Chapter 28: A Knight’s Unexpected Allegiance

The first rays of dawn spilled into the room, piercing through a gap in the curtains to fall directly onto Lucia’s eyelids. Even with her eyes still closed, the light felt a touch too sharp.

Lucia stirred, shifting her body to escape the intrusive beam, before slowly opening her eyes.

‘An unfamiliar ceiling,’ she thought.

Her memories felt fragmented, likely a side effect of the overdose, leaving her with a persistent ache in her head.

Clutching her throbbing head, Lucia pushed herself upright. Her gaze swept across the unfamiliar room: the strange bed, the foreign wardrobe, the imposing high-backed chair, the unfamiliar window. Yet, she found no one else present.

She knitted her delicate brows, sifting through her memories for a full thirty seconds. Then, the events of yesterday began to coalesce.

‘I was kidnapped,’ she remembered, ‘and stuffed inside a doll to be transported to the Duke Yass’s territory.’

‘So, have I been brought to Duke Yass’s domain? This must be the Yass family’s estate, then.’

Lucia recalled the attitudes of Duke Yass’s two princesses towards her. She was quite certain that neither woman would be easy to deal with. While they might show respect for her status as an angel in public, in private, she feared they might very well ‘play’ her to her breaking point.

‘My situation here, with the Yass family, might be even worse than it was with the Valgas.’

A sense of unease settled in Lucia’s heart. She swung her legs off the bed, her steps unsteady as she made her way to the door. After a moment of hesitation, she decided against opening it.

She longed to escape, but her rational mind told her that trying to use the main entrance to flee would be utterly foolish.

Moving to the window, she peered out through a slit in the curtains. She estimated she was on the third floor. From this height, she could likely tie together bedsheets, duvet covers, and curtains to form a rope and climb down.

‘Yes, it’s quite high now, offering a wide view. I should use this opportunity to find an exit…’

Lucia knelt on the windowsill, pressing herself against the glass, fully engrossed in memorizing the layout outside when the room door suddenly opened.

“Your Eminence, you’re awake.” A familiar voice spoke. Lucia turned back in surprise, seeing Betty Lane locking the door.

This sight momentarily stunned Lucia, and more memories flooded back. She recalled hearing Betty Lane’s voice while she was unconscious; it was Betty Lane who had saved her.

“Then… I’m not in the Yass family’s territory?”

Betty Lane approached Lucia, a warm smile gracing her face and a pair of deerskin boots cradled in her hands. “I rescued you from the Yass estate. This is still within Valga territory; this house is my private residence near the capital.”

Lucia’s brow relaxed slightly, though she wasn’t exactly happy. Valga versus the Yass family was merely the difference between one tiger and another.

She remembered distinctly that on the day of the Grand Ritual, His Majesty the King had declared her marriage to a prince she had never even met, in front of thousands of people.

While, strictly speaking, the wedding hadn’t been completed, making the prince only her fiancé, the thought still unsettled Lucia. Betty Lane finding her would undoubtedly mean she’d be handed over to the Valga royal family, and that unfamiliar fiancé would soon come knocking to ‘thoroughly enjoy’ her.

‘This is truly dreadful…’

‘After all that trouble, I’m back in the hands of the Valga royal family, still destined to be thoroughly taken by a stranger…’

“What troubles Your Eminence?” Betty Lane observed Lucia, seated on the windowsill, discerning an unspoken sadness in her expression.

Betty Lane pondered for a moment, then surmised Lucia’s thoughts.

“Your Eminence does not wish to marry His Royal Highness, do you?”

Lucia sighed, her petite frame perched on the windowsill, shoulders leaning against the window. She remained silent.

‘What could I do even if I didn’t want to? Can I really escape from your grasp?’

She turned her head to gaze at the world outside. ‘Will I be confined to the royal palace for the rest of my life, merely a tool for the Valga royal family to propagate angel descendants?’

‘Perhaps the best outcome for me is to be allowed out for the annual Grand Ritual.’

“Your Eminence?” Betty Lane called softly, urging Lucia to answer her question.

Lucia merely looked out the window, stating flatly, “You’ll hand me over to the royal family anyway.”

“No third person knows about finding Your Eminence.”

Betty Lane’s words caught Lucia by surprise. Lucia didn’t grasp the implication and gave her a questioning glance, emitting a puzzled hum.

“Hm?”

Betty Lane suddenly knelt on one knee, a smile gracing her face as she looked at Lucia, leaving Lucia utterly bewildered.

She stated earnestly, “If Your Eminence wishes, I will forever keep the news of your return a secret.”

“You’d deceive the royal family for me?” Lucia countered, stunned.

“If you wish it, yes.”

“But you were sent by the King to monitor me…”

“Over the years, several times, my plans were…”

“You’re lying to me…”

“You are a Valga Knight.”

Lucia couldn’t believe this strange turn of events; she even suspected Betty Lane was trying to trick her.

“No, Your Eminence, you misunderstand.”

“Eight years ago, although His Majesty the King entrusted me with your care and appointed me as your Guardian Knight…”

“…at the enfeoffment ceremony, the master I swore allegiance to was not His Majesty the King, but you! I have been your knight all along!”