Intense Fight

Princess Amelia paced back and forth in the room and her expression mirrored her anxiety.

Once in a while, her steps halted and Amelia craned her neck to look out the window in hope to see her brother's figure. However, what greeted her outside the cottage was nothing but the dark woods.

She had followed the instruction that she had received from her brother and arrived at the hidden cottage in the middle of the woods a while ago, however, her brother had not shown up.

Seeing that the person she was waiting for did not appear, Amelia would then continue to pace back and forth.

"Your Highness," Miria finally spoke up after some time. "You are going to tire yourself if you don't stop pacing around the room."

Hearing her friend's voice, Amelia stopped abruptly and turned to look at Miria. "Asher is taking up too long to get here, don't you think?" The frown on her face deepened. "He should be here by this time. What took him so long?" She muttered to herself.

Miria's gaze softened upon seeing the Princess's worry. A thought crossed her mind and Miria quickly lowered her gaze.

"Your Highness, perhaps King Asher would not show up tonight," Miria spoke. She did not want the Princess to get her hope up and ended up disappointed when the person she has been waiting for did not come as promised.

Moreover... there was a chance that the person who wrote that letter might not be King Asher.

Amelia looked at her friend with a firm look in her eyes. "He's coming. I know he will."

Seeing the look in the Princess's eyes, Miria was unable to say something to convince her to leave. She had promised the Princess that they were going to wait for a while and return to the lodging when the time is up.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Miria's guard, Jurin, stepped forward and signaled to inform her that it was time to leave.

Miria nodded and turned to the Princess who was still looking out the window. She hesitated a few seconds and decided that they cannot afford to waste more time in the woods.

"Your Highness," Miria called. "It's time for us to leave."

Princess Amelia halted. She turned around with her eyes, pleading. "Please. Miria, let me wait for my brother just for a little while."

Miria balled her hands into fists, as she made up her mind.

"Whether the writer of the letter appears or not, we have to get back to your lodging before anyone noticed that you were missing," Miria spoke. "Your Highness, you must understand that it was too dangerous for you to stay here. Sooner or later, your First Knight, Laif, is going to notice that you have been missing. Princess Amelia, please rethink your decision again."

Amelia closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She did not want to leave but knew that she cannot stay much longer in the cottage. If she did not behave well, Rae and the people around her will get into trouble.

She had learned that lesson a few times.

For one last time, Amelia looked outside, hoping to see that her brother would make a sudden appearance just as she decided to leave. However, other than the sound of the night insects, Amelia could not hear any movement outside.

Reluctantly, Amelia turned to Miria and nodded. "Let's go."

In the end, she has to choose to give up.

Miria let out a breath of relief at the Princess's decision. She watched the Princess leave a stalk of Dianthus flower on the wooden table and gestured to her guards to prepare and leave. A while later, the female bodyguards escorted the Princess out of the cottage.

Their movements in the woods were quiet as they did not want to catch any unwanted attention.

Two guards were guarding at the front and another two guards guarding at the back as they made their way back towards the lodgings.

Suddenly, Jurin stopped abruptly and lifted her hand, signaling everyone to stop.

"What's wrong?" Miria asked, panicked.

Jurin placed her forefinger on her lips, gesturing the others to be quiet. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to focus on her hearing. Soon, her ears caught the sound of metal clanking in a distance.

Her gaze lowered as she made a decision. "We're going to use an alternative route to return to the lodging," Jurin whispered. "There's a sword fight ahead. It would be dangerous for the Princess to use that road."

Just as Jurin was about to turn around and lead the group to a different route, she found that someone was tugging at her sleeve. Turning around, Jurin saw that Princess Amelia was staring at her anxiously.

"Did you say a sword fight?"

Jurin nodded.

"What if it was my brother?" Amelia spoke. "He might be in danger. Can you go and check the situation first?"

Jurin frowned, before she turned to her master, Lady Evans, silently asking for her opinion.

"I will fo and check the situation," Jurin said once she received her master's permission. Then, she turned to the other guards and gave her instruction. "If I didn't make it back here in five minutes, the three of you will escort Her Highness and Lady Evans safely back to the lodgings."

The three female guards nodded obediently and they took their position to ensure the safety of both Princess Amelia and Lady Evans.

Princess Amelia prayed that everything will be alright as she watched Jurin leave.

Shortly after, Jurin returned to their side, with a deep frown on her face. She turned to the Princess and bowed. "Your Highness, we have a situation. It seemed that your First Knight was engaged in a sword fight with two unknown men."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

Jurin glanced at her Lady Evans before she continued, "I am guessing that the two men might be His Majesty and his guard. Their appearance matched the description. I saw a dianthus flower insignia on one of the men's swords."

Amelia sucked in a deep breath upon hearing the situation.

Suddenly, she was afraid of what was going to happen if the fight did not stop soon.

Amelia was aware that her brother and Laif were proficient at sword fighting. At this time, both men were unaware of each other's identity. They were not the type to fight without giving it all out and Amelia was worried that one of them might end up dying if their fight did not stop soon.

Suddenly, Amelia made her decision towards the direction where Jurin had come from. She needed to stop the fight soon!

Amelia was panting heavily when she almost reached the scene.

Even from afar, she was able to see that this was an intense fight.

Their movement was fast. To untrained eyes, one would not be able to see what was going on clearly.

Her gaze fell on one of the men. Suddenly, her eyes stung and her nose sour upon seeing that familiar silhouette. She was relieved and happy knowing that her brother was alive.

But soon, that feeling turned to horror.

Amelia snapped out of her trance and realized the seriousness of the situation. She watched the intense fight and was grew frustrated that she did now know how to make them stop.

Her jaw dropped when she watched her brother backed towards a tree. Her heart pounded crazily as she watched Laif raised his sword high and aimed at her brother.

"Stop! Stop it!"