A group of people gathered around as Arieta removed her jacket to hold Abel's wound and stop the bleeding. After being in a coma for over three days, Abel finally woke up in the camp. Arieta and a blonde-haired girl were sitting beside him.
"Ah, you're awake, Abel? Can you hear me?" asked Arieta.
Abel immediately grabbed Arieta's hand, his own trembling, his face showing fear and trauma. The blonde-haired girl placed her hand on Abel's forehead and gently stroked it. "It's alright, it's alright, you're okay now," she soothed.
After Abel calmed down, he fell asleep again.
"He's still in shock," said Arieta.
"Of course he is," replied the mage who had saved Abel, followed by the purple-haired knight.
"Oh, Rifqie, Ghani, are you two alright?" asked the blonde-haired girl.
"It's alright. How's the kid?" asked Rifqie, the mage.
"He's fine. He's still in shock, but Sheryl and I have healed most of his wounds," Arieta responded.
The blonde-haired girl, now identified as Sheryl, nodded. "Well, we were lucky to find him," said Ghani, the knight in full plate.
"By the way, the boss wanted to meet with you, Arieta," Rifqie mentioned.
"Is there a problem?" Arieta looked confused.
"Nope, probably he needs your skills to navigate our route next," explained Rifqie.
"Alright, I'll be going then," said Arieta.
"I too shall return to Lady Aina's side. Can you two look after the kid?" asked Sheryl.
"Nah, don't worry, Vixi will take care of him; she's just buying some stuff for medicine," Rifqie reassured her.
"Ah, okay, see you later you two," Sheryl said as she left.
Not long after, a short white-haired girl entered the room. "Uh, where are those two?" she asked.
"Oh, Vixi, can you look after the kid? Arieta and Sheryl are already tasked with something else," said Rifqie.
"Oh great, always dumping the watching jobs on me," Vixi complained.
"Hahaha, well, we can't let you slacking off," teased Ghani.
"Oh, for real? That's rich coming from you, Karung Ghani," retorted Vixi.
"Alright, alright, you two, Aina has already determined to save this kid. Well, he's like this because he was helping us in the first place," said Rifqie.
"Fine, just tell Xyzer to come here; I need someone to talk to pass the time," said Vixi.
"Yeah, don't worry. I'll call my darling here. You old hag, be good in here," Ghani joked.
As time passed, Abel woke up again. He saw another silver-haired girl by his side, who had a cute baby face and wore a gothic black and red dress.
"Where am I?" Abel asked.
"Oh, you're awake," said the girl.
"Xyzer, help me get this medicine for him," Vixi instructed.
"Alright, Vixi. Wait here, Abel," Xyzer responded.
She approached Vixi, and the two began to create a medicine, which they then gave to Abel. Xyzer helped Abel to drink it.
Not long after Abel regained consciousness, a group of people came in. There were File White and Arieta, among others, and in the middle of them was a princess-like figure with short blonde hair and a tiara with a red gemstone in the middle.
The princess then sat on a chair that had already been prepared. Xyzer and Vixi bowed to pay respect, but the princess shrugged it off. "Come on, guys, we're friends. No need to do that every time I enter the room," said the princess.
"Hey Abel, how are you?" Arieta asked as she placed her hand on Abel's neck.
"I... what happened?" Abel looked not fully conscious yet.
"Wow, kid, you had it rough," said Rifqie.
"He fought over five knights; he obviously had it rough," Ghani added.
"I think we should let him rest for a moment," Xyzer suggested.
Abel's eyes moved all over the place as he tried his best to analyze the situation.
"Where am I?" Abel asked with a dizzy expression.
"You're... in our camp, kid," Rifqie explained.
"I think we should let him rest first," said the princess.
"But we have to move as fast as we can, Lady," Ghani interjected.
"I know, but I think waiting one or two more days won't hurt. This is far enough from the nearest city, and besides, I don't like the idea of an innocent getting caught in the crossfire because he helped us," the princess reasoned.
After a brief discussion, the group agreed to let Abel rest. Xyzer and Arieta watched over him and regularly gave him medicine.
After two days, Abel finally regained enough strength to stand up. His head was still dizzy, but at least all of his wounds were patched up and his stamina was gradually restoring. He sat in an empty room until Arieta and Xyzer came in.
Arieta immediately approached Abel and checked his forehead. "You're awake!" she exclaimed.
"Ms. Arieta? What happened?" Abel asked, shocked as Arieta touched his forehead.
"You were attacked by Whiteford Knights; they almost killed you," Arieta explained.
"Yeah, thanks to Ghani and Rifqie being informed, they quickly looked after you," added Xyzer.
"Yeah, those clients... I remember... But why?" Abel's face was still a mix of shock and realization.
"Uh... let's meet Lady Aina first. We will explain everything," said Arieta.
Abel nodded in agreement. He was then given breakfast by some maids while waiting. Not long after his meal, Rifqie leaned on the door.
"You feeling better, kid?" Rifqie asked.
"You are the mage who saved me," Abel recognized the man who had saved him.
"Just call me Rifqie. Take your time. Aina says we are still going to explain it to you, so prepare your mind," Rifqie advised.
"Yes, thank you, Rifqie," said Abel.
Rifqie nodded, then left after ensuring Abel's condition was stable. Soon after, Abel was called to a meeting room where a group of people awaited him. Abel noticed the important person, Lady Aina, the princess sitting in the middle of the room. He immediately bowed his head.
"Raise your head, Abel," the princess instructed.
"First of all, I am Aina White, the third daughter and seventh child of King Zachary White," Aina introduced herself.
"Princess! It's an honor to meet you," Abel said, lowering his head again.
Aina chuckled. "It's alright; you can ease up a bit. I think you're wondering why the Knights of Whiteford attacked you, right?" she said.
"These knights... they were Whiteford's?" Abel asked.
"Yes. Here's the thing: despite my lineage, I am, in fact, an outcast from the White royal family," Aina revealed.
Abel was shocked to hear this and listened intently to Aina.
"A few years ago, our throne prince, my eldest brother Hector White, was assassinated during a certain celebration. This event essentially broke the White royal family," Aina continued.
She took a deep breath and continued, "With Hector's death, many princes and princesses turned against each other. My father, King Zachary, managed to hold the kingdom together for years, but he finally lost his grip, and my brother Prince Barnabas White took over the White Kingdom as Lord Regent until he is officially crowned as King of Whiteford. Of course, he needs to settle the problem within the kingdom first. However, not every prince and princess agrees with Barnabas's ascension, including me. I have nothing personal against Barnabas, but something within me feels something is off with my older brother. He wasn't the same person I used to know, or at least, he wasn't the person I used to believe he was," said Aina.
Aina took another deep breath and glanced at her amulet. "Well, I too was among those who challenged Barnabas's rule. Ultimately, Whiteford's power was divided into five factions: me, Prince Barnabas, Prince Zack, Princess Maryam, and Prince Adonis. The conflict was controlled and hadn't reached an open conflict yet, at least until 10 months ago. I found out that Prince Adonis's forces were completely annihilated. My brother Adonis was held in prison, awaiting his execution. I realized that Barnabas was never going to resolve this conflict peacefully. Even though I had already safely positioned myself and my loyalists in Margram Harbour, it seems Barnabas didn't intend to leave us in peace. His forces were slowly expanding to reclaim all territory within Whiteford. I can't just openly stand against Barnabas; his forces are too massive for us to handle—over 250k military soldiers with an additional 100k in reserve and 100k allies. My total followers don't even reach 10k. I can't face Barnabas directly, at least for now. My protector, File White the Grand Master, and I decided to flee from Whiteford and rearrange our plans. Unfortunately, because of this, Barnabas's men thought you were working with us and decided to target you," Aina explained.
As she spoke, Abel began to understand what was happening. "I see... I'm still shocked, but doesn't this mean they will target me again?" Abel asked.
"Yeah... I won't deny that. I'm terribly sorry you were dragged into this," Aina said. She paused for a moment before continuing, "I highly recommend you lie low for a while. As long as Barnabas is aware of my actions, he will surely target our allies."
Abel thought for a moment. He wanted to lay low, but he still needed to gather money for the academy, and as an investigator, he couldn't just quit his job.
"Or, how about you join us for a while?" Aina suggested.
Everyone in the room was shocked.
Abel's eyes widened in shock at the suggestion.
"Lady... isn't that a bit dangerous?" Vixi asked.
"I've told you just to call me Aina, but nonetheless, it's not safe to leave him in his current state either. Now that we've saved him, Barnabas's men will make him a top priority target," Aina explained.
"It makes sense, but still, what about you, Abel?" Vixi asked.
"I... I still can't decide; I'm sorry, it's still too much for me to take in," Abel responded.
"Milady, I think right now it's better to give him some time. We also can't stay much longer. Our best hope is to get to Katya Ports as quickly as possible and then to Siofia. There's an old Archive Knight castle that still stands; we could use it as our base of operations," Rifqie suggested.
After giving it some thought, Aina agreed to let Abel return to Melody City. The group would accompany Abel to the outskirts of Lagu Village, where he would take a train directly to Melody City. However, Abel was advised not to openly speak about any of his experiences with the Whitefords or Aina's faction, as doing so could make him a top priority target that needed to be silenced.
Abel agreed and found a way to lay low for the time being. He rode in a wagon alongside some members of the Archive Knights. During this journey, Abel gazed into the distance at Lagu Village, the place where his uncle and auntie lived. He considered visiting them but didn't dare.
"Hey... are you alright?" Arieta asked.
"Uh yeah, just..." Abel replied, unable to focus.
"Your family, right?" Arieta guessed.
"Yeah, my uncle and auntie, along with their children," Abel confirmed.
"Don't worry, they will be alright," Arieta reassured him, helping to calm his nerves.
They reached the outskirts of the village. Abel then parted ways with everyone, but before he left, Aina reminded him of an open invitation.
"Abel, if you change your mind, you can always come with us. We will be at Katya Ports for two months," Aina said.
"Thank you, Princess. I'll think about it," Abel replied.
As Abel parted ways with the group, he ran straight to the station and took the train to Melody Capital City.