Chapter 267: Chapter Two Hundred And Sixty Six
The bright morning sun rose high above the capital city. The warm, golden light washed away the dark shadows of the previous night.
Camilla’s carriage was already waiting for her in the paved courtyard. Her regular carriage driver, Hugo, was sitting on the high wooden box. Hugo was wearing his neat black uniform and a tall hat.
"Good morning, My Lady," Hugo greeted her respectfully, bowing his head from his high seat.
"Good morning, Hugo," Camilla replied softly with a polite smile.
The footman opened the carriage door. Camilla climbed inside and sat down on the soft velvet seat. The door clicked shut.
Hugo cracked his long leather whip, and the strong horses began to pull the carriage out of the iron gates, heading toward the busy streets of the capital city.
The journey started very smoothly. The carriage rolled past the large, beautiful estates of the upper city.
But to reach the lower city, the carriage had to pass through a specific, quiet section of the town. It was a long, winding dirt road surrounded by tall, thick trees and abandoned, old stone buildings. Very few people traveled on this road during the early morning.
Camilla sat comfortably in the carriage. She rested her hands on her lap. She looked out the small glass window, watching the green trees pass by. Her mind was entirely focused on her business. She was planning the new display windows for the fabric store and calculating her expected profits.
Suddenly, the smooth ride came to a very sharp, violent halt.
The carriage jerked forward heavily. The horses neighed loudly in surprise. The wheels ground harshly against the dirt and stopped dead.
Camilla was thrown slightly forward on her velvet seat. She quickly caught her balance by pressing her hands flat against the cushions.
She did not scream. She did not panic. Her eyes immediately narrowed.
She sat perfectly still and listened carefully to the sounds outside.
"Hey! What are you doing blocking the road?" Hugo, the carriage driver, shouted angrily from his high seat. "Move away! This is the Benson family carriage!"
A harsh, rough voice answered immediately.
"Get down from there, old man!" the rough voice growled loudly.
Then, Camilla heard the loud, unmistakable sounds of a violent physical struggle.
She heard a heavy fist hitting solid flesh.
Smack!
She heard Hugo let out a sharp cry of pain. Then, she heard the heavy, sickening sound of a body falling from the high carriage box and crashing directly into the hard dirt below.
THUD.
Hugo groaned loudly in pain as he hit the ground.
Camilla sat inside the carriage. Her face turned into a mask of cold stone. The polite, sweet noble lady vanished. The Black Widow took full control of her mind.
"An ambush," Camilla thought to herself. Her internal voice was calm and observant.
She did not reach for the door handle. She stayed seated, listening closely. She needed to gather information before she made a move.
Outside the carriage, the attackers were talking.
"Take his clothes off!" a gruff voice commanded. "Quickly! Before another carriage comes down this road!"
Camilla heard the sound of fabric ripping. They were violently stripping Hugo of his uniform.
"Okay, I have the coat and the hat," another voice replied. "I’m climbing up to take the reins."
Camilla tracked the movements in her mind. One man, the one who stole the clothes, had just dressed himself as the fake driver. She heard his boots climbing up the wooden side of the carriage. He sat down heavily on the driver’s box above her head.
Then, Camilla heard the crunch of boots walking in the dirt. Two men were walking slowly toward the carriage door.
The two thugs stopped right outside her window. They did not know the window glass was thin enough for her to hear their conversation perfectly.
"I wonder how the lady of the Benson family would look like?" one of the thugs asked. His voice sounded greedy and excited. He rubbed his dirty hands together.
The second thug answered immediately. His voice was harsh, cold, and deadly.
"Shut up," the second thug scolded his partner roughly. "We have an order. Kidnap her to the location and kill her."
Inside the quiet carriage, Camilla heard the word kill.
She did not tremble in fear. She did not gasp in horror.
Instead, a very slow, amused smile curled the corners of her pink lips. Her eyes sparked with a dangerous light.
"Interesting," Camilla murmured to herself. Her voice was a soft, chilling whisper that barely filled the small space of the carriage.
She leaned back against the velvet seat. She crossed her legs comfortably. She found the entire situation incredibly amusing.
"They want to kidnap me and kill me?" Camilla thought to herself, her mind completely relaxed. "How completely amateur. Real professionals do not announce their deadly intentions loudly outside a thin wooden door. These men are absolute fools."
She waited patiently.
Outside, the brass handle of the carriage door was turned roughly.
The door was yanked wide open.
The bright morning sunlight flooded instantly into the carriage.
Standing in the doorway were two large, dangerous-looking thugs. They wore torn, old leather vests. Their faces were covered in ugly scars. They held heavy wooden clubs tightly in their rough hands, fully prepared to drag any other company out of their seat.
They looked inside the carriage with cruel, wicked grins on their faces.
But their cruel grins vanished in exactly one tenth of a second.
They looked at the woman sitting calmly on the velvet seat. They saw her beautiful red curly hair.
Then, they looked directly into her dark, empty hazel eyes.
The two thugs froze.
Their bodies went rigidly stiff, as if they had just been struck by a bolt of lightning. The blood completely drained from their scarred faces, leaving them as pale as white ghosts. Their eyes out of their heads in terror.
They recognized her immediately.
These were the exact same thugs from the Old Man’s Rye Tavern. These were the exact same men who had tried to rob Allen in the dark alleyway just a few weeks ago. They had run away in pure terror when she commanded them to leave. They knew exactly what kind of terrifying, murderous demon was hiding behind her beautiful face.
The clubs simply slipped out of their shaking hands.
Clatter.
The weapons hit the dirt road uselessly.
"My lady?" they chorused together. Their voices were high-pitched, breathless, and shaking with fear.
Camilla placed her hands gently over her mouth. She opened her eyes very wide, putting on a flawless performance of a delicate, surprised noblewoman.
"Oh my!" Camilla gasped softly, her voice dripping with fake, dramatic shock.
She lowered her hands and smiled a sweet innocent smile at the two terrified men.
"I never thought we would meet each other in a situation like this," Camilla said smoothly. Her voice was light and cheerful, contrasting the deadly threat in her eyes.
The two thugs fell to their knees in the dirt right outside the carriage door. Their legs gave out from panic. They pressed their hands together, shaking violently.
"My lady, we’re sorry!" the first thug pleaded frantically. Tears of terror formed in his eyes. He bowed his head repeatedly. "We’re so sorry! We didn’t know it was you! If we knew, we wouldn’t dare!"
The second thug nodded his head vigorously, his hair flying around his pale face. He looked at her as if she were about to summon knives from the air to kill them.
"Yes, my lady!" the second thug cried out, his voice cracking loudly. "We wouldn’t dare! We swear on our lives! We wouldn’t dare look at your carriage!"
Camilla watched them beg. She slowly dropped her sweet, innocent smile.
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