Chapter 41
It was only after Elisha and Anne walked for over an hour in that dark and narrow tunnel that they neared the end of their long walk.
“Madam, the exit is over here.”
Anne, who had been leading the way, called out to Elisha.
Elisha turned and shone the light-emitting stone towards the direction Anne was pointing to.
As Anne had said, Elisha saw the end of the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, there was a staircase leading upwards, and next to the staircase, there was a picture frame that depicted a white wolf, Rubelin’s symbol.
As she had done when they came into the tunnel, Anne turned the picture frame in a counter-clockwise motion.
The picture frame stiffly turned, and the door at the top of the staircase slowly opened with a loud groan.
Elisha and Anne were momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight that shone into the tunnel, but they quickly got used to it and started to climb the staircase.
The place where the tunnel led was a small forest near the outskirts of the territory.
Outside the tunnel, spring filled the air, and the area was filled with trees filled with light green leaves.
“Madam.”
Anne, who had gone outside first, made sure the area was safe before she waved to Elisha to come up.
Elisha climbed the stairs while covering her eyes from the bright sunlight.
Because there were no other humans in this forest, they could only hear the wind blowing through the leaves, and it was very peaceful.
When Anne saw that Elisha had made her way up, she rushed over to Elisha to check her condition.
“Are you tired? Or do you feel any strain or discomfort in your stomach……?”
“I’m fine. In fact, I’m having fun because it feels like we’re leaving to go on a trip.”
“Hm…… Still, do you want to rest a bit before we continue?”
“We’re going to ride a carriage anyway. We can rest then. So let’s keep going.”
To be honest, Elisha hadn’t been feeling too well since the morning.
But since this was normal for her ever since she became pregnant, she had embarked on this journey with Anne without a second thought.
‘Tomorrow morning, the dukedom will know that the two of us are gone.’
So they had to escape from this place as quickly as possible.
Elisha and Anne made it out of the forest and found a carriage to ride.
“Please take us to the Arden Temple.”
The Arden Temple was the name of the temple that Ansel was leading.
Although the main Arden Temple was in the Arden territory by the seashore and the one they were headed to right now was only a branch, it had become quite big and there was nobody that didn’t know about the temple.
The carriage quickly arrived and stopped in front of the branch of the Arden Temple.
The temple was in a place that was a bit away from the center of the territory.
Elisha put on her robe’s hood and got off of the carriage. She did this just in case there was someone that might recognize her face.
“Wow.”
Anne, who had gotten off after Elisha, looked around the area in awe.
At the temple, there were many men and women with light copper skin from the south and the east, and there were many exotic objects from the north.
The temple’s errand boy, who had seen Elisha get off of the carriage, came over to her.
“Greetings, Madam. For what reason did you come to the temple?”
“I have some belongings that I have come to recollect from the temple.”
Elisha gave him Ansel’s letter.
When the errand boy saw the symbol of the fish on the letter, he immediately became obedient towards Elisha.
It was because the fish was the symbol of the Arden County.
“P- Please wait one moment. I will bring the branch manager here.”
The errand boy went inside the building for a moment and then came out with a middle-aged lady that seemed to be the branch manager.
She suggested that Elisha go inside the temple.
“I will bring you the things that you are looking for. Would you like to come inside and drink some tea while you wait?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Elisha, who had felt her body get more and more tired, gladly followed the woman into the audience chamber.
A servant quietly came in to give her a light-pink, aromatic tea and then left soon afterward.
She didn’t have to wait long before the manager came back with her pouch of gold coins.
“Here are the traveling expenses that you requested. The clothing and the things that you need for the trip will be placed on the carriage. A mercenary soldier will also escort you along the way.”
“Thank you.”
The place that Elisha and Anne were headed was Sornetti, the place with Viscount Roengreen’s summer house.
Anne took the heavy pouch in place of Elisha and put it into her pocket.
“It will take a bit more time to finish loading all of your belongings on the carriage, so would you like to eat dinner before you go?”
The manager asked Elisha if she wanted to eat dinner. It seemed that the manager wanted to treat Elisha extra well because Elisha was the temple owner’s friend.
“Yes, that sounds good.”
Although she herself did not feel that hungry, she decided to concede for the sake of the child in her stomach and Anne.
The manager smiled and got up from her seat.
“Then please follow me.”
Elisha followed the woman and got up from her seat.
At that moment, Elisha felt a slight pang of discomfort in her lower stomach.
Her body immediately cringed in response, but thankfully, the pain disappeared in an instant.
Elisha was nervous that something else might happen, but she forced her worries down and followed the manager with Anne.
At the restaurant, there were luxurious plates of food waiting for Anne and Elisha.
“We will always have more food, so please eat to prepare for your journey.”
After saying this, the manager went away so that the two people could eat their meal in peace.
Anne was able to eat her dinner to her fill, but Elisha was unable to eat much because of a lack of appetite. She was like this even after she had eaten her morning sickness medicine.
‘Maybe I’m sick from overexerting my body……?’
Her body, which was already weak from pregnancy, felt even more heavy and weak now that she had overexerted her body.
And to make matters worse, she started to feel pain in her stomach again.
Anne quickly noticed Elisha suffering and asked about Elisha’s condition.
“Madam? Are you okay?”
“Oh…… I guess the medicine didn’t really work. I have no appetite. You should at least eat to your fill, so don’t mind me.”
Elisha forced a smile and told Anne that everything was okay.
Anne was worried about Elisha, but because of Elisha’s words, she made sure to eat as much as she could. If she wanted to protect the weak Elisha, she had to make sure that at least she was strong and healthy.
After they had finished their meal and dessert, the manager came back to them.
“I hope that the meal was to your liking.”
“Of course. We had a delicious meal thanks to you.”
“The carriage is now ready as well. Will you leave right away?”
“Yes, we will.”
Elisha knew that her body was not okay, but she still decided to keep going. She had to get away as quickly as she could to finally be able to rest.
However, as soon as she got up, her vision turned white and the strength in her legs gave away.
“Madam!”
Anne grabbed Elisha as she fainted and held Elisha in her arms. Anne’s face was pale as she checked over Elisha.
“My goodness, Madam! You have a fever!”
“……. .”
“N- No. If we keep going like this, something terrible might happen. Until you get better, I think it will be better for us to stay here.”
“But they’ll know we left by tomorrow morning……”
The manager, who had been watching the situation with worried eyes, opened her mouth to speak.
“I have a good idea.”
At the Tearill County located in the west of Akaroa, it was still dawn, a time when there were still wisps of darkness left in the sky.
A shadow of a figure blended into the shadows of the forest which rarely had human visitors.
It was Viscount Rohas.
“Ugh, gasp……”
He was running with a fear-stricken face and he continuously looked back as he ran.
It was because he had heard that Richard had come as far as the Alita Temple, the place where he had been hiding.
He had made a decision before Richard found him.
Whether he was going to keep hiding at the Alita Temple or if he was going to get a head start in running away.
If Richard was unable to find him at the temple, that would be a relief, but in the case that Richard did find him, he would be trapped without any chance to escape.
So the Viscount chose to run away instead of hiding.
Before he left, the Alita Temple manager had told him how to escape.
‘When it becomes morning, Duke Rubelin will reach this place. Before that happens, please escape using this tunnel. After you escape through the tunnel, you’ll find a forest, and after you exit the forest, you’ll find a carriage waiting for you.’
Viscount Rohas followed the temple manager’s instructions and escaped using the secret tunnel inside the temple. He made it out into the empty forest.
And as the manager had instructed, the Viscount was now making his way across the forest to exit it.
He ran until he was out of breath, and after a while, he saw what looked like the end of the forest.
‘Just a little bit more…… .’
Just then, as the Viscount breathed a sigh of relief and slowed down, something happened.
It had been a calm, windless night, but a torrent of wind suddenly started to blow.
‘If it’s wind, then this is…… .’
Feeling a chilling premonition, Viscount Rohas turned around and froze when he saw the man that he feared the most right behind him.
Richard landed lightly in front of the Viscount.
“Where are you going so early in the morning, Viscount Rohas?”
Richard’s gaze, as he looked at the Viscount, seemed like he wanted to freeze the Viscount to death with his chilly gaze.
The Viscount took a deep breath, and after thinking about what to do for a moment, he decided to talk his way out of the situation.
“W- What is His Excellency the Duke doing in a dreary place like this? And at such an early time at that.”
“Wouldn’t you know the answer to that question better than me?”
“Ahaha, I’m not sure. I really don’t know how I met you here.”
Viscount Rohas forced a laugh and put his hands into his robe.
He grabbed the dagger laced with poison that the temple manager had given him before he had escaped.
He wasn’t sure where all of the other knights were, but right now, only Richard was in front of him.
“Do you really not know?”
“How would I know the answer to such a deep question?”
The Viscount took out the dagger in a flash and rushed towards Richard.
But Richard didn’t do so much as to flinch and avoided the dagger as he grabbed the Viscount’s arm.
“I wonder if you still won’t know even when I break your arm.”
As soon as Richard said this, he easily twisted the Viscount’s arm.
With a chilling crunch, the Viscount’s arm twisted in the opposite direction. Because of the impact, the Viscount dropped his dagger.
“Ack!”
It was only after the Viscount had experienced that horrendous pain that he realized the nickname of the man in front of him.
Rubelin of the Storm.
He was the genius who had single-handedly gone into the kingdom and ended the war.
“Or…… .”
Rubelin dropped the Viscount, who was still writhing in pain, carelessly onto the ground and opened his mouth to speak as he stared at the Viscount with chilling eyes.
“Maybe you’ll figure it out if your body is cooked by lightning.”
As Richard said this, black clouds started to gather over the Viscount.