"How could you let them do that?" Ena said. "Why did you stop !?"
"The Duke is not stupid. He must have arranged the whole thing. Did you really expect that it would end there if you had acted?" Hayle Gliss uttered. He was sitting across from Ena inside the carriage. He grabbed a bottle of wine and started drinking it straight from the bottle. "Going there was a mistake. I hate that Duke! Sothing is different about him this ti!"
"You if you knew it was a mistake then why did you not stop !? You could have done sothing to stop !"
"Why are you blaming for sothing that you did? Do I have the ability to stop you?"
"You"
"The fact that the Duke was about to outsmart you in his territory was completely understandable. However, you and I could sense a sorcerer. At first, I thought you were not able to sense her because she was carrying a relic. We were mistaken. Earlier, I was able to sense that she was completely human. She cannot use the darkness. So, it must be the company that she keeps." Hayle said. "In the end, this was but a waste of ti. We were warned not to touch the Duke."
Ena frowned. She looked outside. "I always hated the cold."
"And yet you ca here to put your nose in other people's business. That man does not fear us. The fact that he killed those won in front of us was enough proof of that. We cannot touch the North now. First, we need to focus on the other neighboring Kingdom. The Fight in Rakha is at its peak. If you want"
"I have sent a few people to that place. There is no need for us to intervene. Unless of course, they beg us to help. Moreover, I will not set foot to that place unless they give unlimited access to the Howling Mountains."
"I knew you would say that. Since you do not want to go, then we shall go back to the base."
"I should kill that woman," Ena's eyes narrowed. She really could not forget how Rosalind played with her. "I will kill her!"
"Then you must do it to warn the Duke. Do not be too obvious."
"I know what to do! Do you think I am an idiot?"
"Well"
"Shut your mouth!"
"I did not want to call you an idiot. But how could you actually fall for sothing like that? I I just could not believe it."
"You said it, I did not sense the malice that sorcerers would have. I thought she was nothing but an innocent woman that the Duke used. I wanted to know why he chose to use her. He could have used the others that he sent but he chose her. Why!?"
"I guess we will know the answer to that question when we send those people to kill her," Hayle smirked. "If she was indeed important then the Duke would do sothing about it. If she was not then he would replace her with soone else."
For the duration of the ride, the two never spoke again.
....
"You are telling that this was not your plan?" Rosalind could not believe the Duke's words. They were still in the watchtower, staring at the endless snow in front of them.
"Do not underestimate the people's will," the Duke said. "There was once a ti when the North needed their help. That was all in the past. One should not think that the past and the present would still be the sa."
"I know but still" she could not believe it. "And the gifts?"
"They asked for my permission. When they heard that you could heal the people affected by the plague, many families sent a letter to confirm the situation. While the nobles tried to send you gifts. I asked Milith to throw them away."
"Why?"
"I can give you everything that you need. Is there a need for them to give you sothing when you lack nothing?"
"I am pretty certain that is not how a gift works," Rosalind said. "The least you could do is to allow her to keep the food." She did not care about the things, but the food was a sacred thing.
Why would soone throw food away?
"I will keep that in mind."
"I have not seen you all day," Rosalind said.
"Did you miss ?"
"No. Of course not. That was just" she cleared her throat. "An observation. Besides, I wanted to talk to you about building the large house. Atior said she would help to make the construction faster. I agreed."
"So you did not miss ?"
"What are you talking about?" she frowned and glared at him. "I just saw you last night."
"But you did not see the whole day, did you?"
"That"
"Did you miss ?"
"I did not. I just thought your absence was pretty rare and I disliked it."
She heard a chuckle but she did not turn to look at his reaction. There is no need for that, she thought inwardly.
"They left a relic," the Duke said just as a loud howl filled the air.
"And?"
"Do you want to accompany and welco our guests before they could co here?"
"You wanted to fight beasts?"
"Is there sothing wrong with that?"
Rosalind did not expect him to trust her too much.
"Do not fret, I am not overestimating your capabilities. However, I knew my own capabilities as your master. How could soone who learned fighting beasts from be weak?"
"You" in the end, this was just because he trusts himself too much!
"Of course, we cannot forget the fact that I have the best student that any master would want to have."
"Stop it," Rosalind did not want to hear it anymore. She turned towards him.
"Hm?"
"Carry ," Rosalind ordered. "Or did you expect to jump from this height and fall to my death?"
Maybe he actually expected her to decline, refusing to fight the beasts. That would be the only thing that could explain the surprise on his face when she asked him to carry her.
"Very well," he said. "Let us show them what you've got."
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