THE Knight's Hidden Princess
Chapter 130: Who I Am

Chapter 130: Who I Am

Right on Ivana’s shoulder were deep jagged scars that were darkly visible on her pale flesh. Some were old, faded to thin silver lines but other were new, raw and still healing and those were signs of a recent brutality. I cocked my head at the sight, leaning forward so I could get a closer look at it, I stared at the horror that had been done.

I lifted my gaze to stare at Ivana who sat still as she exposed herself to me. A look of indifference was on her face but I could see the way her bottom lip trembled only slightly. She wasn’t the type to show her vulnerability. I know she wore her arrogance like a shield and the reason why she gave witty remarks was because that was the only weapon she knows. She uses her tongue as a sword to cut down anyone in her path since she was unable to fight physically. But now, sitting here opposite her as I stared into her eyes, I could sense the desperation coming from her and also the fear.

"Who did this to you?" I asked, my voice coming out as a whisper.

Ivana sniffed as she adjusted her clothes, pulling it back into place as she fixed herself up. "Who do you think?"

"Lord Skarde did this to you?" I asked horrified how one man could be so brutal.

I mean I’ve been on my own end of brutality from men but this was just horrific. My father may be an evil bastard but he knows damn well than to do anything than to break my skin which is why we always have the tears of the mermaid always available and besides he doesn’t have the heart to do it himself so he sends Madam Heidi to dole out the punish he was too scared to do.

"Now will you help me kill him?" She asked me.

I leaned backwards in my seat considering the question. Having to eliminate Lord Skarde was no major problem. I had killed before and after witnessing the horror right in front of me, I realized it was something that I would do again after witnessing the crimes he committed in society. The world could after all deal with one less evil in the world but there was just one problem. Killing such an authority figure who possessed significant power required more complications and that was something I couldn’t afford after all.

So after considering all of that, I decided that I already had my answer. "No!"

Ivana’s expression faltered clearly not believing that I would deny her. Her mouth opened the closes back and I have an idea that she was probably wondering why I would deny her after seeing everything. "You are....You are refusing?" She asked her voice heavy with incredulity.

"I truly sympathize with you and I believe Lord Skarde should die but I am not your pawn Ivana. I can’t just kill someone just because you asked me to and killing Lord Skarde draws too much attention, not just too myself but to you too!"

"No, no, no, no, Dahlia you don’t understand!" Ivana shifted closer and reached forward to grab my hand, "You don’t know..."

"Oh, I do know and I understand it perfectly well." I cut her off, "I understand that you really want to get away from your husband and you are so desperate you are willing to do anything, willing to do whatever you want and that includes cutting yourself to make it seem like you are the victim, am I right Ivana?"

Ivana frowned at me a confused look on her face. "What are you talking about? You think I did this to myself...That I would do this to myself."

I arched a brow up at her, "Come on Ivana. I’ve been on the receiving end of tortures and I have inflicted some wounds and seen a lot enough to know when they have been tampered with. The slashes on your body are deep but others? They were done to make them appear worse than they actually are, it’s quite impressive really but it’s a little too much though. You can be a victim but you are milking this for everything it’s worth.

Ivana’s face gaped at me with disbelief then she scoffed rolling her eyes before laughing soundlessly. "Should have known the black knight will be someone clever."

I smirked at her in response. "Yeah whatever, so what is it you are playing at here Ivana? Why go through all this extent."

"Well, I was actually thinking the moment you saw it you would be all sympathetic and all? Really was about to start milking it with the tears too."

"Yeah maybe next time try not to lead with trying to get me to murder your husband."

Ivana smiled wryly as she leaned in her seat. "You don’t know what kind of monster he is though." She then laughed to herself as if almost in disbelief. "What I did to myself is nothing compare to the hurt he has caused me."

"Doesn’t warrant killing him if you ask me."

Ivana snorted at me in response. "You think I want to kill him just because he hurts me? No. I want him dead because he is a disease and I refuse to be his victim any longer."

"Yeah well, I’m sorry I can’t help with that." I responded as I leaned back in my seat. "I don’t kill people on request."

Ivana smiled and this time she had a more resigned look on her face as she stared at me. "Worth a try don’t you think?" She asked but before I could comment on that she already turned to look right outside the window of the carriage, ending the conversation.

I turned to look away from her too. I truly wished I could help her. Maybe not kill Lord Skarde but it was clear she wanted out of that marriage and there were probably a whole lot of smart ways I could help get her out of the marriage without killing Lord Skarde but there a whole lot of other things that need my help and right now that was all I was going to be focusing on.

***

"I’m sorry princess but we are under strict orders not to let you in without prior notice of your coming!"

I glared at the guards stationed at the entrance of the castle. We arrived at the castle and I got denied entrance inside. Bjorn was apparently on an assignment with a neighboring kingdom so he couldn’t help me and my father like the coward he was hid in castle probably anticipating I was coming.

"This is absolutely ridiculous okay, you need to let me in, right now!" I demanded.

The guards heaved out a sigh. "Like we said, you can’t. We under specific orders not to!"

"I am the princess!" I yelled at them starting to get initiated.

"And we received our orders from the king!" The other guard countered sharply and I was a little bit taken aback by the coldness and disrespect of his tone.

I clenched my fist as I glared up at them. "I don’t care what orders you’ve received. This is my home!"

"Was your home princess!" The guy repeated firmly, "You are married now, you have no reason to show up here anymore!"

"Oh except I do have every reason for showing up here and you have to let me in!"

The taller of the two with a long scar that ran along his chin sighed heavily. He was a rough looking man and he shrugged as he responded. "Look my lady we are simply following protocols, don’t make this difficult for us!"

"Difficult? Is that what you think I am doing? That I am being difficult?" I started to get angry by the second.

The second guard shifted and I noticed the way his grip tightened around the hilt of his sword. "We warned you already, my lady, don’t make us use force!"

"Ah I see!" I responded with a smirk on my face. "And is that what he instructed you to do to use force?" I asked and when no one answered I immediately knew exactly that was what my father had instructed them. "Alright then, let me be clear. You will let me in or I can just crest a very loud scene that will be very difficult for you two to survive."

The guards shared a look with each other before they turned to look at me with a smirk on their faces. "Yeah we will take our chances!"

I smirked already anticipating what their response would be. "Very well then." I said before I moved backwards, "Nikolai" I yelled loudly and the guards shifted on their feet when Nikolai stepped forward.

"How about you remind this two gentlemen just who I am and who exactly I am married to?" I asked with a smirk on my face as I glared at the two soilders.