Reborn, Its Time To Save My Family And.. My Enemy!
Chapter 201: We Need To Run

Chapter 201: We Need To Run

The carriage rumbled steadily along the forest path, Olivia could not help but stare out of the window with a surreal look on her face. She sat beside Damon, her fingers loosely curled in her lap, while Abi dozed lightly against Leo’s shoulder across from them.

Behind them rode another carriage with three elders of their vassal families. Stern knights followed them on their horses.

Olivia finally turned to Damon, her voice breaking the stillness.

"Shouldn’t we have asked for permission before leaving like this? You are duke now and you will be absent from your duties for a week or more. Even the vassal families are following you. What if rumors spread of rebellion. Who did not know that northern land has been against the crown for generations."

Damon glanced sideways at her, unbothered. "I sent word."

She frowned. "That’s not the same as approval."

He gave a one-shouldered shrug, the corner of his mouth curling in faint amusement. "They received my letter. Whether they approve or not is no longer my concern."

Olivia’s brow furrowed deeper. "Won’t they see it as a defiance of the crown?"

"Let them," he said simply. "They’ve sent me nothing but half-truths and veiled threats for months. If they cared to stop me, they would’ve tried."

His calm unnerved her more than anger would have. "And if they try later?"

"Then we’ll deal with it later." She looked at him hard, but his expression didn’t change.

"They won’t act rashly," he added more gently, seeing the worry lingering in her eyes. "Not while Shaya is still watching. They need the contract from eastern trade. The king would never let his benefit go." Olivia let out a slow breath and turned her eyes to the window. Forests rolled past in a blur of green and grey and she wondered what laid there for her? Would she find her truth there or she would be lost forever.

Abi stirred slightly and opened one eye. "Are we going to see snow?" she asked sleepily, making Leo frown.

"Yes," Damon replied with a rare softness. "You’ll see the northern snows soon."

Abi smiled at Leo, but Leo did not care about snow at all. He looked at Olivia. "Will it be safe?"

Olivia reached across and squeezed her hand gently. "As safe as we can make it."

"What about my mother?" his eyes slowly moving to Damon. He still did not trust the brother he once admired. But he had noticed how his relationship with Olivia had changed.

And though he knew that Damon could keep Olivia safe, it did not stop the stung.

"Don’t worry," Damon added, his eyes flicking briefly to the guards riding outside. "I didn’t just choose the knights based on their powers. But their wits and loyalty. Everyone would give their life to keep you safe."

House passed, and the journey felt like forever. Leo kept his silence that worried Olivia. The boy used to share everything with her.

"You all seem tired, should we make a stop here." Damon reached for Leo, surprising Olivia. Leo was stunned too but looking at the pained face of Abi, the boy nodded. He was growing up to take care of his sister.

Damon knocked on the window and informed the coachmen.

"Stop in front of the next inn you find. Once the hills start, we will not have any place to rest." Night had fallen by the time they reached the inn, a modest timber-framed building nestled near the edge of a still, black lake.

Damon spoke briefly with the innkeeper, securing four rooms—two for the elders, one for Leo and Abi, and one for himself and Olivia. He didn’t argue when Olivia took her own key and quietly closed the door behind her.

Inside, the room was small but clean, warmed by a gently crackling hearth. Olivia peeled off her travel-stained clothes and stood under the washbasin’s cold water, letting the fatigue of the journey rinse away.

She was just toweling her hair dry when something outside the window caught her eye.

A woman stood still, barely dressed for the winter. She was at the edge of the lake, water washed her feet and Her long hair moved with the breeze, her back straight, familiar.

The towel slipped from Olivia’s fingers.

Her heart slammed against her ribs. She blinked, thinking it must be a trick of the light. It had been years since her mother had died. It must be someone familiar. The figure turned, just slightly, and even in the dim light, Olivia recognized her. As if the woman had seen her from such a distance too. She smiled slightly before she started walking away.

Without thinking, Olivia pushed the window open and climbed out barefoot onto the cold stone path. She didn’t grab a cloak, didn’t tell Damon or anyone else. All that existed in that moment was the figure waiting by the water.

"Mother!" she called softly, voice trembling.

The woman didn’t move, but Olivia’s pace quickened, her feet hurt by the sharp stones but she didn’t notice the pain.

"Mother, is it really you?" she whispered when she was close enough to see the dark glint of her eyes.

The woman did not reply but stared at Olivia with a smile. the edges damp from lake mist, her face pale but unmarred, ageless as Olivia remembered her last—before death, before the fire, before everything had gone wrong.

"How—how are you here?" Olivia’s breath clouded in the cold. "I buried you."

The woman ignored her question but extended her hands toward Olivia.

"I have been waiting for you." she smiled, making Olivia freeze for a second.

"For me?" the woman nodded. "Yes, I have been waiting for you to wake up and come here. You took ages, you took lives, Olivia. I felt you would never come." there was pain in her voice which Olivia did not understand.

"But.." she shook her head.

"There is no time, Olivia. They would come for you. We need to run."

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