“The other carriages are getting further away.”

“Yes.”

Her reply was calm, but her mouth was parched.

If it was a matter of thinking, she could handle it somehow, but she was not confident in physical matters.

She recalled the event a few days ago when a Rounder attacked in Pagora.

Though the Rounder was not trained in martial arts, Ariana could not overcome his strength.

‘It’s okay.’

Ariana struggled to calm her trembling heart.

‘It’s okay. You know this mountain well. As long as you don’t panic, you can survive.’

Ariana checked the short sword in her arms.

Having a short sword without being trained in martial arts was useless, as she had learned from the last incident. But it would be better than having nothing.

While she was anticipating what would happen next and drawing a picture in her mind, Rozalin spoke softly,

“It’s here.”

At the same time, the carriage stopped.

“The coachman is running away.”

Rozalin’s eyes changed.

Her eyes turned from those of an innocent and delicate maid to those of a beast ready to bite the target’s neck. Her voice became lower than usual.

Ariana opened her eyes wide in surprise at Rozalin’s sudden change.

The truly amazing thing happened next.

Rozalin drew a long sword from beneath her voluminous skirt.

“Miss. Follow me.”

“You are…?”

Ariana, who was about to ask about Rozalin’s identity, realized that now was not the time.

“To the left. We must go to the left.”

“Understood.”

As Rozalin opened the carriage door, rough shouts were heard from the men.

“It’s a noble’s carriage! Attack!”

+++

Rachel closed her eyes and tried to maintain a calm expression, but her insides were anything but calm.

When she decided to head to the empire, Rachel sent a maid to contact the mercenary group. Though called mercenaries, they were a notorious group that would do anything for money.

“Kill her. You must kill her on the spot. Don’t think about capturing her alive to sell her.”

The Weifun mountain road was not very dangerous, but bandits often appeared. Therefore, several knights or mercenaries had to be hired when passing through the mountain road.

Jacob, who was sitting next to her, placed his hand on Rachel’s back of her hand.

“It won’t go wrong this time, will it?”

She had told Jacob about this plan, as he needed to play along.

Once they exited the mountain range and entered the city, they would rush to the guards, pretending to be in urgent need, and ask for help.

They would say that the carriage line was long, and they hadn’t noticed until now, but the carriage of their second daughter was missing, so could the guards please check it.

The guards rushing to the mountain road would find a broken carriage and the corpse of a maid stabbed by a sword. And the pitiful corpse of the second princess as well.

“It won’t go wrong. Even though I’ve warned the coachman, he won’t get far before dying. The bandits will kill everyone and then disappear, so we only need to play the part of grieving parents.”

“We can’t enjoy a party after losing a daughter. Isn’t it better to return as soon as the death is confirmed? We should pretend to hold a funeral.”
“The funeral can be held at the villa in the empire. Ariana wanted so desperately to visit the empire once, so it’s only right to send her off there, even if it’s her final journey.”

Everyone will feel pity for the Bronte family.

Rachel, who has lost her daughter, and Victoria and Helena, who have lost their sister.

They will all come to console, and will be invited for comfort. Even the nobles with no close ties will try to be kind to them, having lost a family member.

“Rather, it’s an opportunity to catch the eye of Her Majesty the Empress. We’ll be the center of attention this social season.”

+++

There were fiercelooking men with weapons surrounding the carriage. Ariana could identify more than 20 of them.

Rachel was far more meticulous than Ariana had anticipated. She had proceeded with the intention of killing Ariana this time.

Ariana glanced quickly and checked the forest spreading to the left.

“The opponents are off guard.”

Rosalin whispered softly as she glared ahead with her sword drawn.

True to her words, the enemies seemed entirely unalarmed. They clearly thought that a mere maid with a long sword couldn’t possibly inflict a scratch on them.

Ariana thought the same.

“Rosalin, you don’t need to save me……”

“I will break through the left. Stick close behind me.”

Rosalin spoke decisively and moved her body.

Ariana quickly followed her.

As Rosalin moved, the villains did not stay still either. The men standing on the left side of the carriage menacingly swung their swords and approached. They clearly thought that Rosalin and Ariana would freeze in terror and burst into tears.

However, neither Rosalin nor Ariana acted as they expected.

Swoosh!

A flash from Rosalin’s sword.

Where the silver trajectory passed, red blood sprayed like a fountain.

Ariana didn’t know what had happened, but she didn’t hesitate. She only stared straight at Rosalin’s back and ran after her.

What was baffled were the mercenaries disguised as bandits.

They had only heard that they were up against a noble young lady and a maid, not that they would have to face someone skilled with a sword.

Although not exceptionally skilled, they were mercenaries who had lived through the harsh world. Therefore, they could see how skilled the swordwielding maid was.

They couldn’t even visually follow the path of the sword used by the maid.

But they couldn’t just let the two women who had killed their comrades go.

They outnumbered them, so the woman alone couldn’t handle them all.

The mercenaries’ eyes gleamed cruelly.