Upon further inspection, it turned out that the man was King Scarka's secretary who took Rowena to her room on Rowena's first day at Scarka Palace. Rowena grabbed the man by the collar and began to interrogate him.
"What do you want to do?"
"I just want to help you escape from this palace. Don't you know that now the people of Scarka have staged a massive coup outside this palace? In just one day they will definitely break through the heavy guard of this palace and start killing anyone who here including you and His Majesty the King," explained the man.
"Then what is the reason you saved me? Aren't you the secretary of His Majesty the King which means you are his subordinate? Then you should save your king first and not me."
"I-I..." The man began to be confused to answer Rowena's words.
Rowena placed her right palm directly on the man's face and started chanting a light magic spell. In a few minutes the old secretary's face changed to that of a very handsome young man with hair as white as snow and irises as red as blood. Rowena held the chin of the young and handsome man.
"Young Duke Vinette, wait a minute, you should be Duke Vinette by now, huh? What are you doing here disguised as King Scarka's secretary?" Rowena asked with a very piercing glare.
The current Duke Vinette or the young man whose full name is Ash Wright de Vinette. Ash is the son of Rowena's biological father's sister, so it can be said that he is Rowena's cousin. They've known each other since they were kids and to be honest, compared to Rowena's other half-siblings. Ash is closer to Rowena. Even while Rowena was being abused by her stepmother and stepsiblings. Ash always protected her.
Once, Ash helped Rowena and her mother, Erica, escape from Edelle's castle, although in the end it was thwarted by the palace guards. What Rowena remembers is that both of Ash's parents had been executed on charges of planning a rebellion. Of course it was a lie. King Edelle did the same to Ash's parents as he had done to Rowena.
"I just wanted to save you. You thought I wasn't worried since you were expelled from the palace. I was shocked when I found out that you had been thrown into the battlefield by His Majesty the king. Every day and night I always think of you cause they are said you died during that battle," Ash said as he stood up.
Rowena sighed because she already understood part of Ash's purpose. "Alright, then. But why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Edelle as a Duke? Doesn't that bastard suspect you because you suddenly disappeared?"
Ash who had been wincing in pain suddenly laughed after hearing Rowena's endless questions. "It seems that since coming out of the palace, your speaking style has changed drastically, huh? To the point that you call your own father a bastard."
"Doesn't that suit him very well? He's an bastard after all," answered Rowena casually.
"Yes, although it's impolite but I totally agree with you. Then I beg you to stop being a Sunverro knight anymore. It's a dangerous thing, you see they even betrayed you by handing you over as King Scarka's concubine. You'd better come with me back to Edelle and become Duchess Vinette. Then we will plan a rebellion to take over the Edelle Kingdom," replied Ash.
"No, I can't do that. Rebellion is a very light punishment for that bastard. I became that Sunverro knight to plot an interesting and torturous revenge so that I will be known as Edelle's nightmare someday," said Rowena with full belief.
"Then becoming King Scarka's concubine, it was a strategy I came up with myself. It wasn't Sunverro's side that killed me," added Rowena.
Ash ruffled his hair because of stress with Rowena's decision. "Fine, if that's what you want. I won't force you either. Then let's get out of here, my carriage is waiting outside."
Before leaving Rowena cut her hair with Ash's dagger so that now it only reached her shoulders. After they finished they walked through a secret path that penetrated to the outside of the palace so that it was certain that no one of Scarka's people would find him or catch him.
"How did you become King Scarka's secretary? Isn't that a very impossible thing to do?" asked Rowena curiously.
"It was a very easy thing for me. After hearing the news of your death, I immediately sent my information guild people who had spread across all continents to find news about you. One of my men found a woman who has the same characteristics as you but that woman has black hair and she is in the Richella forest."
"After hearing that I immediately rushed over there to make sure. It turned out to be true, that woman is you who has changed the color of your hair with dark magic," he added.
"Then why are you in Scarka?" Rowena asked again.
"I'm always wherever you are, Rowena. When you're in the forest Richella, Valeccio, Duchy Ellien, or Scarka, I always follow and watch over you from behind," Ash replied.
Rowena showed an expression of shock that could be considered a bit exaggerated. "W-What? Why did you do such a terrible thing? Did you watch me when I showered too?"
"Of course not," Ash replied firmly.
Finally the two of them arrived outside Scarka's palace. There was already a horse carriage waiting for them. Rowena, who had just seen the carriage from the outside, wanted to expel all the contents of her stomach. Again she had to ride that damn horse carriage. Ash also helped him to get into the horse carriage. Rowena sat in there tensely for fear that her stomach would go back to the way it had been before.
Luckily when the carriage started moving, Rowena didn't feel anything at all. Rowena looked at Ash in confusion.
Ash who already understood the meaning of Rowena's gaze said, "I deliberately chose a very comfortable and expensive horse carriage so that you don't get drunk during the trip."
Rowena gave Ash both thumbs up. "You really understand me very well."
The atmosphere of the kingdom right now was really very unfavorable. Many people were hanging around outside and beating the royal troops. After two hours of traveling, Rowena finally arrived in front of the inn, where Prince Helios was.
"Don't you want to come with me?" asked Rowena who was getting ready to come down from there.
Ash shook his head. "No. We'll see each other again in Sunverro anyway. Don't forget to take good care of yourself."
Rowena smiled and replied, "You too."
Rowena immediately got off the carriage and entered the inn.