386 Attack On The Prince
Just as Esther had seen in her vision, Prince Theron had returned to his personal tent to wash himself after fighting on the frontlines, removing the bracelet from his wrist in the process. He proceeded to clean himself, unaware of the fact that great danger was approaching him.
Just as he finished washing up and donning a set of clean clothes, he sensed some movement outside his tent. He was sure it was not his knights as they would not approach his lodging so sneakily. Prince Theron got alerted by this and he slowly picked up his sword, making sure that the person outside would not hear his footsteps. He faced the entrance of his tent while gripping his sword tightly to attack the intruder as soon as he entered.
Prince Theron’s breathing got strained as he listened to the approaching footsteps. Soon, the leather flap at the entrance of his tent shifted to the side and a tall figure wearing a long black robe, his head covered with a hood, entered the tent. His hands were covered in leather gloves, and one of them held a staff with shining crystal on top of it like a sceptre.
“Anyone outside? Men!” Prince Theron shouted, trying to call the attention of the nearby soldier as he pointed his sword at the intruder’s head. “Who are you? Reveal your identity or you have to face my sword.”
The person in front simply moved his free hand and murmured something, which created invisible energy that the prince could not see.
“I am warning you for the last time,” the prince warned coldly once again, ready to attack the mysterious person in front of him.
Before he could move even an inch, a strong force of energy collided against his body, making him fly in the air and be slammed to the ground. Hitting the ground was nothing much, but the collision of his body against that energy hurt his internal organs, causing him to cough out blood.
As the Crown Prince, he was used to being on the receiving end of an assassination attempt. Rather than becoming surprised and foolishly trying to get away, he had long learned that being on the offensive and trying to get the attention of nearby people was more helpful on such occasions. That was why even though he was hurt, his mind was calm as he tried to find a way to rationally process his next move.
‘It is familiar.’
He suddenly remembered the attack he received on that fateful night by the river during the end-of-year festival. It was the same kind of invisible attack he felt after Esther ran to protect him. His eyes started to lose sight.
“Esther…”
Even though the world had become slow and blurry in front of him, even though the intruder could end his life any second now, what he felt was regret over dying without seeing her beautiful face for the last time. Think about that woman, it made him smile despite being in agonizing pain.
Slowly, his movements ceased. His eyes were unable to remain open, but he could sense the mysterious man approaching him. It made him angry, how an unknown person was ending his life so soon and felt it was a pity that he could not keep his promise to Esther to return and marry her. He promised he would spend the rest of his life with her…it was sad his Father and Mother would not get the chance to be grandparents…that his knight’s child could not marry his future daughter…oh, he was sure his daughter would have been as lovely as Esther…
Someone else entered the Crown Prince’s tent. That mysterious attacker in a black robe was dragged out of the tent by the newcomer, and suddenly, there was a silence around Prince Theron.
As he had already fallen unconscious, the young prince did not even get a chance to see what exactly had happened inside his tent.
As one of the strongest knights in the kingdom, Sir Galien had a strong intuition of danger, especially when it came to his liege. At that particular time, he happened to find himself walking towards the Crown Prince’s tent and realized that the camp surrounding the Crown Prince’s lodgings was suspiciously empty. As the person with the highest command in this war, Prince Theron should be on the receiving end of the highest protection. However, there were no soldiers patrolling the area for some reason.
Trusting his guts, the knight ran towards the largest tent and found Prince Theron lying unconscious on the floor, with blood around his mouth.
“Your Highness! Men! Men! Call the doctor!” Sir Galien went towards the prince, and soon after, others entered the tent hearing Sir Galien’s shouts.
The military doctor treated Prince Theron while his knights and soldiers searched around to see who had hurt the Crown Prince. General Maceo, who was working alongside the prince, called for a lockdown on the area, and the soldiers who were nearby were all interrogated. However, they could find nothing and only wait for the prince to wake up and tell them.
It was only on the morning of the next day that the Crown Prince regained consciousness. Upon asking what happened, Prince Theron answered, “A man in a black robe entered my tent and attacked me, but I don’t know who it was and I could not even see his face.”
“Your Highness, we have searched around but we could not find any suspicious person entering our camp,” his guardian knight informed.
Prince Theron recalled how he called for the attention of the men stationed outside, and his expression darkened. “How about the guards outside my tent? How many were killed by the intruder?”
Sir Galien sighed. “Apologies, but their whereabouts are still unknown. We do not know how it happened, but the soldiers who should be guarding you are all missing. We are afraid they’re already…”
Prince Theron only nodded in understanding and asked, “What’s the situation with the last engagement? Did Thevailes do a night raid? Wait, how long have I been sleeping?”
“It has only been a day. Please do not worry about the war, for now, Your Highness. It will be bad for your health—”
“You are dodging the question. It couldn’t be that we were defeated, weren’t we?”