Book 5-7.2
“Shit!”
The young man who was drenched in desert sand and sweat shouted out after looking at the quicksand river blocking his way.
Although he did not know much about the desert, he still had a good foundation. This may be his first time seeing the quicksand river, but he could easily tell that falling into this place would mean his immediate death.
“Petri-nim.”
The man turned his head around at the disappointed voice behind him.
“What should we do?”
Petri was scolding himself while looking at the woman who did not lose her elegance even in the face of danger.
‘It’s because I’m so stupid … because I am not strong enough……’
It made him think about how he should not have listened to her in the beginning. The men surrounding her were people who had power that he could never even dream about. They were also obsessed with her to the point that they would go to war for her, so there was no way they would have put her in a difficult situation.
“Petri-nim!”
Petri came back to his senses after hearing the lady call out his name one more time.
“Princess-nim.”
Petri called out to her, but they were at the worst possible situation. However, he still made up his mind to do everything he could.
‘As long as it is what she wants me to do……’
Petri confirmed his resolve.
‘I cannot decide what will make her happy. I just followed her will because that is what she wanted to do.’
Petri pushed his remorse away and turned toward the south as he once again started to ride along the edge of the quicksand river. Unfortunately, their chasers had reached right behind them.
Psssssssssh~
A couple of arrows cut through the sky and started to land around Petri. The owners of these arrows seemed to be extremely talented, as the arrows all landed around Petri even though they were shooting while riding.
‘I have no choice.’
Petri was worried that a stray arrow will cause her harm and started to speak toward the woman.
“Princess-nim, this seems to be as far as I can serve you. If you do not want to go back, please continue riding forward. I will hold them back.”
“No!”
The woman responded almost immediately after Petri finished his sentence.
“You absolutely cannot leave me alone. Did you forget who I am to you?”
“Princess-nim, but ……”
“You cannot get away from me even if it means we will die together.”
‘Sigh~’
Petri let out a sigh internally at her stern command. He did not know what to do. No, there was only one possible decision.
‘I need to fulfill my duty … I will fight to the death.’
Petri took the sword out of his side and turned his horse around.
“Petri.”
Please forgive this terrible guardian knight of yours. This seems to be all I can do now.”
“Petri……”
As the two people stopped and were looking at each other, their chasers stopped in front of them as well.
“Princess-nim, why are you running away from us?”
One of the chasers who was wearing an eloquent chainmail stepped forward and asked the woman.
“I should be asking you the questions. Why do you continue to chase us when I asked you to stop? Do you not care about the Knight’s Code?”
The head of the chasers was a man named Shimax, the leader of the Narrate Empire’s Royal Knights. Shimax shook his head at the woman’s retort and responded.
“We have received an order to escort princess-nim safely back to the country. We ask for your understanding.”
“I have already told you that I do not want to go.”
The woman turned to face Shimax.
“Princess-nim, you should know how important you are right now. Are you not aware that many young men are dying because of you?”
“Is that my fault? Or is it the fault of your prince?”
“Princess-nim!”
“Please return and deliver this message. I, Erope, have not made any type of preparations yet.”
Shimax lightly bit down on his lips. He did not like this task from the beginning. Why did he, the leader of the Royal Knights, have to chase a woman all the way out here into the desert?
‘My prince, why would someone as wise as you do such thing……’
Shimax sighed internally. Yes, Princess Erope who was standing in front of him right now was definitely a beauty that could make you fall in love with her at first sight. But that was it.
Men needed to know when to step back too. They also needed to be smart in order to make the woman of their dreams become their woman, but their princes failed to do that.
They might have been nervous because there were some serious competition around them. However, Shimax still could not understand a war breaking out over a single woman.
“Princess-nim, I hope that you will quietly follow us after putting your citizens and the citizens of the continent in consideration. If you listen, I will pretend that I did not see that knight next to you.”
Petri stepped in front of the princess and started to speak to Shimax, the Sword Master of the Narrate Empire.
“Master Shimax, I am the princess’s Guardian Knight. You should know better than anybody what being a Guardian Knight means. The things you just said to the princess is a threat, and a severe insult to me. I believe it would be better for you to discuss everything after I am dead.”
“Master Petri. Do you really not know that the path you have chosen is the worst possible path? While you have been running away with the princess for a year, many people have already died. If it continues any longer, that number might pass the thousands into over ten thousand people that have died.”
“I am a knight who must according to the will of the princess-nim, even if it causes the destruction of the world. You should know that.”
Shimax nodded his head.
“Yes. It makes sense because you are the Guardian Knight for the princess-nim. Then I guess there is nothing left to say. Even if you are dead, we will safely escort the princess-nim back.”
“Please make sure that the princess-nim suffers no harm because of your fighting. I ask that you pay close attention to her.”
“Do not worry.”
Petri looked up to the sky for a moment.
There were a total of four teams chasing after the princess and himself. Their home country of Stalina, The Narrate Empire, and the Inama and Litmus Kingdom’s Royal Knights or National Knights.
Petri was still just worrying about the princess’s safety even with his death potentially in front of him. He was worried that the person he was supposed to protect may be harmed because of their battle.
“No.”
Princess Erope pulled the arm of her Guardian Knight and shouted toward Shimax.
“I have no desire to fight with a knight who is just fulfilling his duty. If princess-nim wants her Guardian Knight to live, please order him to back away. Everything will be resolved if princess-nim comes with us.”
“Master Shimax!”
Petri shouted out loud.
“Petri… I’m sorry. It seems you lost everything because of me.”
Erope quietly whispered as she hugged Petri’s back.
“P...rincess-nim……”
“Please forgive this terrible woman’s greed. Even in this moment, I do not want to leave your side … you … please forgive me for pushing you to your death……”
“P...rincess-nim……”
Petri was anxious. The princess had just confessed her love for him.
A gust of sand blew across. However, nobody even blinked an eye. They may be on opposite sides of this chase, but they were all knights. They would do the same if they were in Petri’s shoes.
As nobody moved an inch, Petri turned his head and looked toward Erope.
He knew. He knew ever since she asked him to be her Guardian Knight. However, he could never show it.
A lord with no background like himself who only had a small plot of land in Stalina could not do it. It was something he should never even dream about.
“I love you.”
In the end, Erope hugged Petri tightly and said the words that have been tightly hidden in her heart all this time.
“What about you? Petri, do you not love me?”
“......”
Stalina was a small nation and did not care about a person’s background as much as other nations do, but the two of their backgrounds were too far apart. However, Petri decided not to hide it anymore.
She had gathered her courage to tell him she loved him. There was no way he could still hide his feelings.
“Princess-nim, I love you as someone I need to protect, and as a woman.”
The man who stood with the enemy in front of him, and the woman who hugged that man’s back shared their confession of love with each other.