🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 5
Having made up her mind to head for the Grand Duchy of Astrian, Eleanor set out at daybreak.
Together with Sharmel and her escort knight, Sir Ranster, she first arrived at a village a day and a half away from Baron Ricardo’s territory.
After a brief rest there, they purchased a carriage and resumed their journey.
On the fifteenth day after their departure, they reached a vast forest.
A full day after entering its shadowy depths, while they were resting, Sharmel suddenly began searching frantically.
“My lady! Lady Eleanor! Sir Ranster! Have you seen my lady?”
“Isn’t she in the carriage?”
When Tiana returned from briefly scouting the area, Sharmel hurriedly questioned her. Tiana’s brow furrowed immediately.
“Where in the world did she go now…? Honestly, the moment I take my eyes off her, she vanishes.”
“I’ll go look for her. She may return while I’m gone, so stay here.”
“Understood.”
Tiana strode into the forest without hesitation, while Sharmel anxiously paced around the carriage.
Meanwhile…
“Where exactly do I go to get back to the carriage?”
Eleanor, who had merely intended to take a short walk, was now hopelessly lost among overgrown shrubs that reached above her knees.
“Hmm?”
As she pushed through the brush, something suddenly caught beneath her foot.
Startled, she stepped back.
…What was that?
Tilting her head, she cautiously took another step forward—
Squish.
A soft, sickening sensation pressed beneath her shoe.
“What did I just—”
She glanced downward.
And screamed.
“KYAAAAAH—!!”
Flap! Flap! Flap!
Birds exploded into the air in fright, scattering from nearby trees.
Not far away, Tiana immediately turned and sprinted toward the sound.
W-What is this?!
“A c-corpse…! I stepped on a corpse…!”
Too horrified to even stand, Eleanor scrambled backward on all fours, desperately trying to crawl away.
Then—
Her stiff neck turned.
And she saw it.
The corpse…
Was gripping her ankle.
“KYAAAAAAH—!!”
“My lady!”
“S-Sir Ranster!”
At Eleanor’s second shriek, Ranster came rushing in.
Tears brimming in her eyes, Eleanor shakily pointed.
“My lady, what happened?!”
“T-That corpse…! It grabbed my ankle…!”
“…What?”
Ranster immediately swept the trembling Eleanor into his arms and looked where she pointed.
A blond man.
He was lying unconscious on the ground—
And his hand had indeed wrapped around Eleanor’s ankle.
As Ranster moved to rise, Eleanor clutched his clothing in terror, tears dangling from her lashes as she shook her head wildly.
“It’s alright.”
Gently reassuring her, he carefully pried the man’s hand away and examined him.
“…He’s still alive.”
“R-Really?!”
“Yes. Alive.”
“…I thought a corpse grabbed me! I nearly died of fright!”
Relief flooded Eleanor’s chest.
Then, after nervously glancing around, she grabbed a nearby branch.
“…My lady?”
Poke.
Poke poke.
She began jabbing the unconscious man repeatedly with the stick.
“My lady! What are you doing?!”
Tiana stared in utter disbelief before quickly grabbing Eleanor’s arm.
“Is he really alive? Then why isn’t he moving?”
If he’s alive, shouldn’t he react?!
“…Were you checking that by poking him with a stick?”
“Well, compared to how badly he scared me, this is nothing. Besides, what if I touch him and he grabs me again? A stick is safer.”
“….”
Honestly.
Fair point.
“We should return to the carriage.”
“But you said he’s alive. Can’t we just leave him here?”
“…That would be best.”
Tiana’s voice turned firm.
“If he ended up like this because he was attacked, then getting involved could put you in danger. My duty is your safety.”
“But if we leave a living person here, and he dies when we could’ve saved him… isn’t that basically killing him?”
Tiana frowned.
“My lady. You are a woman. It is better not to involve yourself in dangerous matters.”
I don’t want danger either.
But if I leave him here and he dies…
What if he appears in my dreams asking why I abandoned him?!
Ugh—just imagining it is terrifying!
“I’m dressed as a man anyway,” Eleanor muttered. “As long as you and Sharmel stop calling me ‘my lady,’ no one would know.”
“No.”
Tiana answered immediately.
“If anyone mistakes you for a man, then their eyes are clearly broken.”
“…What?”
“Even dressed like that, you do not look like a man. At all. You simply look like a woman wearing men’s clothes.”
“…That’s cruel.”
Eleanor sighed dramatically.
Then she turned back toward the unconscious stranger.
“Sir Ranster… If we leave him behind, I really don’t think I’ll sleep properly again.”
Because if he dies and comes back to haunt me—
Nope.
Absolutely not.
Ranster let out a long, resigned breath.
“…Very well. But only until we reach the next village.”
“Okay!”
Right.
Once they found a doctor or healer, they could hand him over.
After that?
Not my problem.
…Or so Eleanor thought.
At the time, she had no idea just how deeply she would come to regret this choice.
If only she had remembered how Eleanor from the novel first met the Emperor…
Perhaps she could have left him behind.
…No.
Even if she had remembered, she probably still couldn’t have abandoned a dying man.
A life was a life.
She would only learn who he truly was after meeting Grand Duke Einhardt’s party.
And then—
The erased memory would return.
The most important fact of all:
She did not know the Emperor’s face.
In the novel, Eleanor had saved the Emperor near Baron Ricardo’s territory after he was attacked by assassins.
But this place—
Was nowhere near Ricardo lands.
Ren was patting his white horse, preparing to mount, when Kyle approached from behind.
“Get some rest. How many days has it been since you last slept properly?”
Ren didn’t even look back.
“You speak of rest so easily. Everything happening here is my responsibility, Kyle.”
“I’ll take responsibility. Winterfencer and Crenti Forest fall under my domain as Duke Ridevain.”
“This is Astrian territory.”
Kyle fell silent.
He understood exactly what Ren meant.
This was the domain of the Grand Duchy of Astrian.
And thus—
The ultimate responsibility fell to Ren.
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Kyle snapped. “We already contacted Duke Philemon’s house. Even Allen came. The knights are searching.”
“And the captured assassins?”
“They won’t talk. Stubborn bastards.”
Another voice joined in.
“You running yourself ragged won’t magically make him appear.”
Ren and Kyle turned.
A platinum-blond young man and a red-haired one stood there.
Ludwig.
Isaac.
“Did you investigate where those birds suddenly flew up earlier?” Ren asked.
“I already sent knights.”
“…How many days has it been since you’ve properly slept?” Ludwig cut in sharply.
“At a time like this, sleeping would be absurd.”
Ren’s expression darkened.
The Emperor had disappeared.
Not just anyone—
His Majesty himself.
After an assassination attempt.
How could he possibly sleep?
“I’m not telling you to sleep peacefully,” Ludwig shot back. “I’m saying I’m worried too. He’s your cousin, but he’s mine too!”
“He is not merely my cousin!”
Ren’s voice cracked like steel.
“He is His Majesty the Emperor!”
“And your life matters too, idiot!”
“Enough.”
Isaac stepped between them.
“Fighting here helps no one.”
Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Isaac’s right. Stop it, Ruby.”
Ludwig’s eye twitched.
“Kyle… You know I hate that nickname.”
Kyle grinned.
“But ‘Ruby’ suits you.”
“Call me Ludwig, you bastard!”
Before the argument could continue—
Ren suddenly narrowed his gaze.
A knight was riding toward them at full speed.
“Kyle. That knight—”
“One of Sir Killian’s men. From where the birds scattered.”
The knight leapt off his horse and knelt.
“Report! We discovered a suspicious carriage. One female knight, one man, and one maid—three individuals total. They are resisting inspection.”
“Where?”
“Five kilometers from here.”
“I’m going.”
Ren mounted instantly.
“Your Highness—!”
But Ren was already gone.
Kyle cursed and chased after him.
The others followed close behind.
Eleanor was in an extremely foul mood.
A one-eyed knight wearing an eyepatch, along with four armed knights, had suddenly appeared and were treating them like criminals.
They had insisted they were harmless travelers.
No one believed them.
Instead, the knights kept demanding to search the carriage.
Eleanor’s nerves frayed.
Should she show them the unconscious man inside?
…No.
What if they viewed him as a threat and killed him?
Or worse—
Silenced all of them too?
Still…
They couldn’t keep resisting forever.
Neighhh—
At the sound of approaching horses, Eleanor cautiously peeked out from behind Ranster and Sharmel.
A white horse stopped.
A silver-haired young man dismounted in one fluid motion.
Then more riders arrived behind him in rapid succession.
“Are these the ones?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
…Your Highness?
Eleanor craned her neck farther—
And met his gaze.
Silver hair.
Sharp eyes.
An overwhelmingly commanding presence.
“Sir Killian,” he said, “didn’t you report there was a man among them?”
“I did not say that.”
…What?
“Um… could you maybe just let us go?” Eleanor called carefully from behind her protectors. “We’re already exhausted enough as it is.”
“Doesn’t seem to be any man here.”
“…Excuse me?”
The silver-haired man looked directly at her.
Then his lips curved slightly.
“Even I can tell that’s a woman in men’s clothing.”
“….”
“…Or rather, simply a woman wearing men’s clothes.”
“….”
Why did everyone keep saying that?!
“Pardon me,” he continued calmly, “but may we inspect the carriage?”
“No! Why?!”
“We are searching for someone. Once we confirm no one is inside, we will let you pass.”
Eleanor puffed out her cheeks.
“Why should I?”
“If you have nothing to hide, then surely cooperation is reasonable.”
Ugh.
She hated how logical that sounded.
“See?” Sharmel muttered. “This is why Sir Ranster said we should’ve left him.”
“But he was alive!”
The moment those words left her mouth—
Ren’s gaze sharpened.
Immediately, he signaled his knights.
Ranster was restrained.
Eleanor and Sharmel were pulled back.
Before Eleanor could stop them—
Ren flung open the carriage door.
And froze.
Inside lay the unconscious blond man.
“Your Majesty!”
“…What?”
“His Majesty?!”
The air changed instantly.
Every knight’s face paled.
Eleanor’s blood ran cold.
“…W-What did you just say?”
His Majesty?
…No way.
No.
No no no no no.
Her mind raced frantically.
Think.
How did Eleanor first meet Emperor Klian Questello Lun Roland in the novel?!
And then—
She remembered.
Near Baron Ricardo’s territory.
After an assassination attempt.
Eleanor had saved him.
But this wasn’t Baron Ricardo’s territory.
Then why—
Why was the Emperor here?!
“This… this can’t be…”
Eleanor’s voice trembled.
“This isn’t right… He shouldn’t be here…”
Her unstable whisper was barely audible.
Barely.
And yet—
Ren heard it.
His gaze slowly turned toward her.
