86. Bart’s Side Story

The Royal Knights serving Prince Leo de Yeriel, which included Barin, rushed to the Commander of the Royal Guards.

A young Bart in his mid-thirties shouted with great anger.

“Commander! This is a rebellion! How can a prince attack the royal palace while the king is bedridden!”

The capital of Conrad Kingdom, Rutina, had turned into chaos.

Just a year ago, King Kaderik de Yeriel fell ill and was unable to move, and now Prince Eric de Yeriel had revealed his ambitions.

With the king unable to rise due to a serious illness, Eric claimed that a successor must be chosen immediately.

As the son of the concubine, he had been pushed back in the line of succession behind Leo de Yeriel, the king’s son. However, he used Leo’s young age to win over the nobles to his side.

Then, with the help of his maternal grandfather, Duke Rupert Tertan, he stirred up trouble.

He mobilized the private soldiers of the nobles to surround the royal palace, and the Commander of the Royal Guards could only watch in silence as he glanced at the armies surrounding the palace without making a decision.

It seemed the defensive soldiers of Rutina had also fallen to their hands. The only ones left were the Royal Guards and the Royal Knight Order… but there were too many enemies.

Bart urged him.

“Commander!”

“…The role of a Royal Knight is to protect the royal family, not to meddle in the disputes between successors.”

“Are you saying you’re just going to let the prince die?”

“Unfortunately, we must protect the king first. And their demand is simply for the prince’s surrender…”

The knights tasked with serving Leo de Yeriel let out exclamations of disbelief. Deeply loyal Bart condemned this.

“Do you think they will spare the prince? We have been commanded to serve Prince Leo! That was the last order we received from the king. We cannot hand him over!”

“….”

“If that’s the case, just open a way for us to take the prince and escape. We’ll return and address the matter of succession once the king has recovered!”

Without waiting for the Commander’s response, Bart turned around and shouted.

“Only those who will protect the rightful heir follow me! How can a knight abandon his lord!”

He strode forward with an attitude that he didn’t mind how many would join, and fifteen knights followed him. Barin strengthened his resolve and followed.

In front of the prince’s room, a chamberlain without a clue stood in their way.

“How dare you! Do you not uphold the royal etiquette here? What kind of behavior is this from the Royal Knights who are supposed to set an example?!”

“Get out of the way!”

Bart yelled angrily, shoving him aside and opening the door.

Inside, the bright voice of the prince could be heard.

“There you are! Our princess!”

As if playing hide and seek, the six-year-old prince had found the princess, Lena de Yeriel, hiding behind a crimson curtain and was spinning her around joyfully.

The knights knelt before the prince, and Bart took the lead to speak.

“Your Highness! We have urgent news.”

“What is it?”

The prince asked as he put down the giggling princess.

“Prince Eric de Yeriel has attacked the royal palace. You must escape.”

“Attacked? Brother Eric?”

Barin clicked his tongue in disbelief. Apparently, no one had warned the prince about this situation.

It made sense, as the prince had no guardian nearby. He was too young to engage in political activities, and there were no nobles to rally around him, nor was there a queen who should have been his supporter; until now, the king had taken on the role of his protector.

“I will explain everything on the way. Time is of the essence.”

Bart nervously pressed on, but the prince looked around as if seeking advice from someone. His eyes mixed with doubt about whether he could trust their words.

But the handmaidens remained silent and hesitated, leaving the young prince to make his own judgment.

The knights debated whether they should forcibly take him with them, but fortunately, the prince made a quick decision.

“I will follow your wishes. What should I do?”

“Then, excuse us.”

As soon as permission was granted, Bart swiftly scooped up the prince. It was a rude action that shocked the handmaidens, but this wasn’t the time to worry about decorum.

Barin was the one who picked up the princess. As he carefully lifted the small princess, she squirmed and protested.

“Eew! Put me down! I want to go to my brother!”

“I’m sorry.”

Barin constantly apologized to the four-year-old princess as he hurriedly followed his companions.

As the princess continued to whine, the Royal Knights escaped the palace through the Secret Passage. Prince Eric de Yeriel likely knew about its existence, so they braced for a fierce battle. Fortunately, there were no guards at the passage.

Why hadn’t Prince Eric blocked the secret passage?

Doubts emerged, but there was no time to dwell on them.

Following the dim passage, the knights emerged on the outskirts of Rutina, where they commandeered horses and a carriage from a nearby rental station. They placed the prince and princess into the carriage, and the knights mounted their horses to escort it as they sped northeast.

They planned to flee to Aisel Kingdom.

Aisel Kingdom was the maternal home of Queen “Ainas de Isadora,” who passed away giving birth to Princess Lena de Yeriel, making it an optimal place to hide.

However, they were being pursued.

It was as if the pursuers knew they would flee in this direction, causing Bart to devise a plan.

Later, he would deeply regret coming up with this plan, but that was a matter for another time.

Yelling from atop his galloping horse, Bart proposed, “Let’s use a flanking maneuver! Two of us will drive the carriage to Aisel Kingdom, and twelve will escape to the Orun Kingdom!”

“What about the remaining two?”

“The last two will escort the prince and princess and hide! Their attention should be diverted towards the busy areas and the carriage.”

The knights spread Bart’s plan to their fellow comrades. One knight rushed up to Bart, closely steering his horse and asked.

“It sounds like a good idea, but the mission of the two who will accompany the prince and princess is crucial. Is there someone you have in mind?”

Bart quickly surveyed the following knights and answered.

“The two shouldn’t be on horseback! Horses are too conspicuous. So, I think Barin and Neil would be a good fit! Rudy and Wendy have the best swordsmanship, but for escaping with the prince and princess, someone who is fast would be better!”

The knights nodded at Bart’s suggestion. Regardless, even if they fled this way, the slow carriage would soon be caught.

Barin and Neil raised their hands to signal their agreement.

Soon, while riding the galloping carriage, they worked on taking the prince and princess out and placing them on horses. The knight sitting in the coachman’s seat crawled over, performing acrobatics to hand the prince and princess over without risking any harm. The princess, frightened by the idea of transferring from a moving carriage to a horse, cried out.

Bart approached and said, “Barin! Neil! Please take good care of the prince and princess. If you hide near the border of Belita Kingdom, we will come find you!”

“Don’t worry about us! You should be worried about yourselves! I doubt I’ll ever see my friends who are going with the carriage again! Hahaha!”

The small knight who set the prince in front of him laughed heartily.

It was Neil, who often misunderstood due to his sarcastic tone. He tried to lighten the stiff atmosphere until the end.

Whether his efforts paid off or not, the knights smirked, and courageously volunteered to follow the carriage.

Finally, once everyone designated to follow the carriage was decided, Bart shouted, “We go west!”

He and eleven knights quickly changed their direction and disappeared.

“Take care of the prince and princess! Let’s meet again alive! Neil! If you die, you’ll die again at my hands!”

“Who’s going to say that!”

Wendy, the only female knight in the Royal Knight Order, playfully waved her hand at Neil, who had become remarkably close to her while disappearing with Rudy, guarding the rattling carriage towards the northeast.

Barin and Neil rode for a while and, seeing no one around, looked around before dismounting. They fiercely beat the horses’ rumps with their scabbards to send them fleeing far away and each tucked the prince and princess onto their backs.

They hid themselves in the northwestern plains.

*

In the dark night, Barin, hiding in the tall bushes, desperately began to entertain the princess. He had to do something to keep her from crying.

However, having never calmed a child and being at a loss for words, he struggled. The exhausted prince fell into a deep sleep beside him after walking all day.

Neil was dead.

He died fighting off dozens of pursuing soldiers, and Barin had to watch that from his hiding place in the grass.

The pursuit was still ongoing.

“Hee… I’m scared.”

Perhaps dozing off while being carried on Barin’s back, the princess couldn’t fall asleep at all. Frightened by the surrounding darkness, she made a worried face.

If she cried, it would be a disaster. The sound of crying would carry across the quiet field and they would be immediately caught.

“P-Princess. Look at this.”

In a hurry, Barin pulled out a ring he wore and showed it to her. The silver ring sparkled in the moonlight, catching the princess’s interest.

“What’s this?”

“This is an engagement ring.”

In his early twenties, Barin had gotten engaged the previous year. He had tirelessly honed his swordsmanship nights and days to become a Royal Knight and finally met his partner at a late age. They had exchanged rings blessed by the Priest according to the laws of the Cross Church, and planned to marry in the spring of the following year.

‘She must be worried about me leaving without a word…’

Thinking of her, Barin felt a heavy weight in his heart. He wouldn’t be able to return for several years. She would be waiting for my return, all alone…

Princess Lena de Yeriel fidgeted with the ring she was handed. She tried putting it on her slender finger like Barin had done, but the ring slipped awkwardly on her small finger.

The princess bit the ring with her lips and asked in awkward pronunciation, “What’s an engagement?”

“It’s a promise to marry each other.”

“What’s marriage?”

“Um, well… Marrying is being together with the person you love for a lifetime.”

“What’s love?”

The innocent princess’s questions continued in a chain. Faced with the enormous question of “What is love?” Barin momentarily forgot his situation and pondered.

“Umm… Ah! Princess, you like the prince here, right?”

“Yeah! I like my brother.”

“That’s love.”

Thinking he had provided a wise answer, the princess blinked her beautiful eyes and asked again.

“So, do I get to marry my brother?”

Huh? Why is it going that way again?

Of course, it wasn’t unheard of for royals to marry close relatives, but even royals shied away from sibling marriages.

“Not quite…”

“Why not?”

At that moment, Barin’s head turned sharply.

Torches were approaching in the distance.

The pursuers.

Barin foolishly put a finger to the princess’s lips, “Shh!” as he shook the prince awake.

He worried that the prince might make a sound as he woke, but he simply opened his eyes and looked at Barin in silence.

‘It’s a good thing the prince is mature for his age.’

Barin signaled to the prince to move over to the torches.

Seeing that the prince understood, he carefully shifted and carried the princess while moving stealthily. They had to avoid the path where the torches approached.

They were playing hide and seek in a wide open area.

While the tall bushes were ideal for hiding their bodies, they also left traces of their movements, so they had to be cautious.

With the princess in his arms, Barin made sure not to knock down any bushes, and the prince followed his actions as they stepped quietly.

Just when his back began to ache from walking on tiptoe, having dodged danger once again, Barin sighed as he laid the prince and princess to sleep.

‘At this rate, we’ll get caught.’

Whether Bart’s proposed plan was effective or not, no knights followed Barin and Neil. Judging by the lack of presence, it seemed the enemies had been duped by the flanking maneuver and headed for the other two locations.

Instead, soldiers were following them.

Initially, there weren’t many, so he easily killed and fled from them, but their numbers quickly swelled.

Listening to the gentle breathing of the prince and princess, Barin fell deep into thought.

At first, he had wondered how pursuers had caught up to those who secretly split from the party, and had thought there might have been traces left behind, which could have implicated Neil’s sacrifice.

When he threw himself to sweep away the pursuing soldiers, Barin had erased any traces and fled.

But the chase did not cease.

More soldiers methodically searched the path he had crossed, closing in little by little.

In the end, Barin reached the conclusion, ‘They know how many of us there are.’ They must have confirmed how many Royal Knights had fled in two directions and ordered the remaining two soldiers to find them.

Therefore, to cut off the pursuit…

‘I have to die.’

Otherwise, the hands of the pursuers would keep on coming.

Barin closed his eyes.

The moonlight slipped through his eyelids, vividly painting his promised bride in his retinas.

I want to return. But…

Barin squeezed his eyes tightly to erase her from his mind. He suddenly stood up and steeled his resolve.

If he had feared death, he wouldn’t have followed the prince in the first place.

If he prioritized personal matters, he wouldn’t have become a Royal Knight either.

His death would likely put an end to the pursuit.

No one would imagine that the young prince and princess were left without protection in the fields.

Worries about the prince and princess lingered, but staying together meant a predictable future. Even now, it was hard to guarantee tomorrow.

‘Could the prince manage to escape with the princess…’

Given their maturity, perhaps it was possible after all.

Despite their young age, they had shown composure in moments of crisis without complaining.

Barin shook Prince Leo de Yeriel awake once more.

With dazed eyes, the prince cautiously looked around. Barin informed him, “You must go to the northwest, to Belita Kingdom. If you hide in a village near the border, the Royal Knights will come looking for you.”

When the prince asked why, Barin dodged, saying he was just preparing for any eventuality before putting him back to sleep.

Barin then carefully placed all the food supplies he had beside the prince’s head and quietly stepped away.

Towards the torches.

Amidst the sounds of shouting and clanging weapons, the sleeping princess had the silver ring tightly grasped in her little hand.