Return of the General's Daughter
Chapter 180: The Broken Vases

Chapter 180: The Broken Vases

True to her word, Lara accompanied the old woman back to her village as the sun dipped lower in the sky. She glanced over her shoulder and blinked in surprise—Aramis was following closely behind on horseback.

"Hey, what are you doing? Aren’t you guarding Prince Alaric?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"Ahem." Aramis cleared his throat. "The Prince said you are his physician, so keeping you safe is my responsibility." Aramis then nudged his horse and led it close to the carriage.

Lara sighed. She was not used to someone trailing beside her. It was okay in the past because she was delivering an important message, but that mission was already completed, and there was no need for Aramis to be her shadow.

"Can you go back and tell the prince you do not need to follow me around? I can take care of myself, you know," she gestured toward the road they had passed.

Aramis held up both hands in mock surrender. "Believe me, I’d love to. Why don’t you tell him yourself?"

Lara rolled her eyes. She did not want to argue anymore.

"Just treat me like I am invisible."

Lara ignored him. Without another word, she turned her attention back to the carriage and helped the frail old woman climb aboard. Grandma Arlina’s limbs trembled as she tried to lift herself up, her steps uncertain on the wooden foothold.

"Be careful, Grandma Arlina." She held her hand while she tried to lift her thin, shaky legs.

When the older woman’s legs faltered, Lara simply scooped her up and settled her into the seat as if she weighed nothing.

"Thank you, young man. You are very considerate. If only my grandchildren were not molested, either of them could be your wife."

Lara froze, speechless. Her throat tightened, but she said nothing.

The journey to the old woman’s village was short—less than an hour by carriage. Grandma Arlina’s home was Village Twelve, just beside Village Thirteen. The sun still bathed the countryside in soft golden light when they arrived. But the peaceful ambiance was quickly shattered by a commotion at the village entrance when the people saw that two soldiers were escorting Grandma Arlina.

They recalled a scene from a few months earlier when soldiers on horseback arrived at the village to arrest Arlina’s son. It caused quite a commotion at the time. They learned that he was charged with a serious offense for inflicting severe injury on an official.

"Did Grandma cause trouble?" A flustered village chief asked anxiously as he welcomed them, his eyes darting between Lara and Aramis. He received the report earlier that the two women who stayed with the old widow, Arlina, brought her into town to air her grievances. The village chief did not like those two women, but since they did not harm the village, he could not kick them out. Besides, they seemed genuinely caring to the old woman and her grandchildren.

Lara chose honesty over diplomacy. "Yes. She was briefly apprehended for inciting rebellion."

"What?" The chief’s face drained of color, his knees buckling slightly. A wave of gasps and whispered speculation rippled through the villagers. Lara and Aramis could hear them loud and clear.

"But," Lara quickly added, her voice firm, "after investigation, it was clear that she had been manipulated. The prince saw she was just an old woman caught in something beyond her understanding, so he let her go."

After a few polite words, Lara excused themselves and let Grandma Arlina lead them to her house. The house was similar to the average house in the village, but it was dilapidated. It was tucked behind a weathered fence, its walls leaning slightly and its roof sagging. It was obvious it had been a long time since it was repaired.

The old woman was beaming as she welcomed them inside. Lara was worried. She hesitated at the doorway, glancing toward the dim interior and then back at Aramis. Wouldn’t her grandchildren be uncomfortable with having men inside the house? Thankfully, Aramis was tactful. He declined the invitation and said he would wait outside.

Inside, Lara was greeted by a heavy silence. Two young women sat in rickety bamboo chairs, their expressions blank, eyes empty as they stared into nothingness. At the far end of the room, a boy—no older than twelve—tended to a small hearth, stirring a pot with mechanical detachment.

"Zeeya, Leah, Grandma is back. I brought you food." She placed the basket on a low table in front of the two young women, but they did not even blink. "Ahh, you want Grandma to feed you?" The grandmother sounded cheerful despite the tremor in her voice. Even though her granddaughters did not respond, she did not falter at all.

Lara’s heart twisted at the tenderness layered over sorrow. The old woman was holding herself together with sheer will.

"Leon," she called softly to the boy. "Come here. This kind soldier gave us rice cakes."

The boy froze.

In an instant, the still girls leapt to their feet and fled into the single room at the side. The door slammed shut. Grandma Arlina’s composure cracked. She sobbed when she could no longer stop the tears that welled in her eyes.

Lara sighed. Slowly, she removed the cloth that covered her neck. She untied her topknot and let the soft curls of her hair fall and cascade down her back like flowing honey.

"Grandma," she said gently, "I’m not a soldier. I’m a physician—and I’m a woman. I only dress this way for convenience."

"You... you..."

The old woman looked at Lara with her mouth agape. Even her two granddaughters, who hid in the room, peeped at the hole in the door when they heard the soft and melodious voice of a woman instead of the gruff voice of a soldier who once visited their home to arrest their father.

Then, barely audible, the old woman asked, "If... if you are a doctor, can you help my granddaughters?"

The question hung in the air like fragile glass.

The old woman wanted to hope, but also feared that it was just wishful thinking.

Lara spoke in the gentlest voice she could. "I will try my best, Grandma. Their sickness is not of the body but of the mind and soul. But don’t worry, Grandma. I was once like them... abducted by human traffickers... broken. I know their pain."

The door behind her creaked open.

Lara smiled. A quiet resolve bloomed in her chest.

She would help them. These broken vases... she would help them pick up the pieces and carve a new path for the future.