Richard stared at the three without answering Harvey's question immediately. Was that the choice he had made? Sacrificing the little girl who did nothing to them to get Wilder back in the palace?
Richard looked at Anne's daughter, who did not say anything. She had been quiet since he started talking, just like Harold too.
Harold had actually seemed surprised when he realized Wilder and Anne's relationship ran deep. But Alicia hadn't been since she already knew about them; what she didn't know was whether or not Wilder had her in his heart for real.
"Father..." Harvey called when his father still didn't answer but just looked at the golden pin in his hand.
"I thought it was the best. For everybody." Richard finally answered while Harvey stared at him in disbelief and disappointment, but Alicia and Harold still kept their faces straight.
What was the point of being surprised? The witches were wiped out, and Anne died somewhere else. They already knew that.
"You... were also going to watch Queen Anne's daughter get killed without... doing something?" Harvey asked, feeling emotional when he remembered how Alicia and Paulina had almost been killed. "One... wasn't enough?"
"You must have believed I came for revenge then," Alicia said to Sir Richard quietly. She also felt emotional. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know the rest of the story. It greatly affected her because not only did Anne have her looks, but she had also taken a glimpse into her life. And when she met Anne in that dimension at that time she saw her for the second time, she also seemed like a very lovely person. And despite everything she went through--including being forced to marry someone she didn't want to--she still tried to do the right thing. Alicia remembered the first time she had seen Anne fighting with some men in the village who were trying to extort the villagers. She remembered how everyone had chanted her name. How lovely she was.
A tear escaped her eye, and she sniffled before quickly cleaning it with her palm.
"Did you regret it?" Harold asked him in a heavy voice. It was as though this was too much.
Constantly, he was being put in a position to feel guilty about being with Alicia.
Richard nodded immediately. "It was too late." He said sadly.
"Everything became messed up."
"The King. Did he... ever meet her?" Alicia asked him.
"I do not think so. But... everyone knew the tale about her. So he must have been told."
"What tale?" Alicia asked.
Wilder had been constantly sick, but he was too stubborn to stay well-rested. He was always training outside his tent, despite the pain it brought him and the fact that his stab wound was not healing and had even spread to the point where it was rotting. At that point, Sir Richard knew that if more men came for a surprise attack on them, Wilder wouldn't make it.
He didn't know what he had been thinking. He didn't even know why he had treated Sir Zealot. Or maybe he hadn't trusted the man but had been scared of what the man would do to his family.
He had returned to meet him to explain that he would neither let Prince Wilder be punished for treason nor make him go crazy. Rather, they should bring one of their best physicians to get Prince Wilder treated. In return, he was going to give them a description of a certain witch and show them the direction she usually took into the woods; he believed they would be able to find the witch's hideout through that means.
Lord Zealot had surprisingly agreed. He seemed more eager to get the witches destroyed than to care about whatever Wilder planned.
And so they sent a physician under the guise of visiting the head of that city. Richard explained to Wilder that a physician was in the city, and he was going to bring the man over. And despite Wilder's insistence that he didn't need one, Richard tried so hard to convince him and brought him over for the treatment. In exchange for the physician, Richard handed out the location and a drawing of the girl.
It wasn't even 2 days later when they heard the news about some men scouting a particular area in the woods with strong incense smoke. The kind that was able to bring out anything hidden.
Even though Wilder was always stuck in his chamber, the smell of smoke in their air seemed to have drawn him out of the tent because, by the time Richard arrived there from an errand, Wilder was not in and neither was the physician.
In a panic, he raced to the woods, and that is when he saw Wilder. His hair was down and loose, and not only was he looking pale, but he also had obvious dark circles and an eye bag and looked thinner. Richard was worried about Wilder exposing himself like this to them. But it was too late. Especially since Wilder's sword was dripping blood and two of the men dressed in black were already lying dead beside him.
The most surprising thing was the number of people there.
There were up to 30 people who didn't even look like normal soldiers, nor were they dressed like one. They were dressed in black robes and held heavy weapons, reminding Richard of the assassins that had attacked them the other time.
The highlight of it all was Lord Zealot's presence. He sat on his horse, and not only he was fully armoured, but his horse was too.
"Do you think you can stop all of us like this?" Sir Zealot asked Wilder in a mocking tone.
In response, Wilder wielded his sword and pointed it at him.
"You are already too late." Lord Zealot laughed and pointed in the direction adjacent to Wilder.
"We already found where they are hiding." He paused and looked around until his eyes found Richard's and gestured to him with a hand. "Thanks to his help."
Wilder's eyes followed Sir Zealot's hand, and when he saw the person on the other end...
Richard never wanted to remember the look in his eyes.
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on fre ew𝒆bnovel.com