"The Serpent is my father," Kira said nonchalantly. "So, you know him?"
The knights exchanged glances. They just happened to hear about the Grim Serpent's reputation. He was a ruthless pirate lord who pillaged coastal cities and robbed many rchant ships. They knew the man from his famous snake tattoo and called himself the Sea Serpent.
So... this woman standing before them was his daughter?
"Anyone could make such tattoo to scare people," the leader decided to challenge Kira's statent. "How do we know that you are really Grim Serpent's daughter?"
"You don't," said Kira casually. "And I don't care if you believe or not. I will not do anything to you though. I am in no mood to fight. I am just going to ask you if to explain to about the bounty. Is that so hard to do?"
The leader swallowed and he realized that there was no need to act aggressively toward the woman who could possibly be really the daughter of the most feared pirate in the seven seas. Kira was not insulting them, and she was just asking a question.
So, he decided to play safe and answered her question. "Very well. I was asking this young man over here about Winterre because our king is looking for a woman. She is from Winterre and the king lost her so ti ago. He will give gold, land, and title to whoever can bring her to him safely. Her na is Lady Emlyn."
Emlyn held her breath when she heard, for the first ti, how the king of Sumria set up a bounty for her. She had only heard about this from Lyla. So.. Lyla was right. The king of Sumria really wanted her. He would even give gold, land, and title to people who could bring her to him.
They said the king lost her? So, it ans the king already had the woman who claid to be Emlyn, and then he lost her for so reason. Now, he wanted her back.
This suddenly made Emlyn feel nervous. Would her plan work? Could she convince the king to help her if she t him? He was obviously looking for another woman. Of course, he would want to keep looking and he would feel deceived when Lysander ca and brought Emlyn to him.
"Why does the king want this lady?" Kira asked more questions. "Do you know?"
The leader shook his head. "We have no idea. It's not our place to question what the king wants."
"Hmm..." Kira turned to Emlyn. "You are from Draec, right? Have you been to Winterre? Do you know the woman they are looking for?"
Emlyn quickly shook her head. "I traveled through Winterre. I have never heard of that woman."
"Do you know each other?" The knight asked Emlyn. He was surprised to know Kira seed to be friendly with Emlyn and he realized the two might be friends.
"Yeah. This is my travel companion," said Kira. "We are going to Sumria for an adventure. What kind of man is the king?"
Emlyn never bothered asking people about the king, or as they called him the supre ruler. Her focus was solely on Myreen and the Leoraleis. However, now that Kira asked that question, she beca curious too.
So, she looked at the knights attentively and waited for their reply.
"The king? King Loriel Ashborn is young and ruthless," the leader said. "He is feared by many. The ground trembles at the sight of him. However, we, knights, love him. We love having a powerful king as our ruler. The previous king was sickly and weak."
"Loriel Ashborn..." Emlyn muttered to herself.
She thought it was such a good na. It kind of reminded her of her husband's na. Both sounded like the nas suited for powerful n.
"I an... is he ugly like a monster? Or.. is he an evil man who abused won?" Kira asked again. "I don't care if he is powerful. A man who chased after a woman who clearly left him must be ugly or evil that he wants to force her to co back to him."
Emlyn turned to look at Kira with renewed awe. She never thought of it this way before. That's right. If the king was chasing a woman, it must be because she left him for whatever reason.
He couldn't accept the fact that a woman dared to reject him and decided to set a bounty to get her back. So, what did he do wrong to make the woman leave?
Maybe Kira was right. He might be an evil man who treated the woman badly. Or... maybe he was an ugly man who fell in love with a beautiful woman and when she rejected his love, he chased her to no end.
Just think about it. Nobody was perfect. This king, who ruled such a big empire was young and powerful. He must have a big weakness to make up for all his other perfection.
"The king is not ugly," the leader laughed at Kira's question. He acted as if the woman just asked a very ridiculous question. "But we don't know what's his relationship with Lady Emlyn. It's not our place to probe into his personal life."
"Hmm... very well," Kira turned to Emlyn and said, "Can we go to Winterre after you find your friend? I am interested in looking for this woman."
Emlyn swallowed and nodded, trying so hard to look indifferent. "I am not interested in land or title. You can go alone if you want.
"So, how far is Winterre from here?" the leader asked Emlyn.
"Hmm.. let's see," Emlyn furrowed her brows and did the math quickly. "Around six weeks."
"Ah.. that's doable."
"Yeah..."
"Thanks. We will continue our trip to Winterre tomorrow morning."
***
Emlyn decided to put the 'birthmark' on her face again when she changed her outfit the next morning to continue her travel.
After she t those knights who were looking for her, she beca anxious, worried that people would recognize her as a woman who disguised herself as a nobleman.
It was better safe than sorry. So, she intentionally made herself look ugly again.
.
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FINALLY, we get to hear the king's na. We will et King Loriel soon enough.
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