Chapter Twenty-Four #2
Idsilla’s voice cracked. She coughed lightly to conceal her emotions and, shepherding Selina along with her, hurried out of the tent with the wet towel, basin, and empty tray, leaving behind the last of the porridge. Maxi sipped at the porridge a few more times before falling asleep again.
A short while later, Idsilla returned. Her bouncing footsteps woke Maxi from her restless sleep. She looked up at the girl with a mixture of hope and apprehension. With a grin, Idsilla held out a copper coin rimmed with soot.
“The soldiers found this in the ashes,” she crowed. “I tried washing it with water, but the soot refuses to come off completely.”
Maxi accepted the coin, both apologetic and relieved. “I-I didn’t know…it would require so much effort. I apologize f-for troubling you…when you are already b-busy looking after the wounded.”
“Stop! It was no trouble at all. Everyone gladly searched the ashes when I told them it was important to you,” Idsilla insisted, shrugging as though she were talking about something trivial. “Everyone is so grateful. They would have scoured all of the mountains for you.”
Maxi’s face clouded over as she brushed the rough surface of the coin with her thumb.
Idsilla’s words made her feel conflicted.
Toppling that boulder was a feat she had accomplished while abandoning the city to save her own life.
Burdened by the admiration in the girl’s eyes, Maxi looked away.
Though a part of her felt guilty, she could not bring herself to tell the truth.
She was afraid that everyone would spurn her for it.
“Could you…th-thank the men for me?”
Idsilla nodded vigorously. “I will. You, on the other hand, should lie down now. I’ll return with more porridge later. If you need anything, please ring this bell at any time.” After cheerfully playing the role of maidservant, Idsilla left the tent once more.
Maxi lay back on the cot and fiddled with the coin. It was more dented than she remembered, and one side was completely blackened. She rubbed the surface to wipe off what little soot she could. Then, overcome with exhaustion, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.
She was floating in hazy half-consciousness when she suddenly felt something touch her face. Her eyes fluttered open to find Riftan standing beside the cot. How long had he been there?
All her sleepiness dissipated when she saw his blank face. Maxi sat up, anxiously studying him.
Riftan looked as frightening as the day of their reunion at Croyso Castle. He was dressed in a navy-blue tunic and the oddly forbidding dark gray armor of the Remdragon Knights; his sharp face was strained, and a strange tension lurked behind his icy gaze.
The cold-blooded knight who had so terrified her looked down without a word. The calmness in his eyes was petrifying.
He silently swept the tangled hair off her forehead with no indication of anger or concern. His gaze then fell on her overlapping hands beside the pillow. Maxi’s face flushed when she realized that he was looking at the coin clutched in her palm.
“I-I’m sorry for not taking better care…o-of something so important….”
For a brief second, Maxi saw anger flash behind his dark eyes. Sensing that he was trying to hold back, Maxi curled herself into a ball. Instead of yelling as she had expected, however, he merely extracted the coin from her palm with a frighteningly calm expression. He tossed it on the ground.
The coin clinked as it rolled into the corner of the tent. Watching it with vacant eyes, Riftan muttered gruffly, “As if such a thing really works…”
The blood drained from Maxi’s face.
After staring at the ground for a long while, Riftan calmly went on as though nothing had happened. “In two days, Princess Agnes will return to the capital with the royal guards. You will go with her to Drachium Palace.”
“B-But…the war isn’t—”
“The tides have turned. The monster leading the army was crushed beneath the landslide.” A small smile tugged at his lips. “A pathetic death for a creature that managed to lead an invasion of this size.”
He sounded peeved that the monster had died so easily.
He was clearly trying to suppress his anger as he continued tightly, “The Royal Knights of Livadon, the Temple Knights of Osiriya, and a portion of the combined forces of Wedon and Balto should be enough to defeat the remaining monsters. After monitoring the situation for two more days, Princess Agnes will return to Drachium, and you will go with her. The princess has promised me that she will keep you safe at all costs.”
Maxi looked at him timidly. “Then…wh-what about you…and the Remdragon Knights?”
“A select few of the Remdragon Knights will accompany you. Ursuline and Elliot have volunteered.” Running his hand over his mouth, Riftan finally looked at her.
It was as if his eyes were veiled behind dark, heavy drapes.
“Duke Aren has offered his personal carriage, so your journey back shouldn’t be too hard. ”
Maxi’s breath caught in her throat. “W-Will you…remain here?”
He did not reply, but his silence was all the answer she needed.
After anxiously biting her lip, Maxi plucked up what little courage she could and said, “Th-Then I will also—”
“Go!”
He yelled so suddenly that Maxi recoiled. Riftan’s muscular torso heaved. His large body trembled as though he could no longer contain himself. He lowered his head into his hand, clutching at his hair.
“Please, just go…. I want you to leave this place….” Riftan choked, his body swaying like a rampart about to come crumbling down.
Maxi reached out to him with quivering hands. Riftan backed away as if she wielded a knife, and his face contorted with pain.
“I can’t…bear to have you here any longer. I’m begging you. Just go.”
Something inside Maxi shattered. An angry admonishment would have been a hundred times better than being exiled from his side like this.
Riftan’s gaze contained the agony of a man torn to pieces. When he slowly closed his eyes and hung his head, Maxi found herself unable to say another word.
—
Two days later, reports came that the coalition army had managed to drive all the monsters north. The Royal Army of Wedon, as well as a portion of the common soldiers, promptly began preparations for their return to Drachium.
Knights from Osiriya and Livadon were tasked with transporting those who could no longer fight to safe cities. A number of female clerics as well as two high priests also joined the large return party. It worried Maxi that so many were leaving when the war had not yet ended.
“The best of our knights should be enough, Maximilian,” said Princess Agnes as she laid Maxi on a bed prepared inside their luxurious carriage.
“While you were unconscious, the Remdragon Knights pursued the retreating trolls. That caused the Baltonian army to get competitive, and they also joined the fray. We destroyed practically half of the monster army within a week.”
Still anxious, Maxi gazed up at the princess’s sky-blue eyes. This massive monster army had materialized the last time they had supposedly succeeded in driving all the monsters north.
As if reading her mind, Princess Agnes smiled bitterly. “The mages found the entrance to a maze concealed at the foot of the rock face when they were investigating the landslide. The monsters must have been hiding there.”
“A-At the foot of the rock face?” Maxi’s eyes widened with shock.
Princess Agnes nodded. “Seeing as even the inhabitants of Eth Lene weren’t aware of it, it must have been made long ago. The monsters were using it as their secret base.”
Maxi shuddered. That meant thousands of monsters had been hiding right beneath their noses.
It is darkest directly beneath the oil lamp.
The fitting phrase came to Maxi’s mind. Princess Agnes’s beautiful face darkened as if ruminating on the matter also chilled her.
“They probably hid a portion of their army there before the coalition army recaptured Eth Lene Castle. A total of two thousand monsters were hiding in the maze, just waiting for the chance to strike.” The princess’s lips curled into a rueful smile.
“And we blindly fell into their trap. We clearly underestimated their intelligence.”
“W-Will it be…all right this time?”
“With their commander and tactician gone, the monster army is falling apart. A sizable troll army remains camped up north, but this war should still be over soon.”
The creases between Maxi’s brows refused to unknit despite the princess’s reassurance. Looking ill at ease herself, Agnes shrugged.
“It seems the coalition army has lost your trust completely.”
“I-It’s not that I do not trust them….”
The princess gave her a mischievous smile.
“Don’t worry. Being thoroughly fooled by the monsters has snapped the coalition army to its senses.
And perhaps it’s because they saw the full extent of a Remdragon Knight rampage, but even the Baltonians have been quiet lately.
” The princess wrinkled her nose. “Then again, I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to get on Riftan’s nerves right now.
I’ve never seen him like that, not even during the Dragon Campaign… .”
Pressing her lips together, Maxi slipped her hand into her pocket and fiddled with the copper coin.
She had immediately retrieved it from the corner the moment Riftan had left the tent.
Her heart constricted as she recalled how he had thrown an item he had carried with him for more than a decade with such apathy.
Seeing Maxi’s dark expression, Princess Agnes attempted to lighten the mood.
“For now, you should stop thinking about the war and focus on getting better,” she said cheerfully. “You’ve done more than enough, Maximilian. You should allow yourself to rest.”
Maxi managed a feeble smile. “Thank you…for everything, Your Highness.”
“There’s no need for you to say that.”