Born As The Emperor’s Daughter - Chapter 242

“Carlos!”

Alexandra called out to her knight that was bleeding and on the ground, he was paralyzed. Alexandra’s eyes widened as she realized the person that stabbed him, Lillianna. Standing beside his body while holding the knife in her hand, there was a cold look in her face. The gentle and awkward Lillianna wasn’t there and was replaced with a cold and stoic one. As if the Lillianna that she have known didn’t exist, everything was just a façade. A mask to hide their true intentions.

Based on what Beatrice was trying to do earlier, it seems like they are going to take me, she thought to herself and couldn’t help but click her tongue. But why? Is it for money or ransom? This is the second time that I have experienced or encountered this kind of thing, the first one was when I was 12 years old and now, 2 years later.

But the difference was that it’s happening inside the palace.

“Your enemy is here, princess,” Alexandra’s attention was grabbed when she heard Beatrice speak as she sensed something approach her. She whipped her head to look ahead of her and saw what it seems like a ball that was blazing and was a dark-colored. Alexandra dodged and jumped away from it, firing the arrows that she has summoned at Beatrice’s direction but before it could reach her, it just vanished.

Alexandra was standing quite far away from Beatrice. Alexandra was holding the dagger in her hands, she still wasn’t skilled in using this yet as she just started learning this. This is bad, I’m all alone.

Alexandra furrowed her eyebrows and clicked her tongue. She summoned another set of flaming arrows, the half was pointing at Lillianna’s direction in case she tried to attack her. I’m sure that Lillianna can’t put up a fight or can’t use any spell, she’s probably only here just to distract me and stab Carlos so that nobody would help me.

As far as I can remember, there aren’t any knights or guards patrolling or guarding this area. This is hard.

I didn’t notice Lillianna in this garden at all, in fact, I didn’t even notice another person’s presence in this place when I arrived. She just materialized or appeared in front of Carlos when she stabbed him, it was like she went invisible but I could have noticed a faint trace of mana and presence.

“You’re probably wondering how Lillianna was able to stab Carlos without being noticed. Lillianna wasn’t born in a poor family, in fact, she didn’t have a family. She’s an assassin that I have hired to do this and helped me with my plan. You know that people like her are good at hiding their presence, I also used a spell that makes her invisible for minutes. Female assassins are quite rare and she was skilled, it wasn’t that hard to infiltrate this palace as a maid.”

Alexandra’s expression crumpled. So everything was just a lie then, them being friendly towards me and such. Just so that they could do this? Were they waiting for the right moment to strike?

���What are you planning?” Alexandra asked Beatrice, she glanced at Lillianna’s direction and she was just standing there, besides Carlos. She had her head hanging low as she held the knife tightly in her hands. Blood was dripping down the tip of the blade and Alexandra gulped before she looked ahead of her once again.

“Isn’t it quite obvious, princess? We’re here to take you,” Beatrice said and let out a giggle in the end. It sent a chill down her spine. Beatrice licked her lips before she sprung forward Alexandra who was caught off-guarded but thanks to her quick instincts (because of Calixander training her, she became quite sharp and quick), she was able to dodge and fire half of the arrows at her but Beatrice also fired the same ball that she fired at her earlier.

Alexandra’s eyes widened and she ducked then rolled down the ground, to the side. The sound of an explosion was heard and it diverted her attention away from Beatrice. There were cracks seen on the ground where the ball hit. She’s seriously going to attack and fire at me with that?

Lillianna was just standing there, watching the scene in front of her beside the unconscious body of Carlos. It doesn’t look like she has any intentions of joining the fight at all.

Alexandra got up from the ground, her dress dirty but was still in good condition, it wasn’t torn or damaged. Goddamn, she thought to herself. Thinking of what she should do then an idea popped up inside her head. She stared at Beatrice who was slowly approaching her before she started running around the garden. I apologize but it seems like the garden would be destroyed with my plan, she thought to herself.

She started to fire the other half of the arrows that she has summoned and didn’t use earlier. Directing it not towards Beatrice but the ground, trying her best to not hit it at Carlos’ direction as he was unconscious, creating what it seems like a sound of explosion and dust started to rise, and formed a fog.

Beatrice seems like she was having trouble. Even when she used something to get rid of the dust or disperse it, I would continue doing what I was doing then the dust would rise again.

“You little bitch!” She heard Beatrice shout.

I think Carlos is in that area, she thought to herself as she ran straight to the direction where she presumed Carlos and Lillianna was. I’m sure that the people who are near this area or garden could have heard the continuous sounds explosion and is making their way towards here already. That was what I was planning.

The problem is, I can’t carry Carlos on my own and have to use magic.

Damn it, it’s hard to see anything thanks to the dust. Alexandra squinted her eyes as she covered her mouth and nose with one hand while the other was holding the dagger. Alexandra stopped summoning arrows as she was feeling quite exhausted from all of those running and continuously using spells. She stepped on something, what it seems like a leg and she immediately realized that was Carlos. She took a few steps away.

“Lillianna, do your goddamn job!” Another shout was heard.

She sensed another presence nearby and knew that it was Lillianna. She stepped aside and slightly turned her head to only see a blade coming in her direction though it only grazed her cheek as she was able to dodge it. Alexandra cursed to herself and her instincts took over, her hand that was holding went forward and stabbed the person who was Lillianna.

“Princess, please run away.”

She heard Lillianna say as she let out a cough. Alexandra took a step back, pulling out the dagger in the process. A thud was heard right after. Her eyes were narrowed down on Lillianna’s body, staring at it.

Did I—

She was confused because of what she had heard from her. What does she mean by that? After stabbing Carlos, watching Alexandra gets attacked and didn’t do anything at all, almost stabbing her, and betraying her trust as she was part of this plan, she was telling her that? Did guilt overwhelm her or something? I—Damn it. This is way too confusing.

Alexandra was struck still but then she realized what she should have been doing now. The dust was starting to lessen and the fog has started to fade. I’m sorry.

Alexandra’s attention was diverted to Carlos.

The dust could have infected his wound and I have to take him out here now, he could die of blood loss or something, she thought to herself and used a spell that made Carlos float in the air then follow her as she ran away from the garden. The fog that was made out of dust was starting to fade and disperse, I have to be quick–

However, even before she could fully exit the garden, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and it pushed her down the ground, making her let go of her dagger that had blood in it. Her body emitted a thud as she fell forward then another came, she figured that it was Carlos falling down the ground as the magic she used wore off.

An arrow has struck her right shoulder and she tried to push herself up but she would fail as the pain that she felt in her right shoulder felt like it was electrocuting and sending pain all over her body when she does so.

“Really, what a troublesome child you are,” She heard someone approaching her direction and saw a pair of black shoes. She could tell that it was Beatrice standing beside her body, she felt herself being lifted off the ground. Not by with the use of a hand but by magic as she didn’t feel anything wrap around her or grab her.

She saw Beatrice, doing something to her hair as if she was pulling it off. Then it did, revealing the true color of her hair. She looked quite familiar with that hair and all then Alexandra’s eyes widened as she realized who that person was.

Mark Devan.

[Author: I know that it somehow sounds ridiculous with Mark Devan dressing and acting like a female just to do his plan but hey, he doesn’t have any choice.]

His palm was facing her forehead and he was chanting something that she couldn’t hear. His lips were only moving. She can’t move and her eyelids were becoming heavy, she heard the sound of multiple footsteps approaching.

Then her vision became black.

—

It was quiet and peaceful, there was only silence surrounding the room and the sound of pages being flipped and some scribbling was the only thing heard though it was light and faint. After what happened earlier, Alexandra running out of the room where her mother and his wife’s portrait was being hidden and kept along with some paintings and portraits which weren’t her, he went back to his office and continued his paperwork.

It looked like she was shocked and confused, she was even stuttering and having trouble speaking and getting her words out of her mouth. But he didn’t ask her why even though he was curious about her reaction.

He let out a sigh as he placed down the pen and held the document in his hand as he read it. This was the last document and after that, he is done with his work. There is still an hour or two left before I have my afternoon meal with Alexandra, Calixander, and Gilbert. I could still rest and sleep. I rarely see Gilbert nowadays, he would sometimes not join us with our meals and would be late. It’s probably because of his training in becoming a proper wizard.

At this rate, he might become a candidate for becoming an Elder. Well, he isn’t against it. If I force my children on making them do what they don’t want to do, it would make us distant from each other. Our relationship would be bad and such. After the death of their mother, we became quite distant. We rarely interact with each other unless it’s needed and they were hardly getting along with each other.

Not until Alexandra came.

He heaved out a sigh.

The truth about our bloodline, it was hard to get over it.

Without any warning like a knock or something, the door of Alexander’s office was slammed open, revealing a knight who was panting and sweating, trying to catch his breath. He was lost in his thoughts and was distracted not until his attention was grabbed by the sudden opening of the door thus snapping him out of his thoughts. His eyebrows furrowed as he watched the knight enter and stop in front of his desk, calming himself down.

It was like he ran a marathon.

He was about to open his mouth to speak and scold the person because what he did was quite disrespectful, however, the knight spoke first and interrupted what he was about to say.

“I apologize for disturbing you and entering without knocking but I have some bad news for you, your highness.”

Alexander’s expression crumpled more.

“What is it?”

“The princess… The princess has disappeared!”