Chapter Twenty-Six: On The Way
Estelle
"Are you sure about this? Estelle, this is dangerous," Adela said as she held my hand. It's dark as the sun is still not rising but I can still see the worry in her eyes.
"I know but as I told you, I am not of this world. The only way I can be back is to take this journey," I said and smiled at her. I hold her hand more tightly.
"Will this be the last time we see each other?" she asked. I let out a deep sigh and nodded at her. She let go of my hand and hugged me tightly instead.
Not only this will be the last time that I will see Adela but I didn't have any idea that the time I leave the inn, where Cecil and the other girls are, will be the last time I'll see them too. I didn't even have to bid them farewell properly.
"Please tell Cecil and the others that I really thanked them. Especially you, Adela, thank you," I said as soon as we loosened our hug. This time, Adela was the one who nodded.
Seconds later, two carriages appeared in front of us. One is not that luxurious of a carriage and the other is a much more suitable one for a princess with an emblem of the House of Astorias.
"Let us all go now," Prince Lorcan commanded as soon as he and the Princess arrived in front of us. Adela and I bowed to them and as they passed by, Princess Sina tapped my shoulders and said,
"May you be successful in your endeavor."
I smiled and said, "You too, Princess. Please be happy."
They took the less luxurious one and I went to the other one. As they will be traveling discreetly, it is much better if they travel with a normal carriage to not attract any attention.
As Mr. Brown escorted me up to the carriage, Adela waved her hand to bid me goodbye once again.
"Sir Gavian, please make sure to guard her well," Adela said and Mr. Brown gave him a reassuring smile while entering the carriage after me.
He will be escorting me until we reach the second lair. This is the condition that Princess Sina to Prince Lorcan so that she'll agree to send me as her. As I am now posing as her, there will be surely eyes of threats waiting for their chance along the way.
There are no knights that were assigned to me nor to the Prince and Princess to lessen the confusion with the truth of my identity. Adela was just instructed to spread a rumor that Prince Lorcan would be going to do some affairs related to the kingdom's finances regarding this hunt while Princess Sina is being sent to the second lair discreetly with special knights that are taking only orders directly from the King or the Crown Prince only.
The only thing that was true in that statement is the special knights and in this case, the one that is now the coachmen of each of our carriages. But the special knights were the ones who took orders from the Crown Prince, not the King.
For the last time, before Mr. Brown closed the carriage, I smiled at Adela while waving my hand to bid her goodbye. Later on, her rox landed on her shoulder and she gave it a pat.
I'll miss her cute rox, too!
Mr. Brown instructed the coachman to go now and when the carriage started to move, I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh.
Ah, this will be over soon.
I should be happy but I think this experience has taken a special place in my heart.
"This trip will take days, you should rest while you still can," Mr. Brown said with such concerned voice. I sat back straight and smiled at him.
"Thank you, Mr Brown! I will be good."
"Mr. Brown? You still call me that?" he said and chuckled. "You can call me Sir Gavian or Gavian."
"Why? I am not the Princess or part of any nobles after all. I am just a girl who became your fan. Ah! That swordsmanship was amazing, really!" I said while reminiscing about the time I first met him.
"You're embarrassing me."
"You didn't seem embarrassed," I teased.
The carriage was filled with laughter and random stories about Mr. Brown's journey when he was still an apprentice knight. For a moment, I forgot that I was on my way to either back to my world or the end of my life. But still, with Mr. Brown being with me on this journey, I felt safe while still being entertained.
He has a lot of stories to tell. For sure, he might be one of the greatest knights in the kingdom if it weren't for fate being cruel to him.
Four days have already passed since we began this trip. Other than some lousy thieves trying to hijack our carriage, which is taken care of right away by Mr. Brown and the coachman who is a special knight, there are no greater signs that pose danger to my life.
"Someone's been following us," Mr. Brown said as he was slowly taking off the hairband that I put in his head because he lost the rock-paper-scissors game with me.
I taught him that.
"Thieves again?" I asked but this time, I don't have any worries with me. I now really trust Mr. Brown and Sir Coachman in handling them. But my smile faded when I got a different answer instead of a 'yes'.
Mr. Brown knocked the carriage and it made Sir Coachman stop it as if they were talking about that rule.
"Stay here. We need to identify this one. The person that is following us exudes greater mana compared to the others," Mr. Brown instructed me before heading out of the carriage and drawing his sword. I nodded my head in agreement.
Almost five minutes passed and he still wasn't able to come back nor did I hear any clashings of swords and bloody screaming.
I started shaking my legs impatiently. The quietness is building up the tension and is making me more nervous and anxious about what has happened.
I slowly drew the curtains side by side to see if I could see him but I could not. I needed to go out of the carriage in order to see the whole area.
"P-Princess, you mustn't—" Sir Coachman who was just right outside the carriage tried to stop me from going out but I already stepped foot on the ground. Good thing that I wasn't able to put on some corset in this princess-cy laced white simple dress because I can move freely.
"Where is Sir Gavian?" I asked him.
"What's taking him so long? Did he just get tired from all that sword fight with thieves and negotiate instead?" I joked and Sir Coachman stopped himself from wheezing.
"He's talking to some lady, Princess." Sir coachman composed himself first before he pointed the direction in my back, specifically, the back of the carriage. A path that we took earlier.
I looked at the direction he was pointing to and my eyes widened when I saw a familiar face. The moment we locked eyes, she screamed my name and ran in my direction with her horse that even Mr. Brown wasn't able to stop her.
"Princess Sina!" Lady Emilia called out. Her presence alone is already surprising but her outfit stood out. She's wearing a knight's armor.
"Lady Emilia, what are you doing here?" I asked in confusion.
"Princess, please bring me with you. You're headed to the second lair, right?" she said with pleading eyes.
"Lady Emilia, you should head back now. The Duke will be furious if he knows you'll come to the second lair," Mr. Brown stated as soon as he arrived in front of us.
"That's the reason why I am doing this," Lady Emilia said and started a brief explanation, "I was just behind the knights' back who were headed to the second lair when suddenly all of them split up. I heard that another dragon appeared in the first lair. I was so torn between directions. I don't know who to follow as they separated paths."
"But Lady—"
"Please, Princess! Or do you want me to spread a rumor that the princess went to the second lair with just a mere coachman and a... knight? Guard?" she said in such a grim voice. "What do you think, Prince? Wouldn't that cause turbulence in your engagement? The Princess of the West is being sent to her death by the Crown Prince of the East—"
"Fine, fine!"
"Yay!" This snake!
I considered her as my friend already but she still has some dark aura around her.
Mr. Brown looked worried but I nodded to him as a reassurance that everything would be fine. Lady Emilia once said to me that she's really good at swordsmanship, which will be an advantage in this journey.
"Allow me to take your horse, My Lady. Please take the carriage," Mr. Brown offered.
"O-Oh? How can I with this outfit? Such a disgrace to be with the Princess when I look like this," Lady Emilia said but I dragged her inside the carriage and before she could talk more, I gave her a warm smile.
"Don't worry. You're my friend after all," I said and slammed the carriage door leaving Lady Emilia in shock.
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