Book 14: Chapter 6
“Freya, are you really not planning to search for His Majesty?”
Freya spun around to see Tanya. Her lips budged a few times while she was looking at Tanya. She hesitated for a long time before replying, “I don’t plan to.”
“Why?”
Tanya’s tone was very calm and void of emotion just as she usually was. She didn’t hold any opinion of things around her due to her past as a tool. She still lacked much emotion. Everybody around her liked to take care of her, yet she hadn’t changed much.
“It’s not that I don’t want to, but that I can’t.” Freya lowered her head and continued in a soft voice, “Where can I search for him? I’ve never really been to the elven lands, and I don’t have a single clue as to where Queen Vyvyan took His Majesty. Furthermore, what can I do, beat the drums, march around flamboyantly and announce this to the world? Wouldn’t that just end in a third war between the elves, humanity and the North? The North has just been established. How can the North bear the burden of war? Onii-sama went through so much to conquer the North. I must protect this place. I must turn this place into an empire that’s not inferior to humanity’s and the elves. I can’t let Onii-sama come home to a barren scorched piece of land…”
Freya’s voice was shaky for the first time ever. In the past, she always carried herself with the air of a noble in Tanya’s presence, but her slightly mocking look was gone. Freya had been out of sorts since Troy’s disappearance. She spaced out at random moments and would suddenly cry. She’d quiver and feel apprehensive about speaking to others. She was completely different to how she previously was. She was akin a hedgehog that had lost its spikes and was curled up, quivering with its red belly exposed.
Tanya didn’t bother with Freya’s response. Gerald walked over with a frown. His instincts as a bodyguard told him Tanya was dangerous. He stood in front of Freya and vigilantly watched Tanya. In a serious tone, he said, “Miss Tanya, you are His Majesty’s guard unit’s captain. I’d like to ask you to calm down. Miss Freya is His Majesty’s sister, and you can tell how sad Miss Freya has been recently. It’s not that she doesn’t care about His Majesty, but, argh!”
Tanya didn’t seem to care about what Gerald had to say. She walked straight up to him. Then, she swiftly snatched up a kitchen knife and stabbed it into Gerald’s gut. Gerald’s body jolted. The pain from his gut spread to his entire body and nearly brought him to his knees. Tanya coldly watched his writhe in pain, and then pinched his face with one hand. She sternly said, “You are protecting Freya, because she is your master, but don’t forget that His Majesty is my master. I am the captain of His Majesty’s guard unit. I have to protect him. Am I supposed to stop here and wait when my master is missing? I’m going to find him. I can die, but I must die protecting him or searching for him. Unlike you, I can’t die in this palace, you weakling!”
“Ugh…” Big droplets of sweat rolled down Gerald’s forehead. He panted for air and was unable to speak.