Chapter 9
After Elisha finished talking, she mounted the horse next to her. The only time she rode a horse was when she took a basic horse-riding lesson during a school trip, but it was too slow to find Richard on foot now. Fortunately, Elisha’s body remembered how to ride a horse, so she skillfully took the reins.
“Let’s go.” Elisha said as she kicked the horse in the ribs.
The horse ran straight ahead upon Elisha’s command.
“Milady!” The knights were surprised by her sudden action.
Elisha heard them calling her, but she didn’t look back. ‘They’ll surely follow me to protect me.’ After all, she was a precious pawn to Albert. She believed that the knights would never let her get hurt. As Elisha galloped into the forest, the knights followed her as expected.
‘In the original story, Richard would live well until he became a father to Hades…’
However, there were many variables that could change the original story. The fact that she possessed Elisha’s body might be one of the variables that could make the future deviate from the original story. No one knew where and to what extent the original story would change.
It was when Elisha and the knights were wandering in the forest for a long time looking for Richard…
‘Wind?’
A strong wind from the inner part of the forest disheveled Elisha’s hair.
‘This… is Richard’s wind!’ Elisha kicked the horse’s side one more time and turned the reins toward the left.
“This way!”
Elisha and the knights followed the direction of the wind into the forest. The wind grew stronger as they went in. Eventually, even Elisha, who was riding a horse, was shaken.
‘Something must’ve happened to Richard.’ Elisha’s mind grew anxious. She rode the horse faster. Being closer to the center of the wind, the strong wind caused Elisha’s hair to become messy and blocked her view.
When she managed to clear her view, she finally could see the wind clearly. She was stunned. There was a huge whirlwind at the center of the forest. The flying men in the vortex wore the same clothes as the suspicious men that Elisha saw before. Some of the surrounding grass and trees were also swept away by the whirlwind. And at the center of the whirlwind, there was…
‘Richard…’
His red eyes looked fierce as if they were full of blood. Elisha had never seen him like this before.
There were a few gunmen nearby who were not caught by the wind used their crossbows to shoot Richard but their attacks were deflected by his violent wind. When all of their attacks failed, the bewildered gunmen retreated.
Then, Richard opened his mouth. The wind was so strong that Elisha couldn’t hear his voice, but she could understand what he said as she observed his mouth.
‘Die.’
At that moment, Richard’s wind stopped instantly. Then flying men in the vortex fell on the ground at once. Not long after, terrible screams broke out everywhere.
“Ahhh!”
Some lucky gunmen only broke their arms and legs while the unlucky ones broke their necks. It was a terrible ending. Seeing the miserable end of their colleagues, the surviving gunmen ran away in horror.
The bewildered Rubelin knights quickly went after the gunmen. “Stop there!”
The gunmen disappeared, and Richard’s wind stopped completely. At that moment, Elisha’s eyes widened as she saw the wounds on Richard’s shoulder and torso. ‘The wounds…’
The wounds were quite deep, and there was quite a lot of blood where Richard stood. However, his expression was calm. It seems like he didn’t feel any pain inflicted by the wounds on his shoulders and torso.
“You monster…” Christian, who was watching the scene nearby, murmured and backed away with frightened eyes.
Behind Christian were the other royals and nobles who joined the hunt. Among them were the Emperor and Albert.
“What’s going on?”
“How did the assassins manage to enter the Imperial Hunting Ground?”
Like Christian, the nobles stared at Richard in astonishment and awe. The Emperor also looked at Richard with a surprised look on his face.
Richard, who stood alone among the fallen gunmen and looked at the nobles and the Emperor, eventually collapsed as he was unable to endure the wounds anymore.
“Richard!”
“Young Master Richard!”
Along with Rubelin’s knights, Elisha ran and hugged the collapsed Richard. She quickly checked Richard’s condition.
‘It’s worse than I thought.’ Elisha’s eyes quivered as she looked at Richard’s wounds. It was the first time to see someone close to her bled so much in front of her eyes. The fear that someone who had been talking to her a while ago might die was much greater than she imagined.
“Hurry up, we need to treat him immediately…” Elisha looked at Albert pleadingly, who came closer before she realized it.
However, he only looked at Richard emotionlessly, not responding to Elisha’s plea. Instead, the Rubelin’s knights were the ones who rushed to stop Richard’s wounds.
“Your Majesty! Your Highness! Are you alright?”
At that time, the Knight Commander of royal knights, who came to the scene belatedly, checked the Emperor’s and Christian’s safety immediately.
The Emperor asked with a grimace. “Some outsiders had broken into the Royal Hunting Ground. What’s going on here?”
“Your Majesty, my apologies. The royal knights were certainly guarding the royal hunting ground… …”
“I asked how they managed to break into here.”
“…I’ll get to the bottom of the situation as soon as possible.” The Knight Commander, who had been making excuses, hurriedly bowed his head when he realized the meaning behind the Emperor’s question.
In the meantime, the royal knights tried to control the situation by preventing the curious noble sons who were snooping around to take a closer look at the incident scene.
Albert, who had been silent, stepped forward to the emperor. “Your Majesty, I would like to ask a favor.”
The Emperor looked at Albert inquiringly.
“Please allow me to investigate the truth behind this incident.”
“I’m afraid I can’t. This incident happened in the Royal Hunting Ground. I’m going to find out for myself what kind of insane man dared to do.”
“He is the only child with my blood. My child almost died here. I truly hope that Your Majesty would allow this desperate grandfather to find the truth behind this incident that almost killed my only grandson.”
The Emperor raised one of his eyebrows. The hidden meaning of Albert’s words were indicating that he could not entrust the investigation completely to the Emperor. It also meant that he suspected that the Emperor could also be the one behind this incident.
“Please allow me to get to the bottom of this incident and make them pay for their action.”
The Emperor looked at Albert, who was lowering his head, with cold eyes. There were too many eyes around. If he stubbornly declined the Duke’s plea, the Royal Family would be suspected of being the one who ordered the assassination. Eventually, the Emperor opened his mouth reluctantly. “Alright, you have my permission to do so.”
*****
In the end, the hunt fell through. The envoy of the Duke of Rubelin returned to the Dukedom with Richard.
“I’ve stopped the bleeding, and luckily the wounds weren’t too deep, so don’t worry too much. But don’t let him overdo it for a while.” The doctor who treated Richard left the room after saying so.
“Then, please call me if you need anything, Milady.”
The servants also went out. Only Richard and Elisha were left in the room. Elisha sat by the bedside and watched Richard quietly.
‘Was it really done by the Royal Family?’
But it happened in the Imperial Hunting Ground. It would be too obvious if they kill Richard there. Anyone who knew the bad relationship between the Royal Family and Rubelin dukedom would naturally suspect the Imperial Family first.
“The Duke also looked suspicious.”
Albert only briefly took a glance at Richard’s condition at the hunting ground, but when he arrived at the Dukedom, he immediately ordered Rubelin’s knights to investigate the truth behind the incident.
He didn’t even come when the doctor treated Richard. Is he really Richard’s biological grandfather? When she saw him use his power to investigate the incident, he looked like a real grandfather but… how can he be so indifferent toward Richard?’
When Elisha pouted her mouth as she thought about Albert’s attitude, she heard a knock. Elisha opened the door in wonder. “Ann?”
Ann was standing at the door. It seemed like she ran on her way here, and somehow, her face looked terrified.
“What’s going on?”
“M-mi-milady, I have something to tell you.” Ann looked tacitly into the room.
Elisha became confused, but she decided to let Ann in for now. Ann locked her door as soon as she entered the room. There was something unusual about the atmosphere.
“What’s wrong?”
“M-Milady. I… I just heard that.”
“What?”
“About the one who made the Young Master become like that.”
Elisha’s eyes, who was staring at Ann, widened.
Anne took a deep breath and went on again. “The one who attacked the Young Master…”