It wasn’t long after the forest began passing by the window that the carriage suddenly jolted, as if the wheels were stuck on a rock. It was Sylvia, not Cahilren, who steadied me on the swaying day.

One of the knights riding on either side of the carriage approached through the window. His expression was extremely serious, giving a strong sense that something was amiss.

“What happened?”

“There’s a problem. Even if there’s a disturbance outside, Lady Vi must never come out of the carriage.”

After the knight’s earnest advice, he immediately turned his head. Matthias quickly closed the carriage window.

“It’s better not to see.”

He seemed to have a premonition of something. Not long after, the outside of the carriage became noisy.
The sound of clashes and clashing swords echoed loudly. Even though I couldn’t see, I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening outside the carriage.

Matthias, trying to remain calm outwardly, cast uneasy glances out the window. Sylvia’s hand, wrapping around me protectively, was trembling.

And I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Even if there were unlucky days, it felt like multiple incidents were hitting all at once.

The temporary shelter was in a location with weakened ground due to heavy rain, and Cahilren, who went to check it, encountered a landslide and got into an accident. Considering the probability of me encountering thieves while going to check upon hearing the news of the accident, how high could it be?

The fact that Cahilren, a Sword Master, couldn’t avoid a landslide in a local knight’s territory and ran away alone to report the incident? Moreover, if something really happened to Cahilren, it should have been me, not Viscount Sizz, whom Randolz would send a report to.

‘No way.’

I recalled Viscount Sizz, who had seen me off last. It was strange to organize the knights belatedly, and his expression seemed somewhat insincere.

The face of the viscountess, who seemed strangely relaxed when I first stepped into Viscount Sizz’s mansion, and the image of Cahilren, who wagged his tongue, saying they were ominous individuals, appeared one after another. There was only one conclusion.

‘Ah, darn it. It’s a trap.’

Muttering curses in my mind, at that moment, the carriage door opened without permission.

“Lady Vi, please come out quickly!”

The knight urgently shouted, out of breath.

“A few have escaped, and their colleagues will be coming soon. You must avoid them before that!”

Looking at the knight’s armor, with bloodstains even on his cheek, I swallowed my saliva.

Then, in a hurry, I grabbed Sylvia’s hand and swiftly got out of the carriage.

Outside the carriage, bodies that looked like bandits were lying around. Among them, I noticed the knight who had advised me through the window. Trembling, I shrugged my shoulders.

‘Pull yourself together. I must avoid trouble here, at least.’

The carriage’s wheels were damaged, and the only option left was to ride on horseback. Since the bandits might have taken the horses when they escaped, there were only two horses left.

The knight who brought the horses reached out to me.

“Quickly, get on, Lady Vi.”

The knight seemed to be thinking of carrying me. However, there were only two people here who knew how to properly ride a horse—me and the knight.

“It’s better for us to split and carry both of them.”

“Lady Vi, Viscount Linton must know how to ride a horse.”

The knight said to Matthias. Since riding a horse was a basic skill for men in the kingdom, he seemed to naturally assume that Matthias knew how to ride.

However, entrusting the reins to Matthias, who could barely trot, could be dangerous. So, it was more appropriate for me and the knight to each carry one person.

“All right, then I’ll take care of Viscount Linton.”
“No, then the speed won’t increase.”

It was obvious that the horse carrying two sturdy men wouldn’t pick up speed. Therefore, it made more sense for me to lead the way with Matthias, and the knight carrying Sylvia.

“But, Lady Vi, that…”

The knight’s expression was awkward, and Matthias seemed perplexed as well. However, given the circumstances, it was an unavoidable situation. We couldn’t afford to delay any longer with unnecessary arguments, so the knight reluctantly stepped back.

In the end, with a nod as if to signal Matthias to follow, I took the lead and moved after the knight.

Due to the heavy rain, visibility was poor. The distance between me and the knight, whom I thought was nearby, had widened without my notice.

As I urged the horse to catch up with the knight, who now looked like a distant dot, loud hoofbeats began to echo from behind. It seemed that the thieves were chasing after their comrades.

Worried about being caught, I hesitated for a moment and then turned the reins to make the horse run towards the forest.