The two women watched Odette, and Odette also looked back at them.
'Why is everyone here wearing old-fashioned clothes,' Odette thought when she saw the appearance of the two women who were dressed as royal knights.
After she stayed silent for about three seconds, the two female knights, who were none other than Knight Erika and Knight Erina, walked up to Odette.
"He-hey." Odette greeted timidly upon seeing the swords hanging from the waists of the two women. Those looked real.
"Who are you?" Erika asked with dipped eyebrows and piercing eyes. She looked unfriendly, and it made Odette feel tense.
"If you ask with a face like that, anyone will be scared." Erina patted her sister's shoulder, then turned to look at Odette and smiled. Erina's attitude looked completely different from Erika's. She looked friendlier.
"Can we help you? I noticed you were confused," said Erina. Her attitude made Odette feel relieved. Earlier, she had been worried because she thought she would not get help.
"Y-yes. Actually, I'm really confused. I've been walking for three hours down this road, but I still haven't found the end. Do you know where the end of this road is?"
Erina had a confused expression. Why was this woman in front of her asking that? Where did this woman come from, and where would she go?
"Five kilometres from there." Erina's answer made Odette swallow hard. Just by imagining herself walking such a long distance, she felt like passing out.
Meanwhile, Anwen who was urging Dan very quickly suddenly pulled the reins of Dan until the horse slowed down and suddenly stopped. After that, she very carefully pulled the reins of her horse, ordered it towards the line of trees on the left side of the road. She had to hide.
Anwen jumped down then said, "Dan, shhh."
She put her index finger in front of its mouth as a signal for Dan not to make a sound, and Dan obeyed its master. After Dan calmed down, Anwen peeked out from behind the tree and watched Knight Erina and Knight Erika chat with Miss Ody.
"Grandma really can't wait even for a second. Either way, I won't let them take me back to the palace," Anwen mumbled.
After a few minutes of silently watching, Anwen finally saw the twin Knights return to their horses and leave Odette alone. As the two knights flashed in front of her, Anwen continued to watch them until their figures slowly sank into the distance. After that, she came out of hiding and returned to ride Dan to approach Odette. Odette, who was silent, was slightly surprised when she once again heard the footsteps of the approaching horse.
"Anwen?"
"Miss Ody." Anwen immediately jumped off the horse as soon as she arrived near Odette. "Miss Ody, why did you leave the castle like this? I'm sad that you just left without telling me."
Odette watched Anwen's face for a moment. There was a slight sadness in the girl's eyes, and the expression on her face was honest and not a play.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to go home," explained Odette. Her blue eyes looked down sadly.
"Miss Ody...." Anwen looked deeply at Odette for a moment, then smiled. "I'm sorry. Then how about I take you home. Even though I'm a girl, I can be relied on if we meet bandits."
"Is that true?" Odette raised her gaze to look at Anwen.
"Of course. Come on up, I'll help you," Anwen said. She then pulled Dan closer to Odette.
Odette hesitated for a moment because she had never ridden a horse before, but she had no other choice. She decided to go up with Anwen's help.
The sun was now overhead.
And they ran fast through the wind.
Odette, who was seated behind Anwen, looked at the spread of grass and then looked at the blue sky above.
"Where am I actually?" she thought. How come everyone she met didn't know about her city. Even the twins didn't know it.
Now Odette's only hope of returning home was the river in the forest. She would ask Anwen to take her to the river.
Anwen, who did not know the city that Odette was referring to, decided to accompany Odette to find her way home. Anwen didn't want to go back to the castle as Knights Erika and Erina would surely look for her. While in the palace, there was her grandmother.
Anwen had a plan. When they found their way to Odette's home and arrived at the house, she would ask to be allowed to stay there for a while.
Meanwhile, Knight Erika and Knight Erina had arrived at Green Castle, and now they stood face to face with Knight Trish.
"Is Princess Anwen here?" Erika asked.
Trish didn't answer right away, he remembered Anwen looking so sad this morning.
"No," he answered. Erika looked at Trish with knitted eyebrows.
"Don't lie to us. You must have been in cahoots with the Princess," said Erika.
"No," Trish replied calmly.
Erika stared harder, but Trish just stared blankly.
"Knight Trish."
Trish's brown eyes shifted to look at Erina.
"We were ordered by Her Majesty Cristela to pick up Princess Anwen to return to the palace. I ask for your cooperation," said Erina.
Before Trish could answer, Rion came from behind.
Erika and Erina immediately bowed respectfully as the king stood before them.
"What are you doing here?" Rion asked.
"We were ordered by Her Majesty Cristela to fetch Princess Anwen back to the palace," replied Erina.
"I don't allow it," said Rion, which made the two female knights shocked. Even a slight surprise showed on Trish's face.
"But Your Majesty–"
"Go home and tell Her Majesty Cristela. If she doesn't stop, I will make an announcement saying that Her Majesty Cristela is looking for a new husband," said Rion and cut Erina's words.
"Pffft." Trish could barely contain his laughter while Knights Erika and Erina looked surprised. For a moment, they were speechless.
"Should I walk you out all the way to the gate?" Rion asked in a flat but scary tone.
"N-no, Your Majesty." Erina stammered. She bowed respectfully together with Erika and she added, "Then we'll excuse ourselves."
After they watched the two female knights leave, Trish said, "I'm glad to see you care about Princess Anwen."
Rion did not give any response. He just closed his eyes for a moment, then turned and walked away.
***
Five men dressed in Panthera warrior armor raced their horses quickly, so as not to lose track of Princess Anwen and Odette. They were soldiers sent by Rion to secretly escort Odette and to make sure Odette got to her residence safely.
Before Anwen came, they only made their horses walk slowly and occasionally made the horses hide when Odette turned her head. But after Anwen arrived, they had to race their horses as fast as they could because Anwen was one of the fastest horseback riders in Panthera. There was only one person who was able to beat the Princess's speed on horseback, and that was King Rion.
After a few minutes of riding, Dan finally set his feet on the ground of a village.