Inside the military barracks, the captain of the Megaris knights paced outside his assigned quarters, looking at the night sky from time to time.
"Why are you still here, captain?" one knight asked.
"Waiting for Dusk to return. For the last two days, he has always returned as soon as he delivered the food to the other person, spending the rest of his time around the quarters, but today it was the opposite. He spent his time away and only returned to pick up the food."
"What could be the reason?" the knight asked. "Could it be that Dusk found some bird friends and is playing around somewhere?"
"Seems like the person he took the food for is in trouble or something," the captain concluded and looked at the knight. "Why are you even here in the first place? Go back to your quarters and stop fooling around outside. Tell your comrades as well. Just because Sir Calhoun is not here doesn't mean you can slack."
With an embarrassed grin, the knight immediately saluted and left the captain immersed in his thoughts. The captain could only shake his head.
'If I am right and the person who is receiving the food is Her Highness the Third Princess, then I am sure she is in some kind of trouble. If His Majesty is doing it for her, then she must be someone special for him. I wonder how he will react after knowing all this?'
The captain of the knights could only make guesses but not voice it out. He and his troop were just guests in this kingdom, and they couldn't afford to offend the royal family of Abetha by doing something on their own.
Another hour passed, yet Dusk didn't return. The captain could only return to his quarters as he sighed, 'Alas, what am I being worried about? That bird is more capable than me. Dusk is smart enough to do things that His Majesty has entrusted it to do, even going beyond them. Should I feel bad that my only role in this entire affair is to wrap cloth for her meals?'
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By late noon of the next day, the royal troop which left to rescue Crown Prince Cian entered the capital without fanfare. They wore cloaks to cover their armor, or else it would have been difficult for them to silently enter without being received by a cheering crowd of people.
The atmosphere in the capital looked nothing like how everything was when they left.
The streets of the entire city were either wet or muddy,? looking like they had been drenched in heavy rain for days. Dark clouds still covered the entire sky, as if they were waiting to pour rain anytime soon.
While traveling along a less populated path inside the capital on horses, their group could see people cursing and complaining as they cleared out the water from their homes and shops.
"That witch will only stop once we are all dead."
"I wish for her to disappear forever so we can live peacefully."
"Why doesn't she just die?"
"If she was my daughter, I would have killed her the moment she was born."
Drayce could hear all those whispers clearly because of his strong sense of hearing, while others with him were busy analyzing the situation.
"It's not the rainy season here, right?" Arlan looked at Cian, who looked serious since the moment he entered the capital and observed the situation.
"Hmm!" Cian just nodded but was immersed in his thoughts. He wanted to leave everyone behind and ride towards the palace as fast as he could and see someone who must be in trouble at the moment. But it was not the right thing to do when the guests were with him.
Sir Berolt answered in his prince's stead. "Our capital rarely experiences rain, Your Highness, and even if we do, it is mostly a mild shower or a drizzle during summer and spring. Looking at the situation, it seemed to be a sudden heavy rain on a single night, and no one was prepared to face it as there were no arrangements made by the people."
Looking at the sour expressions of the people, Sir Berolt signaled something to one of his subordinates. The knight nodded and stayed behind by stopping his horse.
As they were about to reach the gate of the royal palace, the knight who stayed behind caught up with Sir Berolt, who was riding behind others. The knight told him something in a low voice, but Drayce's ears caught his words.
Drayce's expression turned grave as he looked at General Cavrois, who was leading the team. "I am going ahead."
It startled the general, and he asked, "Any issue—"
"Nothing," Drayce said as he gripped the reins of his horse and rode faster towards the palace.
The bewildered general was just about to call out when he felt a strong gust of wind pass by him and saw the horse of his crown prince speeding behind the King of Megaris. He was not even given a chance to react as he heard his prince's parting words, "I believe General will take care of everything."
All this time, Cian was holding back from going ahead for the sake of escorting the King of Megaris and the Crown Prince of Griven, but with the young king himself going ahead, there was nothing stopping him from following him.
Seeing the two royals leaving him behind, Arlan gestured at the rest of the troop with a grin.
"I would like to excuse myself too," he said before riding away to catch up with the two.
Just as General Cavrois turned around to look at his equally confused men, he saw Sir Berolt's horse galloping towards him as if in a hurry.
"I will leave everything in General's care," Sir Berolt told him before signaling his knights and hurrying towards the royal palace.
General Cavrois soon heard from his men the gist of the situation in the capital.
When the matter was about the Third Princess, the king always needed Sir Berolt, and the general understood it. General Cavrois then reorganized the troop, assigning the royal knights to watch the rear while he continued to stay in front, near the cart where Slayer and the civilians- the physician and his two assistants were staying, before continuing their slow pace towards the palace.