Return of the Female Knight

She was confused.

If the legend of the royal family was true, then Paveluc should also have the characteristics of a dragon in her final battle with him, but he still maintained human form even after she had cut off one of his arms. If the royal family really did have the blood of the dragon, there was no reason to hide it. Rather than being treated with scorn and contempt, the emperor would surely be feared as a god. Other countries wouldn’t dare challenge the power of the Rufford Empire.

‘…Why?’

Why would he have to hide it? Why didn’t Paveluc appear like a dragon in her past life, but Crown Prince Carlisle did? Or perhaps…

Or perhaps he wasn’t part dragon, but was a monster instead. Many strange rumors had festered because the crown prince never made an appearance. Elena stood frozen as she took in the scene.

Slash!

One of the enemy knight’s swords cut the crown prince’s side. As a fountain of blood spurted from the wound Elena quicky came to her senses.

‘I don’t care what the crown prince really is. He’s the first in succession to the throne, even if he is a monster.’

None of this changed her plans. Now she was more curious than surprised by the prince, but this was not the time to think about it. She would dig up the secrets of the royal family later. At this moment, saving Prince Carlisle was her top priority. Her past self would have easily gone toe-to-toe with the assassins, but she couldn’t do so in this condition.

‘What should I do?’

She quickly looked around and saw some small explosives in the arms of the dead bodies. Apparently the assassins had the intention to commit suicide as a last resort to take down the prince. There were also as many horses wandering around as there were bodies lying on the floor.

“…All right.”

Elena moved quickly with determination. She collected several small explosives from some of the bodies and picked up a crossbow lying on the ground. She was better with a normal bow, but it took more much effort to pull a bow repeatedly and she wasn’t sure how many arrows she could fire at her current strength. The crossbow’s trigger launch was a more suitable weapon for her now. Although it wasn’t a familiar weapon, Elena had never missed a target in her previous life.

“Haaa!”

With a crossbow in her hand, Elena began to ride her horse towards Carlisle. At the same time, she threw some of the small explosives she had collected.

Gagagagang!

They landed on the explosives in the arms of the dead assassins, causing a chain reaction that led to a larger explosion. The loud noise caused the assassins attacking Carlisle to scatter.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll go and find out.”

The carefully coordinated assassins were quick to react, but they could not hide their shock at the sound of galloping from all sides. It was the sound of horses running wild at the sound of explosives and the resulting fire. Because of the small stampede the assassins couldn’t even guess who was coming from which direction. Just then there was a loud cry.

“Save the Crown Prince!”

At the same time, three arrows shot through the smoke created from the flames and penetrated the hearts of the assassins.

“The enemy!”

“The prince’s backup has come!”

The sound of horses’ hooves thundered around them as the thick smoke obscured their vision. Through the chaos she finally found a gap between the assassins.

Tadadag, tadadag.

To them a black knight had suddenly appeared out of the smoke. Everyone turned their heads in alarm. It was one. Only one was coming out of the darkness. The crown prince’s assassination squad, which consisted of highly-trained knights, were overwhelmed with a feeling of dread.

The knight wore black iron armor from head to toe, and the helmet covering its entire face revealed only two eyes as red as blood. The assassins fully prepared themselves for the oncoming charge led by the black knight, but something was strange. Elena, who jumped into the enemy’s territory alone, stayed only for the briefest of moments. Carlisle’s blue eyes and Elena’s red eyes met.

“Your Highness, get on!”

With an urgent cry, Elena stretched out her hand out to Carlisle and he took it without hesitation.

Taak!

Elena pulled him up, Carlisle used the tension to jump up and sit behind her on the horse.

It happened in the blink of an eye. The assassins who were slow to react quickly raised their voices.

“Stop them!”

Elena pulled out her sword and cut down those who were in their way. However, it was difficult to escape safely because of the disadvantage in numbers. This wasn’t a situation were she could sit down and negotiate with the enemy. Carlisle spoke in low voice behind Elena.

“Give me the reins.”

It was a miracle that he was still conscious considering the large wound on his side. His shirt was so soaked in blood that she couldn’t even tell where the wound was. Even so, an extra hand in this situation would be enormously helpful.

“Here,”

she said briskly and handed him the reins. Having left Carlisle to control the horse, Elena focused on getting rid of the assassins right in their away. As they fled down the road, two arrows poured out from behind like rain. Elena quickly cut down them down with her sword, then took out the crossbow again. She turned herself so she was facing backwards, then started shooting arrows at the pursuing enemies.

Tang, tang!

One by one more of the enemy fell. She wanted to take a headshot, but she aimed at the middle of their chests just to be sure she wouldn’t miss. The enemy was finally becoming more distant.

Fwp!

One of the several arrows fired by the assassins landed squarely on Carlisle’s back.

“Agh!”

He gave a cry of surprise and blood poured out of his mouth. She looked at him in dismay, but Carlisle continued in a steady voice.

“I can hold on. There’s no need to stop.”

“But–”

“Don’t look at me like I’m going to die soon.”

Elena bit her lip. She wanted to shout “You’re going to die today!” but it wasn’t the time to argue with him. At that moment the most important thing was the safety of the Crown Prince Carlisle. Whether he just died back there or died here of excessive bleeding, the result would be the same and her plans would amount to nothing. She looked at Carlisle clenching tightly at the reins despite the arrow in his back.

“Then stay with me so I don’t have to worry.”

Carlisle gave her a questioning look, but now wasn’t the time to have a long conversation with each other. Elena aimed at her crossbow again at the persistent assassins.