However, there was still one person who would notice if she left—her maid, Emma. If Ara could deceive or convince her in some way, no one else would notice her absence. Ara opened one eye to peep, and when she saw Emma was busy squeezing the towel, Ara called out in a weak voice.
"Emma?"
"Yes, yes, I'm here, my lady. How are you feeling now?" Emma asked, worried.
"I want you to do me a favor."
"What's that, my lady? I'll do anything."
Ara sat up on the bed and looked Emma straight in the eyes. "You see... I have to go somewhere important... I mean, I want to meet someone. He's my sweetheart, and we planned to meet somewhere around this town. I don't want Father to know about this. Can you help me?"
Ara let the lie easily flow out of her mouth—a story that would appeal to the maid. And she was right; Emma fell for the lie and quickly said, "How can I help you, my lady?"
Emma looked into her mistress's green eyes, waiting eagerly to know how she could be of help. She also knew the feeling of missing the person you loved.
"I tried to let him go because we can never be together, with the difference in our status. He's the son of a woodcutter, but I can never forget him."
Ara waited to see Emma's reaction before she continued. "I won't stay long; I'll only see him for a while... So, will you keep this a secret between us? And when the guards ask about me, tell them I'm still sleeping."
Ara saw her maid thinking deeply, as if she was afraid of helping her out, so she dramatically covered her face with her hands and sobbed softly. Emma looked at her helplessly, unable to decide what to do. Ara spoke dramatically again.
"I can't live without him. I'll die if I don't go see him now."
"My lady, please don't talk like this." But Ara wasn't swayed and continued to sob dramatically. Emma couldn't bear to see her like this and quickly said, "Fine. I'll help you, my lady."
'Yes!' Ara rejoiced internally.
Ara looked up at Emma with her teary eyes and asked, "Really? You'll cover for me?"
Emma nodded softly and said, "Yes, my lady. Now please stop crying."
Ara wiped away her fake tears and took out a gold coin from her pocket, holding it out to Emma. "Please take this as a reward for your help."
Emma looked down at the coin in her mistress's hand and shook her head. "No, my lady, I can't accept this." Emma pushed Ara's outstretched palm, folding the coin back into Ara's hand. "I just want to help you, my lady. There's no need to give me money... You can go; I'll cover for you."
Ara tried to make Emma take the money, but the girl refused no matter what she said. She got tired of trying to make her take it and put it back into her dress pocket. Ara moved closer to Emma, held her hands, and said in a soft voice, "Don't worry. I'll try my best to come back soon. All the guards think I'm sick, so keep it that way. Tell them I said nobody should disturb my rest, okay?"
"Yes, my lady," Emma nodded.
Ara reassured herself that this was the best choice to keep everybody in the dark. In fact, if she wanted to do everything easily, the easiest way would be to kill everyone to keep their mouths shut. But she couldn't do that; besides, Emma reminded her of her sister—so innocent and naive. She wouldn't be able to kill this innocent girl; this was the best way. Lying was better than killing.
With Emma's cooperation, Ara was soon left alone in the room. The time had finally arrived. She took out the scarlet metal armor suit that she had been hiding and put it on easily. She placed the helmet on her head. She no longer looked like a lady; she looked more like the Ara she was used to in her previous life. The sharp blade in her hands glittered in the light.
Ara murmured at the sight of the moon outside her window. "Here I come, Prince."
Ara sneaked to the horses outside, untied one of the black ones, and mounted it. She left the inn as if she had never been there.
As she got closer and closer to the battlefield, the heavy smell of blood stung her nose. Soon, she didn't have to wonder where it was coming from. There were as many bodies on the ground as there were trees in the dense forest. Even Ara, who was familiar with the battlefield, grimaced deeply at the sight. There were far too many bodies to count.
'Why is it so quiet? Is it already over?' she thought. Just looking at the bodies on the ground gave her a rough picture of how fierce the battle had been. The worst she feared had happened—the battle was over with no sight of any living soldiers or even the Crown Prince.
"Did he leave already?" she murmured. But fortunately, the remains seemed fresh, which meant they should be around here somewhere. However, it was too early to feel relieved. With fear rising that the Crown Prince might have left, Ara urged her horse to go faster.
Fortunately, she soon heard the sounds of blades clashing from afar.
'Please be there.'
She prayed desperately. She finally arrived at the scene where the fighting was taking place. What she saw wasn't what she had expected. She had expected to see a fierce battle between the Findara soldiers and the opposing soldiers. Instead, there was only a lone man surrounded by dozens of others.
'So the dead bodies I just saw were the work of one man?'
It was hard to believe. But something even more unexpected was unfolding before her eyes. "Oh Lord!" An involuntary gasp escaped her mouth.
The lone man was surrounded by dozens of enemies, but the man didn't seem to be fully human.
Her blood pounded in her ears. For a moment, she looked into his chilling red eyes and then down at his sharp fangs. She gasped when she caught a glimpse of them—they could slice a hand off in one bite. She watched him dig his long nails into a soldier's throat and rip off his head. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. She remembered what people used to call him: "Monster," "Demon," "Scary Beast."
"The rumors were real," she murmured. She was confused. If the rumors were true, then Cornell should also be the same. In her battle with him, he still maintained his human form even when she stabbed him. 'Why?' Why would he have to hide it? Why didn't Cornell appear like this in her previous life, but Prince Hamon did? Or perhaps...
Or perhaps the Crown Prince doesn't have a human form. Was that why he never made an appearance in public? Nobody knew what he looked like. Ara stood frozen as she took in the scene.
One of the enemy soldier's swords cut the Crown Prince's side. As blood oozed from the wound, Ara quickly came to her senses. 'What should I do now?' She quickly looked around and saw some small bombs in the arms of the dead bodies. There were also as many horses wandering around as there were bodies lying on the ground.
"Alright, it's time to go boom," she murmured. Ara moved quickly with determination and collected several small bombs from the bodies.
With the bombs in her hand, Ara began to ride her horse towards the Prince. At the same time, she threw some of the bombs she had collected.
BOOM! BOOM!
They landed near the dead soldiers holding bombs in their hands, causing a chain reaction that led to a larger explosion. The loud noises caused the soldiers attacking Hamon to scatter.
"What's happening?"
"I'll go and check it out!"
The carefully coordinated soldiers were quick to react, but they could not hide their shock at the sounds of galloping from all sides. It was the sound of horses running wild at the sound of the explosion.
Because of the small stampede, the soldiers couldn't even guess who was coming from which direction. Just then, at the same time, three arrows shot through the smoke created by the flames and penetrated the heads of the soldiers.
"The enemy!"
"The Prince's backup has come!"
The sound of horses' hooves thundered around them as the thick smoke obscured their vision. Through the chaos, she finally found a gap between the soldiers.
To them, a scarlet-armored soldier had suddenly appeared out of the smoke. Everyone turned their heads in alarm. It was one soldier—only one—coming out of the darkness. The squad, which consisted of highly trained soldiers, was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread.
The soldier wore red iron armor from head to toe, and the helmet covering its entire face revealed only two eyes.
The soldiers fully prepared themselves for the oncoming charge, led by the red soldier, but something was strange.
Ara, who jumped into the enemy's territory alone, stayed only for a brief moment. Hamon's red eyes and Ara's green eyes met.
"Your Highness, hop on!"
With an urgent cry, Ara stretched out her hand to Hamon, and he took it without hesitation. Ara pulled him up. Hamon used the momentum to jump up and sit behind her on the horse.
It happened in the blink of an eye. The soldiers, who were slow to react, quickly raised their voices.
"Stop them, right now!"
Ara pulled out her sword and cut down those who were in their way. However, she couldn't handle both the horse and the sword at the same time.
Hamon saw her struggling and spoke in a low voice from behind her.
"Give me the reins."
It was a miracle that he was still conscious considering the large wound on his side. His shirt was so soaked in blood that she couldn't even tell where the wound was. Even so, an extra hand in this situation would be enormously helpful.
"Here." She said softly and handed him the reins. Having him control the horse, Ara focused on getting rid of the soldiers in their way. As they fled down the road, arrows poured out from behind like rain. Ara cut down some with her sword, but one of the arrows landed squarely on Hamon's back.
"Agh!" He cried out in surprise as blood poured from his mouth. She looked at him in dismay, but Hamon continued in a steady voice. "I can hold on. There's no need to stop the horse."
"You—"
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to die."
Ara bit her lips. She wanted to say something but realized it wasn't the right time to argue with him. The most important thing right now was to get out of here alive. She looked at Hamon, who was clenching tightly to the reins despite the arrow in his back.
"Then stay with me so I don't have to worry," she said.