(2) Living as the Villainess Queen

Chapter 225

As the underground lake was alight with the lights given off by the bioluminescent glow fishes that inhabit deep in the dark lake, it wasn’t total darkness after all, with a jerky in his hand as a bait, Aldrit lured them to have them light his way as he swam further into the bottomless lake.

After swimming for a while, he was sent shivers to his spine when he shifted his eyes to the bottom, with his eyes taking in nothing from the deep water, all black as pitch below him. Only God would know the depth of the lake as there was a limit to how deep one could dive, even with the object in one’s mouth.

But far into the deep waters, there was something at the bottom of the lake which seemed as still as a rock, before it slightly squirmed in response to Aldrit’s movement as he swam past above it.

A streak of a flaming light had then shone through a gap, which widened up slowly in the dark. And as if a lid was lifted, a red circle of light was fully revealed from within. From there, a burning aura was beamed from the center as it narrowed into a long vertical line. However, the flame had vanished through the closing gap as the lid closed in once again.

***

The procession had grown in number throughout the journey with travelers who were crossing the mountains around the same time. In ones and twos, they blended into the procession which was being escorted by armed warriors and knights along the road.

With so many variables to consider on a journey through the rough mountain pass, it was considerably safer to move along with the big crowd. It was common for merchants in small sizes or for individual travelers to have information in advance, about the travelling schedules of the large-scale merchant companies to move with them accordingly.

But no matter how big a merchant company could be, it was nearly impossible for them to have warriors as their escort on the road. More so, having the king as a companion meant that their safety on the road was guaranteed, without having to worry about the attacks from wild animals or plunder from the brigands throughout the whole journey.

Those who shoved in their heads under the edge of the wide and sturdy umbrella in an effort to take shelter from the rain were either the small-scale merchants or a party of travelers consisting of two or three individuals. However, the procession was also joined by some unexpected companies along the way. They were without doubt aristocrats, as they all rode in their respective carriages, being served by their own hired attendants.

However, the aristocrats were indeed the nobles who were on their way back to the Hashi Kingdom after spending the whole active period in Holy City as now the dry season has started. But when they happened to stumble upon the Royal procession, they instantly changed their course despite having to go back to where they had come from.

In no time, there were now five new additions of such carriages to the procession. And during almost every break in between, they all gathered around for gossip.

“Though I’ve heard about the Lark incident in passing on the way, I’ve only regarded it as a groundless rumor.”

“So do I. But seeing that Her Majesty is being taken to the Holy City under the knights’ escort with such stringency, the rumor must have been true after all.”

“No doubt it will bring shock to the high society in the Holy City.”

Looking forward to the interesting events that were about to happen in the Holy City, they chatted away with each other. As their queen was bound to become the talk of the society, the nobles from the Hashi Kingdom, who had been crowded out from attention in the Holy City society all along, were now all highly thrilled by the excitement.