THE Knight's Hidden Princess
Chapter 84: The Town’s Drunk

Chapter 84: The Town’s Drunk

That question brought attention on us like none before. I had to freeze in my step as I stared at the man who had spoken. His words rang louder in my ears than they ought to have, slicing through the hum of the crowd like a knife.

I cocked my head at him unsure of what to do and I instinctively shuffled backwards when the man drew closer just as people pressed forward, some were even craning their necks forward from their store to get a better look at me.

The man seemed harmless while displaying his roughened hands wearing worn-out patched clothing alongside his toughened fieldworker features. A farmer, by all accounts. It is amusing to think about how I faced down thugs with my drawn swords yet found it so terrifying to meet an ordinary farmer. Panic overwhelmed me at this moment. His words revealed his power but his power did not stem from his position. Words that could expose me.

I searched my brain trying to look for what I could say, but the words slipped through my fingers like smoke. My breath caught as people filled in closer, the gazes keener, their whispers growing louder. Even Eddie, normally quick with his overeager replies seemed to understand the gravity of the moment and wisely kept his mouth shut.

Just when I tried to look for what to say, Heather suddenly stepped forward and released a laughter one that was filled with disbelief. "Have you lost your damn mind?" She asked, "The princess? Are you drunk? Where in your right mind will you see the princess? She doesn’t step outside of the manor where she is!"

The man frowned just as rippled of agreement went round the crowd but it would seem that the man wasn’t having it. "Then who is she?"

"My cousin!" Heather responded without missing a beat.

The man’s gaze narrowed as he stepped forward, his gaze eyeing me warily. "Well she looks to clean to be a commoner!" He said his gaze flicking over me taking in every detail, resting on my face to my clothes and down to the quality of my boots and the way I held myself.

"And you look to drunk to be playing judge right about now!" Heather retorted with a sharp tone, "Besides, this is my cousin from the city_" Heather said before she turned to look at me with what I would call boredom, "She just likes to believe that she is a noble born sometimes, fussing about her appearance and trying to look clean. But then, I suggest she did succeed in looking the part today, almost fooled me myself you know." Heather said and the crowd chuckled at that, a wave of agreement spreading through them. The crowd’s tension began to soften up but the man still looked doubtful.

"Well she may be your cousin from the city, but she still carries herself like someone far too important." The man said which caused Heather to groan out loud.

"For heaven’s sake Luther, weren’t you listening to a word I said?" Heather asked with a bit of annoyance on her tone, "And important you say? As if, the only thing she is important for is slowing me down. I swear if she wasn’t family, I would have left her alone ages ago, such a slow delusional poor girl, ain’t that right Eddie?" Heather threw behind her shoulders.

Eddie stiffened as his name was being mentioned but he nodded his head. "Y...y..yes." Eddie said dragging the word out, "She is sure to be lost without Heather."

The man called Luther then turned his gaze to Eddie, "And who are you?"

"What now? Will you ask if he is a Lord too?" Heather snorted and a huge laughter went around the crowd.

Luther looked embarrassed as he shifted on his feet, his eyes darting to the ground as the crowd’s laughter engulfed him. His peak of power and suspicion had turned to dust beneath Heather’s sharp tongue, leaving him a stumbling mess.

"Well, of course not!" He sputtered, "I just...I just..."

Heather groaned loudly, her frustration evident. "Look Luther, you’ve had fun playing inquisitor but unless you’ve got something useful to say then I suggest you get out of my way and not bother us anymore, unlike you we’ve actually got places to be."

The crowd murmured their agreement, some of them even frowning at Luther in disapproval. Still frowning Luther approached us and from this distance, I could smell the stench of stale beer from him which made me almost wrinkle my nose, but I had to play the part that this things didn’t bother me.

"Fine, you can go." He said to Heather who sighed, "But just know, I will be watching your every move cause there’s something not right ’bout you three, I can sense it!" He said and Heather groaned along with the rest of the crowd who went back to what they were doing.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Heather waved him off before she finally brushed past him and grabbed me by my arm and begin to pull me away.

I didn’t bother to argue and just allowed Heather to lead me away with Eddie trailing after us. As soon as we were out of earshot, I leaned towards Heather, dropping my voice to a whisper. "Who was that?"

"Town’s drunk, former accountant to the king." Heather informed me before she let out a string of curses, "Should have known we would run into him here!"

"Former accountant to the king?" I asked my tone filled with curiosity.

Heather nodded without looking at me. "Yeah, until he was charged with treason." Heather said, "Some say he was framed and other believed he did it, even his friends confirmed it. But the point is that, he lost everything. His children died out in the streets while looking for scraps to eat and his wife_" Heather trailed of as if she couldn’t bear to say it.

Whatever it was, I knew it was something bad which made me even more curious. "What is it Heather?’

Heather stopped looking so she could turn to look at me in the eye. "Well let’s just say I pray no woman gets to experience it. But that’s all I will say, you do not need to hear it."

"Heather!" I called firmly when she turned to leave, "What happened?" I demanded.

Heather gazed at me with a look of pity on her face but before she could answer, a voice spoke.

"She got assaulted by the king’s guards!" Eddie spoke in a solemn tone, "Unable to live with it, she hung herself in their home when Luther went to plead with the king to give him one more chance."

"Eddie!" Heather said her tone sharp but her eyes were still filled with pity, "How do you even know that story?"

Eddie shrugged, "Everyone knows the story of Luther the town’s drunk." He replied, "He burned his house down after that incident and would have killed himself in the process if sire hadn’t saved him and given him a plot of land to start over."

"Sire? You mean Reagan?" I asked and Heather nodded.

"But even that isn’t enough to keep the ghost of the past away." Heather said before she looked back and I followed her gaze only to see Luther moving towards a wagon by the roadside and bringing a bottle of wine, "It’s a shame really, because he was such a brilliant man but he will never be the same again and rumor as it he has been looking for a way to repay the king’s favor. But of course, those are just silly words of a drunk fool, so I wouldn’t pay any heed to it." Heather said before she turned to resume walking with Eddie following after her.

But were they really silly words of a drunken fool or do they really mean something?

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.