TER𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

lX

.𖥔 ݁ ˖₊˚✩.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ᰔᩚ.ᰔᩚ ⭑. ݁ ˖₊˚✩.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑
A Fancy Prison

After a welcome break, Viola returned to her carriage. As soon as she closed the door, however, she heard it lock from the outside. Then, all the windows were covered with a thick cloth, as if trapping her inside wasn’t enough already.

“What’s going on?” Viola asked, quickly becoming on edge at the situation.

“I don’t know,” Rosha replied anxiously. “They said we should never look outside the carriage from now on.”

The two women, who were suddenly trapped in their carriage, did not understand what was happening.

“Truthfully, I worked at a restaurant before this,” Rosha started after a while. “It was mainly patronized by mercenaries, and I heard a lot of strange rumors.”

Viola was sure Rosha was privy to some valuable information. She tightly clutched the skirt of her dress.

“If you know anything,” she leveled her tone carefully at the younger girl, “tell me everything, because I’m ready to listen.”

Rosha gulped down the dry saliva in her mouth.

“In the past, there was a Crown Princess Candidate who had run away. She had already become a concubine, but she fled with another man without anyone knowing. They say that she thought she escaped, but in reality she was captured almost instantly.”

The anxious girl paused for a moment before continuing.

“The knight who had greeded for the concubine had his head cut off, and she was locked up in an abandoned castle and not allowed to come out for the rest of her life. Her servants and attendants were also sent to the guillotine. I couldn’t believe more than 30 people died because one concubine ran away…”

“What? Come to think of it, they also retrieved Guinev’s knight as a corpse, didn’t they? I can’t help but think that merciless killing is a custom for them…”

To think they killed so many people because she ran away. Viola’s heart only became heavier. If the rumors were true, then the leader of the knights must have taken her map to prevent her from running away later.

“There is no way the same fate will happen to us, so don’t be worried. I won’t run away, because I’ll get kicked out after the training period, instead—”

The horses then started galloping at full power. Their carriage shook with such force that their bottoms were in pain. Viola’s whole body could feel how fast they were going, and she could hear the swift whizzing of wind in her ear. Perhaps it was because they had strayed from their original route and the current road now had rougher terrain to traverse, but her head would touch the ceiling whenever the wheels bounced. Viola held Rosha’s hand as the latter screamed in terror.

They traveled like this for hours. The carriage, which had been hurtling forward nonstop, suddenly came to a halt. Then, the carriage door, which had been tightly locked the entire time, squeaked open as the horses whinnied in exhaustion.

“We’re here. Please come out, princess.”

“Where are all the servants?”

“… Well…”

No welcoming party came to greet them, even though they knew ahead of time that Viola’s carriage had arrived. The dark-eyed knight who led them all the way had vanished, and there was no sign of a single attendant from the palace. Viola felt that something was wrong, but she straightened her back and just waited.