Instead of avoiding the sword, I launched myself at the attacker, leaning forward quickly. At that moment, I felt a sharp pain. A large amount of blood gushed from the deep cut in my left arm.

‘Anyway, I got hold of the sword, and I can hold out.’

I tightened my grip on the sword with a trembling hand. When I tried to block the dagger flying at me diagonally, a black shadow stopped me, blocking my vision.

No!

When I could see again, Carsein was blocking the masked man who was about to cut me. Carsein was holding his sword with both hands. Striking back his sword, Carsein stabbed him in the heart. The blood from Carsein’s left shoulder dropped to the ground and stained his shirt with more blood.

“Are you okay, Tia?”

“What about your wounded left arm… ”

“That’s not a big deal now.”

Catching his breath, he pointed to the assassins with his chin. As if surprised by our strong resistance, they paused for a moment and tried to regroup to attack.

I felt hopeless. There were still eight assassins left. And we were exhausted while they seemed to be growing stronger. Defeat seemed certain, but I grabbed the sword, closing my lips tightly.

‘I can never give up!’

Besides, I had Carsein with me, who had been wounded while protecting me.

While I was looking for their weak spot, I saw a couple of shadows darting out from the alley nearby. I moaned unconsciously. Even now I and Carsein were stretched thin, but if they were joined by another two, there was no hope we could survive.

“Dang it! Were they prepared for this?” One of the masked men said.

“What?” Another asked back.

“They are royal knights! They are tough for us to deal with.”

I strained my blurry eyes: white uniform with a gold insignia.

‘Wow! They are royal knights, indeed.’

It seemed they had also been attacked by these masked men because their uniforms were stained with blood here and there. The masked men were confused at the appearance of the royal knights. After exchanging eye signals quickly, they quickly dispersed in all directions.

“Let me chase them, so take care of her and the wounded knight.”

“Got it. Don’t worry.”

Saying goodbye to the other knight, the blonde knight turned to me and Carsein. After checking our condition, he said, with a troubled expression, “Sorry, Lady Monique. It looks like they noticed our presence here and attacked us all at once, so we couldn’t come to your rescue in a timely manner.”

“Oh, that’s fine. Thank you for saving our lives. ”

“I think you need treatment first. As the Monique mansion is nearer than Duke Lars’, let’s go there.”

Although I had lots of things to ask, I followed him silently. When I saw the dagger stuck deep in Carsein’s shoulder and the blood gushing from it, I was very troubled. I prayed it was not a major injury.

“Are you okay?” asked Carsein.

“Hey, it’s not me who needs treating immediately. Look at your shoulder … ”

“Oh, this? Well, it can be cured anyway.”

I bit my lip hard. It was obvious that the unidentified assassins were sent by the noble faction. But why now? Why didn’t they mount an attack at the National Founding Day festival last year?

I was confused. It would have been much easier if they had attacked in a chaotic situation where the knights were busy protecting the princesses. I could not understand why they chose to attack me at this particular time when there was no one instead of last year when there were princesses to replace me.

As soon as I entered the mansion, I ran to my father. Raising his silvery eyebrows, he immediately ran to me. He must have heard from the knight standing on duty at the gate what happened.

He directed the butler, “Call the doctor right away. And inform the temple that I need to have the high priest over here, tell them that this is an official request from the Monique family. Got it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

I was surprised.

‘High priest? Is Carsein’s condition so serious?’

As if he was also surprised, Carsein opened his eyes wide and said, “Sir, calling the high priest?”

“Don’t you know your condition? Obviously, your wounds won’t be cured by a doctor alone.”

“Then I’ll go back to my house and make the request.”

“No, you don’t have to. Let’s move inside. You need first aid now.”

“But…”

“I am your father’s friend. Do you still want to refuse my help?”

As my father spoke firmly, he helplessly walked inside, expressing gratitude.

When I was about to climb the stairs after looking at his shoulder stained with blood, I felt somebody holding me strongly. When I looked back, my father’s expression mixed with worry and anger came into my view.

“Tia, are you okay? You were also hurt a lot. ”

“I’m alright. Sorry for worrying you.”

“Let’s go upstairs first. Let me help you.”

Holding his arm, I climbed the stairs carefully.

Upon arriving in my room, Lina, who had been waiting for me in advance, carefully removed my ragged uniform and wiped the wounds with a clean towel dampened with water. After getting first aid from the doctor who came to my room immediately, I headed straight to the room where Carsein was escorted.

Unlike me, with no deep cuts except for my arm, Carsein’s condition was not very good.

His left shoulder was wounded heavily because he took the blow for me twice.

“I gave him first aid, but his left shoulder… ”

“Got it. Good job. ”

Carsein smiled at me, with a bandage wrapped around his shoulder and other parts of his upper body.

‘Do you feel like smiling now?’

Holding back tears in spite of myself, I said, “…the high priest will be here soon. So, just bear with it a little more.”

“I’m sorry I seem to be giving your family a burden.”

“What the heck are you talking about? Just focus on your treatment.”

Carsein nodded, smiling once again at me when I got mad. When I came to him cautiously and sat down, he raised his right hand and said, dishevelling my hair, “You really did well a little while ago. I think my teaching paid off nicely!”

“…Well, I didn’t expect such a surprise attack.”

“Well, that’s because I was so good. By the way, are you okay? ”

“My wounds are not as serious as yours. So, don’t worry about me.”

“Not that. I mean how did you feel?”

I tilted my head a bit. How can I feel good when I was faced with such a surprise attack?

As if he noticed my puzzlement, he slightly clicked his tongue and explained kindly.

“I think it was the first time you cut a man, right? Are you feeling okay? ”

“Ah… ”

Suddenly, I recalled the sensation I vividly felt during the battle a little while ago. Obviously, I didn’t feel good when I cut the enemy and felt terrible when I was splashed with blood gushing from the enemy. But I was not timid enough to escape from reality and freak out.

Was it because I already experienced death? It seemed that I had already gone through too much to tremble with fear of such things.

Above all, I would have been killed if I hadn’t killed them. I seized another chance to make up for my miserable previous life, so I wasn’t good enough to give it up just because I didn’t want to kill them.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that. You look great, my little girl! I would love to praise you. ”

“I’m not a little girl, Carsein.”

“Okay, okay, young lady.”

Looking at me closely, he laughed and stroked my hair as if he was proud of me.

How come he looks so calm? He must feel extreme pain from those deep cuts.

Staring at him who pretended not to have noticed my intense gaze, I opened my mouth, turning to Sir Seymour.

“Sir Seymour.”

“Please go ahead, Lady Monique.”

“Thank you. As you came to rescue us at the right time, I guess the emperor gave you an order. I would like to express gratitude to him later, but please convey my gratitude to him.”

“Well, the fact is…”

Sir Seymour hesitated to say something, but shut up.

I asked curiously, tilting my head, “Do you have something more to say?”

“Well, the one who ordered me to escort and protect you was the crown prince, not the emperor. So, let me convey your gratitude to the crown prince.”

“Pardon? The crown prince?”

Did he say the crown prince ordered it? Not the emperor?

When I was about to ask him more out of curiosity, a young man in a white new robe came in.