Chapter 8
“It must be a geographical reason why Helavant was able to grow its military power without being invaded for such a long time. Between Solstern and Helevant, there is this Guagimilia forest, then on one side the ocean, and on the other side a line of mountains.”
“This forest is like a small city by itself, there"s no end to it.”
“Well no surprise there, arewise, Helevant is actually bigger than the Solstern Empire.”
“But then, why isn"t Helevant incorporated into the Solstern Empire?”
Natalie asked curiously.
Rose tried to recall everything she knew about the Empire and Helevant"s complicated history.
Hundreds of years ago before Solstern became an Empire, there were large and small kingdoms across the continent. Though the kingdom"s names were different, they all had the same Aryan tribe leader, and all used the same language.
Among them, the Southern Stern and the Northern Helevant were the dominant forces.
When gray-skinned, blue bandanwearing immigrants crossed the sea with their ships and attacked the continent, the kingdoms united together and fought them. After 4 years of fierce and intense war, they succeeded in driving out the immigrants, and the kingdoms that partic.i.p.ated came together and enthroned the king of Stern as Emperor. From there on, Stern became the Solstern Empire and Helevant was the only kingdom that refused to fall under their rule.
“If Helevant and Stern were in the opposite geographic locations, they would have named Helevant"s king the Emperor. You see, most of the kingdoms were in the south since the north is barren.”
“No matter what you say, how can such barbarians become royalty? Please Miss, be reasonable.”
“Well if you look at it, Helevant"s being wronged. They"re acting as a shield protecting Solstern from the northern immigrants, yet they still have to hear people call them barbarians.”
“Pardon?”
“I think Solstern is driving Helevant into further isolation by calling them savages and barbarians. “
“No way, I don"t think so~”
“The greater the fear of the opponent is, the more they try to make them an enemy to the public.”
“I have no idea what you"re saying now, Young Lady.”
“In fact, Helevant is the biggest contributor in protecting the continent. So why on earth do they have to keep hiding their vigor while accepting that kind of treatment…”
Rose muttered to herself, and Natalie had no idea of what anything her Young Miss had said meant.
Solstern doesn"t want to stir awake the quietly crouching black wolf. Rose had realized this fact back when she lived in the palace. By sending women, either from the royal or aristocratic family to Helevant, they aimed to maintain an implicit peaceful relationship, in hopes that this peaceful relationship would continue forever because the Solstern Empire was frightened of Helevant.
Natalie, who had suddenly become quiet, looked up at Rose who was immersed in her thoughts.
Natalie was looking at Rose with admiration dripping down from her eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I"m just so deeply moved to see our little Young Lady had become so smart. Where did you find out about all that?”
“I was just curious so I looked it up.”
“No wonder you locked yourself in the library and stopped going to tea parties and dress shopping.”
“I"m going to die soon, so what"s the point of going to tea parties and having new dresses? It"s not like I"ll be wearing a new dress when I die.”
Rose spoke calmly as though she was speaking of the weather outside.
They tried to ignore the fact that both of them were in a desperate situation, however, hearing her say such things, Natalie became sullen, realizing once again where they were headed to.
Finding Natalie"s reaction funny, a smile naturally appeared on Rose"s face.
“Don"t you worry too much. I"ll plead with them to kill you painlessly.”
Natalie"s face lost all of its colors. Seeing that, Rose burst into laughter.
“Miss! How can you joke in this kind of situation?”
She stared at Rose with resentment in her eyes.
The atmosphere inside the carriage became solemn.
“But did you know that the rumors about the king there are terrible?”
“What rumors?”
“He wears black clothes like the devil and drinks human blood at night to replenish his energy. I heard that he also skinned people he didn"t like, throwing their bodies to the wolves. They also say he makes clothes out of leather and wears them.”
Natalie spoke without taking a breath as her body shook.
“There"s no need to shake like that.”
“I"m not the only one shaking. Miss is shaking too.”
“What?”
Come to think of it, the carriage has been rattling violently and unnaturally since earlier.
Rose quickly looked outside the window, and as soon as she did, red blood poured over her white face. More blood splashed on her as black-masked men cut the escorts" necks with knives.
The horseman, who was stirring the carriage, was. .h.i.t by an arrow from the back. Because of that, one of the wheels was about to fall off.
Among the chaos, one of the horses dragging the carriage was also hit by an arrow to the knee causing it to run wildly.
“Faster! Follow and kill it!”
The masked men could not keep up with the wild horse, so they started shooting arrows from behind the carriage in random directions.
Natalie began screaming as one of the arrows went through the carriage and stopped right next to her head.
One of the masked men following the carriage closely tried tearing open the carriage door with a sword.
Natalie screamed again.
“Come this way, Natalie!”
Rose grabbed her and moved to a corner further from the door to avoid the fierce sword slashing.
“We need to jump out!”
“No way, I can"t! The moment we jump out, we"ll die Miss!”
“And if you stay here like this, then we"ll die in the hands of that man!”
“I can"t. Miss. I can"t jump.”
While Natalie was crying, the carriage wobbled heavily.
“One of the wheels had already fallen off. We need to jump to the other side now.”
“If we jump from here, we"ll die Miss.”
“Catch my hand. Let"s jump into the overgrown forest over there.”
Rose waited until they were alighted with the forest, then grabbed Natalie"s hand and jumped.
The sky and earth spun as the world in front of her eyes went wild.
Clothes were torn by the branches and flesh was cut as she rolled down through the slope until finally, she lost consciousness.
How much time had pa.s.sed?
Rose opened her eyes as she felt a throbbing sensation all over her body.
“Natalie? Natalie!”
When she woke up, she couldn"t find her anywhere.
While Rose carefully called for Natalie, she heard the sound of hoofs near the slope. She hurriedly hid behind a nearby vine and looked up.
One of the men that were chasing them earlier stood there, pulling his mask down to his chin.
A sigh of anger and despair erupted from Rose"s lips when she saw the man"s face. He was one of the Knight"s that Ca.s.siax kept closely by his side.
"Ca.s.siax! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Till the end, you"re still trying to kill me."
She was angry, so angry at the whole situation and at him that absurdly made tears burst out from her eyes.
"What did I do to you that was so wrong for you to keep following me and tormenting me like that!"
Her body trembled in anger.
“Wait and see. I"m going to step on you completely. I"m going to make you cry blood and tears.”
Even though her whole body was covered with scars and dirt from the fall, Rose vowed to herself then and there that she would do whatever it takes to bring Ca.s.siax down.
It was at that moment when a bunch of horse hoofs could be heard coming from a distance.
The men sent by Ca.s.siax suddenly panicked and turned around taking the same route they came by and ran away.
She didn"t know what was going on, but she knew had to hide first.
While hiding, Rose heard a cry of a wild beast, a cry so terrifying it shook her entire being. Golden eyes flashed between the leaves, the sound of dirt crunching underneath its paws, just as though it was getting ready to hunt its prey.
“N-N-No. I cannot die here.”
Big black wolves, about the size of a house, started emerging from within the leaves. Rose was so surprised at how big they were, she almost forgot how to breathe. In fear, she crawled backward, fumbling on the ground. Her hand came in contact with an old, fallen tree branch.
“T-There now, nice wolves. I"m not here to harm you.”
She tried to calm the wolves down, but they just began growling louder than before, saliva dripping down their fangs.
“G-G-Go away!. I"m here to help your king! You"ll regret killing me!”
There was no way for a human to communicate with a beast, but still Rose tried, however, it didn"t seem to be working at all as the wolves just kept approaching slowly, as if they were cornering their prey.
Rose swung the branch she had found like a sword trying to protect herself, but at that moment, one of the wolves leaped towards her, falling backward, something collided with her head and she fell unconscious.
Tulio mounted the house while putting the unconscious woman behind him, anxious about the woman falling off the horse, he strained his muscles clasping her tightly.
“Your Highness. I found another person here.”
He spoke, pulling tightly on the reins causing the horse"s front hooves to spring to the air, bringing it to a halt.
A group of strong-looking men looked back at Tulio, among them was a young man sitting upright on top of the biggest and bravest-looking black horse.
Maxim Lancret with hair as black as the night sky and cold, emotionless eyes, as golden as that of a beast, glistening in the sun.
“From the way they"re dressed, they seem to be the woman that Solstren had sent.”
One of the people gathered there spoke.
Maxim looked at the woman lying there on the back of the horse with an expressionless look.
“Throw them in the castle.”
Receiving the order, Tulio and the other men present headed towards the castle.