Chapter 161
Translator: yun
Ti passed and night fell.
“You shouldn’t drink dangerous things. Until the Founding Festival, your body should be treated as sothing more precious than gold. Do you understand?”
Rebecca looked displeased before going on her way.
“Yeah, but only until the Founding Festival? What about after?”
“… Since you can afford to joke around, we should increase our practice hours.”
“Wait. I was wrong.”
“Of course your body would always be precious.”
She was huffing and puffing.
“I see. It’d be nice if Rebecca smiled a little more.”
Rebecca glared at coldly after what I said. Perhaps she had been rendered speechless by my words as she shot a look of incredulity.
“Ashley.”
In front of my palace, Dane was waiting for with a horse. My hand was grabbed by his warm one.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah.”
Dane was wearing leather shoes and clothes that were comfortable to move around in like but even though he was wearing plain clothes, his extraordinary face made him stand out.
“Huh? Why are you looking at like that? Is there sothing on my face?”
“Yes, there is.”
“What?”
“Your good looks.”
Dane stared at in confusion as I pulled down his hood.
“So, cover yourself up. Your beauty is blinding even in the darkness of this night.”
Dane who had just been staring at soon burst into laughter. Looking at him smile so openly, I thought it would not be enough to just cover his face.
“I’m flattered, Ashley.”
“No, I don’t think you are.”
Should I bring Dane to the middle of the capital and reenact the tale of Pied Piper?
I think everyone will beco srised by him.
“Let’s hurry and go.”
There was a brown horse accompanied by a horse that was of a slightly darker shade of brown.
I wanted to take the paler horse with patterns.
“Is this horse safe?”
“Of course.”
Naturally, Lord Ray took the paler horse but seeing them scratch or stomp the ground with their hooves and front heels, I wondered if it would be alright. As I approached Lord Ray’s light-coloured horse, soone approached .
“Dane?”
Dane smiled and led towards his horse and made stand in front of it.
“Don’t you think Lord Ray and I should ride together?”
“Oh dear. You’re making my heart ache a little.”
“I an, Dane, how can I go with you, ack. Wait.”
Our conversation ended there. Dane placed on the horse first before climbing up behind and grabbing the horse’s reins while embracing .
“Can you hear ? I can hear you fine from here, Ashley.”
I could hear Dane’s gentle and kind voice next to my ears.
“It’s better because it’s you.”
The horse that had just been tutting started to run vigorously.
“Hold tight. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
All I’ve ever seen about horse riding was from TV. If I had known this would happen, I would have ridden that pony I saw on my school trip. My surroundings blurring around was making dizzy. I remained frozen for about 5 minutes to gauge how dangerous being on a moving horse was before barely leaning back to Dane’s chest.
The arms that surrounded gave more strength. At so point, it felt like I could hear soft laughter mixed with the wind.
‘I’m soone who even rode bumper cars before!’
With my forehead deeply crinkled, I suddenly lowered my head to see the arm surrounding my waist. This was strange. I always thought that Dane was the small prince who did not look much different from . When did his hands beco so unfamiliar?
No, I had already been thinking about this for a long ti.
The horse, which had been running for a long ti, stopped in the middle of the square.
Apart from that… I was thinking about the fact that motion sickness can be caused by riding a car, boat and a horse. But it was pretty useless knowledge.
“I guess we’re a little late.”
When we arrived, the entrance to the building was wide open and all the windows on every floor were lit up in orange with the light stretching to the streets.
Although the patrols were not allowed to act in a place filled with civilians, they were still allowed to watch from a distance. In other words, I had knights who were watching over from far away.
“How did you know about this place, Princess?”
This made recall my eting with Granius a while ago. I was apologetic as to how this was the first ti I t him in a long ti but I could not focus because of the bomb that was Hernan which exploded earlier. Eventually, my conversation with Granius ended in vain with him telling to discuss it with him later.
“What are you worrying about?”
“Huh? Ah… I was wondering how much I can tell Granius.”
Dane chuckled softly in the dark.
“Can’t you just tell him however much you want? Because he’s a good man.”
“Ah. He is sweet.”
“No, Ashley.”
We were along a dark alley that was not even well-lit and nothing stood out. Nevertheless, I could still clearly see Dane smiling.
“Good people are people who like you. He’s bad to others but he’s kind to you.”
Just then, a smoke signal exploded. I forgot my current situation for a mont and admired the small fla lighting up the sky.
“It’s just a pretty dazzling fla used as a signal.”
“I know. It looks like a flower pinned in the sky.”
It was strange. Everything about life outside the palace felt pretty, lovely and happy. At that thought, there Dane was, smiling with his head down.
“Do you like it?”
“Huh. Ah, yes. Why?”
“Because you’re smiling so prettily.”
Dane tilted his head before gently closing his eyes and opening them again to watch .
“It would be nice if you always smiled like that.”
“Then Dane, make laugh.”
“What should I do?”
“What can you do for ?”
“Ashley. Anything you want.”
Recognising the playfulness of my voice, Dane placed his hand on his chest before bowing jokingly like a knight from a fairytale.
“The beautiful princess.”
Then, he addressed with a weird nickna. A painting is truly a painting. Dane looked like a part of a watercolour painting with the night sky as his backdrop. I was suddenly reminded of soone’s face.
“Deros.”
That was his na. The man who looked like Dane but at the sa ti, soone completely different. At the last mont, a man who had disappeared with a deep hatred and twisted feelings towards Marissa lingered in my mind for a long ti.
As soon as I tried to bring sothing up to Dane, I turned my head to the roar that rang. What I saw was the stream of templars that poured out. Their shouts finally brought life to the emptied space as a result of the stalls that were vacated in advance to avoid escalating the fights.
They were too far so I could not see them well but after narrowing my eyes to find a familiar face until I saw so scruffy won behind the procession.
“Ashley!”
I sprinted over there without letting Dane or Lord Ray stop .
“Hannah!”
The front of the building was in ruins like the scene in a movie after a natural disaster struck. There was a knight who collapsed from exhaustion and a templar clutching onto his bloody wrists. I weaved past the templars who were placing the weapons down to get to one place.
I could hear soone screaming.
“Sorry! Excuse !”
I checked the faces of the won who looked at one by one. Brown hair, reddish-brown hair, red hair…
Soone scread again.
“Urgh. Sorry.”
Struggling to run, I eventually collided with soone before falling down because I couldn’t keep up with my own speed. Apparently, I fell over soone while trying to avoid too many things at once.
I spotted a woman wincing and frowning as she raised his head at a soft touch with throbbing pain.
I gasped before saying, “O-oh no, are you alright?”
“Urgh.”
The woman’s eyes were of a vivid green colour. Their freshness and prettiness reminded of green grapes but I didn’t like how her eyes looked at .
“Ah.. What should I do? I’m sorry!”
I hurriedly got up before grabbing the woman’s arms and pulling her up.
“It hurts. A lot.”
The woman stared at my arm with disapproval before sighing wordlessly once she saw my restless expression. She sohow looked very elegant.
“Where is this?”
“The western capital.”
She carefully ruffled her scarlet hair and frowned. However, she looked so nervous and anxious that she held my hand without realising it.
“You’ve been rescued.”
“Rescued?”
“Yes. You’re free now. Are you alright?”
This person had just been rescued so she must have been confused and anxious. The haggard woman glanced at but I couldn’t catch what her face looked like.
“Please help . I. Need to. Find. My necklace. My man.”
The woman sounded as if she could only speak a few syllables at once and it did not sound like she had proper grammar. I thought she had been flustered and anxious but instead she sounded awkward like a foreigner who just learned the language.
I scanned the woman carefully. Although she was dirty, I could tell that the woman was dressed with luxurious fabrics sewn with gold threads.
‘That’s silk, right?’
However, why were foreigners here?
“P-princess?”
My thoughts did not last long.
“Hannah?”
“Here! Princess! Princess!”
Dumbfounded, I turned my head to see my maid who looked like a ss before running towards her.
“Hannah!”
She wailed before saying, “Princess… It was so so scary.”
Hannah, whose hair was in a ss, ran into my arms. No, it might be who hugged her first.
“I’m sorry. I was late.”
“P-please don’t say. I-If it weren’t for the princess…”
Hannah cried nonstop as she held because she must have been having a hard ti all this while.
“I missed you so much…”
“ too.”
Closing my eyes, I patted her and let my shoulders get wet gradually. Even at this mont, I blad myself for being unable to cry with her.
When I was younger, Hannah called the princess. However, since I hated being given that title since young, she didn’t call that anymore. When I was younger, I dread that I could be one of the princesses in fairytales so I used to give lovely smiles with coloured cheeks.
She hiccupped before saying, “I thought I’d never see you again.”
This maid of mine was bawling from relief. Why did she have to go through this? It’s a relief that she returned safely.
It was both a pitiful and regrettable mont but it was also a mont when I could pat my shoulders with relief.
“P-Princess…”
And she stopped mid-sentence as she spotted sothing. A woman who had a blank expression approaching us whilst staring at my maid.
Her eyes as she turned to face Hannah looked desperate. At the sa ti, she approached us.
“You. Human? High?”
“…..”
The woman slowly licked her lips.
“Please help.”
She exuded the pride of soone who I could not easily approach. She was trying hard to remain aloof but she looked too young, no older than 20 years old.
“With what?”
The woman closed her eyes before whispering wearily and sighing.
“I am Nefertiti Hator Ahacia.”
… What? Even Hannah stopped sobbing.
My gaze fell on the person distracting . Wait. An unbelievable thought passed my mind. Why? Here? Her?
“Please believe. I’m here. From desert.”
So far, in my life, no misfortune has ever just passed by. No one could imagine that I would et the woman who would kill a few months from now while saving my maid.
“The princess from the desert.”
When soone receives too much shock, they beco scarily calm. My experiences of being swayed by my surroundings were not pleasant.
‘… My misfortune keeps bursting nonstop.’
And now.
“Princess…”
In the room on the second floor of an empty inn nearby, everyone including myself were sighing or staring off into space with gravely serious expressions.
“How am I supposed to accept this situation?”
That’s what I was trying to say. A princess? Here?
T/N:
Last double update since we caught up!
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