About an hour later, the Knight finally brought news from the front. "An exit has been found, Your Highness."
"Looks like we've found the right place." Amandina also saw the princess's nervousness and comforted her. "Although the process is a little complicated, at least we haven't lost all hope. From Duke Anthony's reaction in the letter, at least they're still on our side. With the military power of Valhalla, these schemes and plots can only stay at the stage of schemes and plots."
"Thank you, Amandina. I understand, I'm just worried about Haruz."
"He's the lord's student, and the lord didn't just teach Prince Haruz swordsmanship. As his sister, perhaps Your Highness should have more confidence in Erouine's future king."
Aouine's eldest princess finally nodded her head.
The Knight soon controlled the exit of the secret passage from outside. The exit was indeed in the Misty Forest, and it was said that there was a hunter's wooden house nearby, but it had been abandoned for a long time. The Knight of the White Lion Guards found a lot of military standard weapons in the wooden house. Although they had long rusted, it seemed that this was a secret stronghold of the Randner family, and the appearance was just a cover.
After confirming this, Amandina and Princess Gryphine were finally able to calm down. Under the care of the Knight, Freya was the first of the three to walk out of the secret passage, and then the Valkyrie took the princess' hand and helped her out.
Although the eyes of the elves could quickly adapt to the changes in light intensity, Princess Gryphine could not help but squint under the sudden sunlight.
And at this moment, she suddenly heard a sharp whistle in her ear.
"Your Highness, be careful!"
She heard Freya's scream, and then a heavy object crashed into her. The huge force made her fall back, and her back hit the wall of the secret passage heavily.
Then, a series of noises came from outside. One of them was probably the sound of wind and fire, followed by the sound of people screaming, and finally the sound of weapons clashing.
She heard the Valkyrie let out a muffled groan. After that, all sounds died down. Only then did the princess see what was on top of her. It was a corpse, a headless corpse of a White Lion Knight. Blood was oozing out of the broken blood vessels and trachea on the neck. The stench was nauseating.
Gryphine resisted the urge to vomit. She tried her best to shrink back, but Amandina also tried to pull her back. Soon, a pair of cold iron gloves reached in from outside the cave and grabbed the princess' hair. Gryphine let out a scream and was dragged out of the cave.
She screamed and clawed at the wall. Her fingertips were bleeding, but she was still pulled out and thrown aside.
Gryphine opened her eyes and saw Freya lying next to her with her eyes closed. There was a long wound on her chest, and she did not know if she was dead or alive.
Gryphine's heart clenched. She subconsciously held the Valkyrie's cold hand. Fortunately, she could still see a warm pulse. But before she could say anything, the pair of iron gloves grabbed her slender neck and pulled her up. Then, she shouted in the direction of the cave.
"Everyone inside, come out, or I'll kill these people."
Gryphine felt that her face, which had been hit earlier, was swollen and painful. She could barely open her eyes, but she still saw Amandina and two other Knights slowly walking out of the secret passage.
Of the more than ten people who had accompanied her, only a few were left in an instant.
Gryphine saw the cold corpses on the ground. Among them was Amandina's maid. This girl, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old, had been shot in the chest by an arrow. Her empty eyes stared straight at the sky above the forest.
Gryphine thought of how this girl had put on makeup for her not long ago and praised her beauty. She could not help but close her eyes in pain.
The other party's strength was beyond her imagination.
The White Lion Guards left behind by Brando were already one of the best elites in Erouine. The average local noble's private army might not be able to gain the upper hand in a head-on battle even if they had ten times the number. But these enemies had killed almost all of them in a moment.
She noticed that most of the people who attacked were wizards.
There were a total of seventeen or eighteen people, all dressed in gray robes and even their faces were covered by hoods. With so many spellcasters, it was exactly the same as the rebellion in Lantonilan described in the Highland Knight's letter. This was definitely not something that the local nobles in the Southern Territory could come up with.
"Who is the princess?"
The black-armored Knight who caught her asked in a rough, muffled voice.
Gryphine was slightly startled. She looked up with some doubt. These people who came to arrest them did not recognize her? Were they really the nobles of Erouine?
"Take the women away. There must be someone among the nobles who knows her," a voice replied.
"No," but the wizards shook their heads. "These people cannot be seen by the nobles. They are our captives. Don't worry, we have ways to confirm their identities."
With that, he motioned to one of the wizards to take out a gemstone. Gryphine almost cried out when she saw the gemstone. It was Gorlin's Gemstone. Legend had it that it used to be a part of the Lionheart Sword, but the late King Erik used it to cast a crown. This crown had always been the treasure of the Seifer family. The gemstone had the same ability as the Lionheart Sword, which was to confirm the legitimacy of the Erouine royal family.
The crown had always been in the Seifer family, but after the war in Ampere Seale, following a series of turmoil in the Seifer family, the crown and the gemstone disappeared. Gryphine had specifically asked her brother Levin Orson about this. Ornason, but the other party obviously didn't know much about this matter.
But how did it fall into the hands of these people?
Who were these people?
Gryphine's heart was filled with confusion for a moment.
Amandina also saw the gemstone at this time, and a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes. She saw the black-armored knight receiving the gemstone from the Magi. She suddenly stepped forward and interrupted them, saying, "Don't worry.
"This is Gorlin's Gemstone. It is the treasure of the Erouine family. How did it fall into your hands? Who are you?"
"Huh?" The wizard was slightly stunned. He glanced at Amandina and suddenly threw the gemstone over as if it was a worthless stone. He then sternly said to Amandina, "You, pick it up."
Amandina silently looked at the gemstone that rolled to her feet.
Then she raised her head and looked at the bruised and swollen princess.
"Let go of my maid first. I have the right to ask you to do so."
"Interesting." The wizard snorted. He gestured to the black-armored Knight, and the latter immediately let go of Gryphine. The half Fairy Princess knelt on the ground. She held her chest with tears in her eyes, and there was a purple mark on her neck. She could hardly speak and could only gasp for breath.
Amandina couldn't bear to look at the princess. She hesitated for a moment, then slowly bent down and picked up the gem.
"Amandina, don't." Princess Gryphine was anxious. She could not speak and could only desperately signal to Amandina with her eyes. These people were extremely cold and ruthless. If they found out that Amandina was deceiving them, she was afraid that they would tear her to pieces in an instant.
Right now, they did not know whether Miss Freya was alive or dead. If Amandina died here, she did not know how to explain it to Brando.
But it was at this time that the princess suddenly froze.
In everyone's eyes, the flawlessly cut Golan Gemstone was slowly burning in Amandina's hand. The center of the gemstone seemed to light up with a flame that slowly expanded outwards. Finally, it became bright and flawless, emitting a soft light in all directions.
"How beautiful." The Magus couldn't help but praise when he saw this scene. Then he bent down and bowed to Amandina: "Then, Your Highness, I will have to trouble you to come with us."
"This Golan Gemstone?"
"You may take it," the wizard replied politely, his previous arrogance gone. "This is the end of its usefulness to us."
With that, the Magus turned around and ordered all the black-armored knights in the forest, "Clean up the battlefield and leave this place. Take away all the people who are still alive. Don't forget about the young lady and her sword."
He pointed to Freya and the Lionheart on the ground.
Amandina held the Golan Gemstone in her hand and silently watched this scene.
Her gaze slowly moved to Princess Gryphine, but saw that the half-elf girl was staring at her blankly. Her silver eyes were full of pity and helplessness.
… …
Waking up from all the darkness, ignorance, and chaos was often the dream of mortals.
When Gryphine opened her eyes due to exhaustion, all she saw was darkness. The tent blocked the Misty Forest's bright night sky and the twinkling stars. Outside the tent, the sound of insects' wings could be heard. Creak creak creak, like a nocturne.
The sound of a woman's scream and cry came from the camp in the distance. The princess' heart could not help but tighten. She seemed to have entered another nightmare, but the latter was more realistic, like a knife cutting open her heart. She could hear her heart thumping loudly in her chest. This was proof that she was still alive. She was afraid that she would recognize Amandina's cries, but fortunately, as an important captive, Amandina was currently being carefully protected.
With that in mind, Princess Gryphine ignored the pain in her body and got up from the ground. As the 'princess's maid', she was given special treatment. The rebels had prepared a blanket for her and Freya, but that was all.
… …
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