Chapter 144 He took off his dark gray hood, revealing...
Two days later, we finally arrived at my private royal city.
Our pursuers arrived with us.
But fortunately, my royal guards had spotted me. I raised my robe high to them, bearing my seal tied with Beatrice's hair tie.
The golden seal gleamed in the sun.
The royal city gates opened immediately, and a large contingent of guards rushed out, heading towards us, who were heavily surrounded by King Midan's army.
Beatrice and I rode our horses, charging forward through the narrow path cleared by the guards, using the last of our strength to rush into the royal city.
As we entered, the royal guards quickly retreated, and when the last few guards rode in, the royal gates were slammed shut with a loud crash.
It rained heavily that day, and a strong wind blew. If Atreus and I had been a step slower, we wouldn't have been able to rush in so quickly and would have fallen into King Midan's hands. It was a very dangerous situation!
I stood by the glass window of the simple palace room, watching thousands of threads fall from the sky, and the leaves swaying wildly in the strong wind, and I felt a chill of fear.
After escaping the disaster, I was exhausted but dared not sleep, fearing I would be captured if I fell asleep. Artie, however, was already asleep in my room. She was still a little girl, utterly exhausted and unable to bear it any longer; she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, oblivious to her fear.
After standing by the window for a while, I sat down in the rocking chair in front of the fireplace. The weather here is slightly different from that in the Royal City. Although it is summer, the temperature drops to about ten degrees Celsius when the sun goes down or when it is windy and rainy, making it suitable for lighting a fireplace.
The old maid who lit the fireplace for me smiled and said, "The weather here is very changeable. Even in summer, it can be cool in the mornings and evenings, especially at night, when it can suddenly get as cold as the freezing rain season."
I nodded. She lit the fireplace for me, served me a pot of warm tea and a plate of pastries, and then respectfully left.
I haven't had a chance to meet the chief steward and senior officers here yet. I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally, and have no energy to deal with them.
After finishing my tea and pastries, I lay on the rocking chair with my eyes half-closed, unable to fall asleep. I figured it was better to rest than to be wide awake and filled with fear.
He squinted until midnight, finally feeling sleepy, and went to bed to sleep with Beatrice. He closed his eyes and fell asleep immediately.
I woke up in the evening; the sun had just set, and the fireplace was lit again. Beatrice was sitting in the rocking chair I had sat in the night before, reading a book. The chair swayed slightly, and she seemed somewhat absent-minded.
"Oh, you're awake, sister." Beatrice put down her book and rushed to my side. "Get up quickly, the Royal Governor and senior generals have been waiting for you in the council chamber for a long time."
I quickly washed up, changed my clothes, gathered my long hair into a common court hairstyle, and applied light makeup in front of the mirror to make myself look less disheveled before going to the royal council chamber with Beatrice.
The palace steward and senior generals were both old men with rather fierce faces, but they seemed experienced and shrewd. Upon seeing me, they gave me a simple bow, took out a map, and said directly to me, "Madam, we won't stand on ceremony. The situation is urgent."
“Speak.” I sat down at the round table, with them seated to the sides: a steward and three senior generals. Beatrice stood behind my chair so she could easily see the map.
“King Midan has surrounded us on two sides,” the old steward said, pointing to two locations on the map. “The other two sides are bordered by a lake on one side and mountains on the other. It’s difficult for them to come over, but it’s also difficult for us to get out. And if this goes on for too long, they can also cross the lake and mountains to attack us.”
“Although our lake is teeming with ferocious fish and the mountain roads are extremely treacherous,” said the oldest senior general, standing up. “they still have ways to overcome these challenges, given enough time to prepare.”
“But we currently only have four thousand elite soldiers in the city, plus your three thousand private soldiers, for a total of seven thousand troops. How could we possibly withstand King Midan’s ten thousand troops?” Another slightly younger senior general said. “These ten thousand troops are already on their way. I heard that King Midan has vowed to capture you this time, and it is possible that he will send another ten thousand troops to reinforce you until the royal city is captured.”
The third, youngest senior general also stood up and said, "Prince Bennott cannot come to your rescue. We just received news this morning that King Midian threatened the King of the East with the cancellation of several important trade agreements, demanding that he keep his son in check and not interfere in the internal affairs of the West. The King of the East then placed Prince Bennott under house arrest and took control of most of Prince Bennott's forces."
I sat upright in my chair, and after a long while, I finally said, "It seems that these trade agreements are quite important, that even the King of the Eastern Territory has to get involved."
"I've heard that trade projects related to the national economy and people's livelihood are very important," the chief steward replied.
"So," I said slowly, "King Midian is determined to kill me?"
I took a deep breath and said nothing more as I walked out of the hall. The old steward's words drifted over again, "But there is good news. You don't need to worry about your daughter, Princess Anleia. The Elf King has sent an envoy to pick her up, and King Midan has written to the Elf King, assuring him that he will not harm her. King Midan is not foolish enough to be an enemy of the Elf King."
I paused for a moment. "This is indeed good news."
It was my mistake that I couldn't take her with me when I ran away, but I really had no choice. I was in a precarious situation and couldn't go back to the nursery to take her out. In my haste, I could only run away with Beatrice. Fortunately, she was alright.
My nose stung terribly, and I almost burst into tears. In fact, tears did fall, but thankfully they were silent...
The torrential rain from yesterday has long since stopped, but the wind hasn't stopped. The wind is still blowing very hard, making the leaves rustle. As I walked through the open corridor, my hair was blown loose and floated in the air in bits and pieces.
I started having sleepless nights again, staying in the library, looking through all the official documents about King Midian from previous years, and finding all the information about King Midian, trying to find out what his weaknesses were and how to defeat him in one fell swoop.
“I can’t send an assassin. First, he’s very shrewd, and second, I don’t have anyone that capable.” I sighed. “I haven’t been here long enough to cultivate a deep network, so I don’t have any connections. I also can’t plant a spy next to King Midan, just like he poisoned Haiya. I’ll poison him too.”
Hmm, Hya… A slight thought crossed my mind.
“I think you should give up on the assassin thing,” Beatrice said, sitting at another table and looking through information about King Midian. “King Midian is naturally vigilant and shrewd, with a strong sense of crisis about his own safety. He won’t let the assassin succeed easily.”
"So how do we turn things around?" I asked.
“I don’t know.” Beatrice flipped through the documents. “But I know I won’t die. I’ve lived this long with great difficulty, and I don’t want to die so soon. I will definitely live.”
"Yes, you will live," I murmured as I walked out of the library.
It was already past midnight, and it started raining again. Coupled with a fierce wind, it was incredibly cold. I was shivering all over, but fortunately, the old maid put a thick coat on me in time.
I wrapped myself in a thick coat and hurried back to my room. After showering, I tried to take a nap, but I still couldn't fall asleep, so I stayed awake until dawn—another sleepless night.
Early in the morning, before I had even had breakfast, I heard that King Midian's army of ten thousand had arrived.
"They've completely surrounded the east and west sides, but the south and north sides can't be surrounded because they're near the lake and backed by mountains," the oldest senior general told me.
I nodded and said, "Move the main forces to the east and west, and defend them to the death if necessary."
The old senior general looked at me and sighed, "City Lord, it seems they don't intend to attack the city. Instead, they will defend it to the death until there is no rice or water left in our city. In order to avoid starving to death, they will have no choice but to open the city gates and then wipe us out."
I froze, terrified, and could no longer speak.
As the senior general prepared to leave the council chamber, I spoke again: "How long can we hold out?"
"About a month."
I started frantically trying to find a solution, working day and night with the three generals to figure out how to break through the siege, and also holding meetings with the chief steward and other officials to discuss how to deal with King Midan.
But the endless research and meetings did not solve our problem, and we were still at a loss.
Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye, and I have a splitting headache. I really don't know what to do.
That midnight, I slept for only two or three hours before getting up to look through some documents. There was a knock on the door, and Beatrice appeared outside. "Sister, you have a distinguished guest."
Distinguished guest? What distinguished guest do I have? And how did they get in? I was utterly shocked.
Before I could even react, a tall, muscular figure wearing a dark gray hooded coat appeared beside Beatrice.
Without a second thought, he took off his dark gray hood, revealing a handsome face and a head of dazzling silver-blue hair.
Amber-colored starry eyes, a high and elegant Roman nose, and a graceful and beautiful face—it was Manberia.
I covered my mouth to prevent myself from screaming immediately.
Why would he come?! My mind went blank for several seconds.
I've almost forgotten him. I've rarely thought of him since we fell out in the North. The panic and helplessness I felt when he abandoned me in the freezing cold is still unforgettable.
“As expected of a distinguished guest,” I finally said. “I apologize for not being able to properly entertain you.”
“No need,” Mamboya flashed his signature roguish smile again. “We’re old friends, there’s no need for any hospitality!”
"You've come here to..." I said slowly.
"Why do you think I'm here?" Manberia suddenly strode closer to me, so close that I had to take a few steps back.
"Did you come to lend a helping hand because you heard that your old friend is in trouble?" I smiled and said, "If that's the case, I'm very grateful. If there's any need for alliances or cooperation in the future, I'll do my best to achieve it."
His eyes sparkled, and he laughed heartily. "What old friend? You're overthinking it. I don't have an old friend like you. I don't need any alliance with you. I just want you to be with me."
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