The Maid and The Usurper - Chapter 58
“What’s the point of lying? She’ll just end up dead, right? Wasn’t she from La Ellosa? Loyalty is something you are willing to throw away when it comes to your life.”
Living in the gutter, there was no such thing as loyalty. The rats of the gutter had no loyalty, and the maid was no different.
“Didn’t you see her eyes begging for help? She’d tell you anything to save her life.”
They were strange eyes, not unlike her pretty face. Like anything that survived La Ellosa, they had a distinctive venomous glint in them that gave him goosebumps. It was not a face he wanted to see again.
“If worse comes to worst, Bern will take care of it. Can’t you handle a little girl?”
Max answered Andre’s concern with a nonchalant tone. Leopold froze from head to toe. His mind, which had been turning slowly, began to race, quickly reviewing the situation. Baden’s knights came to Rhineland, encountered Layla, and were now looking for him.
‘It is easier to plot something after killing it than to plot something after leaving it alive.’
Layla’s calm words echoed in his mind. She had been right. The dead didn’t talk. For the queen, it was far more advantageous to accuse them of treason and kill them, rather than leave them alive and with clues that might unravel her schemes. He watched silently as Max and Andre moved further away.
“I need to find Layla.”
Bern remained a very faint impression in Leopold’s memory. Tall and sturdy, with a scar over his eye. As a child, Leopold saw him standing by the queen’s side, as he watched them from behind his mother’s back. Fortunately, Bern’s temper wasn’t so harsh.
“Gather whatever supplies you can from the cabin. We have to take Layla to Florence.”
They had to give up on secrecy and covert action. Now they had to cross the border. Florence, recently conquered by Esselbach, was nearby. The once independent state was now ruled by Count Benuel, the governor appointed by Esselbach .
Count Benuel, the governor of Florence, was a prideful man. He would find it shameful to hand over the escaped prince of Argen. Therefore, there was no better place than Florence at the moment. Leopold took a wide detour, fearing that the location of the cabin would be discovered. God seemed to be on his side as rain began to fall, washing away any tracks he left behind.
“So, you think he’s already left from around here?”
A man emerged from the cabin, and Leopold felt his blood run cold. Bern was wearing the very clothes Leopold had stashed in the cabin. Behind him, Layla followed, her violet eyes filled with desperation.
“I think so.”
“Then where is he headed? Based on what you overheard.”
Layla hesitated for a moment. Leopold held his breath, his entire body tense, waiting. He kept repeating the word “please” in his mind.
“He said he was heading for Orléans and then taking a ship to Hispania.”
“Orléans? That’s a bad place to go. That raccoon-like old man hates having anyone in his den.”
Bern stroked his chin, deep in thought. After a moment, he grabbed Layla’s wrist, pulling her close.
“If he’s heading to Orléans, he knows the route to take, doesn’t he? Do you know which way he went?”
“I know a little.”
Layla whispered in reply. Bern shoved her forward.
“Lead the way.”
Layla slowly moved forward. Leopold held his breath until Layla’s darkened hair completely vanished into the shadows of the forest. He couldn’t grasp what was happening. Why were Layla and Bern together? Why had Layla revealed everything to Bern?. It made no sense.
“Why did Layla… ?”
The words hovered on the tip of his tongue but refused to come out. He didn’t want to believe it. This situation itself. In fact, his mind had already figured it out, but it still refused to believe it. Leopold repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists.
Rhineland’s unpredictable weather brought rain anew.
