Chapter 13. Even if you live as a slave to barbarians
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"Look."
Doa shook his head, continuing to stare at Kayan.
"It's just strange, Master Kayan, I don't think you're the kind of person to show mercy like this. Maybe you're worried about her, who you threw out the window......."
"Shut up."
Doa clamped his mouth shut, and this time his gaze shifted to the Princess.
She sat sullenly in the poorly roofed wagon.
"She looks so dignified sitting there, even in a filthy carriage. I guess royalty in a civilized country is always noticeable."
The Anuts, young and old alike, used horses, not carriages, for transportation.
So it was unlikely that the Anut envoys had a luxurious carriage for a royal lady.
The royal family of Elmir sent only the princess, so the only way they could get a carriage was to travel to Gnamada.
"It's a bit of a shame that a woman who was once called the Pearl of Elmir has been reduced to such a humble existence. From what I've heard, she was so well known among the people in the days of King Grayson that she actually went out of her way to help the poor, which is not in keeping with her noble royal status. She's not worthy of being sold into slavery."
Kayan didn't like Doa's show of compassion for the late king’s daughter.
He had seen it many times in the past, when he had allowed his resentment to get the better of him.
"Save yourself the trouble. Whatever great stories you may have heard, once she follows us, she’s just a lowly slave."
Doa let out a short sigh at Kayan's dry demeanor, devoid of any emotion.
Instead of feeling remorse for the princess who had been so badly injured by him, all he could think about was how he had gotten a slave for nothing.
Doa scowled at the harsh man, who showed no sign of compassion.
"Don't you dare think of pushing her without giving her a chance to breathe until we reach Anut. The frail will never make it."
Kayan wrinkled his brow at Doa's addition and glanced at Ihedia.
Her pale complexion looked as if she might collapse at any moment.
If this was what it took to get to Anut, he wondered.
Then, as Ihedia unconsciously turned her head, their gazes collided.
Then Kayan turned away.
The sky was as dark once more as it had been on their departure.
The envoys had been riding diligently since the early hours of the morning and had reached the Gebelkato Rainforest in just over a day.
As they neared the entrance to their destination, Kayan glanced at Ihedia, then at Doa.
"You stay here and guard the entrance."
"Me?"
Doa's eyes narrowed at being treated like a gatekeeper.
But Kayan didn't even pretend to hear Doa's question, instead storming inside with the rest of the group.
The first thing they saw upon entering Gakhran's abode was a blackened corpse.
The chief of staff, who was waiting inside, asked Kayan to have a meeting, and the two of them were alone in the room.
"He was already on the verge of death when we arrived. I think he was poisoned, but......."
The chief of staff said, his face full of suspicion.
"Gakhran said something suspicious before he died."
For a moment, Kayan's eyes sharpened.
The Chief of Staff paused for a moment, as if something was bothering him, then spoke with difficulty.
"It was about His Majesty the Emperor Hashad."
Kayan listened to the rest of his explanation in silence.
According to the Chief of Staff, the dying Gakhran had made a strange confession, as if handing over a final key.
"I... I was blinded by power for a moment, I admit, but do you think Hashad deserves to be Emperor of Anut...... Do you think he deserves to be Emperor in place of the late Raquil? Or Elgon? or why......?"
Gakhran spoke as if he knew something related to the death of the late Emperor.
But it was hard to tell if there was any real credibility to what he was saying.
In essence, he accused Hashad of executing Emperor Raquil for the sake of rebellion.
The problem was, he had no hard evidence or witnesses to prove it.
"Hashad and Elgon.”
Elgon was Hashad's cousin, killed in the War of the Northwest many years ago.
He didn’t know why he was mentioning those names until the moment of his death.
Was Emperor Hashad really involved in Raquil’s death?
But there was no such motive.
In life, the late Emperor Raquil had favored Hashad, and Hashad had risen to the position of crown prince without much difficulty.
The casual mention of Elgon also didn't make sense.
Even as he concluded that Gakhran had been speaking out of spite for the Anut imperial family, Kayan had an inexplicable feeling of reluctance.
"The poisoner?"
"For now, we need time to move the body to Anut and investigate. Circumstantial evidence suggests that whoever was secretly helping Gakhran may have done the tail cutting beforehand."
"There's no good in knowing, so keep him under wraps."
The plan to capture Gakhran alive and root out the rest of the gang had failed, but at least until they could figure out the source of the poison, they had to be extra careful with security.
If word of this got back to the headquarters, they’d be on the run once again, stripped of their hard-won leads.
In the meantime, Doa remained alone with Ihedia.
Doa, who loved to chat, felt a little sorry for the slender woman, so he deliberately struck up a friendly conversation with her.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
Ihedia replied, looking a little nervous, and Doa spoke up again.
"By the way, I'm late in introducing myself, I'm Doa Chatalq, an aide."
"I'm Ihedia Herilsmiller. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Chatalq."
"Please feel free to call me Doa."
Ihedia nodded, and Doa smiled back, opening up the conversation.
For quite a while, he kept her occupied with small talk.
"The weather in Anut is completely different from Elmir, and I'm sure you'll have a hard time adjusting to it for a while... I'm not really an Anut, so I've had to deal with a lot of cold since I was a kid, and it's even worse when you're out on the battlefield where you can't even make a proper campfire... Ugh, I hate to think about it."
Even when she didn't answer, Doa chattered on and on like a storyteller, so there wasn't even a moment's silence between them despite their awkwardness.
Ihedia looked at the stubborn Doa and thought to herself that he was a little different from the Anuts she thought she knew.
He looked young, barely past his late teens.
To be an aide to Kayan Bayate at such a young age, he must have done great things in the war, or been very skilled, despite his youthful appearance.
Ihedia felt that she must remain vigilant, but even so, she let her guard down a little.
He reminded her of Evan, the young brother she had left behind, who seemed so innocent on the outside.
Ihedia pushed the bitterness aside and listened to Doa's story in silence. Kayan appeared with the pack.
"Ahhh, master really does seem to be getting crankier by the day, but he’s not a bad-hearted person, though I'm sure the Princess doesn't feel that way at all."
Ihedia coughed and waved him off, but Doa continued to talk.
"So he has a face like a miracle of Anut, and yet he’s nowhere near marriage, and I feel sorry for him as a loyal servant watching from the sidelines. What kind of woman would want to take a man so inflexible and hard-hearted?"
Kayan's expression grew grim.
Doa smiled awkwardly, as if he had seen the grim reaper.
"Master Kayan, you're here earlier than I expected. I was just chatting with the Princess for a while because she seems lonely.”
"You follow me on foot."
Doa's face darkened rapidly at Kayan's bitter words.
Behind him, a cart covered in black cloth followed.
Blackened fingers protruded from beneath the cloth.
Recognizing it as a corpse, Ihedia was reminded that she had entered a dangerous Anut’s lair.
"That's------.”
At first glance, the corpse's fingers were blackened and its nails had a pale reddish tinge.
It was a reaction to the poison.
As far as she knew, the symptoms were caused by a drug that contained at least a half-dozen different poisons.
She wondered why a body like that was here, but she couldn't help but look away.
The man carrying the corpse seemed to find her gaze very distasteful and covered his protruding hand with a cloth.
A moment later, the carriage she was riding in began to rattle as each member of the Kayan party mounted their horses.
How much time had passed?
She was already in poor physical condition, and her whole body ached like a beaten dog after being in such an uncomfortable position for so long.
Add to that the poor quality of the ride and the fact that they were on a rough road, and she got motion sickness.
Ihedia bit her lip, trying to hold on to her sanity.
They still had a long way to go to Anut, and the last thing she needed was to get kicked out.
She had long since forgotten about her status as a princess when she was ordered to follow Kayan.
The moment she had hope of living as a human being, she decided to be different.
Even if it meant leaving her home and living as a slave in a country of barbarians.
As long as she could one day save Evan and run away from them.
‘So I'm willing to endure this much pain.’
Ihedia was sweating and barely holding on when the carriage suddenly stopped.
She turned her head at the sound of footsteps approaching and saw a familiar face coming to her side.
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