Chapter 141: Chapter 2. A new meeting

— Lady, bear with me a little longer. We will arrive at the place soon!

— Yes, it’s fine. I got it

I barely nodded my head when one of the knights accompanying the carriage addressed me. After making sure that I was okay, he pulled the curtain back and rode away, while I just sighed heavily.

The main character kept her promise and ordered her people to take me to a safe place until all the riots in the capital calmed down. Thus, I was now accompanied by a small squad of Imperial Army knights, each of whom was a trusted person of the second Princess.

We were heading to a place where I could calmly wait out all this unstable situation related to internecine hostility in the imperial family, and then decide on my own what to do next. In total, we have been on the road for a little more than two days.

The «safe» place that Jerica had previously told me about was none other than the residence of her trusted ally, which was located in a secluded area outside the capital. This ally was the wife of her mentor, who participated in the upbringing of the heroine since childhood and it was he who taught her how to wield a sword.

Unfortunately, the knight died before the middle of the main events of the novel, due to the fact that he fell out of favor with the main villain. Since then, his wife, who was also a close person to the second princess, had moved away from the capital as a widow and was now living a secluded life in their old estate. That’s where I was heading at the moment.

This place was one of the few where the Empress wouldn’t even think to look for me. More precisely, the woman did not even realize that her daughter could still maintain any ties with the widow of her deceased mentor. So, based on all the options, this one was the most reliable.

However, even though everything had turned out relatively well for me now, for some reason I still couldn’t stop worrying. And that worry wasn’t even related to saving my older brother.

Jerica de Ronan convinced me that she could definitely get this asshole safely out of her mother’s clutches. And based on her confidence, I also trusted her. Therefore, all my thoughts at the moment involuntarily turned out to be connected with the most unexpected aspect.

«Why... Why did the main villain decide to go to war right now?»

Now, when Kaena de Ronan was one step away from fulfilling the most cherished dream of her life, the woman suddenly made a choice in favor of abandoning all this and going to the battlefield. This could not but raise a lot of questions and doubts.

So what’s really going on?

In fact, I couldn’t even figure out what exactly was causing my anxiety. The insidious intentions of the villainess, which could be hidden behind this act of hers, or something else.

In any case...

At the moment when I was heaving a sigh again, digesting all these complicated thoughts in my head, the carriage suddenly swayed violently. Following this, there was a commotion outside and the sounds of metal blades touching, which indicated the beginning of some kind of massacre.

— Lady de Walt, be careful! We’re under attack! — I heard the shout of the commander of the squad accompanying me, and that alone made my heart skip a beat.

«....»

The atmosphere was truly tense.

A frightening feeling of deja vu instantly gripped me, because something similar had happened to me before. But this time, I couldn’t even immediately guess who exactly had made an attempt on my miserable life.

Holding my breath, I could only wait for the outcome of events.

Anyway, the whole mess outside didn’t last that long. The lull came soon, and it didn’t give me a good feeling at all. Just in case, I grabbed the blade of a sharp hairpin in my hair to have at least some opportunity to defend myself.

However, it soon became clear that I wouldn’t even need it.

That’s because this time, the door of my carriage swung open on its own with a loud bang. And the man who was standing outside in front of me turned out to be more than familiar to me. Just by looking at him, I involuntarily slowly lowered my hand with the hairpin. Just because I realized in advance that it would be useless.

— It’s been a long time, Lady de Walt.

The commander of the sixth division of the Dark Host and the right-hand man of the main villain, Jacob Osman, stiffly addressed me.

***

«Runny...? Is it really her?»

When the baron’s youngest son suddenly saw the girl, whose tragic fate had haunted him until now, right in front of him, at first he couldn’t even believe his eyes. Or rather, for a moment it even seemed to him that he was just imagining what was happening.

However...

A pretty girl with brown hair, who was ten meters away from him, also turned around at that moment and looked directly at Jeremy. The girl’s pupils widened, as if she was just as startled by this encounter. After a few moments, a phrase came out of her mouth:

«Y-young master...?»

«.....»

Jeremy Seibel, who was unable to find any words, just continued to remain silent and stare at her.

For a while, the two just stood in the crowd of passersby and looked at each other. Until, eventually, Runnie approached him first and started a conversation:

«My Lord, is that really you? But what are you doing here?»

— Runny... — Jeremy pronounced her name hoarsely, — Is that really you?

«Yes, my lord...»

— But how... How is this possible?! — The guy exclaimed in a daze, — Aren’t you... not...

The girl shuddered and shook her head with a faint smile.

«My Lord, I don’t think this is the right place to talk. Please, follow me.»

«....»

Although the guy himself had not fully recovered from everything that was happening, nevertheless, he did not say anything and only nodded, agreeing to follow the girl.

Eventually, they came to a modest dilapidated house that was located on the outskirts of the village. This house was so small that there was only one room where visitors could be received. And that’s where they’re located.

«My Lord, I’m sorry that I can’t even receive you properly,» Runny stammered guiltily, «I don’t live that well... I can only offer you tea and some snacks, if you don’t mind.

— no... It’s all right.

Jeremy shook his head, making it clear that he did not need any excesses, and what the girl offered him was already quite enough.

After they settled into the small central room at the tea table, the guy still couldn’t touch his cup of tea, so all his thoughts were hovering in his head in a chaotic way at the moment.

— Runny... May I know what you’re doing in this place?» That was the first question that came to his mind.

The maid, clutching her cup in her hands, replied with a smile:

«My Lord, do you remember when I told you that my father worked as a village teacher? So, this is the village where I grew up... After my dismissal, I decided to come back here.»

«Really? That’s a coincidence,» Jeremy said.

After all, when the guy chose a place for a temporary stop from the nearest residential settlements, he did not expect that it could turn out to be Runny’s home.

«It seems that this is indeed fate,» the former maid of the ice castle smiled faintly.

After hesitating, the baron’s youngest son finally asked the following question:

«Runny, but how is it possible that you’re here right now? Really... Weren’t you executed?»

At that moment, the girl looked down.

«Actually, I thought I was going to die then, too,» she said softly, «but... I was very surprised when Her Ladyship actually spared me.

«What...?» Jeremy Seibel asked in disbelief.

And then the maid told him her story.

As it turned out, on that fateful day, after she was imprisoned in the dungeon, Runny was really waiting for her imminent death. However, to her own surprise, things turned out to be completely different in the end. Selina de Loon did come to her cell, but not to take her life, but... Let her go.

Instead of being executed for her «crime,» the maid actually secretly left the ice residence that night. Instead, the Duchess deliberately faked her death with her magic, staging a performance to make it look that way in the eyes of everyone around her. But in fact, the girl left the castle unharmed.

After her escape from the north, Runny was supposed to be taken to a certain place in the south, where she could be reunited with her «beloved» Prince of the North. However, when the maid actually arrived there, there was no one else there. Based on this, the girl had not even the slightest idea about the future fate of her master and was worried about him, since they had not seen each other since both were arrested in the library.

In the end, unable to bear the weight of the guilt of the whole situation on her heart, Runnie even plucked up enough courage to return back to the north and explain everything to the Duchess. However... In the end, she never succeeded.

— It’s a ring... — the girl said guiltily, — I tried to return it to Her Ladyship, but she refused and said that if I didn’t need it, then I could just throw it away... But, of course, I couldn’t do that, because I knew how precious this relic of your family was to you. That’s why I kept this ring in the hope that one day I will be able to return it to you.

«...»

At the same time, Jeremy, who had been extremely distracted while listening to the maid’s story, roused himself and nodded his head.

«Is that so?» He muttered, «Then thank you for taking care of it...»

Jeremy looked at his late mother’s ring, lying on the table in front of him, with a thoughtful look.

«N-not worth it!» The maid protested immediately, «It was just my duty.

After Runnie finished telling the story of the events that had happened to her, there was silence in the room for a while. At the same time, the girl decided to interrupt her first. She remarked sheepishly:

«By the way, my lord, you were right then...»

What are you talking about?

Runny exclaimed excitedly:

— Do you remember saying that Her Ladyship is not what they say she is, and in fact her real identity may differ from the rumors? So, after all this, I was really able to make sure of it!

«.....»

After these words of the maid, Jeremy Seibel involuntarily shuddered and looked down again.

The maid, meanwhile, continued:

«At Her Ladyship’s... Her Ladyship really has a big heart. I wouldn’t have even thought about it before.»

— hm.

«But what about you, my lord? How did you end up here?»

— Well, I guess it’s going to be an even longer story...» The guy chuckled softly.

— I understand, — Runny nodded, — It seems that you had to go through a lot of difficulties.

— I guess that’s true.

«But, my lord...» The maidservant spoke uncertainly again, «Regarding your relationship with Her Ladyship...

The baron’s youngest son’s heart involuntarily skipped a beat.

«What are you talking about?» he asked slowly.

— Really... — Runni stammered, — Is it really over between you now? Are you really unable to reconcile?

— ...

Jeremy Seibel opened his mouth and closed it the next moment. That’s because this question was probably one of the most difficult he had ever received in his life. And what kind of answer can there be...?

In any case...

«Really... Could I really have made such a mistake?» The thought kept nagging at him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read