Episode 39: The other side of the mirror (2)
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Aristine leaned back in the soft chair and closed her eyes.
She liked that the carriage Nephther gifted her didn’t shake so it didn’t put any strain on her body.
Despite being in a carriage in the middle of winter, her body was warm.
It was all thanks to the flare essence and the fur of the imuna silver fox.
Furthermore, her body was in good condition because of the sanatas essence that Nephther gave her. The sanatas essense had the power of purification and worked to eliminate most inflammation and swelling.
However, Aristine was still seeped in anxiety because of her worry.
‘Will Brother Launelian and Khan be okay?’
She already called them this morning, but she was still very worried.
The shadow curse hadn’t manifested yet.
Out of habit, Aristine placed her hand on her stomach. It felt quite big now.
‘It’ll be hard if he’s away for too long.’
Tarkan, who was able to stabilize her pregnancy like a Chrysea flower, had left.
Not a single person or flower in Irugo could stabilize Aristine’s condition.
Of course, Tarkan made sure to recharge her energy as much as possible before he left.
Aristine’s face reddened a little.
Aristine and Tarkan had found that the closer the skinship, the better the stabilization.
‘But I’m still okay for now.’
Initially, Aristine planned on going to Silvanus with Khan, but Nephther and Tarkan were strongly opposed to the idea.
They were up in arms about how she couldn’t just go to Silvanus when there might be an assassination attempt.
‘Handle it quickly and come back.’
She only hoped both of them were safe.
Just as Aristine was offering prayers with her hands clasped together, a sense of unease crawled up her spine and she looked up.
‘The carriage has stopped…?’
The carriage was supposed to stop along the way, but something was strange.
‘There’s no way we’re there already…?’
With that thought in mind, Aristine lifted the curtain slightly.
The scene outside the glass window was quiet. Although it wasn’t a dense forest path, there were several layers of leafless trees.
It was strange.
‘I am supposed to be going into the city…’
Just as the suspicion flashed through her mind, the carriage shook with a thud.
A soldier’s back slammed into the carriage window like he had been pushed by something.
Slowly, his body slid down. And as he slid down, a trail of scarlet blood stained the previously clear window.
Aristine sucked in a sharp breath.
‘An attack?!’
The same time she realized it, a loud cry burst from outside.
“It’s an attack!”
“Protect the Princess Consort!”
“Protect the carriage!”
The sound of swords being drawn and blades clanging rang through the air.
‘Who in the world? How? So suddenly?’
The queen has already lost her wings. Wasn’t that why she was trying to kill Launelian with all her remaining power?
How could she then attack Aristine?
No, thinking like that wasn’t very helpful in the current situation.
Aristine shook those thoughts away and began to think about how to overcome this crisis.
‘Seeing as the first attack was quiet, there must have been assassins among my guards.’
The moment the coachman stopped the carriage, they must have cut down the guards around them.
‘That’s why our initial response was late.’
It should come as no surprise, but general-level warriors did not come along since it was just some business in the city.
Of course, they would have gladly come along if she asked but they were swamped just trying to make up for Tarkan’s absence.
Since this hole was created to protect Launelian, Aristine did not want to disturb them further.
Plus, she concluded that it would be difficult for the queen’s faction, who were plotting against Launelian, to attack her, so she figured there would be no danger.
In other words, her current escorts were generally of similar skill.
‘If you lose the numbers game, the outcome is obvious.’
But because their initial response was delayed, their numbers were probably trimmed down or now equal to the enemy. Anyone with a brain would definitely plan it that way.
Even worse, the guards were also weighed with the burden of having to protect her and not just fight.
‘I thought with a grand 30 escorts, it would be fine even if something happened but…’
Who would have thought there’d be an assassin among those guards?
As if to show that she was right to be concerned, the carriage shook violently.
It was proof that her guards were being pushed back.
Aristine’s face turned pale. She wrapped her arms around her stomach protectively.
‘What do I do?’
Her eyes scanned her surroundings.
There was no water to be found in the carriage. So, the chance of using a mirrored surface as a passage was blocked.
Right then, the carriage door burst open.
“Princess Consort, please get away…!”
A soldier hurriedly pulled Aristine’s arms.
The moment Aristine followed him out of the carriage, the soldier blocked Aristine with his body.
With the sound of the sword cutting through flesh, hot blood splashed onto Aristine’s body.
Aristine’s pupils narrowed into slits.
“Princess Consort, quickly, run…”
Blood flowed from the warrior’s lips as he spoke, trying to cover her.
Aristine didn’t say thank you. She didn’t even hesitate like an idiot. She just ran as hard as she could.
“The princess consort is running away!”
“After her!”
“Stop her even if you die doing it!”
Aristine bit her lip tightly.
‘Don’t think about anything.’
She didn’t look back.
‘Just hold on.’
Sooner or later, the royal palace would sense something was off and send support.
Although it might be winter, she has the flare essence, and the imuna silver fox cloak. She wouldn’t freeze to death.
Moreover, with the sanatas essence, she didn’t have to worry about getting exhausted.
‘As long as I don’t get caught…’
But no matter how fast she ran with her small body, the gap between her and the large Irugoians continued to narrow.
If she kept going along the straight path the carriage took, she was definitely going to be caught.
But before she could even hide herself in the tree crevices, the assassins came within a stone’s throw of her.
Still, Aristine did not give up. No, she couldn’t give up.
Even though she knew that she was bound to fall if she ran in a forest road, she quickened her pace.
Like it was predestined, a tree root hit Aristine’s foot.
Her body began to tilt.
Before she could even raise her head, a dark shadow fell over her face.
“Why run when you were going to be caught so easily?”
A grinning sneer fell on her ears like a knife.
About four assassins surrounded Aristine.
“As much as I’d like to listen to your last word, I know not to create any variables.”
The assassin wasted no time in raising their sword.
And they swung it down at Aristine.
Splat—! Red blood splattered in the air.
Translator’s Corner:
*My finger kept defaulting to santas essence whenever sanatas came up. Rip.
Santa’s essence-? Miss Ruby.. I nearly choked on my own water. Hahaha forgive my mind, it’s gotten a little too yellow over the years.
This is the most illegal cliffhanger miss Ruby!!!!! I can’t accept that I have to wait for another week😭 I would die bc of worrying for Aristine😭 misssssss rubbbyyyyyy😭😭😭
Its that bastard Hamil isn’t it?
I think so too.
He did this so he can be a hero to everyone else and to Aristine, so she will owe him. And everyone will think he is a nice person, his definitely the one plan this
I agree. And making it look liked he turned his back to his mother by saving aristine but for all we know its part of the plan. 🤬
Thank you so much for the update, Miss Ruby. I hope you’re still healing and resting well. Autocorrect will always be the bane of translators. 😂
I too believe that this was cooked up by Hamil as he’s the only possible one who could pull this off. I don’t think Aristine will fall for it though. She’d probably be the only one who finds it suspicious.