had time to sneak to the kitchen since her brother caught her. She looked back towards the distant tower and felt she was far enough away to take a break. Her brother might come after her, but luckily, she stole the plans for his half-finished flying machine! It would take him at least 3 months to finish his flying machine without the plans. She chuckled to herself! If he doesn't kill himself first, testing it out like his father! Muah, ha, ha, ha! (evil villain's laugh inside her head!)
They did not have their own army since they were part of the lower nobility, so she felt safe enough to land for a little bit. Alisa looked for an open field or a patch of flat ground for a soft landing. Luckily, she was away from the mountains and near the outskirts of what looked like an old Victorian village.
Alisa tried to remember the geography of this novel world, but she could not figure out where she was. Blaise had briefly mentioned the kingdoms on this continent during his travels, but she was not exactly sure where she had landed. The Kingdom of Lancri and the Kingdom of Ganla were to the west of the Kingdom of Stanarussi, so she guessed it was one of those 2 kingdoms since she was headed west.
The two kingdoms used to be one coastal kingdom but were divided after a civil war because they could not agree on how to use their resources. Great! Just what I need, to escape an arranged marriage and end up in a foreign country after a civil war! Alisa was a bit more sarcastic than usual as she thought about her current predicament.
She managed to land the hot air balloon, not as smoothly as she would have preferred, but it was still in one piece. She quickly staked the ropes to keep the balloon from floating away and
made her way to the village. It was almost dawn, and she could make out the outlines of the buildings as she walked.