North x Northwest

Previous

Because of the height difference of the wagon’s coach seat and the horse’s back, the cushioning effect of the saddle became insufficient and Lil, as well as the horse, were surprised by the hard impact. The shock was so great it even sent the beast into a rampage in an attempt to get rid of her.

Lil was unable to put her feet into the stirrups as the constant jumping of the horse caused her whole body to bounce up and down. It became so bad that it even felt like it wouldn’t be long before her back would break into pieces. She almost fell from the beast several times but desperately held onto its neck while kicking her feet in all directions. The stirrups clanked and passed over the edges of her feet more than once. Nonetheless, Lil was determined to swing her feet until at one point, she skilfully managed to insert her shoe into the metal ring. After tugging on the reins out of instinct, the horse, who was restrained from running wild, neighed loudly and pulled itself up, standing on his two behind legs. His angry hooves waved in the air.

Feeling her body being tucked downward, Lil grabbed the reins for dear life.

“Whoa, whoa! Damn it!”

Lil squeezed her legs together with everything she’s got till they went numb.

‘If I fall down now, I will either die by hitting my head or being trampled by the horse’s hooves.’

Despite the palms of her hands heating up due to the scuffing of the reins, and her shoulders feeling like falling off because of her effort of maintaining the angle of those reins, Lil suppressed her groans.

“…Captain! Behind you!..”

A shout erupted from the wagon.

Some of the sailors seemed to have forgotten that they had to hide themselves and foolishly removed one of the wooden boxes that concealed them to hold out their hands to Lil.

Lil was barely in time to turn her head back.

Before she knew it, one of the men chasing her was just a stone’s throw away, his sword already pulled out. Lil knew it was useless, but she had no other option but to keep herself as close to the horse’s mane as possible. The horse finally began to calm down from his initial aggression, but it was already too late, for Lil’s hands were tied…

A sharp object grazed her ear covered in cold sweat.

‘A knife? A sharp and straight knife.’

It flew through the air with precision and stuck the neck of the horse coming for Lil. An animalistic cry was heard before the beast’s body collapsed in an instant. The rider, unable to handle the inertia, fell forward and rolled on the ground.

When Lil looked back at the wagon, her horse finally put its front hooves on the ground. And as if it never had gone mad in the first place a sudden snort was heard from it. Lil stood silently and watched the wagon moving away. To be precise, she watched Julio moving away while hanging outside the wagon. Just the fact that the attention of the sailors squatting in the luggage compartment was focused on Julio, she could tell who it was who had thrown the knife.

Lil felt like her eyes were locked with Julio’s. It apparently wasn’t an illusion, for Julio indeed continued to look at her.

‘I don’t know why, but it seems like he has always been doing that.’

Lil tightened her grip on the reins and turned her horse’s head.

‘Now there are two more left.’

Their silhouettes against the moon grew menacingly closer by the second.

‘I need to deal with one of them first while preventing the other from running off. This job turned out to be more difficult than I expected, but I have to buy time until the Bell Rock leaves the port.’

Above the two rapidly nearing horses, two blades flashed in the moonlight.

As Lil also waited with her sword out, a piece of memory flashed through her mind.

‘That’s right. There was a bag on the saddle.’

Lil hastily groped behind her and opened the small bag. The cold barrel of a gun touched her fumbling fingertips. Relieved, Lil pulled the gun out and aimed at one of the horsemen.

‘So, they have guns as well. But it appears that they aren’t keen on prematurely using such weapons. It’s clear that they, like me, don’t want to cause a scene.’contemporary romance

The men eventually stopped at a reasonable distance. Pointing her gun at the man who seemed to be in charge of the others, Lil asked a futile question.

“Who are you?”

“…”

As expected, they gave no answer. Still, she felt reassured after becoming certain of one thing.

“You already lost two of your men, yet you still have no plans of revealing your identities. It seems to me that you aren’t honourable people.”

Knowing that they weren’t soldiers of the empire or private soldiers of the territory, Lil had no choice but to consider other options.

‘Could it be that I am their real target? If so, I can relax. As long as I stay here, I can be confident that they aren’t after my crew.’

“Why are you holding a gun that you can’t even shoot?”

“…”

“I wondered why the security forces had completely withdrawn, seeing they had been stalking those alleys like lice. Was it for this?”

‘His voice is familiar. It’s definitely a voice I’ve heard a lot in the past…’

This time, Lil asked with a different kind of suspicion than before.

“Who are you?”

“Well anyway, thanks to you, it became much easier for us to move around. I don’t know what’s going on, but should I say thank you?”

“Tell me or I’ll shoot.”

“Residents in this area will most likely hear the gunshots. Don’t say anything that you don’t mean and just put that down.”

“…”

“That wagon. Doesn’t it have a destination? You’ve been busy inspecting the port for nearly a week and refilling supplies to a ship that has no crew nor is set for departure… It’s obvious. Those wagons are heading to the port.”

A cold chill went down Lil’s spine.

‘This man has been tracking my movements…’

Lil couldn’t even withdraw her gun.

“What are you? And who do you work for?”

“Port security had been very tight. And if that wasn’t annoying enough, you even moved around with several escorts, making it very difficult to meet you.”

The man slowly removed his mask while keeping the muzzle of his gun fixed on Lil. When the black cloth, which had been covering his whole face except for his eyes, disappeared, Lil recognized him. She couldn’t understand why he was here, but her lips moved reflexively.

“…Maxwell?”

Maxwell’s thick eyebrows twitched, however, the movement was so small that Lil didn’t notice. After all, her thoughts had been flooded with why Maxwell went after her.

‘Maxwell is a knight of the Obernyu’s Royal Guards. Or was at least… I can’t even remember how many years it has been since I last saw him, so I’m not quite certain that he still belongs to that group… No, no fool would leave the Royal Guards on their own unless they were forcibly stripped of their rank.’

“I told you to put the gun down.”

‘He may not have come to kill me, but I have no idea how I should deal with someone like him. What will happen if I disarm and become defenceless like that?’

The answer to her question came up so easily that it seemed like a waste of time to even ask. In an instant, a man’s face came to mind. A face she could never forget.

“Is the Prince Regent here too?”

“…I am waiting.”

Her index finger resting on the trigger trembled slightly.

‘What should I do? What can I do?’

“Don’t be so pretentious. Have you ever spared those you deem below you?”

“You know me well. Then you also know that I will find that wagon and kill every one of them. So, think things through before doing anything foolish. You’re not the only one who has taken advantage of the lack of guards. I have some men stationed at the port as well. It won’t take long to send a signal.”

Lil didn’t believe a word he said. But she couldn’t just ignore them because of her doubts.

‘If the sailors are harmed because of my doubts, then there is absolutely no turning back. However, even if I surrender now and get captured, there’s no guarantee that he will leave the crew alone.’

Maxwell snorted as if he had seen through Lil’s thoughts.

“Elite troops like us only carry out the orders of the Prince Regent. We won’t waste resources on something that doesn’t fit our purpose. So I ask you again, put down your gun and get off your horse.”

Four reinforcements were already approaching behind Maxwell.

‘There are now six of them, blocking my path… If I want to run away, I have no choice but to follow this road down, which will automatically make me lead them straight to the port… Whatever happens, I can’t leave this spot.’

While she was weighing her options, the men began surrounding her. The sound of horse hooves coming from all directions grew closer, like a siege. When Lil eventually put her gun down on the saddle and stepped down, several people dismounted themselves along with her. Maxwell came to her front and looked down on her. Meanwhile, Lil never lowered her head. With Maxwell’s nod, someone kicked Lil’s leg from behind, causing her to collapse helplessly and she fell to her knees.

“What on earth are you up to..!”

“…”

From both sides, soldiers pressed down on her shoulders and Lil, who had tried to stand up, collapsed once again.

“Maxwell!”

“I apologise. However, the Prince Regent said I could skip courtesy in case of a capture.”

The gigantic Maxwell leisurely approached her. He then lowered his body to match Lil’s eye level and lifted her chin. Lil immediately twisted her face to shake his hand away. So this time, his hand wrapped around Lil’s neck, making her look straight at him.

“You haven’t changed one bit.”

done.co