Eve took care of Alaric, treating his wounds. He had a few scratches on his face and arms but no severe injury. So she wondered why he was still unconscious. He was brought inside the carriage as their journey continued.
Miles, the youngest knight, simply approached Caleb.
"Commander, what happened to General Alaric? His clothes were soaked in blood, but it turned out he didn’t have major injuries. How did he collapse? Is he just alright?" Miles asked Caleb curiously.
Caleb scratched his face and smiled sheepishly. "The blood belonged to the beasts he defeated."
"Don’t worry about our general. He is just fine. He will wake up later. He collapsed because I deliberately knocked him down. I was curious how Princess Eve would react once she saw him in that state. I’m satisfied to see that she still cares about him." Caleb explained, grinning from ear to ear.
Miles could only shake his head in disbelief. "You both frightened us. We thought sothing bad really happened to our general. It will affect our mission."
Caleb gave him a reassuring smile. "We will accomplish our mission. General Alaric will lead us to victory."
anwhile, inside the carriage, Eve had been watching Alaric. She was waiting for him to wake up. She had conflicting thoughts right now.
’I hate him... but I don’t want him to die. I don’t want to see him bathing in his blood. My heart can’t take it.’ Eve admitted to herself.
She reached out, tracing Alaric’s face. The tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. She had been avoiding him for two weeks now. She missed talking to him.
Alaric had been asking her why she was acting like this. But she tried to ignore him.
’He has an important mission to accomplish. I can’t tell him the reason why I am mad at him. He might be affected once I tell him the truth about my mother’s death.’
Eve wanted to distance herself from Alaric because she needed ti and space. It was hard for her to accept that Alaric was one of the reasons why her mother died. She was torn between love and hate.
She continued caressing his face. It did not take long before Alaric moved, opening his eyes. The first thing that ca into his view was Eve’s charming face.
Eve drew back her hand upon eting his gaze. Alaric finally woke up!
However, Alaric captured her hand, not letting go of her.
"Eve... please talk to . Tell what I did wrong," Alaric said in his desperate tone.
"Why are you avoiding ?"
Eve kept her silence, looking away. She didn’t have the courage to reveal the truth to Alaric.
"Forgive ... I can’t tell you," she simply said.
Alaric frowned deeply as he tried to sit up, his hand still holding her hand.
"Tell . What should I do to appease you?" Alaric asked.
Eve clenched her fists, raising her head to et his gaze.
"As a general, you swore loyalty to the Kingdom of Averion, serving its king and queen. If I told you that I wanted to conquer the Kingdom of Averion and overthrow them, would you help ?"
Alaric was taken aback for a mont upon hearing those words.
’She wants the throne of Kingdom Averion. Is she planning a rebellion?’
"Is this really what you want? But why?" Alaric questioned her. He wanted to understand her motive.
"I’ve had enough. I suffered because of the Valemont Royal Family, and I want revenge! Now, whose side will you choose—mine or the Valemont Royal Family’s?" Eve looked at him expectantly.
Alaric remained silent. He couldn’t decide right away. Rebelling against the Kingdom Averion ant fighting their fellow comrades– General Artemis’ army and the other battalion.
"You don’t have to give an answer now. You can decide once we accomplish this mission of taking over Kingdom Zephyra. If you choose to defend the current ruler of Kingdom Averion, then I have no choice– we will beco enemies. I will use Zephyra’s army to conquer Averion."
Eve didn’t conceal her plan from Alaric. She gave him the freedom to choose.
anwhile, Alaric’s expression turned grim. He could feel that Eve had a deeper reason why she wanted revenge. He didn’t even expect that she would consider him as her enemy.
Without hesitation, Alaric pulled Eve into a hug, holding her tightly. "I don’t want to fight you, Eve. I’m your husband. I will always support you. But I can’t understand your motive now. I thought you only wanted peace. Why do you want to conquer Averion? If this mission succeeds, can’t we just stay in Zephyra and forget about Averion?"
Eve smiled bitterly. ’Valemont Royal Family is a family of murderers.’
"I changed my mind. In order to maintain peace, we should eliminate evil monarchs," Eve said aningfully.
She had to harden her heart and strengthen her resolve to avenge her mother’s death. There was no room for kindness and rcy.
Alaric was at a loss for words. He just kept hugging her in his arms. He didn’t know why Eve was acting strangely. She wasn’t willing to disclose her reason.
"Fine. I will wait for you to tell everything. I’ll focus on completing this mission first. But please... don’t push away, Eve. I can endure physical wounds... but I can’t bear the sadness and pain if you will continue to avoid and push away. I feel like I’m dying every day." Alaric showed his vulnerability to her.
"You are my weakness, Eve," he softly said, tightening his grip on her body.
Eve could only slam her eyes shut, letting Alaric hug her. She missed the feeling of being engulfed by his arms.
However, the hatred in her heart was reminding her that Alaric was also the cause of her misery. Part of her was telling her not to love this man so deeply. She had to stop now otherwise, she might regret it in the end.
Princess Eve had started to doubt her feelings for Alaric.
*****
At Kingdom Zephyra...
King Zaraki and Chancellor Gustav went to the underground dungeon of Kingdom Zephyra. The entrance was highly sealed by a golden gate. No one could break the golden gate from the outside.
"I was only ten years old when the last ti I saw this dungeon was unlocked by my grandfather. Esralda holds the key to opening this gate. My clever brother gave the key to my niece without my knowledge," King Zaraki said as he reminisced about the past.
"Gustav, we need to find out what happened to Esralda. Her daughter will be our last clue about her whereabouts. We need to catch her alive."
Chancellor Gustav stared at the golden gate intently. This was the second ti King Zaraki brought him here.
"My King, what lies behind this gate? What is inside the dungeon? Why do we have to open this?" Chancellor Gustav asked him curiously.
King Zarali let out a nacing laughter. "The power I need to conquer all the kingdoms lies behind this golden gate."
Chancellor Gustav frowned in confusion. King Zaraki never gave him a direct and concrete answer. He always made him wonder about his words.
"What kind of power are you referring to, your Majesty? Perhaps, there is a mystical beast here, that’s why you need the power of a beast tar." Chancellor Gustav probed.
King Zaraki chuckled once more, tapping Gustav’s shoulder.
"You are really smart, Gustav. A legendary creature is residing inside this dungeon... a mighty dragon, Zephyr!"
Chancellor Gustav was rendered speechless upon hearing King Zaraki’s revelation.
"A mighty dragon? I didn’t know about this. So the legend is true?"
King Zaraki bobbed his head. "Yes. It’s true. The Goldwyn Family is one of the chosen people who can ta a dragon. The dragon is not an extinct creature. They exist around the world... sleeping... and waking for their master to wake them up and summon them."
"The na of Kingdom Zephyra originated from the mighty dragon Zephyr. He is the protector of this kingdom. I saw him once. Our ancestors locked him in this dungeon."
Chancellor Gustav was overwheld, knowing that a dragon was residing in their kingdom. Controlling and taming this dragon was indeed a super weapon that King Zaraki could use to conquer and invade several kingdoms. He would be unstoppable.
"This is the reason why I need to find Esralda– She has the key to this dungeon and she has the ability to ta the dragon. If we capture her daughter, Eve, we can manipulate Esralda to cooperate with us. You must think of a way to control both mother and daughter."
"I’m giving this important task to you, Gustav. You are my strategist." King Zaraki had high hopes for his chancellor.
"I understand, your Majesty. Everything makes sense to now. I know what to do. I’m already devising a plan to capture Princess Eve along with the assassination team of Averion. We are expecting them to arrive in three weeks. All preparations will be done by that ti." Chancellor Gustav reassured King Zaraki.
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