The Hero's Forsaken Princess
Chapter 67: A Knight’s Ranting

Chapter 67: A Knight’s Ranting

’I had enough! I won’t endure this kind of humiliation anymore.’

Eve was about to turn around and leave, but Alaric captured her wrist, gripping it tightly. With his strength, she couldn’t possibly escape from his grasp. He forced Eve to face Princess Thalia.

Still holding her hand, he suddenly dropped to his knees before Thalia. Everyone didn’t expect this turn of events. It was the young general who humbled himself and kneeled on behalf of Princess Eve.

"Your Highness, I’m here to apologize for my wife’s misconduct. Please don’t pursue this matter anymore. I’ll definitely discipline her." Alaric bowed his head so no one saw his real expression while apologizing to the Princess of Eldara.

Meanwhile, Eve clenched her fists while shaking her head in disbelief. She tried to struggle, yanking her hand away from Alaric. But his hold was firm.

’I hate you! Why are you apologizing on my behalf?! I didn’t ask you to do that!’ Eve’s eyes blazed with a mix of anger and disappointment.

’Damn it! Why are you taking the blame for your wife? It’s Eve whom I want to apologize. Not you!’ Thalia was displeased but she concealed it from everyone.

"Stand up, General Alaric. I won’t pursue this matter anymore."

"Thank you for your kindness," Alaric plainly said before he stood up.

Without saying another word, Alaric pulled Eve toward the carriage. Randolf followed them from behind.

"Get in," Alaric said coldly as he opened the carriage door.

Eve glared at him sharply before she stepped inside the carriage.

Bam!

She slammed the door shut right in front of Alaric. Eve was furious!

Alaric could only frown as he turned to the other three knights. "Send the princess back to the manor!"

"Yes, General!" They responded in unison.

"And you! Come with me. You have to face your punishment." Alaric ordered Randolf in his authoritative voice.

"Yes, my Lord..." Randolf just lowered his head. He felt sorry for Princess Eve.

Randolf could tell that the princess was hurt by his general’s unfair judgment. He never asked her and just concluded that Princess Eve was at fault.

As Eve’s carriage departed, Alaric instructed Randolf to follow him. He brought him to an isolated area within the palace.

Alaric leaned on the palace wall, crossing his arms as he stared at Randolf intently.

Randolf gulped hard, feeling anxious. With the way Alaric looked at him, he thought he was about to be skinned alive. It was the kind of stare Alaric reserved for interrogating an enemy.

’Am I going to be punished severely?’ Randolf could feel that his young general was in a bad mood.

"Speak your mind. Tell me everything," Alaric sternly said.

’Damn! Since I am going to face punishment, then be it! I’ll have to tell him what’s on my mind right now.’ Randolf lifted his head and mustered up his courage to meet Alaric’s gaze.

"General, I think... you were so harsh and unfair to Princess Eve earlier. You judged the situation without listening to her explanation. You’ve hurt her feelings! If I were her, I would also feel betrayed! You deserved that slap!" Randolf spoke spontaneously without filtering his words. He had already prepared himself for being beaten up by his young general.

Alaric remained silent, narrowing his eyes at Randolf. Instinctively, he rubbed the cheek where Eve had slapped him.

"Don’t you know that Princess Eve looked so happy when she heard about your return today? She waited for you the whole afternoon, but you never showed up. So she decided to go straight to the palace just to see you." Randolf was trying to make him feel guilty.

Alaric clenched his fists as he could feel the heaviness in his heart.

"And just when we were about to enter the palace, the royal guards denied Princess Eve. They wouldn’t allow her to enter because her name was not even written on the invitation card. I requested them to call you but they took it negatively. I could bear being insulted as a lowly knight, but I couldn’t tolerate them insulting Princess Eve!"

Randolf was enraged recalling the incident.

"I know it was my fault I couldn’t control my temper. I attacked the royal guard first. I just want to teach him a lesson for disrespecting Princess Eve. But Princess Eve stopped me from beating that knight." He took a deep sigh, regretful for not being able to punch those rude men. But he was glad that ’Professor Deon’ set them flying to the ground.

Meanwhile, as Alaric listened to Randolf’s rant, his expression grew darker with each passing second.

"They wanted to capture me and send me to prison fortress but you know what Princess Eve did?! I felt so ashamed because it was Princess Eve who protected me. I was the reason why she pointed a sword at the leader. She didn’t want them to take me away." There was a hint of pride and admiration in Randolf’s eyes as he talked about Eve’s bravery.

Alaric was taken aback upon hearing that. It was truly surprising for Eve to take that initiative just to protect a lowly knight.

"They even dared to wield their swords against the third princess! That’s both unacceptable and unforgivable, General! They were royal guards who took an oath to protect the members of the royal family! How could they do that to Princess Eve? Why are they–"

Thud!

Randolf’s words were interrupted the moment Alaric suddenly punched the palace wall, his eyes seething with rage.

Randolf swallowed hard. He thought Alaric was going to punch him earlier. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

"Go on!" Alaric roared, urging him to continue.

"Princess Eve’s teacher showed up... and he was the one who helped us escape. However, we were blocked by Princess Thalia’s group. She approached Princess Eve, asking her to speak privately." Randolf toned down a little bit, carefully observing Alaric’s expression.

He didn’t know if Princess Thalia held a special place in Alaric’s heart, so he was careful with his words this time.

"As for what happened between them, I don’t know. But I guess... Princess Eve wouldn’t slap Princess Thalia for no reason. Maybe she said something that triggered Princess Eve."

Thud!

Alaric punched the wall once more as he spat a series of curses. He had a bad feeling about this.

’Did Thalia tell Eve about what happened between us in the river?’

Randolf shut his mouth, not wanting to anger Alaric further. ’I can’t figure him out. Why is he getting mad?’

"Do you have anything more to say?" Alaric asked him.

Randolf swallowed hard as he looked at Alaric curiously.

"Hmm... Yes, General... Actually... I wanna ask... why did you do that to Princess Eve? Why didn’t you give her a chance to explain her side? You are even willing to listen to me now, yet you disregarded Princess Eve earlier. Do you really want her to apologize and kneel in front of Princess Thalia?" Randolf’s tone had a hint of accusation.

"Aren’t you regretful with your actions? You made her cry! She is so upset with you now!" he added.

Alaric’s gray orbs dimmed further, his heart filled with complicated emotions. He clenched his jaw while folding his fingers into tight fists.

*****

Meanwhile, in the middle of the journey, three knights started to panic.

"Big brother! Stop the carriage! We have a big problem!" Miles, the youngest knight in the 5th Batallion, yelled from the back.

Michael, Mile’s older brother, who was handling the reins stopped the carriage. "Huh? Why? Did you spot some beasts? Are we getting attacked by the dire wolves again?"

"Bro- Uhm... What should we do? The carriage is empty. Princess Eve is not inside?!" Miles informed them in his anxious voice.

"WHAT? How could that happen? Did she jump?" Dillon, ’the archer’ exclaimed in horror. "Our general will going to kill us! We must find her now!"

Michael cursed as he jumped off the carriage, checking their surroundings. "Fuck! We are in the middle of the forest! There are wild beasts here!"

"Should we go back to the palace and inform General Alaric that Princess Eve has gone missing? or shall we call some backups from our barracks?" Miles consulted his elder brothers, hoping they could come up with a better solution for this.

They were aware that Princess Eve was so upset. But they didn’t expect her to suddenly disappear in the middle of their journey.

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