This season, the sun goes down fast. By the time the sun leaned further and further west while the woods were being used to scatter chasers, convinced that they had escaped, a truly beautiful sunset had burned Deanna's eyes.
(Uh, I mean, that's west, which means the north is generally this way...)
Lake Mist is a lake located in the northernmost part of the kingdom. If we go north for now, there is no mistake, it should be.
Although this is my first experience with a situation where I am left alone in a completely strange land without a map or a horse, Deanna was fortunate enough to be used to traveling. Reading roughly the direction from the position of the sun, she was walking carefully as she identified the paths that people often pass in the woods and cautioned if the chaser would not come. It's a really not cute stray.
- As a result, Deanna managed to get out of the depressed woods before dark.
Just because it's not dark, the sun is already hiding beyond the horizon. The western sky still emits a dusk light as if it were a remnant, but the eastern side is already dark. In a few moments, the world will be wrapped up in a complete night.
Deciding it was dangerous to walk through land that she did not know at night, Deanna decided to stay out of the woods that had fallen out and dawn overnight. On the softest soil possible, gather the surrounding fallen leaves to create an impromptu bed. You can't get warm with fire, so if you don't think about minimum heat retention, this season could seriously freeze to death.
Finally, I found some nuts that I could even eat raw, so I slowly chewed and ate them on the bed I made. I haven't had trouble rehydrating because there was a creek in the middle of my escape, but if you can eat something, you should eat it.... really, as if you're not a cute stray? is.
(... the problem is that you don't have a container to carry water with you, right? Why don't we stop by the nearby village when it brightens up and ask them to split something up? And then I need to ask you the way, and if it's possible, I need you to sell me a horse. Before that, I'd like to take off my dress... I was wondering if I could get a set of clothes changed or something)
It was Deanna who was aware she was lost, but the truth is, she didn't have much of a sense of crisis. Because if you knew the way to your destination, changed into movable clothes and flew your horse, and you could reach the Temple of Mist fully in one day tomorrow, you would have been able to calculate based on years of experience. If we do well, it might be possible to chase us to the queue.
(Rita, I know you're so worried... If you can get back as soon as you can, you've never been over it)
I was selflessly obsessed when I ran away and only thought about choosing the best I could do, but in retrospect like this, I easily think of Rita, who could explode with anger and worry. I don't have anything to be sorry about, but Deanna doesn't regret running away on that occasion, and if she encounters the same situation again, she'll do the same thing over and over again. I don't think I ever wanted to protect myself until I sacrificed someone.
... but I am just about aware that my actions are causing so much worry and annoyance around me. When we get back, first let's apologize to Rita, with all our might.
Leaning against the roots of the tree to rest his body, he looks up at the sky. As I guided the night, I could see the fast-paced stars starting to blink. There seems to be no clouds today, and it will be a beautiful starry sky.
"Night, or..."
It's been a long time since I've just thought nothing and put my thoughts at the end of the sky in nature like this. The time that was not uncommon as a child may also become precious as we grow up.
Deanna softly closed her eyes...
"Dear Red Rose!
Calling myself, I was drawn back to consciousness by the voice of someone I didn't hear.
The colour of the sky and the air are no different than before. It was really a moment when I was closing my eyes, and it shouldn't have been long enough for me to sleep.
When Deanna woke up, she stared at the shadow rushing for herself from behind the woods. The figure grows big enough to get a grip on the person.
"Dear Red Rose! Oh, I hope you're safe!
"Are you..."
"I am worshipping the Knight of the Rear Palace, my name is Colt"
Yes, he was one of the attendants of this one, always protecting the 'Red Rose' carriage, a member of the Knights of the Kolt Rear Palace Kingsguard. I hear that the Baron Colt family is a martial arts family, she was born in that house. She also studied martial arts from an early age and was promoted to the rear palace Kingsguard.
"You were looking for me?
"It's in any case. Red roses are important to the kingdom. His Majesty was very worried, and his own escorts were kept to a minimum, and later personnel were used to search for the Red Rose."
"... well"
Honestly Deanna didn't think Juke was that worried. Though I thought I would be putting a lot of effort into Rita and Alford, Yuri and Luli.
('Cause Your Majesty, hey... there's no reason to worry about me)
Isn't it a way of showing the degree of precision that you can't make it to the ritual the day after tomorrow? Even if I'm wrong, I shouldn't be a special imitation of worrying about 'Deanna'.
That's why I was surprised by the words of the Knight Colt, Deanna, but to her in front of me, it seemed as if she didn't understand the reason for Deanna's temptation. To Deanna as she sits back, she gives me her left arm all the time.
"Come on, Red Rose, let's go home to Your Majesty."
"I guess that's what you should do if you can..."
"... anything inconvenient?
The look on the face of the Colt Knight, with a slight frown root, is also slightly dark around, to the extent that it is difficult to see. Deanna smiled bitterly.
"It's already sunset. If you're the only one who's not used to walking, isn't it dangerous to take me down the road at night?
"It is rare for a man to fail to reach the Knight of the Royal Palace."
"Alas, we were not attacked by such 'inmates' during the day."
"Those guys seemed like they were helpless rogues. That's what they're saying when they don't know the carriage they attacked belonged to the royal family."
The Colt knight does not try to pull the hand he offered.
"It's okay, Red Rose. Whatever happens, I'll protect you. With the Red Rose, as soon as possible, you'd like to see His Majesty, wouldn't you?
She wasn't going to move, even if she was driven by a sense of purpose. Deanna whines in her heart if she has no choice.
(It's really much safer to move after it brightens up... Well, there's no way the Kingsguard knight found "The Red Rose" can leave it there overnight)
- Deanna was tired. A sudden raid on an unfamiliar carriage journey, unavoidable to escape alone, with shoes and dresses that weren't even made to walk for long periods of time, over there on land you don't know.... she was more tired than she thought herself and was usually blunt at the discomfort she noticed, at the signs.
Usually, I would have noticed. No matter how much for the search, it's impossible for a Kingsguard knight in the Royal Palace to act alone, etc.
Deanna's whereabouts, perfectly sprinkled with chasers, to the effect that the Knight of Kondo Komiya, who is not even an expert in exploratory tracking, could not have been found in such a short time.
And - to the fact that the occasional noisy signs emanating from the Knight Colt are undoubtedly right for me.
The usual girlfriend would have noticed.
Looking temporarily at her left hand as it was offered, Deanna slowly lifts her hips to take that hand. Raise your left arm... your fingertips touched the hand of the Colt knight.
- For a second.
"Dee!!
Standing killer and a mutilating warning voice.
A unique high sound sounded when the metal bumped into each other, and Deanna twisted her arm before thinking and escaped the Colt Knight, reflexively lagging behind. Deanna moves into the empty space, without putting her hair down, and a black shadow comes down.
The gaze flushed only for a moment was severely nervous.
"Are you okay?"
"... Huh?
"An earlier dagger. They haven't cut anywhere, have they?
Confirm as questioned. The dagger, which the Colt knight had hidden in his right hand and was trying to capture Deanna's body and stab her, had been bounced off by a dark vessel that had flown in before stabbing Deanna and had fallen to the ground a little further away. Naturally, Deanna doesn't have a scratch.
"I'm fine, but, you know, just now..."
"Maybe the Buddha's poison is painted if I scratch it. You can't touch it."
"Ok... ok"
Even though he has the same light tone of voice as usual, he is now, like, a blade out of his body. Standing up, signs of overwhelming your opponent with its mere presence, everything you've never seen before.
- With his eyes as colored as he had photographed Xiao Dark, he laughed furiously.
"... Huh? You said you snuck into the room the day before the previous chief missed her leg, trying to kill the Red Rose."
What's the aim? Whose instructions?
I don't have a voice to answer the questions that go on standing. The look on the face of the Knight Colt was finally lost in the darkness of the night he visited and could not be seen out of Deanna.
Even if you were asking, he wasn't expecting an answer. When I made sure I wasn't going to answer them, I pulled the short knife out of my hips smoothly. At the next moment, the frustrating killing spills out of the boy in front of me.
Deanna, who was half-hearted, finally came here and returned to me in a true sense.
"Wait, wait, Ky! You can't kill him!
"That's what I say. Dee, shut up."
"You can't just shut up!? You know, I'm not proud of you, but if I killed that person every time my life was targeted, I wouldn't have any chili in my house. The important thing is to find out the mastermind, no?
"That's right. Oh, well, you want me to talk to you about it, even torture?
"So why is the idea so noisy? You? We have to start with moderation, listening."
By the way, this conversation looks like it's full of gaps, but his killings are not on the same dimensions as before, and he's after the Colt Knight. If you move to escape, Kai's blade will sever her neck from her torso with reflexes. She can see that, too, so she can't move, so she's got the wings to watch the Deannas.
To such a colt knight, Deanna turned to a slightly pitiful mixed gaze.
"- For whom, for what, did you aim at me?
――
Deanna's question, I guess, was unexpected. Beyond the darkness, a Colt knight, breathed heavily. Deanna laughs at herself somewhere.
"Thou hast not tried to kill me with evil thoughts. … to such an extent as to be believed, I intend to have seen you work. You worked for the country, the truth."
"Beh, Red Rose, Sama...?
"... there must have been something, a reason?
My gaze from the straight side hurts quite a bit. How dare you hear my heart when you didn't know about the rear palace Kingsguard enough to identify me personally. Sure, I don't know the names as well as the faces of individuals match, but I haven't been lying at all because I've touched and seen the very way they work.
- And the important thing in this case lies more in having the Knight Colt tell the truth than in the credibility of Deanna's statement. Meditate your eyes for some frigidity, but be auspicious.
"... I'm sure something of mine was unforgivable to you. Tell me what I've done, if that's okay with you?
As we speak, carefully step by step, we approach the Colt Knight. As the distance narrowed, her shaking eyes gradually became visible.
(- I can drop it)
Convinced, another push, and I tried to open my mouth -, moments.
"Dee!"
"Oh, get down!
Pull her arm, even fly straight to the side and fall to the ground. At the same time, multiple weapons flew in where the Knight Colt stood. The dagger that flew in danger is bounced back by him in black.
"... were you okay?
"- Huh!"
As soon as she gazed at Deanna, who was solidified with a flashing expression, she shook her hands off and stood up. Behind my eyes, I see anger and confusion over it.
"Deanna Crester...... You, you...!
"-Colt,"
"Mana. Get off the scene"
A low voice, as if sounding from the bottom of the earth, strikes the spot. As if to follow that voice of unreadable emotion, the Colt knight twitches and disappears into the woods. In front of Deanna, who tried to chase him, a spark scattered.
"Ho? Not quite."
"So are you. Except for you, I don't think so."
The black scarf flicks. The boy, living in a world of sunless' back ', was struggling more than one another with a man who looked equally unswerving with a long sword. Engage in nostalgia and sharply cut up your cutting-edge as you engage your opponent. Deanna, who was to see the two struggles up close without trying, noticed' something 'before it was too late.
(This guy... the one who attacked our carriage during the day and fought Rita!
I can't see my face or my outfit in the dark, but I can't missee the struggle. You mean you've come this far to kill Deanna? From the exchange I just had, is this man and the Knight Colt one of us?
... If so, what the hell. Do you want to kill, 'Deanna' or 'Red Rose'?
While Deanna was putting her thoughts around that much, there was also a change in the struggle in front of her. The man who was waving his sword, he jumped back a lot.
"I see...... I thought it was the face I saw somewhere, but you, the Marquis of Landrose, are still the one who hired me to go into the backyard."
"That, you know me? What do you mean, you're Mr. Landrose's toko human, after all?
"It means he's not the only one who's hiring 'back'.... Then why are you sheltering the Red Rose when you were supposed to have been hired by the Marquis of Landrose? Are you going to betray me?"
To the voice of a man heard from afar, the boy - Kai laughed with great pleasure.
"Betray? That's a dialogue that can only be formed if you originally had a relationship of trust?
"I'm pretty sure he was hired by the Marquis"
"Recently, the way you get paid has become cluttered. I thought it was time to quit."
"And now you think 'Red Rose' will hire you?
"You're seriously retarded, aren't you?" Red Rose "doesn't hire suspicious people like me. It's simply my hobby to wander beside this young lady. You shouldn't put Peony and this young lady in the same line."
It was the hilarious laughter that echoed from the darkness of the woods. Hand control of Deanna, who tried to stand up, Kai releases a thrusting killer.
"'The Red Rose', contrary to its appearance, seems to be an exotic personality.... Well, try to protect it with precision and desperation. The woman can't live that long anyway..."
The words echoing in the wind were cursed power that stained to the core of the body, intertwining Deanna's entire body. In deep darkness, I create such illusions, as if my life were a wind front lamp.
"Dee.... Dee?
In the inexperienced cold, what woke Deanna was the warm warmth touching her shoulders and the 'name' gently called. Heh, and there he is at the end of his returned consciousness, worried, peeking into his eyes.
- It reminded Deanna that the purple blue color of that night and darkness emitted a gentle light and that the night was never a dark world.
"Kai......"
"Yeah. I think this is okay for one second, but we need to move faster than those guys know where we are. Stand up?"
Kai, who supported his body and allowed him to stand, was already the usual him. There is nowhere sharp as a blade, nor does it feel so fierce an air that even fear can be felt. Too always passing...... Deanna wanted to cry.
"... Dee?
"What are you going to do... now you've betrayed the Lilianes"
"You say that to Dee? I was just hired, not to betray you in the first place." Peony "has no other secrets than mine, so from now on, I won't feel comfortable with anyone, I'll be able to find conservatives. It's not all good."
"But what about you? I assume you were hired by Mr. Liliane because of circumstances? Is that okay?
When I called him in, Kai laughed like he was in trouble.
"Dee, that's it, come on..."
"What? Oh, shall we hire you instead of Master Liliane?
"You know, I'm not a secret serving the Crestors, like the 'Dark' people. In that case, if they find us, it'll be a problem."
"Because then..."
In the first place, what will Kai's purpose be?
I don't want him to be unable to fulfill his purpose because he helped himself.
"How could you be in a place like this in the first place? Do you have to report something to Liliane every day?
"Dee, who's being targeted by an unidentified guy, is leaving the rear palace, and she's not going to go out with that wagga mama lady."
"So it's your job to hang out with Master Liliane!?
"- I am,"
In Kai's eyes, just for a moment, a sharp light of burning flames glistens. On the grabbed arm, the pain and fever ran.
"Already, long time ago. I didn't mean to work for Landrose. I didn't mind getting paid.... If I could protect you, that would be fine."
"Ca, y...?
"Not because it's work. I just do everything I can to protect what I want. Landrose hired me for that."
The gaze of each other was intertwined. The eyes of a man who houses something that cannot be conceded, and of a woman who just leads the other person, show a strange resonance in the darkness.
"... Kai, you are"
"I hate you, I'm angry, I protect Dee. … I've already made up my mind"
"How could..."
"You want to know why?
The air moves loosely. An arm that had been grabbed was drawn and hit Kai's chest. The exit, where the heart beats loudly and tries to choose reflexively, is blocked with the other arm.
- When I realized I was imprisoned, it was too late.
"Kai......"
"Hey, Dee. Why don't we just keep going where no one else knows? Now you can throw everything away, king and country, and be free."
Sweet, unbearable temptations are whispered in Deanna's ear. Unconsciously herself, she was clinging to Kai's arm.
"No... no such thing. If I run away now, this time, the conflict between conservatives and innovators will be inevitable. If you do poorly, what makes you a war all over the country. I can't do that."
"Why, Dee carries it? All of it."
"... because I want to protect you"
Gyu, and a force enters his clinging arm.
"I met a lot of people going into the backyard and watching" Me ". I could even be friends. … there are so many people I love."
I can't mourn, she mutters.
"Yuri or Luli. Ladies and gentlemen Rhea. And, Shayla. I want everyone to be happy. If I run away, the first path will be closed"
"... as Dee wishes them happiness. I'm sure there's someone who wants Dee to be happy."
"You can abandon everyone and get it, if you're such a hindsight happiness, you don't need it!
Ethereal eyes reflect a noble soul. The purple blue night sky that received that light - was very, very warm.
"- Yeah. I'm sure that's Dee, what is it?"
"... what do you mean?
"I'll protect that whole soul, including thoughts. So that Dee can fulfill everything he wants and be happy."
whispered under the starry sky, it also seemed like a stern vow. Feel the sacred air somewhere, even though it doesn't even form a form of prayer if it's not a temple.
- You should refuse, the calmest part of you says. If I snort, I'll probably tie Kai up for the rest of my life. Don't do that, reason tells you so.
... Yet.
(It's okay, I can't say)
Deanna already realizes she's not that strong of a person. That Kai had noticed Deanna's brittleness for a long time and reached out to me, - and that he relied unconsciously on him like that for reassurance.
Accept all of 'Deanna' and still don't let it go and protect it all. What Kai said to me was giving Deanna a joy that went far beyond expectations.
Reason scolds the joyful mind. I can't deny it, I can't affirm it, I just put my strength into my arms and I can just stick with it.
... without even knowing that, for a man, that would be, above all, an eloquent affirmation.
On the arm that is turned back, the force is strong. I felt the pleasure of poppy skin in that feeling, which was strongly held together. Reason and reason jump over, just instinct wants this arm.
Unknowing emotions pushed her like turbulence, Deanna accidentally, scared.
(I...... weird)
The tremor that ran all over her body was noticed quicker by the man who taught her that emotion than Deanna herself. Gently stroking her head, Kai slowly leaves Deanna.
"Kai......?
"- Come on, let's get to a village near here. Everyone in the village is awake today because it's a festival, and if we negotiate well, we should get clothes and horses."
"Uh, yeah. Okay."
Deanna relieves herself and smiles back at Kai, who smiled as usual. As she watched Kai start walking forward, Deanna was concerned about a lot of things.
"... right, Kai. Can I ask you something?
"If you can answer me."
"I think that reply is cunning"
Mmm, and to Deanna, who pointed his mouth, he laughs.
- At night, it was still going on.