I Became a Barbarian's Bride - Chapter 12

“B-Because you, Princess, h-helped us, w-we wanted to h-help you this time…”

Mesh, the stablehand who had been left with a limp and a stutter due to a noble’s cruelty in his childhood, spoke tearfully.

All three owed their lives to Nisha.

They also knew how much she had endured, living in the small confines of the imperial palace, unable to lift her head.

They were well aware that the reason she hadn’t escaped, despite wanting to several times, was because of them and the people of this country.

“Come with me, Princess.”

“Mary, it will be a harsh journey.”

“That’s okay, I have no family left anyway! If you abandon me too, Princess…”

Mary’s voice trembled as she lowered her head, almost in tears.

“…Don’t say such sad things. You’re like family to me.”

Nisha said, taking out an old handkerchief to wipe the dust off Mary’s cheek.

Many people had approached and left Nisha’s side.

Some came, drawn by the title of princess, only to leave when their expectations were shattered by her plight.

Some came to mock her but left when they found no amusement.

Others, rarely, reached out in sympathy but soon drifted away.

These three had stayed by her side from the beginning until now, becoming more like family to her.

“…I’m sorry if it seemed like I was abandoning you.”

“Don’t worry about the capital. I will still lend a hand as best as I can,” Rad added, as if understanding Nisha’s concerns.

Nisha was silent for a long time before giving a small nod.

She listened to Mesh explain how to handle the reins and then she took her seat on the driver’s bench of the old cart.

“I’ll contact you once I’ve settled…”

Nisha finally managed to speak, her voice laden with guilt, conscience, and a brief hesitation.

The two men smiled silently and bowed quietly.

As the cart disappeared from view, they exhaled short breaths.

“Waaaaah huhuhuhu…!”

At the same time, Mesh broke into tears, collapsing like a child.

Rad, kneeling on one knee, knew well how much Mesh had looked up to and relied on Nisha as a parent figure.

He silently patted Mesh’s shoulder.

“Mesh, I understand how you feel, but we should head back to the palace before dawn…”

“Haha, who would have thought that the delicately raised princess would choose to escape in the dead of night?”

At the voice behind them, filled with chilling malice that made their backs stiffen, Rad’s eyes widened, and he instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword.

In an instant, a sharp blade gleamed under the red moonlight at Rad’s throat.

‘He’s fast.’

Rad swallowed hard, unable to see his assailant who had aimed for his neck.

Raising his head, he remembered that the one pressing the sword to his throat and grinning fiercely was one of the travelers from the tavern.

“Hello there, naive little boy. Take your hand off the sword, or Kaga… our lord will get angry.” Said the assailant.

“…Who are you?”

Rad asked, not the man holding the sword to his throat, but the silver-haired man perched on a wooden crate in the alley.

The damp, musty breeze of the alley mixed with the smoke rising from the cigarette in the man’s mouth.

“Your master.”

The friendly, moderately polite man was gone, replaced by a man with an infinitely dry and arrogant demeanor.

His golden eyes, now bearing a faint smile, glowed vividly in the darkness as he gazed in the direction where Nisha’s cart had disappeared.

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