Chapter 17

The Capital of the Alethani Kingdom was big. Bigger than Elise remembered. It had been years since the last time she visited the Capital, and they had hardly any time to look around. The Vandenberg territory was on the far West side of the Kingdom so, their Family was only coming to the Capital for important occasions. 

Their arrival was delayed for three days. They had to quickly hand over the bandit captives they had to the closest fort on their way because surprisingly, none of them had any serious injuries but passed out regardless. Fortunately, they did not wake up till they were handed over. None of the officers also had any injuries even though they had been outnumbered. These unusual situations attracted some suspicions but they didn't have any time to think about such things so, they concluded that they had been lucky. But Elise knew. 

When she confronted the Traveler about it, he said; "No one had to die in that situation." That made Elise proud of the decision she made about not killing them but, Traveler's following words quickly broke that pride. 

"Your control is still sloppy, and your sword skills aren't matching your physique anymore, we need to work on that. You cut one of those guys' arterial, he was going to bleed to death and one of them was about to be crippled and couldn't walk again. Two of them would limp the rest of their lives because of their injuries. Your decision-making is good but you need to be more precise." 

Another reminder of her incompetence. Even though she had improved a lot, there was always more to achieve. She felt like this should overwhelm her, but maybe because of her Blessing, this was only making her more excited. She had to learn more and work harder. This was her calling since birth. If she could only persuade her father. 

That was the first obstacle ahead. And of course, there were still the ones that tried to catch her. Elise looked at the man who was sitting in the same cage as the Traveler. His severed hand was treated but he still had a swollen face from the punch Elise threw two weeks ago. Not to mention his broken teeth. He woke up before the other bandits but whatever she or the officers tried, they couldn't take a single word out of his mouth. The officers took him with them to Capital for further questioning. 

Since the bandit incident, the Investigation Bureau officers have been acting a bit differently around her. When one of them tried to take her sword, their captain interfered and said it was fine. If something like that happened again, she needed to be able to protect herself. That was his reasoning. Elise could see the glimpse of approval towards her in their eyes then. But now the looks of the citizens around them were something else. 

They arrived at the Capital's outer walls at noon. The gate guards recognized the Investigation Bureau captain and didn't even stop them. The outer city was buzzing with people running their daily work. Their party was splitting the crowd like water on the narrow roads between the crude workplaces and houses of the people of the outer city. The buildings were crude compared to the inner city, of course. They were still a lot better than the ones in some of the remote villages. All the citizens recognized the officers and moved out of their way. 

Their looks were mostly focused on the cage in the middle of them. A hefty but beaten guy and a casually sleeping man next to him. Who could they be? What have they done? All kinds of questions were filling the air. But Elise could feel the looks on her back too. She unintentionally filled herself with Energy as a defense mechanism. She felt some of the intent directed at her as a result. Even though she could not be able to hear them, she could tell what they were whispering about. Was she the one? The one who broke the engagement with the crown heir and ran away. 

She was used to these kinds of looks, filled with despise and disapproval. Thankfully, they were few. She wondered why. There were hundreds of people around, but she could only feel a few of them. Was it because of her incompetence, or something else? She should ask the Traveler about it sometime. If they could see each other again, of course. As the buildings around them became more well-made, they reached the inner walls after some time. 

As she thought, city guards along with four of the officers took the cage away in front of the inner city walls. They were probably taking them to the castle dungeons. The Traveler didn't even say a thing, just waved his hand to Elise from where he lay. Was he always this passive and careless? She expected him to do something, anything when they got to the city. She thought he was just playing along to avoid causing more trouble to her. But getting in a dungeon cell just for this... wasn't it a bit much? Did he have some other plan? 

The inner city was not as crowded but almost as lively as the outer city. But of course, she should have guessed that even the outer city had heard about her, the inner city would be a lot worse. It was almost like everyone knew about her and looked at her with judging eyes. How? How did the news spread this much? 

Elise was riding her horse in the middle of the remaining officers, led by their captain. She restrained herself this time and did not touch the Energy floating around. This way she avoided the harsh thoughts of the people around her. But this was not enough to suppress their noises. Inside the loud buzzing of the crowd, she heard a louder voice. Elise looked in the direction and saw two young girls, mostly at the same age as her. She couldn't understand what they were saying but... Were they cheering her? 

Between all those judgmental looks and whispers, they were so out of place. They kept waving their hands and calling out to her with broad smiles on their faces until they could no longer see her. What a weird bunch, Elise thought. What would their reasoning might be? That encounter kept her mind busy with all the other things that happened while they were heading to the royal palace. The fake accusation of an affair, the kidnap attempt, and the ridiculously fast-spreading rumors about her. There must be something else going on here. 

At the palace entrance, an attendant welcomed them and led them to the room where Elise would be held in custody. She was a noble after all, they could not put her in a dungeon cell. The captain of the officers accompanying her commended them to take her sword and left with the two others. She assumed they were going to lend a mission report and lend her sword unwillingly. 

The attendant was a bit tense along the way, with eight officers around them. He did not see what she could do, after all. They put her in a large and luxurious guest room with a young maid waiting inside. The attendant left and the officers stayed outside after a quick check in the room. One of them still had her sword, hanging on his back. She also needed to get her armor from the bags on the horses later. 

She stood in the middle of the room for a moment. It had been a long time since she had been in a room like that. This would have been her life if she stayed behind. In a luxurious castle, everything would be under her hands without any hardships. What a boring life. 

"Do you need the bath ready, my lady?" The smooth voice of the young maid woke her up from her thoughts. Elise had forgotten she was there. 

"Yes, please." 

She got ready to undress but the door knocked before she could take anything off. The voice she heard from the other side was the most heartwarming thing she could ask for.