Chapter 133
At those words, Sillian’s brows furrowed slightly.
“I couldn’t find out.”
“…”
“They never opened their mouths until the end. I could make them talk if I took some time, but…”
His voice trailed off. He likely meant that he couldn’t bring himself to torture someone in front of Lynette.
Looking pensive, the man turned to calm the still-shaken horse.
“It’s fortunate the horse wasn’t struck by an arrow.”
“Truly.”
With practiced ease, Sillian brushed the horse’s mane and then motioned to her.
“It would be best to leave this place first.”
Without protest, she climbed onto the horse. It was indeed dangerous to stay here any longer. Not to mention, there were corpses now. If anyone were to find them, it would surely cause trouble. To anyone’s eyes, it would look like a murder scene.
If that happened, it would become a tiresome ordeal. The only person she could possibly ask for help from would be Euphen, but after coming all this way, asking him for help again would be absurd.
‘And I don’t want to see him because of something like this.’
Lynette tightened her grip on the reins. It had already been hard enough to leave once, she didn’t want to go through a second farewell.
“Would it be alright if we rode fast for a while?”
“Yes. It’s fine.”
The two quickly left the area behind.
She didn’t know how long they rode in silence, but before long, they reached the next village faster than expected. She followed the man into the inn calmly as if nothing had happened.
“Two rooms”
He said to the innkeeper, then glanced back at Lynette.
“Will you be alright alone?”
She nodded slowly. Though his red eyes still held a trace of concern, he said nothing more.
After asking for their meal to be brought up to the rooms, Sillian led the way upstairs. Naturally, she thought they would each go to their own rooms, but he followed her inside.
“There’s something I’d like to discuss over dinner.”
“What is it?”
“Before that, are you really alright?”
“I wasn’t directly in danger.”
When the assassin’s blade had touched her throat before, she had genuinely thought she would die, but this time wasn’t like that.
‘Though I might end up bedridden again tomorrow.’
Still, she felt she would fare better than last time. She hadn’t seen any gruesome sights herself, and by the time she looked, Sillian had already taken care of the bodies.
“If you ever feel afraid to be alone, knock on my door anytime.”
“Alright.”
Before long, their meal arrived. They sat facing each other across a small table and began to eat. She wasn’t really hungry, but she forced herself to eat, thinking she needed the strength to get through the day. It had been an exhausting one, mentally and physically.
Only after eating a little did the man finally speak.
“Lynette, is there anyone who might have a reason to target you?”
“No.”
“Was the threat you faced before… definitely aimed at the Imperial Prince?”
Lynette nodded slowly.
“They weren’t after me from the start. If I hadn’t opened the window that day for no reason, they would’ve passed right by.”
Sillian frowned faintly.
Watching his thoughtful expression, she asked him in turn.
“Is there anyone who might want to target you?”
“I’m not sure.”
His unexpectedly vague answer surprised her. She had thought he would say no without hesitation, since he’d already mentioned that the royal succession had been settled. When Lynette looked slightly taken aback, he gave a faint, bitter smile.
“Even if the matter of succession has been resolved, there’s no guarantee that no one harbors other ambitions. In fact, one of my brothers once entertained such foolish thoughts…”
He shook his head and let out a quiet sigh.
“Still, it wouldn’t be urgent enough for them to send assassins this far. And besides, they spoke the Imperial tongue. If they were sent from my homeland, they would’ve understood Callesian. I even tried speaking to them in my language, but they didn’t seem to recognize a single word.”
Of course, both of them knew that this didn’t completely rule out the Kingdom of Calles. It was still possible that someone there had hired assassins from the Empire.
“And though the royal family knows I’m in the Empire, they don’t know my exact whereabouts. They could find out if they investigated, of course, but you and I left the Imperial Castle rather suddenly, didn’t we?”
“That’s true.”
“Given the distance from Calles, it’s unlikely they could’ve sent people to pursue us so quickly.”
“But there’s no reason for anyone to target me.”
Between a prince and a commoner woman, the suspicion would naturally fall on the prince, wouldn’t it? Lynette tilted her head slightly.
“I’m just the discarded lover of His Highness Euphen. Though only in name, of course.”
“There could be someone who resents even that much.”
“Why would they?”
She couldn’t understand it. If she had left holding even a shred of power, there might have been someone who viewed her as a thorn in their side, but she had left with nothing.
The only thing she had was the pendant Euphen had given her. It was valuable, yes, but no one else knew she possessed it, so killing her to steal it made no sense either.
“Or perhaps… a thief.”
She murmured uncertainly.
But even she knew that wasn’t true.
She had never met such people herself, but anyone after money wouldn’t risk their life like that. Once they realized the difference in skill between themselves and Sillian, they would have fled immediately
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