Royal Rose (Jensoo Version)

Chapter-43

Soojin POV

I ran as fast as I could, I could hear and feel my boots hitting the pavement.

I saw at least eight Longford knights guarding the front of the castle doors, which is rather unusual. We usually only have two.

This kingdom is relatively peaceful and the only reason to have knights stationed is for protection from the outside, not from the inside.

The moment I saw them, I knew something
was wrong.

I ran towards the forest looking for the trained women. I saw two of them fitting their armor and signaled for them.

They ran and stopped right in front of me. "Run to your posts and make sure no one gets inside the gates. We don't want any more knights from the Longfords coming in" I instructed, then watched them nod their heads before running towards the gates.

I looked back and saw all the women walking towards me with anticipation.

I looked at the brave women in front of me "This is it. I know we went through with this plan a hundred times over, so I trust every single one of you to execute it flawlessly, but I'll remind you again. Don't leave your partner. Whatever happens, stay together. Our strength is in our numbers. Go to your posts and take out as many knights as you can silently"! I saw them all nod with determination in their eyes.

"War is never easy, so let's make this as painless as we can" I looked at the armor-clad women standing in front of me with eagerness written all over their faces. "I've never seen a braver group like the one I have now, let's take back this kingdom and show them who it belongs to" I smiled as the women cheered

I nodded and signaled them to go. I took a deep breath and watched them run towards their posts.

I've been to war several times, but I've never been this anxious about everyone's safety. Maybe it's because they weren't trained from a young age like the men were.

They've been through hell with our training and I've never been prouder of their accomplishments, but the anxiety is still creeping.

I turned and saw Soojoo looking at me waiting with her sword loosely wrapped around her hand.

I walked towards her and wrapped my hand around hers to guide her hand tighter on the sword. When I looked up she was staring at me as the redness on her cheeks crept up.

She looked away then I cleared my throat to alleviate the awkwardness.

"Stay close to me", I finally said and led both of us to the back of the forest, passing by trees that are so tall that they block the sunlight that made our surroundings eerie.

The forest led us to the open area of the kingdom and saw two knights standing around.

I hid behind a tree and signaled Soojoo to stay quiet. She nodded and hid behind the other tree across mine.

One of the guards sat on the ground with a huff. "What do you think is happening inside? Lucky assholes get to watch everything unfold" he complained.

Another knight scoffed "Would've been much easier if they just burned this place down, all their knights are in our kingdom anyway. Just kidnap the princess and leave. Prince Kai is obsessed with dramatics."

The other one laughed "You got that right, it's going to get him killed someday when he pissed the wrong person"

I looked at Soojoo and nodded. I slowly crept behind the knight, pulled out my knife, sliced his neck, and watched him fall to the ground. The blood gushed and painted the grass surrounding him.