The Great Wish - Chapter 10.5

Vol.2 Chapter 10 Part 5 

Just as Martin said, they arrived at the pier when the sky grew dark. 

'Huh. We're here already?' 

When Martin said they'd arrive by dinnertime, he had been lying. Since Sienna was someone who had been raised preciously, he told her a white lie so that she wouldn't lose hope. It was his way of telling her, 'Just endure it a little longer, and we'll be there soon.' 

However, the Princess was doing pretty well. She didn't expect to receive any special treatment. She didn't complain when Russ handed her some jerky for their meal. If he had to go hunting in the middle of their journey, it would have taken a longer time to arrive at their destination. 

He liked how she didn't ask him any questions. The two of them kept their mouths shut the entire journey. 

"We're here." 

Martin grabbed the reins, and the horse came to a halt. 

"Do you see that over there?" 

Dozens of torches flickered in the dark pier. 

"Hm... There's a lot of people there. Please wait here for a moment. Don't get off the horse. This rascal here has a nasty personality, so no one will be able to approach him easily." 

Martin disappeared off towards the pier. 

'Why did those people attack me? Did they want to kill me? Or were they planning on kidnapping me?' 

Many thoughts were whirling around in her head. 

'Did they want me to disappear? Perhaps the Iron King...' 

Sienna quickly dismissed the suspicion. 

'Kuhn was the one who originally wanted to come with me.' 

Kuhn had sent someone reliable in his stead to guard Sienna. He was trying to protect her. And Kuhn was a man under the Iron King. It didn't make any sense. If Dian was planning on attacking Sienna, he had many chances to do so in the past. 

Martin quickly returned. 

"I see your knights, Princess. You can proceed." 

"Aren't you coming with me?" 

"Uh, I..." 

He didn't want to be bothered. He was worried she'd ask him to go with her, but the Princess calmly nodded and got off the horse. 

"Thank you for everything you've done. Come find me sometime. I'll make it so that you may enter as you please as long as you give your name. I'll pay you back for your hard work." 

Martin stared at Sienna for a moment before silently lowering his head. 

"And... can you tell Kuhn something for me?" 

"Yes, please speak." 

"I'd like to meet him..." 

She felt as if she had become a woman who was asking for a love affair. Sienna rubbed her nose with the back of her hand in embarrassment. 

"He's not in the capital at this time, but I'll let him know when I see him." 

"He's not in the capital?" 

"No." 

"When will he return?" 

"I don't know, but I think it will be a while." 

"...I see." 

Even though he was leaving for a long trip, he hadn't said goodbye. She found it detestable. Was she upset? 

'If he comes calling for me, I won't meet with him.' 

Sienna pouted as she turned around. 

Martin felt strange as he watched the Princess's receding back. 

'She's a lot different from what I expected.' 

Most of the neighboring countries of the Empire viewed the ducal house of Rimone and the Red King in a negative light. However, it didn't seem like their ill will would be passed onto the Princess as well. 

'But Kuhn... Surely you didn't just leave the capital without telling her, right?' 

Martin was genuinely worried about his master's dating skills. 

As soon as Sienna arrived at the pier, the knights immediately surrounded her. 

"What are you doing?! Stand back immediately!" 

Gilbert roared out as he raced over to her. 

"Your Highness." 

Gilbert let out a sigh of relief as if he had just come back from the jaws of death. He couldn't even begin to explain the suffering he had gone through in the span of half a day. His face was haggard and reminded Sienna of someone who had contracted a serious illness. 

"I'm glad to see you're safe, Your Highness." 

"Where did all these knights come from?" 

"They belong to a neighboring earl. I was just about to start a search for you." 

"Is everyone okay?" 

"Yes. Some have suffered wounds, but it's not life-threatening." 

"Your Highness!" 

A middle-aged man with a grand appearance panted as he made his way to the Princess. 

"It's an honor to be in your presence, Silver King." 

He was the earl in charge of the local territory. Sienna faced the overly servile man. 

Under Sienna's orders, the earl decided to do his best to keep his mouth shut about the matters that had occurred. Because he cooperated with Gilbert and rallied his troops, Sienna also promised to reward him for his efforts. 

After the satisfied earl left the pier, Gilbert asked Sienna a question. 

"Your Highness, do you plan on covering up what had happened?" 

"There's no need to make a big fuss. We should first try and figure out what happened. And I see now that Sir Kali is nowhere to be seen. Where did my aide go?" 

"He's been put under confinement." 

"Confinement?" 

"His behavior was suspicious, so we had him confined. After you disappeared, we tried to search the area, but he insisted that we head for the pier and that you'd appear there. He told us that if we waited there, you'd definitely come over there. When I asked him why he thought this, he never gave me an answer." 

Because Gilbert had held his suspicions of Levan for a few days now, he decided to lock him up for now. 

Sienna recalled her conversation with Martin. 

?Did my knights know about this?? 

?Your knights probably did not know.? 

Martin had said that her 'knights' did not know. It could also mean that someone who was not a knight did know. 

'What ridiculous word play.' 

Sienna chuckled. 

'I should have known. If he wanted to guard me on such a long trip, someone would have had to give him the necessary information.' 

If one looked at it closely, Martin was merely an outsider, and Levan was the one who had committed a serious crime. However, Sienna didn't take much issue with it. 

"I was the one who ordered it, so let him go." 

"Sorry...?" 

"How could I have come to the pier without any help? Didn't you already know that I have secret guards?" 

"Ah...! Yes, Your Highness." 

Sienna never suspected that Levan and Martin already knew each other from the start. Just like how Kuhn had kept a straight face as he lied to her knights, she believed Martin had skillfully convinced Levan of the same thing. Since he was Kuhn's underling, she thought it would come easily to him as well. 

Although she wasn't the type of person to trust someone so easily, no matter how calm she looked on the outside, today's events had given her quite a shock. She wasn't in the right state of mind to pick apart all these trivial matters.