Page 387 of Remarried Empress

Arian tried to dissuade her once more, but Rashta answered in tears,

“You say that because you weren’t at the High Court! You don’t know how furious everyone is! Nobody will listen to me! I’m scared!”

Arian stared at Rashta in silence for a moment, then sighed and took a step back.

“Then leave quickly, Your Majesty. I’ll pretend I didn’t see you.”

Rashta wiped away her tears as she looked at Arian in amazement.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see Your Majesty flee. … Leave, quickly.”

Rashta stared stunned at Arian.

‘Really? Does she really mean it?’

Rashta found it strange that Arian, who had just told her not to run away, suddenly changed her mind. She didn’t take her eyes off Arian, who looked down at the floor.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

Rashta murmured and headed for the door.

‘No.’

However, Rashta stopped when she grabbed the doorknob and narrowed her eyes.

‘Arian only acts like this to save her own skin.’

Rashta remembered all those who betrayed her. Each person whom she had trusted because she thought they would be different from the others had let her down. From Alan, whom she believed to be kind, to Sovieshu, her savior.

And now Arian wanted to help her? A maid with whom she didn’t even have a close relationship?

‘Of course not. As soon as I leave, she’ll go straight to His Majesty and tell him that I ran away. That’s the reason why she seems meek.’

After thinking about it, Rashta turned around, cautiously took out the dagger she had hidden in her sleeve and held it tightly behind her back.

“Arian… thank you so much.”

Then she walked slowly over to Arian with tears in her eyes.

***

When Rashta arrived at the entrance of the Western Palace at the time indicated by Baron Lant, she didn’t see any knights.

Judging from the bustle nearby, it seemed that Baron Lant had used some trick to force them to chase after someone else.

As soon as Rashta stepped out of the Western Palace, she put on a loose cloak and hid her face with the hood.

She crossed the gardens and reached the nearby corridor indicated by Baron Lant. The sunlight overhead was blocked and all was silent.

As she walked straight ahead, she saw a carriage ready to leave at the end of the corridor.

“This way.”

Baron Lant called softly to her from inside the carriage. Rashta ran quickly, opened the carriage door and collapsed on the seat, trying to catch her breath.

Her hands were shaking. She still felt the horrifying sensation of piercing flesh in her fingertips.

“Your Majesty?”

“Yes? Yes?”

” I smell blood… are you all right?”

“I was discovered on the way here, so I had a little fight…”

When Rashta spoke with trembling lips, Baron Lant asked no more questions. Instead, he removed the cover from the seat in front of him.

Rashta watched with her arms wrapped around her trembling body. She felt mild curiosity as to why he had removed the seat cover.

“Your Majesty. Please step in here.”

“In here?”

When Rashta asked in surprise, Baron Lant quickly replied “yes”.

“Navier must have used this method to escape. It seems simple, but no one thinks to search here unless a thorough carriage inspection is conducted. Most carriages do not have hollow seat interiors because bandits could attack the carriages from underneath.”

“I understand.”

The space inside the seat seemed cramped and uncomfortable, but Rashta quickly got in and curled up.

Baron Lant put the seat cover back on. After a while, the carriage began to move slowly.

It was not easy to stay cooped up alone in a dark space. Every time the carriage rattled, Rashta’s heart sank and she clutched her knees tighter.

To shake off her fears, she forced herself to think of hopeful things.

‘If I get out of here… at least I won’t be a slave again. I’ll sell the valuables I brought to buy a little house. What else can I do…? I can do anything. Mind you, I won’t fall in love again. I won’t trust other people either… How long have I been in the carriage like this?’

“Are we out of the capital yet?”

Baron Lant answered quietly,

“Yes, we have left the capital. We are halfway to our destination. You can rest assured.”

Rashta sighed with relief and tears slid down her cheeks.

“When we reach the next town, I’ll find a coachman to take Your Majesty to another country and I’ll return at once. If I stay away from my post for too long, it will arouse suspicion.”

Rashta curled up further into the dark space and thanked Baron Lant several times.

‘But… can I really trust Baron Lant? He’s a secretary to His Majesty Sovieshu. He won’t feel remorse and rat me out?’

Although the situation became a little safer, she began to feel in danger again.

‘If Sovieshu trusts Baron Lant, could Baron Lant be someone I could trust?’

At that moment, a loud rattle was heard and the carriage abruptly came to a halt.

‘What’s going on?’

Rashta remained quiet with her eyes wide open. Her heartbeat was so loud that she couldn’t hear the noises outside.

Slowly, the voices from outside became clearer. Rashta heard Baron Lant arguing with another man.

‘Isn’t that… Duke Tuania’s voice?’

She had no time to be surprised by the unexpected voice as she suddenly felt as if the carriage was tilting. Startled, Rashta removed her hands from her knees and tried to hold herself steady against the inside of the seat.

The carriage, which had tipped completely to one side, fell with a loud thud. Rashta was unable to stand firm and fell sideways.

She struggled to use both hands to remove the seat cover. However, she had been left in a most uncomfortable position and she couldn’t move properly as the inside of the seat was so cramped that she had no room to move.

However, she knew that staying in the carriage was unsafe amid the commotion outside.

“I said there’s no one inside!”

“Is there no one? Do you mean that my knights can safely pierce the entire carriage with their spears?”

“Duke Tuania, you can’t touch someone else’s carriage without permission!”

“Huh? When did you become so naive, Baron Lant?”

“You can’t do it! You can’t do it!”

“I’ll pay for the damages! Knights, pierce the carriage with your spears!”

“As you command, Sir!”

Without first inspecting the interior of the carriage, Duke Tuania ordered his knights to attack the carriage.

Rashta panicked and desperately tried to get out of the cramped space but she slipped. Her hands were shaking.

At that moment, the sharp point of a spear pierced the top of the seat, above Rashta’s head.

“Aaaahh!”

Rashta screamed in terror. As Rashta screamed, many more spears pierced the carriage from different directions with immense force.

There was not the slightest mercy in the men who pierced the carriage. As soon as one of them aimed towards the bottom of the carriage, she was sure to be stabbed to death.

“Get me out! Get me out! There’s someone inside! Get me out!”

As soon as Rashta screamed, the attack on the carriage stopped.

Rashta sobbed.

Shortly after, the door slammed open and several large hands pulled her from inside the seat.

When Rashta saw the situation outside, her whole body shuddered.

Knights surrounded her on all sides.

Baron Lant was pinned to the ground. He seemed to have been beaten as he tried to stop the knights.

But Rashta’s attention was soon directed to Duke Tuania, who had a cruel smile on his face.

“I lost my wife because of you. I’ve been waiting for the day I could get revenge ever since I found out what you did, Rashta.”

Rashta turned pale and stumbled back.

Let me… Please let me go!”