Amy did not sleep at all. Violet's intense stare on her kept going throughout the night but she remains non-verbal leaving her even more uneasy. Even though she confirmed many times that she isn't real, that doesn't mean that the underlying threat isn't obvious.
Anna had to do all the work of getting her ready for travel but before they could leave the inn, there was a commotion outside which slowly woke her up and grabbed her attention.
"What's going on?"
Anna was quick on her feet to ask someone before turning her attention on her. "It seems that there are knights who are here to escort you."
"Escort? I thought that some of the Grandfather's Blair soldiers are here to escort me." she said reluctantly.
"They are but it seem the other group of knights are here as well for the same thing."
"Take me to them." she walked to the front with Anna behind her.
Something is happening. She didn't even have this level of protection when she was with her entire family let alone by herself when they headed to Fiore. Why was this necessary?
"What is going on here?"
"My lady," one of the Blair soldiers approached her. "We tried to get ready to leave but then these guys showed up saying that they would escort you instead."
Irritated, she turned to the nearest knight and gaped upon noticing his attire. She touched Anna's hand to make sure she isn't hallucinating.
"Can you describe to me what they're wearing?"
Slightly taken aback, Anna answered, "Well, they are wearing silver armor and a black cloak and it's purple on the inside."
"I see olive branches on the edges."
"Yes," Anna nodded.
She recognize it from the manga. The horned dragon represents the royal family but there are other symbols. The Solinean flag has a large hammer surrounded by Olive Branches underneath the hammer. Solin himself is famous for being a warrior and uses an axe as his signature weapon and thus it symbolize war and represents the Ruler. On the other hand, the olive branch symbolize peace and represents the polar opposite of the ruler; their spouse who supports them. Every territory has soldiers and knights who serve their lord and protect the realm but for the royal family, they have an elite group of men or women sworn to protect the family. The one exclusively meant to serve the Queen are commonly known as the Queen's guard but their official name is the Olive Branch.
"What is the Olive Branch Guard doing here?" Amy asked suspiciously.
Then a burly looking woman with blonde hair and a pretty face approached her. "My name is Ursa and Her Majesty send us to escort you and be your protective guard during your recovery."
Concerned, she looked at everyone. They know something and even Alabaster and Boris seem unsure.
"What is going on here? Why did Her Majesty send her own personal guard for me?"
Ursa then gave her a letter and it has a purple wax sealed with the olive branch stamp. Amy opened it to read...
Miss Amaryllis Anthos,
I have heard news of your current state and illness and that you are heading to Fiore for your recovery. I am afraid that I am concerned for you so please accept my personal guard to escort you. I apologize if it was sudden but I can assure you that your safety is my top priority.
I heard from both your mother and father that you are not in the right state of mind to write a letter but I would love to hear more from you in the future.
Your Queen, Helena Rex.
Amy puts the letter inside her cloak and frowned at the number of guards. Other than the eight guards from the Blair soldiers from the Anthos County, there are fourteen from the Olive branch and only two are men.
"What is going on? Why did she send so much people?" Anna asked.
"It is none of your concern." Ursa sharply replied, bringing it to an end.
"We must reach Fiore before the sundown. Please miss, let us depart."
Amy cannot help but feel like she has no real say in this anyway. If the queen demanded it then she has no choice.
After getting in the carriage, the group took off and Amy looked around, confused.
"I don't understand, my lady. Why did the queen send so many people here? Is she that worried about you? It seems like she is overreacting."
Amy didn't reply but feels alert as the disciplined Olive Branch not only outnumber the Blair soldiers but made them seem insecure and outclassed.
What the hell is going on here? She thought, trying to look unsuspicious in front of Anna.
"No clue. The arrival of the queen's guard threw me off. And to be your personal guard in Fiore is unexpected." Boris said.
This is bad. Boris is going to be inspected.
"No worries. You already know about Boris. All you have to do is let him in. Lie to everyone. They'll trust him." Alabaster said.
Amy unnoticeably shook her head. It's not that simple. We don't even know the reason why they are here in the first place. It might backfire.
"It definitely has something to do with those people in that shed. Spies? Assassins?"
Why would anyone want to do that?
"You are young and adults see you as moldable. They will try to take advantage of you when you are young and powerful." Alabaster answered hesitantly.
"Sounds like something you've experienced." Boris chuckled much to Alabaster's annoyance.
Both of you, cut the crap. I can't think of any reason in any accounts in the story. Since childhood, Leon has been targeted for his powers but he likes to show off and never needed protection. In fact, it was so insignificant to him that only those who tried to kill him had flashbacks of him and there were never any first accounts of himself. I wonder if I'm going through the same thing.
"Leon is powerful enough. You are not." Boris stated, "Despite your knowledge, you are not in the same level as him but that doesn't make you any less special. Queen Helena is sharp and is quick to action."
Amy sighed deeply, I know that but this treatment is far too much unless someone wants to kill me but everyone who targets Leon are all foreigners.
"Solin in this generation is not the same as it was in Aron's generation. The corruption is pretty evident. Queen Helena is no saint either. She must have a motive. And do not get me started on King Claude. He may seem like an absentminded old man but if he wants something then he'll take it. In the future, he is very much involved in this country's corruption. King Leon had to flush out a third of the nobility to clean his parents' mess."
Makes sense, Amy agreed.
"At least, he grows up." Boris mused.
That raises the question then. Who would benefit the most on my kidnapping and/or death?
"It is difficult to say. The Anthos House remained intact in the story because of its neutrality. Lord Oleander has retired from politics, Lord Linden hasn't done anything to smear the family name, your cousins are also exempted, both your parents are safe as well, as well as your Grand Aunt and her married family. That just leaves your uncles." Boris said.
Both of them are not mentioned but both Hortense and Hyacinth didn't suffer from any political setbacks in the story so I think they have clean records too. Amy said.
"Yes, and I think keeping you alive and maintaining this neutrality would be the best course of action for them. Other than your family, you have close ties with the royal family. No one in Solin has any reason to kill or kidnap you, if anything it would ruin them. It would make sense if a rival family kidnap you and frame it on someone else to gain the Anthos support." Boris said.
"Hmm... I'm thinking if anyone would probably benefit most on your death, locally it would be the Durham family and internationally, it would be either Hekaton or Damat." Alabaster said in deep thought.
I get Hekaton and Damat but why the Durham family?
"They have been rumored to making moves on replacing Melissa as the Crown Princess with someone else with another ability. But you are the queen's first choice if it weren't for Melissa having a better political advantage. If anything happens to her then..."
Amy shook her head angrily, Absolutely not! Melissa must be the next queen. It cannot be anyone else.
"It is a good thing we are heading to Fiore. The closer we are to Fiore, the farther from Hekaton." Alabaster said.
But closer to the Damat border. Amy finished.
"I could understand Hekaton," Boris interrupted, "There are prejudice against anyone with demonic ancestry. You, Violet, Melissa, Rufus, Theseus and Sabina have angelic ancestry and that is in a generation. Damat doesn't care about demon or angelic ancestry, but they care about power so it is not a secret that they envy Solin for that."
"That does remind me, Boris. How many ability users does Hekaton have?" asked Alabaster.
"Two,"
"In one generation?"
"No, Overall," he answered.
"REALLY?!!" both shouted in complete shock.
"Yes, Left King Cesare and First Left Princess Evangeline are ability users though in reality, their powers are weak and they are trying to hide it."
I heard of Evangeline. She becomes the Left Queen Regnant in the official story though she died in the beginning. I remember what she looked like too. She is a morbidly obese woman. Amy reminisces.
"Yes, she has a particular interest for food than any luxury. Quite the embodiment of gluttony if you ask me. So many doctors were blamed for her lack of weight loss by her." Boris said in a stressful tone.
Amy felt a pang of pain in her head and Boris noticed it.
"I pumped in a lot of brain power in your brain so that we could have this conversation. You should sleep now."
Amy nodded in question and closed her eyes after making herself comfortable in the carriage
...and woke up again to a different place.