Chapter 489 UNDER ATTACK
"What was that?"
"A man was hidden under the bush. He had a bow and arrows," Sebastian said.
He walked forward. First, he searched the man and found something in his pocket. Then, he took the bow and arrows from the dead man.
"He was planning to attack our Mistress. He had a picture of her."
He showed the paper. There was a printed drawing of Veronica.
The picture itself wasn't professional but there was a description of her below the picture.
Her unique appearance was already hard to copy. As a result, whoever knew her, they all could guess who the poster was mentioning.
Veronica frowned. Ironin didn't look any better. Catherine and Merlin were shocked.
"What's happening? Why are people looking for me here?"
"That's what I want to know," Catherine murmured. "Ver, did you do anything in this forest to make yourself a criminal?"
"What?! No!" Veronica exclaimed.
"Then, why are people looking for you with your picture on the poster?" Catherine interrogated her. "They only do that for the wanted criminals!"
"Not entirely," Ironin finally opened his mouth. "This poster isn't a wanted poster."
"True, if it was, there would be the seal of the royal guards of Lynnford," Sebastian agreed. "This is their territory."
"We need to move quickly," Ironin urged them.
No one argued with him. They grabbed their bags and headed to the west.
They didn't go that far before arrows flew toward them.
"They are attacking. Take cover!" Sebastian shouted.
Afterward, he quickly grabbed Catherine who was close to him and hid behind a large tree.
Ironin got a hold of Veronica and Merlin and hid behind another tree.
The tips of the arrows struck the nearby trees. Some even passed them.
"What's happening? Who are they?" Veronica asked.
Since there was a shower of arrows, they couldn't peek to see the enemies' faces.
"Are you sure you didn't do anything, Milady?" Merlin asked.
Veronica scratched her cheek.
"I really don't remember much. I've visited so many places that it's hard to remember every single detail."
She had been roaming around for months. With the elves by her side, many things happened.
She trained, she killed, she ran.
The agony and nightmares haunted her every night. Many sleepless nights passed.
Urulas used to tell her that she would groan while sleeping and asked her if she was okay.
At that time, she was a heartbroken woman who thought her husband cheated on her. Although she had freedom, her world seemed to turn gray.
She was open on the outside and quiet on the inside. She didn't want to share her thoughts or feelings.
Urulas could understand it. That's why he didn't pressure her to express her feelings. Rather, he pushed her hard and trained her to become a better fighter.
Those nightmarish days, she would rather forget.
"They stopped shooting at us," Ironin said.
Veronica focused on her surroundings and realized that he was right. No one was shooting arrows at them anymore.
"Did they stop? Should we run?" Catherine whispered.
While asking, she couldn't control her curiosity and peeked out. That's when an arrow came flying toward her.
"Watch out!" Sebastian grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.
"Ahh!" Catherine landed on his chest.
Sebastian tightly wrapped his left hand around her waist.
"What do you think you are doing?" he hissed. "Do you plan to die?"
"I-I don't," Catherine's voice quivered.
Her face was touching his chest. She could feel his warmth, his unique odor and his heartbeat.
His heart was beating rapidly. While listening to his heartbeat, her heart started to beat at the same rhythm.
If she was scared before, she was nervous now.
She was afraid of rubbing her body against him and giving him the wrong idea. She dared not to move in his arms.
"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Veronica asked in a low voice.
Sebastian gave a signal with his finger to show they were fine.
"What should we do now?" Veronica asked Ironin. "Wait until they approach us?"
Ironin said, "They realized they were wasting their arrows. So, they plan to shoot only when we show ourselves."
"And they can slowly approach us by keeping an eye on us, knowing we won't be able to move a muscle," Veronica muttered.
She suddenly got an idea. She shouted, "You people who are attacking us, if you are bandits, please leave. We don't have any money or jewels to give you. We are just random travelers."
Merlin was stunned by her attitude. So were Sebastian and Catherine.
'Why is she yelling? Doesn't she already know that they are mercenaries? Which bandit has wanted a poster with them?' they thought.
Only Ironin didn't say anything. He waited for a reply.
After Veronica shouted, there was silence in the forest.
No one spoke. Even the wind stopped blowing and birds stopped chirping.
Just when they were running out of patience, a voice spoke.
"My, my, it was never my intention to harm you lady with the silver hair."
Veronica found the man's voice familiar but couldn't recognize it.
"Who are you? What do you want?" she loudly asked.
"Have you forgotten me? I've helped you once. I'll be sad if you don't remember me."
The man chuckled.
His attitude angered Veronica.
She refuted, "Don't joke with me. You and your people tried to kill us. What kind of person would help me and then would want to kill me?"
"So, you have forgotten my voice. It has been some time. Since I owe you a big time, I'll forgive you this time. Why don't you come out and see my face? The lady might remember me."
The man tried to be as friendly as possible but nothing about him made him trustworthy.
"Yes, I do that and you shoot me to death. I won't fall for your trap," Veronica replied.
"That would be a dilemma. I was hoping I could collect you unscathed."
There was a hint of disappointment in that man's voice.
'Collect me unscathed?!' Veronica couldn't understand what he meant.
She looked at others. They seemed confused too.
Veronica asked, "Who are you working with?"
The man answered, "Me? I'm not working with anyone. I'm working for myself. These men I hired; I did that only for you."
"Why would you do that for me? To help me?"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺