The Hero's Forsaken Princess
Chapter 55: Argument in the Manor

Chapter 55: Argument in the Manor

"Master! Master!" Silvester’s squeaky voice echoed in the small cabin.

"Everyone searching!" he flew toward Gideon, landing on his head. It was Silvester’s habit to stand on his master’s head.

"Princess’ whereabouts!" he continued to grumble.

From Stormholt Manor, the intelligent parrot flew all the way to his cabin to inform him about the current situation.

The Knights and the servants were still searching for and worrying about Eve.

Meanwhile, Gideon remained quiet, rubbing his chin while his gaze was fixed on Eve’s sleeping figure. He was thinking about Eve’s strange behavior.

"What happened to Eve? She acted as though she was possessed. Was she just pretending not to recognize me?" Gideon murmured.

"Aww!" he grunted as Silvester pecked at his head. The parrot got upset when Gideon ignored him.

"Silvester, Stop!" he gently tapped its head.

Silvester flew away to avoid getting hit by Gideon.

"What were you saying again?" At this moment, Gideon focused his attention on Silvester.

"Everyone searching for Princess!" Silvester repeated.

Gideon facepalmed upon hearing that. "I’ve made another mistake."

"Alright! I’ll bring her back to the Stormholt Manor today. I’ll just wait for her to wake up and observe her." He glanced at Eve meaningfully. He wondered if she would be back to her senses once she woke up.

If she couldn’t recognize him, then it was best for her to stay in the cabin. Gideon was afraid that Eve would suddenly attack everyone in the manor.

Meanwhile, back to the Stormholt Manor, Sera gathered everyone in the front yard. She could see the panic in their faces, worrying about Eve.

"We must inform General Alaric about this," a knight said to the group, voicing out his opinion.

"We will get reprimanded by him. It’s our duty to protect the princess. And we failed to do it." Another knight spoke up.

Sera could only shake her head while listening to their arguments.

"Stop panicking. The princess hadn’t gone missing. I saw her last night, sneaking out of the manor. She will return if she wishes to come back. So don’t bother looking for her." Sera declared to everyone.

She smirked, feeling glad that she wasn’t wrong about Eve. ’I finally saw her true colors. I have more reasons to hate her. I hope the knights would also see through her lies and deceptions. I can’t wait for Alaric to find out the truth.’

The servants and the knights were surprised when they heard Sera’s announcement. They expressed their different sentiments.

"Why would she do that? Is she trying to get us in trouble?"

"The princess made us worry for nothing. But I hope she is safe."

"I wonder where she is right now?"

If other knights expressed their disappointment toward Eve’s behavior, one person stood up for her.

"Don’t jump to a conclusion. Let’s wait for Princess Eve to hear some explanation." Randolf didn’t want to make another mistake. He was the one who judged Eve before without even trying to know her.

But he learned his lesson. Princess Eve was not as bad as they thought. She was so kind and friendly. She was down-to-earth and very humble.

"Don’t let yourself be deceived just because she saved you once." Sera hissed at him.

"Sera, with all due respect, but if I were in your position that night, I would have stopped Princess Eve from leaving the manor. It’s for her safety," Randolf retorted, cocking his eyebrow as he gazed at Sera.

"But why did you just observe her, instead of stopping her? Do you have another agenda for doing that? Are you trying to find fault in her?" he added, questioning Sera’s action.

The other knights were stupefied. They didn’t expect Randolf to talk back to their Knight Commander like that.

"Has he lost his mind? Why did he say that to our commander? He sounds very disrespectful," The knight standing behind Randolf blurted out in disbelief.

Randolf turned to look at his comrade, glaring at him. "You were also disrespectful to Princess Eve earlier. She was not trying to get us in trouble. She might have a reason why she left the manor that night."

Sera let out a sarcastic laugh. "You really become her loyal dog, Randolf. I hope you won’t regret that. You’ll know the reason behind Princess Eve’s action. Let’s wait for General Alaric to return. He has to know first."

After saying those words, Sera decided not to argue with Randolf anymore. She understood why Randolf tried to defend Eve. He owed her his life.

When Sera left, the knights immediately surrounded Randolf.

"Hey, Bro. Are you crazy?! Why did you talk back to our Knight Commander?! She might beat you up during training. Don’t get on her bad side!" A concerned friend warned Randolf.

But Randolf just gave them a knowing smile. "Can’t you see? Commander Sera is just trying to find fault with Princess Eve. She likes our general. I know she is one of so many people who want our general to divorce Princess Eve."

Everyone fell silent as they couldn’t refute Randolf’s words. They were aware of this because they were also the ones who were trying to match Sera with Alaric before, thinking they were a perfect match.

"But, why do you think Princess Eve left the manor behind our back? Aren’t you curious about that?" Someone asked Randolf.

Before Randolf could respond, they heard the sound of galloping hooves approaching. They all turned in that direction.

"Look! It’s Professor Deon and Princess Eve! They’ve returned!"

The horse stopped in front of everyone. Randolf immediately approached them as he assisted Eve to come down.

"Everyone, forgive me for the inconvenience I have caused you. I was the one who took Her Highness last night. It was part of her practical training. We failed to return after the task as Princess Eve suddenly fell ill. I had to bring her to the doctor." Gideon explained to the knights.

Randolf glanced at Princess Eve worriedly. Gideon was not lying. Princess Eve didn’t look well. Her complexion was pale. And she was still burning up.

Gideon jumped off his horse and handed it to Randolf. "Take care of my horse. I’ll escort the princess to her room."

"See. I told you. You were all wrong. Princess Eve had practical training with Professor Deon. She even succeeded in sneaking out! She needed those skills so she could escape if an enemy kingdom ever attacked the palace," Randolf said confidently, without a hint of doubt.

His comrades could only shake their heads in amusement. Gideon had truly become a spokesperson for Princess Eve. He was the one justifying her actions.

Meanwhile, Sera had seen Gideon and Princess Eve together. She could only clench her fists as she watched them ascend the stairs, making their way to Princess Eve’s chamber.

"She still has the audacity to return and show herself here!" Sera murmured, looking daggers at Eve.

"Lady Sera! Lady Sera!" Marie, the female servant, ran toward her.

"Why are you in a hurry?" Sera asked the servant, raising her eyebrow.

"Professor Deon said that Her Highness is sick. We must summon the royal physician to check on her." Marie’s voice was laced with genuine concern for the princess.

Gideon didn’t lie when he said Princess Eve needed the royal physician. The Royal Physician had been the one treating Eve for years. Maybe he knew something about Eve’s rare condition.

Even though Eve was still burning up, Gideon decided to bring her back to Stormholt Mansion. He wanted to use them to summon the Royal Physician. He wanted to talk to him and learn about Eve’s sudden change in her personality.

"Are you sure she is sick? She might be pretending." Sera said with mockery in her eyes.

’I can’t stand this. I’m tired of her pretentious act.’ Sera thought to herself, rolling her eyes skyward.

On the other hand, Marie couldn’t understand why Sera was acting so cold and indifferent toward Princess Eve. She wasn’t like this before. What had gone wrong? Why did she start hating the kind princess?

"I-I don’t think... s-she is pretending." Marie responded timidly, afraid to offend Sera.

Sera clicked her tongue in annoyance. She felt that everyone in the manor had been deceived by Eve’s pretentious act. They were all thinking that she was kind and pure-hearted.

’She can deceived them... but not me.’ She thought, gritting her teeth.

When Marie noticed the reluctance in Sera’s eyes, she spoke again to sway her. "Please Lady Sera. We need to contact the Royal Physician as soon as possible. If something goes wrong to Princess Eve, how will you explain this to our Lord?"

Marie deliberately mentioned Alaric’s name so that Sera would be compelled to take a move and summon the Royal Physician.

Her plan worked well as Sera immediately left, stomping her feet in frustration. She called for a knight and instructed him to send a message to the Palace, summoning the Royal Physician.