Raising The Princess To Overcome Death Chapter 316

[ … words ]

314 – The Knight of Vengeance

Scattered leaves floated atop the waters of the Irotashi River. Despite being a massive river, roughly 2,000 feet (600 meters) wide, the fast current caused the leaves to brush against the stepping stones like fish.

A single drop of dry spit hit the water with a “plop.” Sir Iron stood on the stone bridge, gazing far downstream.

“It would have been nice if we could’ve brought a boat,” he thought. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a place nearby to dock one. After finishing their business here, they’d have to ride for several days downstream.

Once more, he spat far into the river, mixing phlegm with saliva. Looking back, he saw his comrades loosening up in their own ways. Some were chatting as they smoked tobacco, while others, like Bart, stood firm on the bridge, staring intently ahead.

Comrades who were now like family after more than ten years together. That’s when Iron realized one person was missing.

It was Gallen. Iron shouted towards the entrance of the stone bridge.

“Hey! Gallen—! How much longer are you going to be there? Hurry up!”

As the others turned to look, Gallen waved back as if to say he was coming. He had been tending to the seven horses they had ridden. Gallen was an excellent horseman, and he genuinely loved horses.

“What the hell were you doing to end up like that?”

“I had to change a few horseshoes. Iron, well… never mind.”

“What, just say it.”

“…Your horse was in the worst condition. No offense, but for a fisherman’s son, you really need to take better care of it.”

Sir Iron chuckled.

“My father’s the fisherman, not me. Besides, you take such good care of them, why should I bother? Keep up the good work…”

“Quiet. They’re coming.”

Bart’s low voice cut through the conversation. The knights, who had been laughing and chatting, instantly hardened their expressions. As if nothing had happened, they now stared ahead with burning eyes.

The accursed red shield.

The emblem of House Tertan was proudly displayed on the approaching carriage from the other side of the bridge. Bart gripped his helmet tightly, fighting the urge to draw his sword and charge.

Damn Duke. Rupert Tertan’s grandson is in that carriage. If I kill him, the Duke will storm out of the capital.

Philas Tertan, the Duke’s grandson, hadn’t done anything personally wrong. But to Bart, blinded by rage, the mere attachment of the Tertan name made him deserving of death.

Even if they weren’t directly carrying that cursed name, anyone associated with the Duke’s family—man, woman, or child—would meet the same fate. And they would continue to do so.

The seven knights, disguised as soldiers, concealed their madness behind their helmets, positioning themselves as if ready to conduct an inspection. As the long line of carriages approached, so too did the moment of long-awaited revenge. Eventually, a messenger was sent from the other side.

“Who are you? No need for an inspection. Move aside! This is the procession of Lord Philas Tertan.”

“….”

The messenger, riding fast on his horse, waved his hand as if worried the carriages might stop. But the seven knights remained silent and motionless.

Confused, the messenger hesitated, and the procession, which had been crossing the narrow stone bridge in single file, finally came to a halt. Just as the captain of Philas Tertan’s guards, Tadian Lopero, was about to step forward, annoyed at the delay—

“What’s going on?” muttered the coachmen, soldiers, and knights craning their necks to see. Bart whispered,

“I’ll take care of him.”

It was at that moment that a young girl leaped out from the third carriage. Dressed as a maid, she rushed forward, shouting, “Wait! Just a moment!”

“Sir Bart! Stop!”

The girl, Lena, spread her arms wide, standing defenseless in front of the knights. Rev hadn’t arrived yet.

  *

“Is he there by now?”

Lena was biting her nails nervously as her carriage clattered up the stone bridge.

Rev had gone to the estate of Marquis Guidan to bring back Marisa, Sir Bart’s wife, but he still hadn’t shown up.

Though he had said he would arrive a bit late for dramatic effect, at the very least, he should have told me by yesterday. That he’d arrived.

Yet, even as the procession crossed into the Kingdom of Conrad, he remained missing. “He’ll come soon, soon…” Lena kept waiting, but in the end, he never appeared, leaving them in this mess. Lady Harie Guidan and Philas Tertan had already reached the riverbank.

At present, Lena was acting as a maid.

Lena, having received Prince Lean de Yeriel’s message, split the roles with Rev. While Rev was to convince Sir Bart by bringing a certain person, Lena decided to stick with Lady Harie Guidan and her party.

Part of the reason was that someone needed to be there to persuade Lady Harie, who wouldn’t easily part with the necklace. But the real reason was more practical—Lena didn’t have any money.

{Initial Funds}, or whatever it was called. The money Rev had wasn’t even enough for him to travel alone.

“Hey? Aren’t you a Swordmaster? Couldn’t you just get some money from someone?”

Lena had joked about it later, but Rev had just stared at her with a blank, dumbfounded look, as if he couldn’t believe she’d said that. He claimed that would be “wrong” or something like that.

“Hey! It’s not like I don’t know it’s wrong. But this is about saving lives!”

“…I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“This is just about whether or not we can travel together. We can still make it in time, regardless. Besides…”

“Besides?”

Rev, face turning red, stammered,

“Right now, I’m not sure what I might do to you. If we travel together… So maybe it’s better if we stay apart for a bit.”

Lena, flustered, but with her own cheeks turning red, snapped back,

“W-what are you thinking about? You’re ridiculous! I did say we should get married, but I didn’t mean it like… that!”

“…”

“…A-a kiss would be okay, though.”

“…”

“Why… Why aren’t you saying anything? Hey!! What are you thinking? Just because we got married twice doesn’t mean… that was then, and this is now!”

But the memories were as vivid as ever. She’d already dreamed all the dreams she could dream.

I had dreams—dreams where I wandered the continent as a priest, searching for Rev. In contrast, there were dreams where I was expelled from the capital church, but Rev found me instead.

In these dreams, we were married.

We married twice, once in a church and once in the village, without leaving for the capital churChapter And, according to that prince, Lean, we married one more time after that. And… we were happy.

Of course, it wasn’t all good.

I also dreamed of being devoured by a terrible evil god, Barbatos.

I saw Rev save me from drowning in a river, only to be killed by the knight Bart. In Nevis, I hung myself in despair.

Rev was always so apologetic.

He cried, as if all of it were his fault, so I told him, standing before the shattered mirror, that there was more happiness than pain. Even if it had only been that one time we married, it was enough.

Rev cried like a child.

After that, we walked together again. No matter how many lives we repeated, we stayed together, bound by fate. There was no reason to hide it anymore. Still, I was embarrassed about taking the next step.

Dreams are just dreams, after all.

No matter how many times we repeated them, I knew that we had to live each day faithfully. At least, that’s how I saw it. For now, I wanted to build our relationship again, starting as childhood friends, just as we were before. But it seemed like that was hard for him. So, in the end, I said,

“Fine. Go clear your head!”

I let go of the desire to travel with Rev and followed through with my original plan—to head to Bospo.

In reverse order of the third dream, exactly as it had played out before, the lord’s castle in Bospo was recruiting handmaids. They were looking for someone to serve Lady Harie Guidan.

It was there that I parted ways with Rev, (“I’ll come before late autumn, before you reach the Irotashi River.”) and met the head maid, a woman with a sharp, blue-eyed gaze. I learned my duties from her.

Thanks to my dreams, the work wasn’t difficult.

In fact, it was better than when I’d been trapped in the village, filled with anxiety over whether I’d ever make it as a priest.

I had a newfound certainty that the divine was watching over us, and that brought me peace.

As Brother Leslie had once said, it didn’t matter whether I made it to the capital church or not, or whether I became a priest or not. I had already dedicated my heart to the divine.

So, please, God, watch over Rev. You have placed trials of fire in front of us, so help us prove ourselves worthy. We will repay You with radiant spirits.

The head maid, not the divine, took notice of how diligently I worked. I never once neglected my tasks.

Soon, I became Lady Harie’s personal maid, and before long, I was able to speak with her often. Lady Harie grew fond of me. One day, as I was helping her prepare, she asked,

“I heard you’re leaving for the Holy Kingdom of Jerome to become a priest?”

That was the lie I had told her. I felt a bit guilty.

“Yes. I’m a native of the lord’s lands, so I need permission to leave.”

“Hmm, that’s right. I’m sorry, but… I don’t think I can give you permission.”

“Huh?”

Lady Harie smiled brightly. She had been in a particularly good mood recently.

“Sorry, that was a joke. Of course I’ll give you permission. Such a fine young woman wants to become a priest—how could I refuse? But… could you do me one more favor before you go?”

“How can I help?”

“The thing is, I’m going to the Kingdom of Conrad. Philas—he wants me to accompany him there.”

“Oh, congratulations! It sounds like the arrangement went well. I’d noticed you’ve been smiling more these days.”

“Yes. I think I’ve found someone who loves me more than I deserve. It’s thanks to your help in making me look so beautiful. But as you can see, I don’t have many maids with me. It would be wonderful if you could come along. What do you say?”

Lady Harie assured me that she would be back in just a few months and even promised to write me a letter of recommendation to the churChapter And when she mentioned a raise in my pay, I noticed a necklace on her that I hadn’t seen before.

“Alright, I’ll do it. But I have two requests.”

“What are they?”

“First, could you send my current and future wages to my parents in Demos Village? And as for the second… I’ll ask for it later. Is that okay?”

“The first is easy enough, but what are you planning to ask for later?”

“Hmm… probably just for you to trust me on something.”

Lady Harie laughed as she turned back toward me.

“You always speak in such riddles. Fine. I already trust you quite a bit, Lena. But… I do have one complaint. You dress me too plainly. I’m not a priest, you know.”

“Please bear with it for a bit longer. Otherwise, Lord Philas might just die. He never knows where to rest his eyes around you.”

Ha ha! Laughter filled the room, and weeks passed.

Now, here I was, biting my nails nervously.

Rev, who was supposed to come, had not yet appeared, and the carriages had arrived. I realized that I had run out of options.

As the carriage clattered to a stop, Lady Harie asked what was going on. I told her I’d check. Leaping from the tall, noble carriage, I didn’t investigate much—instead, I ran forward, shouting at the top of my lungs.

“Wait! Just a moment!”

Why is that maid acting like that? Soldiers stared curiously at me as I passed by Tadian Lopero and stopped in the middle of the stone bridge. I swallowed hard and, facing the seven knights whose faces were obscured by their helmets, I yelled,

“Sir Bart! Stop! You’re making a mistake!”

“Bart?”

Tadian stepped forward as the air grew tense and cold. Bart looked at the girl blocking his way, then roughly tore off his helmet.

—Clang!

“Long time no see, Tadian.”

His appearance was ragged, his eyes crazed. Lena realized he had no interest in her at all.

“Bart! I knew you’d come!”

The seven knights drew their swords in unison, while Tadian Lopero faced them, shouting back.

Lena stood trembling between them, arms wide, but the knights paid her no mind. She screamed,

“Sir Bart!! Your wife is coming! Marisa! Marisa is on her way!”

At that, Bart flinched… but his face twisted into a demonic snarl. Grabbing Lena by the collar with one hand, he hurled her toward Tadian.

“Kyah!”

“Wha—?!”

Tadian’s horse reared, and Lena fell into his arms. As they collided, Lena noticed blood spilling from under her arm. In that brief moment, Bart had already drawn near, covered in blood, and was glaring at her with eyes burning with fury.

“How do you know my wife?”

But there was hope.

Lena, struggling to breathe as Bart’s hand squeezed her throat, pointed not at him, but into the distance.

“Because… there she is.”

“Lena!!”

A radiant aura blade blazed brilliantly as Rev charged forward, with Marisa and their two grown sons close behind. Bart stood, paralyzed, unsure what to be shocked by first.