48: Snake 3

Snake 3

Rosalind bit her lower lip as she turned her head away. The sound of the night breached her senses. There was… nothing else in there. Or at least that's what her senses were telling her.0

She frowned and looked at the Duke. She was still frozen in his lap, as still as a statue.

"What—"

"Shhh…" the Duke silenced her.

Again, she looked around, her heartbeat racing. What is going on? She couldn't hear anything, yet the Duke seemed so certain that there was something else is there!

Again, she looked at him, confused. Was he— taking advantage of the situation?

But just as she was about to tell him to let her go, she heard a loud hiss.

She knew this wasn't from the Duke!

This time, when she tried to spread her senses, she felt something dark approaching them. Goosebumps skittered over her skin as she slowly felt the presence of a large creature near the tree.

She turned her head towards the direction where the creature was coming from and almost immediately, her expression changed.

It was a snake!

It wasn't just the normal six-foot-long snake that they considered harmful, it was probably thrice its size. Long and dark and… demonic.

She could feel her face losing all of its color, her limbs weakened.

She had already lived a past life, but this was the first time that she was out here… seeing this type of monster. She bit her lower lip and tried to stop herself from trembling. She knew creatures like this could feel the fear of humans, but no matter how much she suppressed the fear, she really couldn't help herself.

In the past, she had done a lot of things behind the scenes for the Queen to show her support. She had killed people and used her gifts to make someone suffer. However, she wasn't able to visit a battlefield against the monsters. In the first place, her gifts were meant to heal, so it didn't make sense for her to go to the battlefield.

Instead, she spent her time in the infirmary with the Queen who was pretending to heal the wounded soldiers.

Then she felt the Duke's hand on top of hers. He squeezed it slowly.

"When I tell you to run… you run… " she heard his voice inside her head. At first, she thought it was some hallucination, but then she realized that the Duke might have the ability to actually do it because of his Northern blood.

"The encampment is not that far away. I will lure the snake deeper into the woods while you tell the Princess to run away." He continued.

Then what about him?

As if sensing her thoughts, the Duke said.

"I will meet you at the tents. You must leave this place."

And why would she do that?

"Listen to me," again he spoke inside her head. By now, the creature seemed to show some awareness of their presence, and she could only blame her racing heartbeat. Being in front of something so dark and ominous frightened her.

"That is a demonic creature. You cannot use a normal sword to defeat it. You must run for your life. I can take care of myself."

She frowned at that. If he could take care of himself then… why was he in such a pitiful state the first time that they met? The man was wounded with a cursed weapon. Though he was able to hold on for a few hours, a bite from a demonic animal had worse effects than those weapons.

She needed to be there for him.

She could heal the wound and—

"I will count to three… then I will reveal myself to the snake. Take your time." Finished speaking, the Duke maneuvered his body, slowly putting her on the branch.

"Three—" he started.

"Two—"

"One!"

The moment he uttered one, he jumped out of the tree, then he disappeared. His body turned into a blur as he lured the snake in the opposite direction.

At first, the snake didn't move away from the tree, but Duke Lucas used his sword to attack it, completely making it furious and therefore attracting its attention.

Seeing the snake move away, Rosalind wasted no time as she jumped off the tree and ran towards the encampment.

"Lady Rosalind… we heard some noises… what…"

"Run!" Rosalind said. "Leave this place."

"And why would we do that?" Princess Isabel immediately said.

"There is a demonic monster and—"

"What about the Duke?"

"He is going to lure the monster away."

"What? And you just left him there?" Princess Isabel hissed. She went inside her tent and when she came out, she was already holding a sword.

"Your Highness with all due respect—" Rosalind's words came on deaf ears as the princess suddenly bolted to where Rosalind came from.

"Your Highness!" Rosalind yelled as she grabbed the Princess's arm. "What are you doing?"

"I am no coward! Do you really think I would leave him alone? I am not—"

"The Duke asked me to get everyone to leave!"

"Are you out of your mind? I am not leaving him!" With that, the Princess pushed Rosalind away and started running. Obviously, Rosalind immediately got up and followed the woman as she gritted her teeth in silence.

What kind of brain did this woman have?

Instead of running away from the monster, the Princess actually ran towards it to save the man that she liked! It was a very valiant move, a valiant yet stupid move!

"Your Highness!" Rosalind hissed. "Your Highness! Stop running and listen to me!"

"Leave me alone, you coward!"

"Your Highness, your sword—" She was carrying a sword adorned with gems and jewels yet it does not have the blessing of Federico or Martin Lux! It could not kill a demonic animal!

Moreover, she was aware that the Princess had been trained in swordsmanship since she was a child, but fighting against people who worked for your father was definitely different than fighting against a demonic animal hell-bent on eating you!

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