The Hero's Forsaken Princess
Chapter 126: Conflicting Thoughts

Chapter 126: Conflicting Thoughts

Three days had passed and the entire palace was still mourning Gavin’s death. There were still different speculations going around about the cause of his suicide.

The position of Commander of Master of Arms was vacant. They needed to fill that role for the sake of preparation for the impending war against Kingdom Zephyra.

King Solomon gathered the generals and the high-ranking officials of the military force to strategize their next moves.

Alaric joined them in the palace hall. Meanwhile, Princess Eve focused on the rehabilitation of the slums. Alaric’s assassination team continued their training and simulation while other members started to collect information about Kingdom Zephyra and King Zaraki.

The adventurer, whom Eve and Alaric saved in the slum, continued staying in the slum while secretly monitoring Eve. Win had been following her for days. Today, the middle-aged man finally approached Eve.

"May I talk to you, Princess Eve?" Win asked her.

Eve had just finished teaching the slum children. She sat in the middle of the temporary classroom the knights had built for her.

"Oh, it’s you, Sir Win. Come and sit down." Eve politely invited the middle-aged man.

"Your Highness, I’m here to thank you for taking care of me for the past few days. Even though I’m just a stranger, you offered me food and shelter here. I promise I will return this favor someday." Win expressed his gratitude toward the princess.

Eve shook her head. "Don’t bother, Sir Win. I’m not asking for any return for helping you."

"You are so kind and very down to earth, Princess. Kingdom Averion is so lucky to have you. You are beautiful inside out." Win praised her.

"Don’t flatter me too much, Sir Win." Princess Eve smiled shyly. She was not used to receiving nice compliments from other people.

"You have to believe me, Princess. Honestly, you remind me of someone... a very kind princess from another kingdom." There was a hint of nostalgia in his eyes as he thought about the kind-hearted princess he had known in the past.

"She will be a good queen. The people need someone like her," he added.

Eve could only smile as he listened to him.

"However, that princess has been missing for two decades now. Until now, we couldn’t find her. I came here because of the recent clue we received. I hope I can finally locate her."

Princess Eve looked at him with intrigue. "What is the name of the princess you are looking for, Sir Win?"

"Her name is Princess Es–" Win wasn’t able to finish his words when Randolf suddenly barged into the temporary classroom.

"Princess Eve! Princess Eve! Professor Deon is here! He wants to see you. He brought Silvester with him," Randolf cheerfully said as he stepped inside the classroom. He sounded excited because he was so fond of Gideon.

Princess Eve’s face brightened up when she heard that. It’s been so long since the last time she had seen Gideon. She missed her master!

"Oh, Sir Win, wait for a moment. I will just welcome my master!" Eve excitedly stood up as she ran out of the classroom.

Win could only shake his head with a smile. He also stood up, following Eve behind. He was curious about Eve’s master. He could tell that Princess Eve had a high regard for her master.

However, the moment Win laid his eyes on Gideon, his face turned pale and he froze in his spot.

"Damn it! He is here! Gideon is here... I must leave. I should avoid being seen by him!"

Anxiety could be seen in the middle-aged man’s face. Without hesitation, Win turned around to leave, hiding his face from Gideon.

"I’m sorry, Princess Eve. But I can’t bid you a goodbye. I have to leave now!" Win mumbled as he took a peek at Eve for one last time.

Meanwhile, Eve’s attention was now focused on Gideon and Silvester, her parrot.

"Gideon! Silvester! I’m glad you visited us here!" Eve said in her elated voice.

"Silvester is throwing a fit. He complained that you left him in the manor for a week. You never returned home so he came to me, whining. He said you abandoned him. I heard you’ve been staying here in the slum so I came to bring this whining parrot here." Gideon chuckled, teasing Silvester further.

On the other hand, Silverster had been silent. He was truly upset because Eve hadn’t brought him with her.

But little did he know, it was Alaric who decided not to bring Silvester to the slum. Alaric and Silvester were not getting along well until now.

"Forgive me, Silvester. I didn’t mean to make you sad." Eve stroked Silvester’s head, looking guilty.

"I’ve been busy for the past few days. I’ve neglected you. Come here. You can bite and punish me." Eve offered her hand to Silvester. She wanted him to release his frustration by pecking her hand.

However, when Silvester heard her explanation, his unhappiness disappeared almost instantly. Furthermore, he couldn’t bring himself to get mad at Eve.

"Princess! Princess! Silvester... Not... Mad anymore! I won’t hurt you. I won’t hurt you! Silvester just misses you! Missing you a lot!" The silent parrot finally spoke up as he flew toward Eve. He landed on her shoulder.

Eve felt so happy when she heard that. She stroked Silvester’s head once more.

"I miss you too, Silvester," she softly mumbled.

"How about me? Didn’t you miss me?" Gideon butted in, grinning at Eve.

Eve glanced at him with her blinking eyes. She didn’t expect that Gideon would suddenly ask her that.

Gideon pouted his lips charmingly as he pretended to be upset. "I feel bad. I think no one misses me the way I miss them. Should I just disappear?"

"SHAMELESS MASTER! SHAMELESS!" Silvester spat back at Gideon.

Eve could only giggle as Gideon and Silvester started bickering once again.

"Come with me. I’ll show you our temporary classroom!" Eve grabbed Gideon’s hand.

He just let her drag him as he obediently followed her from behind.

Upon returning to the classroom, Eve noticed that Win was gone.

"Oh, Sir Win has already left. Too bad... I want to introduce you to him."

Eve felt a little bit disappointed. She hadn’t finished her conversation with the middle-aged man. She was curious about the missing princess he mentioned earlier.

"Hmm. Who is that Sir Win?" Gideon nonchalantly asked her.

"He is an adventurer. Just like you, he wants to travel around and explore different continents and kingdoms," Eve said, gesturing for Gideon to sit down.

Gideon followed her lead. "So what is this place? Why are you here alone? Where is your husband?"

Gideon roamed his eyes around the simple classroom.

"This is where we teach children how to read, write, and calculate. We also teach them basic and proper hygiene to avoid contracting diseases. In this area, they are exposed to different diseases because of the poor sanitation. We are trying to help the slum people to live better. That is my aspiration here."

Gideon smiled upon hearing her words. He was not surprised if Eve decided to do this.

"You will be a great queen," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Anyway, I’ve heard the news. Gavin Ravenmoor is dead. How do you feel about it?"

Eve fell silent. She had conflicting thoughts about Gavin’s death. With her last encounter with Princess Aliyah in the palace, the second princess kept blaming her for Gavin’s death.

To avoid more conflict with her sister, Eve didn’t attend Gavin’s funeral.

"Why are you so quiet?" Gideon asked her worriedly.

"Oh, it’s nothing. Despite what he did to me, I didn’t wish him to die. However, I’m not sad about his death. I just didn’t think he was someone who would commit suicide. I’m afraid... my sister has something to do with his death." Eve expressed her thoughts to him.

"Hmm. Don’t think about it too much. Just focus on your endeavor. You are doing good here. I didn’t expect that you and Alaric could unite the people here. They look very obedient and disciplined. It’s very far from my impression of the people of the slum." Gideon admired Eve’s ability to influence people.

"They committed crime because of poverty. They had to feed their families. I don’t want to judge them. I just chose to understand their living situation and difficulties. Furthermore, I can somehow relate to them," Eve responded, her words filled with sincerity.

"In the next two weeks, we will be leaving Kingdom Averion to go to Kingdom Zephyra. I hope... once we return here, I can see more progress on their living situation."

Gideon’s expression changed at the mention of Kingdom Zephyra.

"Eve, you still have time to change your mind. Why don’t you just stay here and wait for Alaric’s return?" Gideon has conflicting thoughts right now.

"I can’t do that. I want to be with Alaric. Besides, I have another reason why I want to go to Kingdom Zephyra."

Gideon knitted his eyebrows in a deep frown. ’Another reason? Does it mean... she already knew her connection to Kingdom Zephyra and the jade pendant in her possession?’

’Can I not stop her?’ Gideon clenched his jaw.

Gideon had been debating with himself what he should do. What was the right thing to do? Until now, he was still undecided. He was weighing things, and calculating the pros and cons of his actions.

"Gideon... I have nothing to be afraid of. You and Alaric are with me. Don’t worry I will never become a burden to you and Alaric. I will make myself useful!" Eve confidently said, snapping Gideon out of his stupor.