Chapter 4: I’m Back
The carriage they took from Nova broke down before they even crossed the border. The assassins were relentless, forcing Adeline to change carriages seven times. At one point, an arrow finally pierced her shoulder. Yet she couldn’t rest or stop; her wound kept reopening due to her constant movement. The tension prevented her from falling asleep, so she endured the pain alone. But it didn’t matter much. She could bear it all, for she was a viper. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“I’d rather cry. Cry loudly! Scream and throw things!”
Those were the words spoken by the king of the enemy country, Nova, during a time when she had become addicted to alcohol, drinking it daily without realizing it was poison. Despite the excruciating pain each drink brought, she smiled. The king grew furious and forced her to take a sleeping pill, but she merely laughed like a fool and fell asleep.
It was a time when her life oscillated between despair and survival, when she cursed herself for being in her bed every time she opened her eyes. Yet she had not died. How could a life that endured so much be destroyed by a single arrow?
“Princess! Aaa… Princess, are you awake? I’m so glad!”
When Adeline opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the maid’s tear-streaked face. She blinked her watery eyes twice, instinctively trying to discern whose bed she was lying in.
“I rented a farmhouse nearby. This is the closest place. And… there…”
The maid’s hesitant expression was familiar—an unsettling mix of fear and excitement.
Adeline instinctively knew that the Lion King was present.
“Adeline.” A low voice echoed from not far away, a deep timbre that resonated even through the pouring rain. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
The spirit that had been floating in the air suddenly found its rightful place. Adeline narrowed her eyes and barely managed to open her mouth. She spoke the thought that had crossed her mind just before she lost consciousness.
“Who told you to call someone else’s name like that?”
A cracked voice escaped her lips.
The Lion King fell silent for a moment before moving closer to her side.
He finally came into view.
Adeline let out a long sigh as she lay down. Indeed, he was the kind of man who could provoke her anger even amidst her pain. Before losing consciousness, she recalled the moment their eyes had met through the open door of the carriage. For a fleeting second, she wondered if her agony was so intense that she was merely imagining him standing before her. In that moment, he felt like an unreal presence.
The Lion King, now without his waterproof coat, looked a hundred times more impressive. He towered tall enough to reach the doorframe, with wide, straight shoulders and sand-colored skin that shimmered like a lion basking under the desert sun.
But what struck her most were his eyes.
Adeline had never encountered such pure, wild green before. They were like a primordial forest, untouched and forbidden. It was a deep, primitive greenness, reminiscent of a thriving undergrowth that beckoned exploration but remained inaccessible. He seemed flawless, a being who could never be within her reach. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Without exchanging names, without inquiring about each other’s identities. Isn’t this what you decided to do?”
It was an unspoken agreement reached in silence, with little discussion.
Adeline muttered helplessly, “It is.”
Thunder rumbled outside.
“What about the assassins?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“They’re all dead.”
The Lion King spoke in a dry tone, as if stating a simple fact.
The capital was just around the corner. Those assassins had likely been the last wave of attacks, appearing with a force unlike anything before, but their opponent was this man.
Adeline felt a renewed sense of awe at the mythical strength of the Lion King, a legend whispered about in Nova and Marma.
“What about the other knights?” she asked again, knowing Richard was likely alive and inquiring about the remaining knights. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
The Lion King replied indifferently, “Everyone is alive.”
That was a bit of a shame. Adeline’s lips twitched in a mix of disappointment and irony. The painting of her current situation would have been far more dramatic if everyone had perished alongside the assassins. After all, they were the ones constantly keeping an eye on her, merely because they were her escorts.
“Where am I? How far to the capital…?” she began, her voice faint and shaky.
“Listen to me first.”
The Lion King’s deep voice cut through her words with an unexpected authority. He reached out, his large, long fingers hovering above her shoulder, pointing to the bandage that was wrapped around her wound. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
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