Second Arc (His Art of War) - 132. Strange Country Girl II
Angel stepped through the village square. A big flame danced in the middle of it, devouring the rebels' corpses. Around it, some elderly prayed fervently with several men who were sitting in exhaustion. A woman's scream could be heard from a house not far away from there. Angel knew that screaming voice came from the pregnant woman, but it could have a rebel in disguise. But since he couldn't check it in person, he decided to find a quiet place near the square and sat there.
"Lady Jyne, I hope you don't mind to accompany me for a moment," said Angel as he gestured to sit on his right.
"I don't mind," she said nervously. Then she sat not far from him. In a glance, Angel knew she was a noblewoman from her elegant sit gesture, no, not only an ordinary noble but a high noble.
'I will check her later.' The most important thing was that he had to make sure Rose was fine. Secretly, Angel used his Evil Eye and an eye formed on his left hand. He released the eye from his hand and closed his eyes. That eye flew and sneaked into the house where Rose was. Angel watched her for a moment, making sure the people around her weren't rebels in disguise.
'Looks like my guess was wrong,' he thought. He had been watching it for more than fifteen minutes and there wasn't any suspicious movement there.
"Um ... Sir Rai? Are you alright?" Jyne's hesitant voice came from his side.
Angel cancelled his Evil Eye spell and opened his eyes.
"I'm fine."
"Do you need anything ? I mean... Your condition is a bit strange... " she said worriedly.
He turned to her, now that he had to find out about this woman
"I don't need anything. Just accompany me for a small talk."
Jyne lowered her head nervously.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"You look different from the other villagers. Why did you end up here?" he said straight to the point.
She looked surprised for a moment since she didn't expect him to realize it that fast before smiled bitterly.
"A year ago the villagers rescued me after my convoy was attacked by a gang of bandits. I have lived here ever since."
'That's strange ...' Angel quickly found some oddities in her story. If she was attacked and her entire convoy died, within a year she should have gone to the Fortaare Town and report it to the guards so she could return to her home. But she chose to stay in this small village, indicating she had something to do with this village or ... She was hiding from something.
"How about your family? They are searching for you, right? "
Her expression turned grim.
"I don't want to go back..." she replied simply.
"Do you mind telling me what happens?" His curiosity rose.
"Since my father remarried, his attitude and my brother's have changed ..." She clutched her hands on her dirty dress.
"So I thought something was wrong with my stepmother and told them about it... But they didn't listen to me. That's why I decided to run away ..." Traces of sadness and anger could be heard in her voice.
"May I know what your surname is?" he asked.
She shook her head from side to side.
"I can't tell you."
Angel was silent for a moment, deep in thought. His eyes stared at her. He remembered he had heard the same rumours about this when he took a trip to another kingdom using his teleport skill a year ago. But he didn't pay much attention to it because he thought it was a personal scandal.
"Then what are your plans? Are you planning to stay here forever?"
She shook her head once again and took out a crumpled letter from her pocket. Looks like she carried the letter with her everywhere.
"I beg you... Please help me to deliver this important letter to your king," she said pleadingly.
Angel took the letter from her hand and looked at the seal on the envelope. It was a special seal and only special people own it. He turned to her.
"Isn't that your family scandal? Why did you ask my king's help?" Even though Angel didn't know the letter contents, from her story, he guessed she requested his help. It was an internal affair and Angel could make sure Jyne didn't come from Asteria, Euphorion, Draconis or Zephyrus, a king from a foreign kingdom couldn't interfere in an external affair like this.
"Your king is my only hope. I have nowhere else to go but to come to him," she said in the same pleading tone.
"The king is at Scarlet Stone Castle now. Would you like to meet him?" Angel's hand put the letter in his blazer pocket.
"He's at Scarlet Stone Castle?" she said in surprise.
"Does that mean ..." Jyne's words stopped.
"Yes. Euphorion has conquered Zephyrus now," he confirmed her guess.
She lowered her head. Her eyes bewildered and confusion was evident on her face.
"No ... This could be a bad idea ..." she muttered.
"But what should I do?"
"Are you afraid the king will use your letter as an excuse to attack your homeland?" guessed Angel.
Jyne was silent, but Angel already knew why.
"You don't need to worry about it. My king never attacks a kingdom that doesn't attack him first. But of course, if that kingdom has bad intentions to Euphorion. He will attack it without hesitation, "he said. So far he had kept Euphorion in a defensive position since he only wanted to maintain the Andromeda Continent peace, but since Pearl Gate City's incident, now, for him 'The best defence is a good offence.' Once he found a potential threat, he would attack it, just as he attacked Draconis after he found King Esteve's letter on King Gervis' desk.
Jyne was still silent and her confusion was getting clearer on her face. Consideration filled her head.
Seeing her confusion, Angel decided to expose her identity directly.
"So, do you want to meet the king in person, Your Highness?"
Jyne shook her head. From the look in her eyes, it was clear her mind wasn't there.
"I can't meet him in person ... I'm afraid my family thinks I'm trying to ---" Then she gasped as she realized something and turned to Angel in a panic since she just noticed he called her 'Your Highness'.
Angel smirked.
"Looks like my guess was right. Princess Jyne of Pontus. Why did you run away from your kingdom?"