CHAPTER 4: EACH TRUTH AND EACH HAPPINESS (XXII)
Part 088
Last Saturday night, while she was enjoying a leisurely evening at the mansion for the first time in a long time, she received a messenger from the princess who had rushed out of the palace. She heard about the defeat on the Jezero Plain and the situation of the Capital Army, which was retreating to the dock. She barely managed to resist fainting and ran to the old palace, where the princess with a dark look on her face ordered us to evacuate to the outer city area. In order to welcome the soldiers who retreated from the Jezero Plain and prepare for war, the outer wall area had to be vacated immediately. She didn’t even know how Sunday went by. All day long, the outer fortress area was informed of the situation and had them prepare for evacuation. And today, since Monday morning, a long procession of refugees has been passing through the inner city gate. The atmosphere was tense, as if cold water had been poured on them, but thanks to the princess’s foresight, an evacuation and accommodation plan had already been drawn up. Trust in the royal family was built up through grain sales, etc., so residents followed the control well. Above all, the militia was of great help. Lord Hezel and Hennessy led the evacuation procession throughout the outer castle, and the residents of the outer castle area followed their guidance and moved to the designated detention center.
The princess and other administrators were all out in the outer castle area, and I also spent the whole day frantically checking the evacuation situation. After driving on the rough road for a while, the carriage stopped, and when we got out, thousands of people were moving through the wide open inner city gate, each holding the hand of their family. ord Hegel and Hennessy spotted her and came over to say hello.
“What do you think? Can we all move in the morning?”
“No problem, miss. Maybe it’s because we’ve been shouting at the top of our voices all weekend, but all the residents are following along.” Hegel replied with a grin.
She said to Hennessy, who was bowing his head next to her.
“Almost all residents of areas 3 and 4 have moved. What about areas 5 and 6?”
“Regions 5 and 6 are already finished. They say it ended quickly because we were moving to Yohara Park.”
“Okay? Then we just need to finish this place and areas 7 and 8. Lord Hegel, go and take a look at the situation.”
“Please leave it to me, miss. I will go right away.”
Hegel winked, then got on his horse and quickly disappeared. Hennessy, who greeted me, also hurriedly returned to the scene. She got back on the carriage and headed to Yohara Park, where the refugees had arrived. Yohara Park, the largest park in Midok, was originally one of the parks that was off-limits to commoners, but has now become the largest refugee detention center. As we tried to accommodate refugees in a place other than their living space, preparing meals immediately became a challenge, but an unexpected solution emerged. Yesterday evening, while I was discussing this issue with the princess, Duchess Nodovan and Eilene entered the palace accompanied by many noble ladies and ladies. As news of the evacuation became known, the noble families remaining in Midok offered to support the refugees.
When they arrived at the park and got off the carriage, there was a group of people boiling water with several huge soap bars hanging in the middle of the park, and Eilene was busy moving around among them. She quickly approached Eilene, who was carrying a heavy-looking sack. As she took the bag, Eilene asked in a happy voice.
“Damian, when did you come here? How is the outer castle area?”
“Eilene, you can’t lift something this heavy. You don’t have to come out either.”
“Hey, how long have you been a patient? I heard you’re okay now.”
Eilene smiled and reached out again for the bag I had taken. Other ladies around her also rushed over and helped. The duchess and her two daughters rolled up their sleeves and came to the scene, and the daughters of other families also came out to help. There were some ladies who were wearing flashy dresses that did not suit them and were just looking at each other, but most of the ladies and ladies did their best to do their part. Their husbands, lovers, or sons will be on the battlefield. She felt like she knew very well what it was like to set out to do anything, so for no reason my nose felt cold. All you have to do is defend Midok until reinforcements from the southeastern region arrive. As she looked at the dark faces of the residents, she gathered her strength once again.
Midok’s outer castle is high and sturdy. And all residents are preparing in unison. They said they only temporarily retreated because the crown prince did something crazy. I didn’t lose. She got back into the carriage after seeing lunch being distributed to the residents.
“Let’s go to the outer castle, Sir Franz.”
“Miss, why don’t you go back to the mansion and rest for a while? You haven’t even had lunch.”
“The princess is in the outer castle. Even if you take a break, you can easily go there. Let’s go.”
At her words, Franz returned to his coach seat with a worried look on his face. Jenny, who was sitting across from me in the carriage, looked at my face and asked.
“You couldn’t sleep at all last night?”
“No. I slept a little.”
“Don’t lie. I know you cried all night long, hugging the message the duke sent you.”
“Huh? Jenny, you enjoyed watching me? I cried a little and fell asleep quickly.” She said with a smile and Jenny sighed.
The third message from Adrian was full of worries that seemed to come at any moment. They expressed their concerns so clearly on a small piece of paper. The note was filled with a longing that could not be fully written down, ending with the words to follow Franz and get out of Midok if the situation gets worse. How could a person come here who is blocking the Taln army, which was over 20,000 strong, with less than half that number? It really gave her a headache to think that the Taln army was also joining in. Adrian, of course, must guard there. No matter how you look at it, it was natural, but Adrian didn’t seem to like it.
‘I miss Adrian too.’
He’s also anxious. Still, she responded bravely. Midok asked her to entrust her father and brother to them, so she would do everything she could and watch with her eyes wide open. She also picked up a lot of rocks. If she had to, she would throw it away.
* * *
As the sun set and the sky turned red, dust began to rise beyond the west gate of Midok. As she was looking down from the top of the outer castle wall with Remina, there was one horse running in front of me. When she asked who would run so desperately like that, ugh. He was the crown prince.
“Open the door! It’s the crown prince! Open the door!”
Remina just looked down at the crown prince who was shouting loudly in front of the castle gate without responding. The soldiers standing in front of the gate looked up at them and asked what they should do, but she shook her head at them. Unless the princess gives permission, no one could come in. If it’s the crown prince, he couldn’t come in even more. The command team on horseback followed behind and arrived in front of the castle gate. Duke Donovan and Homer stopped in front of the door, catching their breath, and bowed their heads to the princess. The princess, who had been looking down for a while, called Homer.
“Leader.”
Homer prostrated himself while on horseback.
“Through a single misjudgment, we lost 3,000 soldiers and retreated from the front in an instant, putting the royal capital Midok in danger of war. Am I right?”
“Yes, just as you said.”
“The commander who caused the defeat will be put to death, but considering the special nature of his status, I will detain him for now. Lord Donovan, will you disobey my decision?”
“Yes, poor princess. It’s a wise decision.”
Following Homer, Duke Donovan also bowed his head, and Tyrellius, who must have felt that the atmosphere was strange, spat and shouted.
“What nonsense! Open the door! I am the crown prince!”
“Captain, arrest the criminal.”
No matter what the crown prince said or not, Homer immediately rode his horse to the crown prince’s side and kicked him in the side with his foot. As the crown prince fell to the floor with a loud noise, the members of the ‘King’s Eyes’ clung to him and tied him up tightly. Only then did Princess Lemina give instructions to open the castle gate. When the situation turned like this, Terrellius, who had been going crazy, now began to beg for Princess Remina.
“Sister! Sister, this is not the time. We need to evacuate immediately. The rebels are too strong and there are too many of them! We need to leave for the south immediately. That’s right, Duke Donovan. It’ll be safe if it’s the Duke’s territory. Huh? Duke, what did you say? Say something.”
No one, including me, looked kindly at the crown prince who was babbling nonsense while shedding tears. Duke Donovan clicked his tongue and turned his head away.
“Take the crown prince to the palace.”
As Princess Remina ordered, Tyrellius was literally dragged away.
“You’re doing this because you don’t know anything! What would a woman who hasn’t even faced them know? Leave this behind, you bastards. I’m the crown prince! I told you to abandon Midok and take refuge immediately!”
Wasn’t that too much? Still, he had lived as a crown prince for several decades, so she guessed he shouldn’t be such a trash person. Everyone who heard the cries as he was dragged away by the members looked at the crown prince with shocked faces. The person who brought the rebels to Midok is now threatening to abandon Midok. It was worth seeing the happy face shedding tears, but no one sympathized with the crown prince. The capital army entered the cleanly emptied outer fortress area. Lord Cale led the soldiers and entered the country at the end of the half-way procession. According to the princess’s orders, a warm meal prepared in advance was served. The militia and many volunteer residents helped. When the sun had completely set, the rebels, holding high scary torches, arrived within a stone’s throw of the outer castle. Princess Remina was standing upright and looking down at them. Dozern and several commanders came near the gate and shouted.
“Who is this? Sister? Are you Remina? Hahaha. Sister, this is not a place where you can come out wearing a dress. If you open the gate quietly, I will spare your life out of respect.”
“Why does the beast that killed my father and came to the place where I was born and raised, carrying a knife, look for my sister here? I don’t have a brother who walks on all fours.”
Dozern’s face, distorted by Remina’s sarcasm, could be seen from afar. As Dozern said something to the man standing behind him, a fierce-looking man stepped forward and raised his bow. Before she could even react, an arrow flew towards Princess Remina. It was a situation where her body flinched without her knowing, but the princess did not even blink, and the radius guard who was guarding her side swung his sword and struck down the flying arrow.
Franz, who was standing behind me, gritted his teeth and muttered.
“Boromir Luthor…”
That guy was the commander of the National Guard. It looks exactly like a weasel.
‘Bad guy. You can shoot arrows from such a distance to the top of the castle. Did you just shoot your bow after eating?’
She looked back at Lord Hegel with a feeling of resentment and asked.
“Lord Hegel, didn’t you say that your specialty is bowing?”
“Yes, miss. Would you like us to have a bite too?”
Lord Hegel grinned and stepped forward with his bow drawn. As soon as the arrow was put on the bow, the arrow flew out. The horse Dozern was riding was struck by an arrow and fell over, sending him rolling on the ground. As Lord Hegel aimed his arrow again, Boromir took out his shield and shielded Dorzern, who stood up from the floor. Then he hesitated and took a step back.
‘It’s ugly. These guys.’
“You better pray that the sun doesn’t rise! Remina! And you! I’ll tear you limb from limb and hang you in front of the castle gate so you can rot!”
Leaving behind a curse, Dozern and his group disappeared into the darkness.
“I should have stuck it in your mouth, sorry, miss.”
Lord Hegel lowered his bow and spoke indignantly.
‘Yeah, I wish I had.’
He seemed like an unpleasant person who says unpleasant things. She sternly raised my middle finger toward the place where they had disappeared, but her raised hand trembled at the thought that a battle would break out in front of my eyes when the sun rose. She didn’t know if everyone was okay or just holding it in, but she couldn’t stand shaking alone among the calm faces, so she turned around and pretended like nothing was wrong.
Princess Remina, who was walking ahead, turned to her and spoke softly.
“Lord Ethart, you can now return to the mansion. There is no need to go out to the outer castle, so I ask you to take care of the supplies in the inner castle.”
“Huh? But, the princess said she would be staying here.”
“It’s okay, just go back. You’ll have a lot of work to do in there too.”
Unable to disobey the words of the princess who recommended her twice, she lowered her head. Before returning to the Duke’s residence, she took a look around the residents of the outer castle area located inside the inner castle. A heavy energy that could not be expressed in words was settling here and there. Everyone was silent, but they knew each other’s anxiety that they couldn’t hide. It was the 59th day of fall, a Monday night with a bright moon.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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