I need to quickly convey the news that the well has been contaminated. That way, we can either send reinforcements to Dietrian or bring him here.
“Yulken! Where are you!”
My heart is in a rush, but Yulken is nowhere to be seen. And there’s no one to tell me where Yulken is.
As soon as she appeared, everyone fell silent as if they had cold water poured over them.
Leticia quickly grabbed a person standing nearby.
“Where did Yulken go?”
“Your Highness.”
It turned out to be Enoch.
“Enoch, time is of the essence. We must quickly inform His Majesty.”
Leticia said urgently.
“Tenua has poisoned the well with Kikelos’s toxin.”
Enoch flinched but said nothing. Instead, he just looked at her with complicated eyes.
“We need to send someone right now. Tell him to return immediately, to be careful! Otherwise, His Majesty might be in danger…”
While pouring out her worries, Leticia suddenly realized something was amiss.
“Enoch, why do you look like that?”
Enoch’s face looked as if he was about to burst into tears any moment. A chilling anxiety rapidly filled her throat.
“Why… why that expression.”
Holding onto Enoch, Leticia looked around. The expressions of the other delegates were no different from Enoch’s.
They all looked unusually serious and sorrowful.
An ominous imagination quickly grew in size.
“Could it be, something bad happened to His Majesty? Is that it?”
Leticia asked with a trembling voice.
“That can’t be. I just confirmed it! This can’t be… I’ll go myself! Get a horse, no, we can’t ride horses here… Then, how.”
Leticia pressed her pale hand against her forehead.
Think, think.
Who can I ask for help right now?
Leticia took a deep breath.
‘I need to go to Ahwin.’
As she turned to head towards the empire, someone ran up and desperately grabbed her arm.
In a flurry, she shook off the arm, and the person quickly blocked her path.
“Your Highness! Oh my! How fast you are!”
It was Yulken, the one she had been searching for.
“I called out several times, but you didn’t hear! I thought I was going to pass out…”
Yulken’s teasing tone faded as he noticed Leticia’s face was pale as a sheet.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Yulken quickly spoke.
“You were very worried about His Majesty, weren’t you? Don’t worry. His Majesty is safe. I just received a message.”
“Safe, you say?”
“Yes. We have also heard about the well being contaminated. Earlier, white and blue flames rose up.”
In the desert, communication was often done through flames. The color of the flame indicated different meanings. White flames meant there was a problem with the well, and blue flames indicated the appearance of a poisonous beast.
“Since the only poisonous beast around here is Kikelos, we knew the well was contaminated with Kikelos’s poison. The empire must have understood the situation from our flames.”
“…”
“His Majesty will return soon. It might take some time to solve the water issue.”
Leticia’s chest heaved greatly.
“Then, really, His Majesty is…”
“There’s no problem. He is safe.”
“Ah.”
Leticia’s legs gave out, and she collapsed.
“Your Highness!”
Yulken exclaimed in alarm.
It seemed like a few more people approached her, but she didn’t have the strength to check.
Leticia gazed down at the pebbles rolling around in the darkness, breathing heavily.
She had been through a lot since returning to the past. There were times when she was so severely injured that she thought she might die.
There were moments as frightening as right after she revealed her past to Ahwin.
But she could bear it all. She knew that no matter how painful, if she endured, it would eventually heal. She knew there was a way to overcome even the greatest fears.
But this time was different.
Without Dietrian, everything was over. There was no luxury or reason to think about what’s next. That’s why it was more terrifying and frightening.
“Your Highness, it would be best if you rest now. You are very pale.”
“No. I’m, I’m fine.”
“However…”
“There’s no time to rest. It’s an emergency.”
She struggled to push away the hands trying to help her up. Then she gasped out.
“The well, it’s destroyed.”
Tenua had ruined the well. Even if it wasn’t an attack on the delegation, they would still suffer.
So she had to solve it.
“We absolutely can’t cross the desert without water. We must find a way.”
She was scared. So scared it felt maddening.
But she couldn’t just sit down and give up. Hadn’t she resolved several times to protect everyone?
So she had to think of a way.
“There must be a way. There must be…”
“Your Highness, we will handle the well issue. Please, take a rest…”
As she desperately rummaged through her memory, something came to her mind. She then cried out as if screaming.
“Right. Saphiro! You know, the desert fruit that can store water. The rare fruit still blessed by the dragon.”
Her words hastened with urgency. Yulken was speechless, blinking his eyes. The surroundings were silent as a mouse, but Leticia didn’t notice.
“There’s a Saphiro habitat nearby. With it, we can cross the desert without water. We must move quickly. We have to get it before the empire knights notice. It’s over if they take it.”
Her hand, clutching Yulken’s collar, had turned white. Yulken, gazing at her silently, let out a soft sigh.
“…Don’t worry. We won’t let it be taken away.”
“We absolutely cannot let it be taken away. If we can secure Saphiro, we can survive until the next well appears.”
For a moment, Leticia’s expression, which had shown a hint of relief, hardened.
“…But what if Tenua ruins that well too?”
The ominous thought followed another, overshadowing the brief solution she had found.
“If that happens. If Tenua ruins the next well too. If such a thing occurs…”
Leticia anxiously bit her lip.
Think. I must think.
I must find a way, no matter what.
That’s the only thing I’m good for.
“Can we form a separate squad? I remember a few more Saphiro habitats. They’re quite far, so we need a squad. If we secure them, we’ll be safe for a while. Of course, we could run out of Saphiro too. If that happens, then what do we do…”
Leticia clasped her trembling hands tightly. No matter how hard she tried, the worst-case scenario wouldn’t disappear. She felt increasingly pushed to the edge of a cliff.
“Ah! The relic! The relic of purification. It requires divine power to use properly, but it’s better than nothing. The relic is located at…”
Leticia frantically searched her pockets.
Her hands, cold to the touch, couldn’t discern what she was looking for. She pulled out whatever she could grab.
Something sharp pricked her hand, but she didn’t bother checking the wound and instead focused on the relic.
In the darkness, the relics she had brought emitted a faint light.
She laid them out on the gravel and quickly scanned them.
Finding a blue ring, Leticia quickly handed it to Yulken.
“This is it. Put it in the water to be used, and it will purify. As for the divine power, I’ll try to manage it. I’ll ask the empire again. If they refuse, if it really comes to that…”
It felt like an endless swamp. No matter how much she struggled, it seemed like she would ultimately sink.
“Then… what do we do?”
She desperately hoped for a way to be revealed to her. She was willing to face any outcome, as long as there was a way to save everyone.
Piuung, Bang. Leticia was startled and turned her head. Not far away, red flames were dispersing in the sky, leaving a long tail.
Her eyes widened.
“Flames…?”
It must be a signal from Dietrian. But why red? It was an ominous red, like the blood he had shed. As Leticia trembled in terror, Yulken quickly spoke to her.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. The red flames mean that the task has been completed safely and a return is underway.”
“What?”
“It means His Majesty is returning safely, without any harm.”
Yulken said emphatically, hastening to reassure Leticia before she could fall back into panic.
“The well is also fine. We have long anticipated that the empire might attack the well. So, we had prepared for this a long time ago.”
His voice was gentle and calming, like soothing a child.
“The Saphiro you mentioned is part of that preparation. In fact, we have Saphiro storages that we’ve created throughout the desert. The empire probably doesn’t even know they exist.”
Although the Principality lacked the dragon’s blessing, they had human wisdom.
They prided themselves on knowing the desert better than anyone else in the continent.
The people of the empire, blessed with the goddess’s grace, had fertile lands and no need to develop the harsh desert.
In contrast, the people of the Principality, having lost the dragon’s blessing, had to desperately cultivate the desert. Thanks to their efforts, they knew better than anyone about the desert’s beasts, wells, and rare plants.
On his way to the empire, Dietrian had secretly stored some of the Saphiro in various places in the desert to prepare for the empire’s possible contamination of the water. They even secretly imported magical tools from the empire to conceal the location of the Saphiro storages.
There was a Saphiro storage not far from here. Dietrian’s delayed return was because he had gone to retrieve the Saphiro hidden there.
“We will not let the Saphiro be taken by the empire. It’s already in our hands. The red flames are proof of that.”
Yulken continued carefully, observing Leticia’s complexion.
“So, you don’t need to go to great lengths to obtain divine power. The concerns about Banessa’s leg are enough for you, Your Highness. Everything has been resolved well, so please, you can relax. His Majesty is safe.”
Was it the relief that made her tear up?
Tears fell from Leticia’s eyes. Her upper body crumbled forward. Someone quickly supported her shoulder and said,
“Your Highness, may I assist you?”
It was a familiar voice.
“…Enoch?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Leticia could only nod slightly. Enoch’s eyes were red-rimmed as he smiled gently.
“I have prepared a tent for you. Rest there for a while. I’ll bring you some warm tea.”
Even with Enoch’s help, it was difficult for her to get up. Her body kept collapsing.
“…Lean on me, Your Highness.”
Then, someone approached and gently but firmly helped her to stand.
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