Chapter 53
The Duke’s words were true. As if guiding them, the glowing stone was headed somewhere.
It came to a halt in the woods to the north. There, tied to a rope and surrounded by a pack of wolves, lay Allen and his companions.
“Sir Iselle.”
Allen and the princess’s nanny saw him and called out his name at the same time. At that moment, a wolf lunged at the nanny.
“Aaaah!”
Just as the sharp teeth were about to tear the nanny’s throat out, Iselle drew his sword and slashed the wolf’s head off. Rosie swung the torch she was carrying wildly, chasing the wolves away.
But the wolves were too many for them to handle. There were more than twenty wolves, and only Iselle could fight them properly.
Just as she was thinking that she should call for help, the wolves suddenly stopped moving. For some reason, their ears folded back and their fur began to shake.
-wooo!
The wolves let out a low howl and shrank back. Rosie knew what it meant. It was the cry of a frightened animal. But she couldn’t tell what had frightened it.
Rosie soon realized that the wolves’ eyes were all focused on the glowing stone in the air. Wild animals are naturally afraid of fire, but the emotion these animals were displaying now was beyond that, more like extreme fear. The wolves’ tails dragging on the ground as they struggled to get down showed their fear.
Then the wolves turned and ran. Rosie watched in disbelief as the wolves disappeared into the dark woods, and for once, she breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t make sense, but it was a relief nonetheless.
“Are you okay?” Rosie untied the nanny’s ropes first; she was covered in wolf blood and shivering. She was too old for this. Rosie felt sorry for her, as she had a nanny of similar age.
“It’s okay now, the Duke is here.”
Iselle walked over to the nanny. “Nanny, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
The Duke’s voice was gentle, something Rosie hadn’t heard since she’d met him. The way he looked at the nanny was also extremely warm. He even took her trembling hand in his own.
“Now that I’m here, you can relax. I’ll take care of everything about the princess.”
“Sir Iselle. Sob…” The nanny cried and hugged him, and he hugged her back.
Rosie watched the scene with her mouth open. She felt like she knew why the nanny had been speaking so fondly of the Duke all this time, praising him for being such a sweetheart.
Meanwhile, everyone else had been released from their ropes. As soon as Allen was free, he pounded the ground with his fists and spewed harsh words. “I’ll kill that chieftain! I’ll never leave that son of a bitch alone!”
Rosie’s eyes suddenly became dark. If even Allen was coming out like this, her tribe would have a hard time escaping their wrath.
Allen leapt to his feet and bowed deeply to Iselle. “I apologize, Sir Iselle. I really have nothing to say to you.”
“I’ve gotten the gist of the story. Allen, do you know anything about what happened to the princess after she was kidnapped?”
Allen shook his head vigorously. “Of course not, I’ve been locked in a cell ever since.”
Iselle’s gaze shifted to Rosie this time.
Rosie bit her lip, still. “I don’t know anything either. I tried to get someone to find out about the princess, but there was no information flowing from my father’s side.”
Rosie added hastily. “B- but the fact that my father has kept them alive this long is surely proof that the princess is safe. If something had happened to her, my father would have killed them as soon as he heard about it, because that would have destroyed the evidence. The reason he tried to kill them so suddenly today is probably because he was worried that the duke would find out about it. Dead men tell no tales.”
“…In that case, I have no choice but to ask the chieftain himself.”
Iselle reached for the stone in midair, the light immediately dimming at his touch.
He turned to Rosie and ordered, “I need to see your father right now.”
***
Lagetti looked across the table at the Duke. Even though he was sitting on equal footing with him, he felt like he was being tortured. His body was shaking involuntarily.
Around him stood the knights he had brought with him and the princess’s companions. They were now staring at him as if they could tear him apart at any moment.
They had burst into his room in the middle of the night, and the moment he saw that Allen, whom he had thrown to the wolves, was still alive and well, he realized that the Duke had come here already knowing everything.
The Duke had only brought a few knights with him, so he could have killed or imprisoned them all in front of him if he wanted to.
But since the Duke made his public appearance yesterday, it would be impossible to do so secretly. If he went missing, Hezen would send someone, and they’d all be found out anyway.
Lagetti squeezed his eyes shut. Still, there is one more chance, one more chance.
“P- please save me.”
He slid down from his chair and knelt at the Duke’s feet. “I will do anything to help rescue the princess, but please, just this once, turn a blind eye to this.”
The Duke, sitting cross-legged, looked down at him expressionlessly.
Lagetti lifted his head slightly and glanced at the Duke. “As it is, if word gets out that the princess has been kidnapped, you are the one who will be in the most trouble. No good can come from a blemish on a bride who is not yet married, and that goes for the princess as well…”
“How dare you say that!”
Before Lagetti could finish his sentence, Allen bellowed. Iselle stopped him with an arm as he approached Lagetti fiercely. “Calm down, stay still.”
Allen didn’t dare to disobey the Duke’s command, instead slamming his arm against the wall. Lagetti swallowed a groan as the wall cracked slightly and dust flew. If Duke hadn’t stopped Allen, he would have been lying on the floor by now.
“I- I apologize. I had no ill intentions. I was just saying that you’re a wise man, and I’m sure you know what’s best for the princess by now. Think about it. The best thing for you to do right now is to quietly rescue the princess and take her back to Lysa, don’t you think?”
This time, Allen could only grit his teeth. Lysa is a nation that values honor. If word got out that the princess had been kidnapped and molested by barbarians, the scandal would follow her for the rest of her life.
“Sir Iselle, the chieftain is right.”
The nanny’s eyes were suddenly red. She dabbed at her tears with her handkerchief, pleading with Iselle. “It’s not enough to beat this man to death, but I can’t let the princess be judged by others for the rest of her life. You know, Sir Iselle, how soft-hearted and vulnerable our princess is…”
The princess grew up in the royal palace, loved by her family her whole life, so much so that she was hardly ever seen in public. The nanny’s heart sank at the thought of all the nasty rumors that would cling to her.
Lagetti saw the nanny’s comment as an opportunity to speak up. “Duke, you must know this first. Do you know why Nazar Quat did this? The truth is, I kidnapped his mother a long time ago, and she dared to scar my face. I lost my temper and threw her to the slaves, and for the rest of her life, a dirty rumor followed her, that she had slept with a slave. That’s why she ended up hanging herself. A normal woman would never endure such a scandal. Let alone a princess– Argh!”
Allen finally lost his patience and kicked Lagetti. “Shut that mouth of yours before I cut off your filthy tongue!”
Lagetti fell flat on the floor and begged, “I’m sorry. I am sorry. I just wanted to let you know that rumors are a hard burden for a woman to bear…”
“The one good thing is that the princess is not only safe, but she’s doing well,” he added shakily, tears streaming down his face.
Allen gritted his teeth. “You expect me to believe that now? You’re lying just to get out of this somehow.”
“I’m serious. It’s a letter sent to me by a spy planted in the Quat tribe. Read it.”
He pulled a scrawled note from his chest. Allen snatched it up, read it, and handed it to Iselle.
“Maybe it’s not a lie.”
The news was scrawled on a small piece of cloth dangling from the pigeon’s leg. It said that the Quat chieftain had taken her as his bride instead of seeking the same revenge, and that he had recently ordered a number of expensive items for her.
“For whatever reason, the princess doesn’t seem to be having too bad of a time there, which means she’s been treated well, so it should be a matter of getting her back safely, right?”
Iselle’s eyes darkened as he looked at the note. After a moment, he folded the cloth in half with his long fingers.
Then he turned to Lagetti and said, “It is my understanding that in this part of the world, kidnapped brides are sometimes returned to their families upon request; is that correct?”
Lagetti nodded vigorously. “Yes, of course. But you have to give them what they want– Oh, no, don’t worry! Whatever it is, I’ll give it all to them, no matter what!”
Iselle swept his cold eyes over him. “Tomorrow, immediately, send someone to the Quat chieftain. Tell him to give you back your stolen daughter. That you will accept whatever terms he offers. If you do this right, I’ll sweep this under the rug.”
There’s finally a way out. I can’t just die, after all.
Lagetti slammed his head on the floor and shouted, “I’ll send someone out tomorrow!”