Chapter 65

Gibson gave my shoulder a light nudge and at once I realized the expression on my face.

I felt guilty toward these people.

‘Damn it.’

How long was I going to keep clinging to the past.

I scrubbed my face roughly and Gibson spoke again.

“I only pretended to be a market vendor for a day to gather information and I ran into you. Sorry I suspected you. So here’s the deal.”

“You’re not telling me because you don’t plan to let me go out, are you?”

Of course I would have tried to leave even if he’d blocked the way.

But Gibson said something I didn’t expect at all.

“It’s daytime so it’d be obvious, but when the streets empty at dawn I’ll get you out of the hideout. Once you’re out, forget everything that happened here. Don’t ever come back to this cursed place.”

“Sir…”

“Also, that money you gave helped more than you know. There was a patient who needed herbs. They survived because of it.”

It had been only a few coins.

Not gold, just ten silver pieces and some copper change.

Before I could say anything, Gareth came over. He’d been assigned to the hideout repairs and whispered.

“Madam, you should leave now.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

From the entrance came a rough shout.

“Run! The governor’s ambush, run!”

His shout never finished.

Soldiers rushing in had driven their swords through him.

They kicked the young man who was coughing up blood and a commander-looking soldier spat.

“Idiots.”

“How did they get in here?”

“The port’s guards aren’t that careless. We rattled a bait for you. Make a small hole in a grain sack and you’ll lead yourselves right to the rat hole.”

The hideout turned into chaos in an instant.

With soldiers blocking the way, escape was impossible.

Young men grabbed rusty farm tools and rushed to block the entrance while those who couldn’t fight scrambled deeper inside to hide.

In the chaos Gareth pulled me into his arms.

“I have the duke’s seal. If I show it and declare your identity they will escort you out and protect you.”

“When did you get something like that?”

“My lord prepared it in case of emergency. Hurry.”

“Wait, but if—”

I grabbed Gareth before he could shout at the soldiers.

If I revealed who I was then this damp, filthy cave would be sealed off and I would be taken to the governor’s manor for comfortable protection.

I wanted that dozens of times in my head. I couldn’t say yes right away.

‘If the governor learns the duchess met these people—’

The soldiers would rush to report it. The governor would erase any inconvenient records without a trace.

He would remove this hideout from Bellamare’s maps.

Those people would disappear from history.

‘This isn’t a normal town. The governor’s power here is absolute.’

Count Dorva was the late duke’s only sibling, the old duke’s brother, and the senior of the house. This was a different case.

To unseat a governor with authority and legitimacy you needed clear, decisive evidence that he had broken the duke’s law and ruled tyrannically.

‘We need to get out quietly before the governor notices. Sneak out and—’

Join up with Ramon and call reinforcements, then launch a surprise search. With seized documents and eyewitness testimony we could topple Count Dorva.

I calculated everything in a flash.

“Could you disguise yourself as ordinary folk and fight the soldiers if needed?”

“I’m sorry, but my lord’s order was to protect you. My priority is your safety in every case.”

“Really? You want to be returned to his grace?”

I knew Gareth’s role as both guard and watcher. Still I accepted him because the duke’s retinue produced competent men even among the lowest-ranked attendants.

A duke’s aide would usually pick skilled retainers, and I needed a capable bodyguard.

As expected, when I hinted at refusal Gareth corrected his stance immediately.

“I explored the interior under the pretense of repair. There’s another exit about half a day in. You should slip out with the people inside. I’ll stall at the entrance.”

“Now you’re making sense.”

The townspeople crowded the narrow cave mouth blocking it with their bodies.

But I could see the soldiers slowly pressing them inward.

“Take this. I hope you never have to use it.”

“All right.”

Time was short.

Gareth handed me the lightest dagger he had, then sprinted toward the entrance where a fierce fight had started.

I shoved my way into the throng of people nervously collecting terrified children.

“I won’t go, I won’t!”

“Daddy, where are you?”

The clang of metal and desperate shouting echoed off the cave walls.

Frightened children pulled away from adults and kept slipping into narrow gaps no hand could reach.

Those barely old enough to be four didn’t understand their parents’ fear.

We had to make them understand.

“I know it’s scary. But staying here is more dangerous. Hold my hand.”

“Waah, it’s scary!!”

“Then cling to me, close your eyes tight. If you hold on a little longer it’ll be over.”

When I spread my arms a hesitant child sobbed and threw himself into them.

One by one the kids came out and grabbed my clothes with tiny hands, as if clutching a lifeline.

“Good, good.”

“Sob…”

I smoothed the kids’ heads.

Those who had been stamping their feet let out relieved breaths and started handing kids to each other. Older children held the little ones and carried them.

Then as if on signal they all bolted.

There was no time to look back. They ran on pure desperation.

* * *

Edwin had covered the long detour from the western manor in three days, a trip that would normally take at least six.

He barely kept his boiling rage under thin control as he rode toward Bellamare.

If Gareth’s hawk hadn’t reached him mid-ride then nothing or no one would have survived.

“Your grace!”

“What’s the situation?”

Ramon was waiting for Edwin outside Bellamare.

Edwin didn’t slow the horse and Ramon jumped up and reported quickly.

“Madam did well to stay at the inn.”

“They didn’t suspect anything?”

“No. The manor’s villa is under the governor’s control but the inn isn’t. They probably haven’t noticed yet.”

Ramon explained that a decoy of Elicia had been sent on a tour of the sights with Baron Conte.

Edwin took it all in.

‘She’s safe. This time… she’s safe.’

Both Ramon and a note carried by Gareth’s hawk said the same thing.

Elicia was alive.

Yet a bad feeling refused to leave my chest. My heart thudded with the rhythm of the horses’ hooves.

“Storm the governor’s manor and secure the governor and all his records.”

“Yes sir!”

Failure would mean death.

Ramon and his elite men set off with determined faces.

Edwin dug his heels in and urged his horse faster. He would meet her soon but the uneasy feeling did not lift.

‘Please, let nothing have happened…’