Pretense

Asher Reed, the missing King of Noa Kingdom was never away from his country. He has been stranded in a cottage not far away from the borders between Noa Kingdom and Roem. It has been nearly three months since he was brought to the cottage by her rescuer, Eileen Cloud to recover.

Leo, his Royal Knight, had told him everything about the ambushed —how the attackers outnumbered them. Asher took both Leo and Daren along with five of his best guards with him. Unfortunately, he lost almost everyone in the battle.

They were driven to the edge of the cliff where Leo decided to jump.

When Leo woke up, he found himself beside the riverbank. He looked around to find the King and was surprised to see a woman crouching beside Asher.

His first thought was that Eileen was trying to kill Asher. But Eileen convinced him that she was trying to give a treatment to him. She was an herbalist. She was looking for a few herbs in the forest when she found Asher.

Eileen told him that he was shot with a poisoned arrow. It was for the best to take Asher back to her shack not far away from there. Leo told him how grateful he was that Eileen found them. If it wasn't for her, the King would be dead by now.

Asher frowned as he tried to stand up on his own. His shoulder and leg were still hurting. However, after months of resting, he was able to move a bit slowly. He then went outside and took a seat on the porch for fresh air while waiting for his Leo to return.

His thought went back to his sister. Asher could guess that his sister would be worried sick when he was declared missing. He knew how hard it must be for Amelia to take over his place. She never knew how to govern and was never given the proper education to govern. But he was relieved to find out through Leo that both Damian and Commander Irvine were protecting his sister right now.

And now... Asher needed to be on his way. He can't afford to stay around for too long. He needed to be quick and pursue the royal physician who was attending to his father, the late King Louis before his enemy found the person first. Asher needed to know who murdered his father and the hidden hands who was after the throne. It was the only way to keep himself and his sister safe.

Asher tensed when he noticed a movement not far away from him. He looked up and relaxed when he saw the familiar silhouette.

"What are you doing out here?" Eileen Cloud frowned. "You should be inside, resting."

Asher shrugged. "I wanted to get some fresh air."

Eileen nodded. She bowed and excused herself to get inside.

"Eileen?" Asher spoke. His voice caused her to stop abruptly. "It has been months since the last time I came here. Are you going to pretend that you didn't recognize me?" Asher spoke. He cast a glance towards Eileen and waited for her reaction. "You may have changed your name and you might look different than you look seven years ago, but I can still recognize you, Eileen. Or should I call you Evelyn Cloud?"

Eileen hesitated. She stood there in silence before she decided to turn around and went down to one knee. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. It was never my intention to pretend that I did not recognize you, but your knight, Leo, worked hard to conceal your identity from me. I have to pretend that I did not know who you are or else, he wouldn't let me anywhere near you."

Asher snorted at her response. "He's not here now. Just... raise up."

Eileen slowly stood up to look at the King properly.

"How long has it been since we last saw each other? Has it been seven years since you left the royal hospital, Evelyn?"

"Please, I go with Eileen these days."

Asher sighed. "You look well."

Eileen smiled. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Asher turned to look at the scenery before him and spoke again. "It's strange, isn't it? How you're the one who rescued me when I almost died."

"It's a fortunate coincidence that I was passing on the route while looking for some herbs, your majesty."

Asher tried to laugh, but his shoulder was hurting him. "But why are you in Noa Kingdom?" he asked. "I thought you went away to pursue your study in medicine?"

"I did. I came back to Noa for nearly a year now. I'm working for a few physicians in town as their herbalist," she said.

Asher raised his brow at her answer. "And you never thought of coming to the palace to see me?"

"I left the palace at my own will. I don't think it would be appropriate to return," she smiled a little bit. "Besides, I don't think the nobles would be happy to see me back to the palace."

"You think I care what the nobles would say?"

"I didn't want them to give you a hard time. You got enough on your plate dealing with them every day."

Asher sighed as he thought of the past between them.

Seven years ago, they were still young. He was the Crown Prince, and Evelyn Cloud was studying medicine with the Royal Hospital. She was one of the people who were in charge to monitor his health.

The nobles did not like that they were close and therefore, Evelyn had quit.

Suddenly, Asher could sense someone approaching them and saw that it was Leo.

Asher tried to stand up and quavered in the process. "I'm fine," he responded when Eileen tried to assist him.

Leo gave the king a brief nod and leaned closer to whisper something.

"Thank you," Asher said to Leo. Then he returned to Eileen.

"I guess this is it. I'd love to talk and catch up with you, Eileen, but I'm afraid that it is time for the two of me and Leo to get going."

"What do you mean?" Eileen frowned. "Get going? You can't go. Not yet. You need more rest. You're not well enough, Your Majesty."

Leo was about to pull out his sword from its sheath when he heard her addressing the King as 'Your Majesty'. But he regained his composure when Asher held up his hand and motioned him to stop.

"I thank you for looking after me and Leo when I was injured, but I can't stay and wait until my injury completely healed. It's not safe for me to stay here for too long."

Eileen frowned. She wondered why did he think he would not be safe to stay. She wanted to know what he was doing out of the palace and what caused him to get such serious injuries.

She had tried to pry by asking Leo, but that Knight was too tight-lipped.

Eileen knew that the king was on a very important mission. Or else, he would not leave his sister at the palace and have her to rule the country in his stead.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Back to the palace," Asher replied.

"No. You're not. You're lying."

Asher snickered at her accusation. "What makes you think I'm lying? Why wouldn't I go back to the palace after leaving for too long?"

"If you want to go back to the palace, you would have returned long ago," Eileen said. "Leo would send some people to fetch you back. But he didn't."

"You're right. I'm not going back to the palace for now."

"Where are you heading to?"

"To the north."

Eileen frowned at his short reply. She wanted to know more, but she knew that he wouldn't tell her anything. "Let me come with you," Eileen said. "Please. Take me along with you. I don't know what are you doing out here, but I can be an assistant."

Asher shook his head lightly. "I don't think that's a wise decision."

"You need me. You will need your medicine from time to time and someone to change your dressing. And I'm perfect for the job."