Later that night, they all gathered before the campfire and had dinner together. Once finished, they continued to rest while seeping the tea made by Emily.
"Da Verns, please accept my sincere apologies for the incident during the soldiers’ inspection. I want to assure you that I had no intention of making any jokes about your appearance. It was a spontaneous act," Noah spoke up, breaking the silence.
Clara paused montarily before responding, "I realise now that I was also at fault for my rash accusations towards you. Please accept my apologies as well."
The knight said, "I was impressed when I first heard about you. It’s not often that you see a woman involved in knighthood. The lady who spoke of you praised your strength and talent, and after eting you, I can see why."
Clara’s face lit up at the knight’s complint. It was the first ti he had ever said anything positive about her.
"We’re both Lady Raychard’s escorts, and I don’t want us to keep on bad terms," Noah said, holding out his hand to the knightess. "Can we start over and work together in good faith?"
The knightess smiled.
"You’re right. Let’s forget about our past disagreents and focus on safely reaching Her Highness, and please forgive my rudeness."
They shook hands firmly, sealing their agreent to move forward as comrades.
"This is great! I’m so glad to see you two reconciled," Emily said, expressing her gratitude.
"Thank you, Lady Emily, for putting up with us," the knight said, glancing at her as he raised his mug. "Would you mind pouring so more tea, please?"
Smiling, the young woman obliged and poured the hot tea into his mug.
"You know, you shouldn’t be calling a lady," she admitted. "Honestly, I don’t co from a noble lineage."
After returning the kettle to its place, she sat again before the campfire.
The knight sought to verify her claim, asking, "Is that so?"
"Yes, it is," she replied. "In fact, I was a maid in the service of a lord in Ardel."
Noah looked down at the girl, observing her. He rembered her tattered dress. Despite its poor condition, he recognised the fabric as a high-quality material worn by affluent nobles and rchants.
"Her lady disguised her as the lord’s daughter, and the family fled the mansion during the raid by Lord Ronan’s army," Clara interrupted, telling the knight of Emily’s tale.
She then inford him how the young woman was then captured by the Bargesians and brought into the barracks.
"So that was how you two t..." Noah nodded lightly, acknowledging the story.
"I should’ve died back then, but this courageous young woman insisted on saving my life in the fire. She pushed the pole with her might and managed to pull out," said Clara.
Emily let out a wistful smile.
"They burned the mansion where I used to live in. I believe the army didn’t spare anyone. Sa as Da Clara, I also lost the people around in one night. I cried all day when I was locked in the barracks. It was Her Highness who consoled and the rest of the won."
"The army might have mistaken you for the noble lady of the mansion. Otherwise, they might have slaughtered you as well," guessed Noah.
"I think so too. They captured and confined all the unmarried noble ladies. I overheard them talking about so ritual that would take place during their ceremonial banquet, but the fire broke out before it could happen," added the young woman.
"She saved due to her gratitude towards Her Highness," said Clara.
"Her bravery left srised. Throughout our confinent, she displayed remarkable endurance. It was hard to believe she was a princess," said Emily. "The cells’ conditions were dreadful, and the food was terrible, yet she never shed a tear or complained, unlike the rest of us. She only cried when she refused to leave Da Clara behind during the raging fire."
"Her Highness is a compassionate person. When I planned to escape and asked her to leave, she first thought of saving all the detained won instead of her own safety," Clara recalled.
A sudden silence filled the air for a mont.
"The incident you ntioned, what was it all about? The one that prevented the lady’s marriage with her betrothed?" asked Noah.
The knightess told the knight about the shipwreck two years ago, which cost the lives of the rest of Ardel’s royal family mbers.
"I see... and the betrothed never ca for her after the funeral?" asked the knight.
"No, he didn’t. Anyway, I find the engagent quite weird," Clara indicated.
"Why is that?" Emily asked with interest. She had never heard of the engagent story, which intrigued her.
"After I beca Her Highness’s escort, Nessy, who knew about my skill in controlling eagles, asked to send letters to a secret location each month," Clara explained. "A few months later, a suitor proposal ca for Her Highness, and it was rushed through without a proper engagent ceremony. The suitor representative only sent an engagent ring, but His Majesty the King promptly agreed."
"How strange," comnted Noah. "Where were the letters sent to?"
"I don’t know the exact location, but Nessy called it Seta. Each ti the eagle departed, it would fly to the northeast," Clara said.
"Seta? I’ve never heard of that place before," Noah said, furrowing his brows.
" too. I even looked on the map, but there’s no place with such a na," said Clara.
"Did you read the letters to find out?" questioned Emily.
"I did, but I couldn’t understand the content. It was written in a language that I don’t know. I even asked her what it was all about, but Nessy said it was all for Her Highness’s safety and a secret I must keep," replied the knightess.
"And you believe her wholeheartedly?" asked the young woman again.
"Yes. She was the only person who served Her Highness since she was a baby. Despite appearing stern and not openly affectionate, she consistently ensured her safety and well-being. Unlike most royal family mbers, she never acted in a way that would harm her or display hatred. I believe she was fiercely dedicated to protecting Her Highness to the best of her ability," Clara responded.
"You an the lady’s family despises her?" asked the knight.
"I believe so, but I don’t know why. Even for the short years of my service, I could see His and Her Majesty disfavouring her very much. Only her brother, Crown Prince Ryan, treated her well," she said.
The knight expressed his disappointnt by clicking his tongue and said, "That could have been why they were in a hurry to marry her."
However, Clara disagreed with him, saying, "I don’t think so. If they were eager to get rid of her, why would they keep her hidden in the castle and closely monitor her every move? My job was to keep an eye on her and report everything she did."
"So, all this while, the lady had been kept away from the outside world?" the knight questioned.
"Yes. In fact, she was isolated from everyone except for a handful of maids, healers and her nanny, Nessica, whom we called Nessy. Before , other escorts had been assigned to monitor Her Highness, but they were replaced after so ti."
"That’s weird enough... and you didn’t find out why?" asked Noah with a creased forehead.
Clara shook her head.
"I don’t know exactly what happened, but it felt like they kept a huge secret. This made question the royal family’s motives, and I beca suspicious that sothing was happening. Eventually, I spoke to Nessy and was able to gain her trust. From there, we started exchanging letters with Seta."
"I can’t believe that her own parents did that to the lady! They’re disgusting!" Noah grunted.
"Actually, the queen is not the birth mother of Her Highness. Nessy told His Majesty married Her Highness’s mother first, but she died during labour," said Clara.
"Really? I wouldn’t have known this if you didn’t tell !" said Noah with surprise. "Was she a noble or a commoner?"
"I am not aware of it. Nessy never shared the details with . Every ti I asked, she would beco upset, so I refrained from inquiring further," the knightess responded.
"What occurred after that?" Noah inquired curiously, along with Emily, who was equally interested in the matter.
"The suitor representatives ca one day and claid they originated from the Kingdom of Sabel, and His Majesty rushed the marriage as soon as Her Highness ca of age. However, things didn’t go as planned, and the rebellion happened after the shipwreck. Nessy was one of the killed victims," she added with downcast eyes.
Noah speculated, "Sabel is situated in the far east, which doesn’t match the direction of Seta that you ntioned. Do you think it’s possible that the nanny was involved in planning the engagent?"
"I suspect so. But there was no evidence leading to that. However, one thing bothers a lot," stated the knightess.
"What is it?" Both Emily and Noah asked in unison.
"The betrothed of Her Highness. I t him once during the funeral. He ca to to say thank you for saving her from the shipwreck," replied Clara.
"I don’t see anything particularly unusual about that. However, it was strange that he didn’t visit Her Highness afterwards. It seed like he didn’t care about her," comnted Emily.
The knightess pursed her lips with a brooding face, recalling when she t him.
"What was bothering you about him?" asked Noah, wanting to figure it out.
"He has this bizarre, majestic aura. I took a glance at him once, and my body froze instantly. He was so intimidating that he instilled fear in the crowd upon his presence," said the knightess.
"Is he handso?" asked Emily excitedly. Noah’s expression changed a bit at the question.
"I don’t know. He wore a robe and covered himself with the hood. He never showed his face to the others. But I could feel that he was different."
"How different?" asked the knight.
"Hmm... if I want to put it in a word, I can say that he has an otherworldly charisma," said Clara.
"I think you can forget about him once you see my commander. He’s the most gorgeous man in the whole of Cassian. I’ve never seen anyone who can surpass his charming, perfect figure," said the knight proudly.
"Why do you keep calling your lord commander? I thought you said he is the Grand Duke of Gerhard. Why didn’t you address him by his royal title?" asked Clara.
"Because he’s still on duty at the frontier. In Cassian, whenever an army is on duty, we would address him with his military rank instead of a noble title," answered Noah before continuing, "Also, we have a culture of calling unfamiliar won ’Lady’, so that’s why I’ve been calling Miss Emily ’Lady’ before," said Noah, now changing Emily’s title from Lady to Miss.
"Oh, that explains why... I thought you thought of as a noble," Emily replied embarrassedly.
"I can discern a noble’s behaviour with just a glance, but it took so ti to determine Lady Raychard’s identity as she stood out from the other nobles I had encountered," said Noah.
"She is different. You won’t find any nobles like her," said Clara, staring into the campfire.
"Indeed, she is," added the knight.
The knightess gazed at him curiously and inquired, "The grand duke is a prince, right? How’s his relationship with Her Highness so far? Is he treating her well?"
"Yes, he is the brother of His Majesty, the King of Cassian. As for his relationship with the lady, I cannot say for certain, as they have just recently t and married. However, based on what I heard and observed, it seems that he holds a great fondness and cares for the lady deeply," replied Noah.
Emily’s face brightened as she interjected, "Could it be that Her Highness has finally found a loving husband?"
The knight grinned and responded, "Well, that remains to be seen once we arrive."
The conversation continued into the late hours of the night, and eventually, everyone retired to get so rest. Their journey to Dartrey Forest in Cassian would resu the following day.
User Comments
0 comments from readers