Rebirth Series: Princess' Revenge

20. To Decline

The moment a loud explosion was heard, Dyle immediately jumped to his feet and erected a barrier around them. The knights, even Princess and Vanford, took out their weapons from the space pouch. Everyone in the room was on high alert as they looked at the shattered window.

A minute had passed yet there was neither any attack nor signs of movement but nevertheless, Dyle kept the barrier up as his eyes darted from the window to the door of the room. Princess noticed what her father was concerned of.

No one's coming at all...

Not even our knights.

Knights in the Bonneville Manor were top notch and their response speed could be considered as fast as sound.

The lips of Princess slowly tugged down as she felt anxious on their current situation. Nobody move nor speak; their breathing were deep but silent. The silence was broken when Dyle spoke as he released the barrier.

"The foreign presence is now gone." A sigh of relief was heard from him.

Princess immediately tugged her father's sleeve. "Father, what could you be talking of? What caused this incident?"

No answer was heard from Dyle, he instead looked at Abraham. The young man nodded and bolted towards the door. His abrupt action of kicking the doors open startled the two knights who were tasked as guards.

"Did any of you hear a loud crash?" Abraham's voice was highly imposing making the knights confused if they did anything wrong.

One of the two knights managed to recover and replied, "No sir, no loud noises were heard from inside the room."

Abraham nodded then faced Dyle's direction.

Both Princess and Vanford were shocked to know that the explosion was isolated within the room garnering no response from the knights within the manor.

"Looks like we're up against a wind element user." Dyle's eyes were focused on the broken shards of the window then slowly moved towards to Princess and Vanford. "What I know is that there are two possible targets within the room."

Despite the young age of the two princes, it is plausible if the power struggle had already started at this time. However, Princess' mind narrowed her targets to the recent guest but something didn't make sense.

Considering that my father, one of the best magicians in the Crestford Kingdom, is present then this level of attack is practically useless. Was the High Church this stupid?

Dyle instructed a thorough inspection of the whole manor. Due to the suspicion that someone might be after the life of the second prince, Dyle suggested that the second prince should stay for a couple of days in order to observe whether there would be more attacks to come. Vanford readily approved Dyle's suggestion and sent a message to the capital to inform the king of the attack and about his stay.

Princess had to spend the rest of the day being followed by Abraham and Tanya while Vanford was under the guard of two royal knights and one elite knight from the Bonnevilles.

On the next day, Princess was spending her afternoon by reading aloud a book beside her unconscious mother when a knock interrupted her. Having an idea on who it is, Princess beckoned Tanya to open the door.

"How may I help his highness?" Princess curtsied while Vanford had his usual smile.

He slowly made his way to the side of the bed and gazed at the serene visage of the woman who was called as the Heaven's Demon.

"I can see you got your beauty from your mother," he spoke casually.

Princess chuckled then retorted, "Actually, some people would say I inherit all of the good parts of both my father and mother making it half and half. This I prefer to hear."

He couldn't help but shake his head. Whether she was aversive to compliments or she simple doesn't care, he had already concluded that sweet words won't sway her. Thus he decided to go straight to the point, "Lady Princess, I would like to hear your response on my proposal yesterday."

Abraham and Tanya frowned at the raised topic while Princess was actually calm. She knew that he would talk about the proposal while he is still staying in the Bonneville manor. But even if much time will pass, her answer would only be the same.

Marrying a prince would be one of the dreams that a maiden could have. However with what happened in my previous life, I am no longer a maiden. I am now a woman.

Being a woman means that one shouldn't wait to be saved, one should use her own hands and feet to crawl out from the pit hole of distress.

With head held high and eyes that burned with determination, Princess faced Vanford. What she doesn't know was that Vanford noticed her intention to decline his proposal. A cunning smile surfaced on his face.

"I can teach you a method to heal your mother and awake her from her coma."

His words were like thunder that shock her mind and made her heart tremble. From her initial shock, mock could be seen on her face which made Vanford chuckle.

"I know what you are thinking Lady Princess. I may be using a similar bait of the High Church but please do take note --," he spoke as he took two steps closer to Princess making himself look intimidating despite his body of a child.

"Lady Princess, similar doesn't mean the same."

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