Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 435 - 435: Halt

Anastasia and Tilla stepped out of Tilla's bedchamber after finishing their tea and their talks.

Everyone had gathered outside, in front of the main entrance to see off the Queen. Everyone except Vincent.

Both Anastasia and Tilla wondered where Vincent was. However, none of them brought up the question.

Noticing how the Queen's eyes were trailing around, Penelope stepped forward and said while trying to hide her embarrassment, "Please excuse the Lord, Your Majesty. He had stepped outside in the morning. Maybe he had some urgent task to attend to. He should have been home by now, but…"

She bowed her head and apologized on Vincent's behalf, "Please forgive him for not attending to you properly. I will inform the Lord that you already left."

Anastasia didn't want to make them feel bad about it because even though Vincent wasn't present, they had been very hospitable to her.

"Oh, that's alright. I see him every other day in the castle anyway." Anastasia looked at Tilla and said with a soft smile on her face, "I came here to meet Tilla. I had a good time."

She looked back at Penelope and said, "And thank you for taking care of my friend. I hope you will continue to do so in the future too."

"Of course, we will, Your Majesty," Penelope replied. She was feeling over the moon after getting praise from the Queen.

Anastasia then looked at the few steps that were in front of her. Her carriage and her guards were waiting for her right at the end of those steps.

She looked at Tilla and then wrapped her in an embrace. And she whispered in her friend's ear, "I will leave for now, Tilla. If anything happens at the castle then I will send a message to you through Lord Vincent."

Tilla also put her arms around her friend and answered, "I pray that the King's response won't be too harsh. But if it gets too hard then don't shy away from asking me to return back to the castle. Or you can come over here every now and then. I'm sure Lord Vincent won't mind."

After Vincent's disappearance in the morning, Anastasia doubted that she would be welcome to the Warmane Mansion again.

However, she still agreed. "I will do that." She then pulled away from the hug and said while smiling softly, "Alright, now. Take care of your health."

Tilla nodded in agreement and also asked, "You should take care of yourself too. I will come back as soon as I get better."

Anastasia wanted that too. Without Tilla, her everyday life wasn't the same anymore. However, she didn't want to be selfish.

Thus, she said politely, "Don't force yourself just for my sake. You have your own plans, don't you? You should focus on that, rather than just on me."

"But–" Tilla wanted to say that her plan to visit Orsenia with Vincent could wait. She was in no hurry to get married.

However, Anastasia didn't let her finish the sentence. "You've already dedicated your life to me. It's okay to want things for yourself every now and then." She then lovingly tapped Tilla's cheek and turned around before Tilla could say anything.

She gracefully climbed down the stairs and got inside the carriage. After settling down, she peeked through the window to wave at her friend.

"Go inside now. It's cold," she shouted at Tilla and kept on waving her hand.

Tilla gave a bow but kept on standing right there while waving back at Anastasia.

Anastasia sighed and closed the curtains even when she didn't want to. She then knocked on the carriage wall and said, "Let's go, Benjamin."

The carriage was soon running along the narrow path. It was already getting darker. So, the coachman was speeding up the carriage.

Anastasia grabbed a pillow from the side and put it behind her head. She didn't care if it messed her hair now. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and think about nothing. She didn't want her head to hurt more than it already was.

For a while, she was faring well about not trying to think about anything. She was forcing her mind to focus on the sounds that she was hearing – the galloping sounds of the hooves, the swooshing sounds made by her guards, and the howling winds.

However, her empty mind was once again filled with several questions when her carriage abruptly came to a halt.

'Why did we stop so suddenly? I don't think we've arrived at the castle already.' She flung her eyes open and nearly looked out of the window to check what was wrong.

But she recalled Caspian's warning and stopped herself from peeking out of curiosity. 'What if it's someone who has something against me or Caspian? I can't be careless.'

Anastasia waited for a while for her guards to inform her about the situation outside.

However, when nobody informed her even after some time, she wondered if she should ask them. But she didn't do so thinking that it might only put her guards in a difficult position. 'What if someone is actually blocking the path and the guards are bluffing that Caspian is inside the carriage too?'

Her heartbeat kept on escalating by the second as she fearfully waited for the carriage to continue moving again.

'Oh lord! Please protect me and everyone who is on this journey with me.'

For someone who had already come to terms with death, she even began praying because she realized that she didn't want to actually die before her illness took her.

She had to apologize to Caspian and make things right with him first.

*Slam!*

Anastasia was startled when something suddenly got slammed against her carriage, making the carriage sway a little.

She slowly scooted to the corner and kept on staring at the door when she heard a faint sound of footsteps approaching the door of the carriage.

'I-It must be the guards, right?' she thought to herself and gulped. She wanted to finally ask what the hell was going on outside and who was standing near her carriage.

However, before a word came out of her mouth, someone unlocked the door and slowly opened it.

With the slow creaking sound of the door, Anastasia's heartbeat kept on rising. She wanted to see who it was but that someone slammed the door again.

Her heart was now about to jump out of her mouth. At a quick glance that she got before the door was shut, the shadowy figure that was standing outside didn't look like one of her guards or her coachman.

Anastasia swallowed dryly and then finally dared to ask in her trembling voice, "W-Who's there?"

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