“Even if such luck were to happen, I bet Corcos would refuse. They’d be wary of Aaronna and David.”
“What if they made it without revealing Corcos’s name?”
“They could hide it if they wanted to, but… there’s no reason for a tailor to take such risks for me.”
“Indeed… Ugh!”
Amira sighed deeply as if the ground were about to swallow her.
At that moment, Adam, who had been scouting a few steps ahead, suddenly stopped.
Thud! So focused on their conversation, Amira didn’t see ahead and bumped her forehead against Adam’s broad back.
“Ouch! I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking—”
“Shh.”
Adam placed a finger to his lips. A sharp tension lingered in his summer forest-like eyes.
“Someone is coming.”
As he said, footsteps could be heard not far away.
Tap, tap, tap!
It wasn’t just one or two people. Adam quickly focused on the approaching sounds and gripped the hilt of his sword.
At his signal, the knights of Bedford surrounded Ariella and Amira, keeping watch of their surroundings.
Soon, figures appeared at the end of the road. Wearing masks and wielding proper weapons, it was clear what was about to happen.
“Protect the lady!”
As Adam’s shout echoed, the assailants charged forward at high speed.
Clang! Clang!
The sharp sounds of metal clashing rang in their ears.
The blade cut through the flesh of an assailant, and blood flowed. Screams and groans of pain erupted from various mouths.
“Ahhh!”
Amira, trembling in fear, locked eyes with one of the assailants and screamed. She was still clutching the wooden club as if it were a lifeline.
Meanwhile, Ariella stood quietly behind the knights, observing the situation. Having experienced similar situations before, she remained calm.
‘We may be outnumbered, but we won’t lose.’
The opponents were somewhat skilled, but they were not as good as the knights of Bedford.
Especially Adam’s skills were outstanding. He deflected all the opponents’ attacks while landing his own strikes accurately.
As always, she felt he was too talented to be just her guard.
Even if the assailants had reinforcements, the situation wouldn’t change. At least not unless their numbers reached dozens.
As she had predicted, as time passed, the assailants began to fall one by one. The knights of Bedford sustained minor injuries but were not seriously hurt.
‘It’s over.’
It seemed the assailants had come to a similar conclusion. Suddenly, two of the remaining four assailants began to flee.
And at that moment, an unexpected event occurred.
“Chase them!”
“Yahhh!”
Three knights of Bedford dashed after the fleeing assailants.
It was absurd. They had not received a command from their superior, Adam, yet they recklessly abandoned their posts. Even a rookie knight wouldn’t make such a mistake.
In a situation where they didn’t know where more enemies might appear, three knights ran off to catch two, leaving the lady they were supposed to protect behind?
It was behavior far beyond common sense.
“Alfie, Jayden, Seph! Come back immediately!”
Even when Adam urgently commanded their return, it was as if they couldn’t hear him, running off without a care.
Left alone, Adam looked as if he couldn’t believe the situation. The shock was evident, given they had trained and worked together for a long time.
Ariella, who had been maintaining her composure, couldn’t help but be surprised this time.
‘They’ve already been swayed by the knights.’
These were people who had accompanied her whenever she went on inspections in place of her father or David.
Having seen their faces so often, she had naturally memorized their names, exchanged jokes at times, and one of them had even secretly told Ariella that his true lord was not the young master but the lady.
Of course, even so, she had never expected they would side with her. She just hadn’t anticipated the timing of their defection would be so swift.
David wasn’t that capable. Perhaps Lizzy had given him some instructions on what to do.
“Miss! Get to the carriage!”
There was no time to be surprised any longer. New assailants were quickly approaching from the direction the three traitorous knights had fled.
There were four of them. It would be difficult for Adam to protect Ariella while facing that many.
Thus, the best course of action was for Ariella and Amira to flee in the opposite direction while Adam stayed behind to deal with the assailants before following them.
“Be careful.”
Ariella said one last word before turning and running. She didn’t forget to take care of the frozen Amira.
The cumbersome skirt hindered her speed. Ariella lifted her skirt high, regardless of whether her bare legs were visible, and ran as fast as she could. She had to escape well to avoid being a burden to Adam.
How long had she been running?
