Chapter 65

Marianne forgot everything for a moment and focused on eating. She skipped dinner yesterday, so she emptied all the plates filled with food one by one. Especially the milk pudding which was so sweet and soft. She suddenly thought of a familiar face: Rane.

She wanted to have Rane taste this pudding. She liked sweet desserts, so she would open her eyes and exclaim admiration like she did last time, overly chatting about the need to find a new chef. When Marianne had a pleasant imagination like that, she burst into laughter.

Eckart looked at her fresh smile quietly in the back seat of the wagon, so his greed could not disturb her.

By noon, the procession came near Benua Falls which led on to the rugged valley. The field poppy nearby was spectacular. Passing the waterfall through the flower garden, they would soon arrive at the temple, finally.

“Oh, we’re almost there…”

Horseman Jason, who had been driving the emperor’s carriage for 10 years since his predecessor, wiped his sweat and pulled the reins. From now on, it was important to slow down and drive the wagon carefully.

The roads so far were rough but not too narrow. Although they were not as paved as those in the capital or Chester, they were not bad enough to drive a horse or carriage.

But the road over the falls was very narrow and dangerous. A little misdirection would take the wagon fall down the rugged cliff.

“Damn it! Did these guys eat meat soup secretly last night? How come they are so strong?”

Jason grumbled, pulling the reins harder and soothed the horses. The horses were very excited with runny noses even early in the morning. As if they knew they were near the stream, they became more excited at the sound of the waterfalls. It was tough to slow down their speed.

“Oh! What the heck are they doing?”

Right at that moment, there was heard a loud shout from the procession in the back. Jason looked back quickly.

Bang!

There was a heavy roar.

Eckart frowned heavily. Fortunately, the noise didn’t come from his wagon. He quickly pushed the window, which he had closed to keep off the outside noise. He remained calm until a moment ago, watching Marianne sleep, but this time he looked out the window with an angry glance.

“Curtis. What’s up?”

Curtis, who was following him by the side, quickly checked out the situation and replied, “The horses in the rear carriage are suddenly running wild. The knights are trying to control them, but they won’t follow… ”

Bang!

Another big noise was heard. This time it was accompanied by a sharp scream.

Marianne woke up at the noise from her nap. She looked at Eckart in surprise and nervousness.

Eckart once reached out to calm her down, and then looked out the window.

“The same is true of the other carriages as the horses are running wild now. If this goes on, I’m worried about a chain clash…”

Bang, bang!

This time, a series of shocking noises was heard. Even before Curtis was done talking, the horses in the rear row of the procession suddenly ran like crazy. Several carriages drove in different directions. And they crashed into anything ahead, regardless of whether it was another wagon or a tall tree.

“Eluang! Protect the wagon!” Grand Duke Christopher quickly ordered.

Running at a constant speed, the knights right next to the wagons tried to stop the horses. But they were so tough that it was not easy to control them. A knight even cut a horse, but the horses that got more excited after seeing blood ran more violently.

“Don’t stimulate the horses! Break the link!” Christopher shouted again.

The knights at the forefront smashed the wooden supports that connected the wagons and horses. Some fell from the horses as the surprised horses flung everywhere.

Given the wild scene outside, obviously those inside the wagons must have been terrified.

Every time the wagons were shaken, screams came out from inside the wagons.

“Curtis, stop the wagon.”

Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, Eckart ordered coldly. Curtis nodded once.

It was the moment when he kicked the belly of the horse trying to run ahead of others.

Suddenly, the wagon rattled once and then began driving forward at a frightening pace.

“Damn it! Stop! Stop!”

Horseman Jason screamed in an embarrassed voice. He hurriedly squeezed the reins very hard. But the horses snorted and ran harder. As they accelerated now, they soon reached full speed.

Fortunately, the horses that drove the emperor’s carriages were running forward, unlike the rest of the carriages that ran into the poppy fields up until now. The surrounding scenes quickly changed until they saw the open air through the window.

Bang, bang, bang!

They heard the loud noises of waterfalls like roaring thunder everywhere.

“Your Majesty…?”

Marianne called Eckart with a trembling voice. She could not understand this situation at all.

After breakfast, she took a nap for a while after reading a book. When she opened her eyes, she heard screaming everywhere as if she were in a battlefield.

Damn it. Eckart cursed in a low voice.

“Curtis! Stop the wagon!”

Eckart, who hardly shouted unless needed, shouted at him. Even before he called Curtis, his wagon already outpaced the one ahead of him. He quickly discarded his horse and got on the emperor’s wagon. He pushed Jason, who was so surprised that he couldn’t even scream, and pulled the reins. One of the reins made of leather was broken, unable to resist the enormous power of the horses.

“Oh my god! What should I do? Sir Curtis, these guys aren’t strong like this, but suddenly…”

Jason stuttered in embarrassment. Curtis took out the cloak of the Eluang Knights that covered his back.

A pair of axes were hidden beneath the cloak, hanging on his shoulders. He held two axes the size of adult male forearms, in both hands.

“Hold the reins well. If you miss it, you’ll be damned.”

Handing the reins over to Jason, Curtis cut the wagon’s right link without hesitation.

The thick wooden support, which other knights tried hard to break in vain, was broken at once like a thin stalk. Curtis showed superhuman power.

Jason couldn’t keep his mouth open.

“Your Majesty, please hold on tight! ” Curtis yelled.

Eckart grabbed the window frame with one hand and pulled Marianne with the opposite arm. The main body of the wagon shook terribly when it made friction against the ground. As there was only one support left, the weight of the wagon was down to one side. The table fell and the door opened wide open randomly.

“Oh my god, look at that waterfall…”

Between the open doors was the endless cliff of the waterfall.

“Marianne!”

She raised her head at his calling.

“Pull yourself together! Curtis will do his best, but if he can’t stop the wagon…”

Bang!

The sound of roaring water was heard in the distance. A humid wind blew hard, and the wagon rattled loudly.

Curtis hurriedly put an axe in the wagon roof. Putting the other axe into the front corner on the horseman’s seat, he stretched out his legs and scratched the ground with the heels of his boots and then tightened both arms to keep balance.

Fortunately, the wagon swept back on track. But the inside of the wagon was a mess.

Marianne barely held back the urge to scream. The table was pushed toward the wall and the spilled objects fell over the loose door. The endless waterfall was like a huge hell gate. The objects that bounced off the edges of the cliff disappeared into the wild waters as if they were predicting her future.

“… You might die if you fall down there? ” said Marianne, grabbing Eckart’s collar.

Her rich eyelashes trembled violently.

“But Your Majesty, I don’t want to die like this.”

It didn’t matter whether all this mess was caused by someone’s trick, or it happened at one-thousandth change, but she just did not want to end her life like this.

She got this second life like nobody else. She didn’t want to leave her beloved ones including her father even without touching Ober’s hair. She didn’t like that.

“You won’t die.”

Eckart tightened his arms holding her.

Marianne felt his pressure on her back. Though it was a bit painful for a weak figure like her to endure, she relied on it mysteriously.

“Let me swear in honor of the Frey family that I will surely protect you. I promise.”

Even his hopeful voice and sacred pledge to protect her was overly optimistic. It was almost impossible for her to survive, whether her wagon crashed into a rocky mountain or fell below the unknown waterfall. It would be pure luck if they recovered her body.

Nevertheless, Marianne did not deny his reassurances.

It was not because he was the most honored emperor on earth. Nor was it because he experienced a miracle he could not explain. She couldn’t find any ground in his reassurances that everybody could understand, just like how she felt a solid defense in his cloak that covered her shoulders in the steamy bathroom some time ago.