TPOP 54

Chapter 54

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The road, now traveled by horse-drawn carriages, had been deserted since the opening of the road between the capital's two halves, and it was clear that anyone attempting to leave the capital by the back roads at this late hour would be at a disadvantage.

Moreover, Karman had officially abolished slavery years ago. Not that it did much good, since slaves were still found all over the empire, but it was illegal to trade in the capital anyway.

The coachman asked speculatively.

"Look here. Did you say your destination was the town of Oder?"

"Yes."

"Oder, the so-called gateway to Hilde, is that right?"

"You have a long tongue. Why don't you look straight ahead and pick up the pace?"

Antoin bared his teeth and frowned. The coachman laughed inwardly.

If he was secretly taking a woman to Hilde, the answer was obvious.

The figure of the woman in the back seat was beautiful. Her upright posture was unaffected by the swaying carriage. The hands in her lap were so slender that they invited sinister imaginings.

If a pimp could sneak her out of the capital, she must have a beautiful face. When the coachman continued to squint into the back seat, Antoin spat.

"Don't you dare peek, I won’t even show half her face to a common man like you, you're dreaming!"

"Hmph, hmph. Then I suppose I’ll just turn the horse around and go to the police office, for I don't think even you, pimp, let alone a slave, could look so straight in front of a police officer?"

"Have you seen this son of a bitch, and who are you threatening?"

"No more than a whorehouse boss; now, what are you going to do, try to take off that wrapper, or are you going to be hauled off to the police station as you are?"

The coachman even made a show of releasing the reins. His eyes flashed with desire as he scanned Diana’s silent form.

"Huh, let's see, this one!"

Antoin bellowed, and a group of nimble mercenaries burst out of the dark woods and surrounded the carriage. The drooling coachman yanked at the reins in panic.

"What the hell, who are you?!"

Antoin raised his mouth haughtily. He opened the window and called out to the mercenaries.

"Boys, drag that dirty bastard down, cut out his tongue and throw him in the woods, and one of you come and sit in the coachman's seat!"

"Oh,oh, I made a mistake," cried the coachman, "for a moment I thought she was a slave!"

In an instant the besieged coachman flung up his hands over his head; he trembled and begged.

"Please forgive me. I am not one of them. They asked me to take the carriage to Oder for a fee, and so...."

Antoin’s eyebrows rose sharply. Something in the coachman's tone of voice was off-putting.

"Hey, who are you talking about?"

At that moment, the carriage door swung open.

Diana felt the outside breeze brush her hands and the hem of her skirt. The humid night air was cool. Even so, her fingertips tingled with cold.

"You, you...!"

It was easy to see that the newcomers were not the mercenaries Antoin had hired. They dragged him from the wagon and threw him to the ground. The man in the mud screamed.

Then another grabbed Diana by the forearm. She was dragged by the unknown assailant to a carriage. The seats were much cushier than the ones she'd been sitting on, and the air inside smelled of smoke.

"You crazy bastards, that's my merchandise! This is theft! Let go of me! It's a reward from His Highness Prince Eisen himself, you bastards!"

The thugs slammed the carriage door shut and jumped on the driver's seat. The carriage rattled and jerked as the whips struck the horses' backs.

The sound of Antoin’s cursing began to fade into the distance.

***

It took as long to reach the destination as it had taken to leave.

The carriage stopped, and the men helped Diana out of the carriage.

In their careless hands, she lost her footing and slipped. With a bone-rattling thud, she fell out from under the carriage and toppled over.

"Get up."

The man's gruff voice urged her to stifle a groan. She winced and barely made it to her feet. Her hip and wrists throbbed from the bump.

The texture of the ground beneath her feet was familiar. The crunch of the blades of grass as she stepped on them was also familiar. The grass was always manicured to a certain length, never dry or damp.

‘The palace.’

Knights surrounded her from all sides, taking her somewhere. The familiar smells receded into the distance, and in their place, a completely new space loomed before her.

More than the smells or sounds, it was the atmosphere that prickled her skin. There were people. A lot of people. As the men dragged Diana up the marble staircase, the clinking of iron and heavy footsteps cascaded down the steps.

This was the centerpiece of the palace, the main hall. Layers of imperial knights surrounded the entrance to the main hall, their spears drawn back to block the way.

"The Duke's message is to use the corridor to the right. Send her up quietly and unnoticed."

Diana had barely had time to register her new location. After a brief conversation, the knights shoved her up a flight of stairs.

"Is it okay to be rough?"

"He didn't say to bring her in nicely. Neither His Highness, nor His Excellency. A girl from Hilde doesn't deserve it."

The sneering words cut like knives into her back. The knight shoved Diana’s back.

"Keep walking."

Diana gripped the railing and slowly climbed the stairs.

The texture of the carpeting, the carvings on the railings, the height and number of stairs, and even the design of the staircases were different from the palace she was used to. She listened to the knight's footsteps as he climbed the stairs ahead of her, trying to gauge how far she had to go, but she stumbled several times.

As Diana struggled up the stairs, the knights shoved her into a corner.

"Stay where you are until further orders."

The door slammed shut with a thud. The lock clicked, creating a perfect airtight seal.

Diana sank to her knees, feeling defeated.

It was her habit to figure out the layout of any new place first, but right now she didn't have the energy to knock on the walls and feel around.

It felt like someone had rubbed her brain with an eraser. She couldn't think of anything, and she didn't want to think of anything. All in her mind was a negative future. She wondered why she was being brought to this place, somewhere in the imperial palace, and what would happen to her.

The more she tried to imagine, the more she was swallowed up by despair. Diana sat back in the unfamiliar space and closed her eyes.

She must have fallen asleep in that position.

Outside the door, there was a slight commotion. The faint sound of footsteps getting closer and closer made her open her eyes.

The door swung open. She didn't need to hear a voice or feel a touch to know who it was, just the way they walked, their stride, and the aura they gave off.

The person didn't move for quite some time.

It wasn't until Diana’s eyes slowly closed again that Felix spoke.

"Who brought this thing here?"

His voice was menacingly low.

Diana had thought she could hear anything and not be shaken by it, but she couldn’t. Her heart, which had been crumbling and piecing itself back together a hundred times a day for five days now, shattered again. Like a sandcastle swallowed up by the waves.

Footsteps rushed outside the door, shuffling back and forth. Diana closed her ears, not wanting to pay attention. She didn’t know whose orders brought her back to the palace, but it wasn't her master's, and she was sure she would be dragged away again soon enough.

Whoever had brought Diana back here must have wanted to get under the Crown Prince's skin. Felix’s steps became increasingly distant, and the commotion outside grew louder.

"Huh, Your Highness?"

The knight called out in bewilderment. It was the same knight who had dragged Diana into the carriage.

There were no further questions or answers, just the loud sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

Startled by the force of the blow, Diana clapped her hands over her ears, but instead of her ears, her palms met rough cloth.

***

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