"I thought you did this to trap her," Rylen asked Caius. "You're just going to kill her father?"
"Don't look at me like that," Caius said. "If she had done what I wanted, this wouldn't happen." Caius shrugged as he casually held onto the reins of his horse.
"You didn't give her a chance to correct this. You even made us leave earlier than scheduled," Rylen scolded. He rode closer to Caius.
"Yes, so we can get to the capital on time. Even on horseback, it will take us no less than two days. If we leave early, we can get to the capital by dusk on the second day."
Rylen didn't reply to this; he just rode past and left Caius alone. There was no point in trying to speak more on the matter. He wouldn't listen, and he knew better than to anger Caius. At least, he was amused, but Rylen couldn't help but worry about the girl's father.
Caius watched Rylen ride off, and an odd thought popped into his head. He frowned and turned back, refusing to let his thoughts stray to places he'd rather not think about. Right now, the redhead that got his loins in a frenzy was far more important. Caius frowned as he was met with an empty path. He was riding as slowly as possible, yet she wasn't here yet. If she wanted to rescue her father, she had to work hard for it. Refusing his offer had consequences.
From here, he could no longer see Edenville again, just a path lined with huge trees on each side. Caius turned his head to the front, then shrugged and picked up the pace. They had a lot of riding to do. It was her loss at the end of the day.
Caius heard it before he saw it. The gallops of an incoming horse—it didn't sound like it came from his men. It sounded faster. Caius would recognize that anywhere, but he didn't even flinch, didn't turn around. Instead, he picked up the pace some more, forcing his men to increase their pace too.
They were a band of fifty men, and Caius knew all of them by name. They had fought with him in several battles. He also went with them everywhere. He trusted them, and he knew they would easily lay down their lives for him. Right now, he was leading them as they flanked him on both sides and covered up the rear.
Suddenly, Rylen was by his side again. He bounced with every movement of the horse. "Did you know she would do this?"
"Do what?" Caius asked, pretending to be oblivious. "Wait, who?"
Actually, Caius didn't expect this at all. He had thought she would stop him at the gate. He had completely given up on trying to get her, maybe not completely. He was just as shocked as Rylen. However, it didn't mean he had to make it easy for her.
"Rose," he said. When Caius still frowned, he added, "the redhead."
"Oh, I had forgotten about her. What about her?" Rose, he echoed in his head—that's her name.
"She just joined the men in the rear, and she is clearly trying to ride to meet you, but the men won't let her through. She already came here; don't make it too difficult for her. Her father's life is on the line."
Caius lifted his gaze to look at him. "Aren't you the righteous one? She already made it this far; I'm sure she can handle even more. She should reach me before noon, else how would she save her father?" Caius laughed.
Caius didn't need to look at Rylen to know what expression he had on. The air hummed with it, but all Caius could think about was that she was willing to do this for her father, and she couldn't adhere to his request—the crown prince's request.
Rose had water in her eyes, and her rear was also bruised. The saddle wasn't her size, and with how fast she was going, it was only going to get worse. She couldn't help the relief she felt when she saw the prince's group. She sped up immediately.
She didn't have a lot of time left; she didn't even think he would leave with her father's life on the line. She should have asked more questions. How would he save him from here? The thoughts that churned in her mind were enough to make her lose balance, but she held on.
Rose tried to pass them to get to the crown prince, but they wouldn't let her. She tried the other end, but the guards suddenly appeared in her way. "Let me pass," she cried, but no one spoke to her. No one even looked at her.
The tears were already falling. Rose didn't know when, but she could feel her face was wet. Was she a joke to him? Was this how minimal a life was to him? Her father! He was aware of her presence, she could tell, but he wasn't calling his guards off.
Rose's face hardened, and she wiped at her tears with one hand. Taking a hard left, she rushed into the trees. She would like to see them stop her now. The terrain of the forest was different, and the cluster of trees made it a bit hard to ride, but she had to ride even faster than before. She needed to overtake them and get to the front.
The first branch almost sent her flying off the horse. She had seen it a little too late. She cursed at the pain, but that didn't matter. The second, she was able to brace herself for it. Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid it.
A fallen tree caught her eyes; it was blocking the already clustered path, but Rose didn't slow the horse down, afraid that it might lose momentum and wouldn't be able to jump. She pulled the reins, urging it to leap. The horse jumped, and Rose had to hold on for her life. It landed, and she almost slipped off. She leaned forward to support herself, grabbing tightly onto the reins.
After securing her balance, she led the horse out of the forest, bringing it to the middle of the path. She got off the horse immediately, making it stand sideways so it would block the path, and she kowtowed in front of it. Her head to the floor, her palms face down on the ground in front of her head.
"What's the meaning of this?"