The Grand Duke's Soulmate
Chapter 67: The Frustration of a Knightess

Chapter 67: The Frustration of a Knightess

The wooden wheels rattled loudly as the carriage crossed the rocky road. Two women were seated inside while a man with black hair and obsidian eyes drove the carriage towards the border of Ardel and Dracor.

Eventually, they came to a stop at a post-guarded path.

One of the soldiers guarding the area inquired, "Where are you heading to?"

"We’re returning to the City of Tarnova," the man responded calmly.

"This route is no longer accessible. His Majesty has prohibited anyone from using it. You have to turn back," ordered the soldier firmly.

"Look, I need to get back home as soon as possible. I am a merchant who has been away from my business for quite some time. Please allow me to pass through this route. I am willing to pay for it," pleaded the man.

"Don’t you hear me? It’s an order from His Majesty, the new King of Ardel! No one can defy him!" the soldier scolded the man sternly.

"You seem suspicious! You don’t look like a merchant. Are you a slave trader?" the other soldier asked curiously.

"Of course not! Why would a slave trader be out during the off-season? It’s already autumn, and all auctions are closed. They’re all getting ready for winter," retorted the man.

"What’s in the carriage?" demanded the soldier with suspicion.

"It’s only my wife and her maid."

"Open it up! We need to do a thorough inspection!"

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Clara and Emily sat huddled together. The young woman’s eyes trembled as she took short, shallow breaths when the carriage came to a halt. The knightess, however, maintained a composed demeanour despite feeling a wave of concern in her heart.

Emily asked in a hushed tone, her face conveying fear, "Are we in danger, Dame Clara?"

The trio had successfully navigated the forest and evaded the soldiers they encountered. Noah, resourceful as ever, had purchased a carriage and provisions to make their journey less conspicuous.

"Shushh!!" the knightess cautioned, placing a finger to her lips, indicating that Emily should refrain from speaking while she listened in on their surroundings.

"They’re going to check inside! Quick, cover me with the robe," she ordered her.

Emily deftly covered the knightess’s shoulders with a voluminous black robe, pulling down the hood with a quick gesture.

"What about me?" she asked as she looked around anxiously, seeking a hiding place.

"You don’t have to hide! They don’t know who you are! Just pretend to be my maid!" said Clara, hurrying to cover herself wholly.

’Tok! Tok! Tok!’

The sounds of hard knocking came to the door, followed by an order, "Open up! This is an inspection!"

Emily’s heart pounded, and her hands trembled violently as the thunderous voice pierced through the carriage wall with a bellow. The soldier’s threatening demand for the door to be opened was met with silence.

"Open now, or I’ll break this door!" the soldier shouted again after no response.

The young woman, visibly frightened, hesitated to move.

"You don’t need to be rough!" Noah intervened with the soldier.

"Emily, open up. Don’t be scared," she heard the knight’s reassuring voice, confident and calm as usual.

"Oo... all right," she eventually complied, holding her breath and pulling the latch despite her nervousness.

When the latch was unlocked, the carriage door was roughly opened. Two soldiers stood before it, looking inside.

"That’s my wife in the robe, and the young woman is our maid," explained Noah.

"Open up the robe so we can identify her," ordered one of the soldiers, pointing to Clara, who hid her face under the pulled-down hood.

"My wife is very sick! She has a skin disease, so she cannot be exposed to sunlight at all, and it’s very contagious," the knight told the soldiers.

"If it’s so contagious as you claim, why does your maid look fine?" countered the soldier.

"She and I have taken the antidote provided by the healer. I told you we came to Ardel to seek the cure for her sickness since this kingdom has the best medicine and greatest healers," said the knight.

The soldiers looked at him with scornful eyes.

"You think we would believe that?"

Noah exhaled a sigh.

"Fine! If you don’t believe me, I’ll prove it to you. Emily, show us the madam’s hand. Let them see for themselves," he instructed the young woman.

"What?" Emily’s eyes widened upon hearing the order.

"You heard me! Do it!" Noah insisted.

"Ye...yes! Yes, Master!" she answered nervously, playing with the charade.

Trembling slightly, Emily revealed Clara’s hand from beneath her robe. The soldiers let out a startled cry when they saw her skin colour.

"My God! It turned so dark!" One of them exclaimed.

The man then covered his mouth with his hand, clearly embarrassed by his outburst.

"She got burned if her skin was exposed to the sun. That’s why we need to cover her even in the carriage," explained Noah.

The two soldiers still hesitated to walk away.

"If you still don’t believe me, go ahead and open the robe yourself. If it affects you, don’t say I don’t warn you," challenged the knight, crossing his arms over his chest and pursing his lips.

"Sh*t! I don’t want to get burned like that!" One of the soldiers retreated.

"Hey! I’m not going to do it, too!"

The other soldier also moved away, shaking his shoulders in disagreement.

Neither was willing to risk themselves on the said disease. Emily quickly put Clara’s hand back under the robe and closed the door on Noah’s order.

"Satisfied now?" asked the knight of the soldiers.

Unwilling to budge, one of the soldiers remained firm and said sternly, "Still, you are not allowed to cross this path. You have to turn around!"

"Come on. If I turn back, it’ll be a long journey for us. Given her condition, we can’t afford that," Noah pleaded again.

The two soldiers still didn’t want to give in.

"How about I give both of you some money?" he offered them.

"Do you think we can be easily bribed?" scolded one of the soldiers.

The knight raised both hands, showing his palms in a gesture of surrender to the soldier’s anger.

"I want to simplify things for everyone. How about I pay each of you a gold coin?" Noah suggested.

The soldiers stared at him in shock at the mention of a gold coin.

Noticing their interest, Noah raised the stakes.

"I could even make it two gold coins. That’s my final offer."

Both soldiers gulped audibly, their Adam’s apples bobbing.

One of them pulled his friend aside and whispered, "This offer is too good to pass up."

One soldier hesitated, "Are you insane? If His Majesty found out, we’d be executed!"

"Don’t be ridiculous," the other soldier rebuked. "No one else knows about this! There’s no one here except him and his household. Also, the amount we’d make from his offer is worth more than four months of our salaries!"

After some consideration, they agreed to Noah’s proposal.

"Fine, we’ll take your deal, but you must leave immediately. And don’t breathe a word about this to anyone," they warned him.

Noah expressed his gratitude, "I understand completely. This arrangement benefits us both, so I’ll keep it confidential."

He then handed over the payment, making the soldiers’ eyes gleam with awe at the sight of the glittering gold coins.

As the carriage continued down the path, it eventually crossed the border and entered Dracor. After travelling a considerable distance from the soldiers and onto a forest route, they stopped to rest for the night once the sun had set.

Emily assisted Clara in exiting the carriage, and they settled under a nearby tree while Noah set up their tents. Following this, she ventured off to gather dry branches to help start a fire.

"There are some clothes inside this. If you follow the path ahead, you will come across a stream. You may wash up there if you wish. As it is already dark, I can accompany you if you would like," said Noah to the women as he put a tied bundle on the ground he retrieved from the carriage.

"Who wants you to follow? I don’t want a Peeping Tom around while taking a bath!" Clara expressed her disinterest.

"What are you babbling about? Do you think I’m some kind of a pervert? I am just looking out for you!" scolded the knight.

"Looking out? More of looking down, I believe. I heard what you said to the soldiers. You think it’s funny to mock my skin colour?! How dare you say I have a skin disease!" the knightess retorted.

"Hey... we had a situation. I’ve got to think of something to make an excuse. Believe me, mocking you is the last thing on my mind. I don’t have time to joke around with someone’s appearance!" Noah scowled at Clara.

"You could’ve given any other excuses! You’re the same as the Ardel’s knights. Just because I’m a tribeswoman, you looked down and degraded me as if I were so low. Just so you know, I fought hard to be who I am today!"

"Ouff.... Stop it, you two! There has not been a day that you both didn’t fight! I’ve had enough!" Emily intervened and shouted at them as the tension arose from the constant bickering.

She stood with her hands on her waist and a scowl on her face, directing it at the two of them.

"She’s the one who started!" Noah scoffed.

Emily squinted at the knightess.

"I have to agree with Sir Brooks this time. Dame Clara, you’re overreacting! He had done a lot to help us escape. So, please... I’m begging you. Just don’t be too hard on him and make things difficult," she said to Clara.

"Oh, so now I’m the difficult one, is it? Fine... Just leave me alone! A crippled knightess is of no use anyway!" Clara said with frustration as she struggled to stand up and limped away.

Emily exhaled a sigh of defeat. She shook her head at the knightess’s stubbornness.

"Please excuse her behaviour, Sir Brooks. Dame Clara can be quite sensitive when it comes to her personal matters."

"Why is she like that?" asked Noah.

"Well... As you can see, she has been severely injured and believes she can no longer become a knight. She told me it took years for her to be recognised, and she was so proud of her achievement," she reflected.

"After I saved Dame Clara, she passed out for two days. She couldn’t walk for a long time after she woke up. She was incredibly frustrated with her condition and felt that life was no longer worth living," Emily recounted and continued, "Every day, she cried and talked about ending her life. If I hadn’t pleaded to her, she might have committed s*icide."

Noah’s expression turned sombre as he listened to the young woman’s story. Her words reminded him of his own traumatic experience when he was falsely accused of r*pe and murder, which had shattered his pride and left him feeling hopeless.

"I understand what you mean. Fret not. I shall not make things worse for her," he replied reassuringly.

"Thank you for your kind consideration."

"Look, since she’s still sulking, why don’t you accompany her for now? I’ll be going to the stream to bathe first, all right?" said Noah.

Emily nodded lightly.

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