Chapter 36
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 36
The woman’s eyes flashed with fury, her words dripping with venom as she spat them out one by one.
“Do you find my words laughable, too?”
Edric instinctively took a step back, recoiling from the fierce aura she exuded. The Imperial Princess, her slender frame trembling with rage, raised her voice further.
“How many times must I tell you to leave me alone before it finally sinks in? Do you think I’m a joke?”
“I was merely worried that Your Highness might collapse, so I brought some food,” Edric protested. His expression was one of wounded innocence as he faltered under her verbal assault.
The Princess let out a blatant, mocking scoff right in his face. “Why would a wretch like you worry about me?”
“I am Your Highness’s personal guard! It is my duty to assist you—!”
The woman suddenly burst into laughter.
Edric’s face flushed a deep crimson. It was the first time in his life he had been mocked so openly, and he had no idea how to respond. She watched him with a derisive gaze before speaking slowly.
“You must take me for a complete fool… Do you think I don’t know that the Roem Knights are nothing more than the Crown Prince’s loyal dogs?”
His expression hardened into a mask.
She looked down at the basket in his hand with pure contempt. “How am I supposed to know what’s in there? You expect me to eat that? What kind of foul scheme are you trying to pull!”
“I am a knight!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Edric raised his voice. His ears burned with the heat of the first true insult he had ever endured.
“Your Highness’s words are an affront not only to me but to the entire Imperial Knights! We are men who have sworn before God to protect the Imperial Family. We would never, under any circumstances, do anything to harm Your Highness—!”
“Do you really think I’d believe that?”
He was left speechless, staring at the Princess’s face. It looked as though it were carved from ice. The faint, mocking smile vanished from her lips as she barked coldly, “If you want to play the sycophant, go do it for my half-siblings. I have no need for it.”
With that, she slammed the door shut. The conversation ended with a resounding bang.
Edric gripped the handle of the basket so tightly his knuckles turned white. If he didn’t, he felt he might throw the door open and scream at her to stop being so stubborn. After glaring at the carriage door with eyes simmering with resentment, Edric finally turned away.
He had done enough. He had no intention of trying to persuade a woman who so openly antagonized him.
Edric set the basket down on a shelf in front of the common mess tent as if discarding trash and walked toward the food line. The knights were already gathered on the field, eating their meal. Slipping in among his comrades, Edric piled his plate high and began to shovel food into his mouth. He kept telling himself that he didn’t care whether that spiteful woman starved or not.
* * *
After hours of restless tossing and turning in the darkness, Thalia finally sat up.
When she pulled back the window curtains, she saw a few lanterns held by the sentries flickering dimly in the distance. Everything else was submerged in pitch-black shadows. Thalia looked up at the moonless sky before cautiously stepping out of the carriage.
Having survived on only a few pieces of bread and some honey-preserved fruit for several days, her limbs felt weak. A stray thought crossed her mind—perhaps it would have been better to eat the food that stupid knight had brought. He didn’t seem bright enough to hatch a sinister plot; perhaps she had been overly cautious.
Recalling the knight’s naive face, Thalia quickly shook the thought from her head. Had she not learned the hard way? Those who approach with a harmless face are the ones who should be trusted the least. It might have been a ploy to lower her guard before committing some atrocity.
She scanned the knights standing guard near the perimeter with wary eyes before moving stealthily through the camp. As her vision adjusted to the darkness, the triangular shapes of the tent roofs, the long line of wagons, and the silhouettes of horses came into faint focus.
She walked carefully between the tents, making sure not to trip over any stones. The wind blowing down from the hill slipped through the folds of her clothes, carrying the sharp scent of grass and the smell of half-burnt firewood. Thalia crept through the darkness, relying on her sharpened senses.
Eventually, she managed to find the quarters of her attendants. Squinting to confirm she was in the right place, Thalia fumbled her way onto the nearest wagon. She curled up among the stacked crates and stared intently at the tent entrance. Her plan was simple: see if the spy her mother had planted would make a move tonight.
She hugged her knees and watched the darkness without blinking. Occasionally, the sound of soldiers snoring or grinding their teeth reached her ears, punctuated by the snorting of horses and the chirping of insects. She hadn’t realized the night could be so noisy.
She painfully counted every minute and second, trying to soothe her nerves, which were frayed to the point of agony. After she had been holding her breath for what felt like an eternity, the black sky began to brighten into a deep navy blue. It seemed tonight would pass quietly after all.
She carefully moved her stiff body to stretch her joints. Her bones seemed to scream, letting out audible cracks. She was barely swallowing a groan while massaging her tingling limbs when she saw a dark shadow emerge from the tent.
She narrowed her eyes. Though she couldn’t see the face in the gloom, she could clearly tell it was a woman with a slender build.
Thalia forced her creaking body upright and followed the shadow.
After walking for a while along the line of wagons, Aila’s carriage came into view. Thalia rubbed her palms, damp with cold sweat, against her skirt. How wonderful it would be if that woman slipped into that carriage—if she did what Thalia needed to do in her stead.
With that desperate hope, she stared at the woman’s back. However, the woman passed right by Aila’s carriage and moved toward the far end of the camp. Thalia’s face hardened. In that direction, the flag of House Sieorkan, embroidered with the Black Horse Crest, fluttered in front of a large tent.
She rushed toward it, but in the brief moment she had looked away, the woman had already vanished. Thalia frantically searched between the tents, her eyes landing on the entrance of the main quarters with a sense of mounting dread.
‘Did she… go in there?’
Her heart sank. If Aila and Barkas were to be joined like this, Gareth’s position would become even more secure. House Sieorkan wielded powerful influence not only in the East but also in the North. If Aila became the Grand Duchess of Sieorkan, it meant Gareth would have the entire Noble Alliance at his back. There was every possibility that someone had decided to eliminate Barkas to prevent such a situation.
Once her thoughts reached that point, Thalia rushed into Barkas’s quarters as if being chased. She was beyond the point of rational thought. Frantically scanning the darkened interior, Thalia pulled back the partition in the center.
The bed was empty. Since he was the type of person to start his day before dawn, he was likely patrolling the camp or checking on Torque’s condition.
Though that realization crossed her mind, her anxiety did not subside. She fumbled over the empty bed, checking for any signs of blood. Then, hearing heavy footsteps, she snapped her head up. A man with a massive build was standing tall at the entrance of the quarters.
Thinking it was Barkas, Thalia rushed toward him, only to freeze in her tracks. It was Gareth, dressed in light attire, staring at her with startled eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
He arched his brows sharply, his gaze scanning her from head to toe.