Chapter 21

Unfortunately, out of everyone there, Neila was the only one who could control horses, so she was forced to take control of the carriage once more. For whatever reason, one of the riders’ horses returned and began cuddling up with Neila’s. Neila didn’t question it, though, and took out an extra rein, which she had for some reason, and attached it to the extra horse. Now, they had two horses pulling the carriage, going at a slightly faster speed than usual. Kakashi didn’t need a degree in horseism to understand that those two might have feelings for each other, which was a crazy thing to think about, considering the battles they just went through.

“So… where are we heading now?” Syorin asked. They couldn’t return to town. This might not be their attackers’ full fleet, and while it’s obvious they’re linked to the empire one way or the other, there was no way of knowing how many agents they had. They needed to continue moving.

“Still… shouldn’t they be your subordinates, technically?” Kakashi asked.

Neila shook her head. “I don’t know them.”

They showed no hesitation when attacking Neila, even going after her together because she was the weakest.

“I haven’t been back in the empire for a while.”

“How were things when you left?” Syorin asked. Astill and Four sat on the side, observing her. They probably didn’t know how to act around one of the highest-ranking people of their enemy nation.

“I left in the middle of the night… and even before that, I didn’t spend a lot of time outside the castle.”

“Why were you even learning all those skills in the first place? I mean, lock picking? Seriously?” He could understand the tea ceremony and taxes, but lock picking? That didn’t look like a skill a princess would learn.

“I… I used to sneak out of the castle, so they would lock me in my room sometimes. I learned lock picking to escape.”

“I see…” Kakashi nodded.

“I don’t care about your past. I care about what you’re going to do now,” Astill said flatly. “You promised, and that promise is what’s stopping me from killing you right now.”

“Be patient, Astill,” Four said. “She would not be able to go far under my surveillance.”

Mental note recorded, don’t mess with these two.

“By the way, Four, are we supposed to call you… Four?” Syorin asked. So far, they had been calling her by her test number. Surely that wouldn’t bring pleasant memories. To their surprise, Four shook her head.

“It reminds me of the time I spent with my family. Even if this is the last thing I carry from that time, I shall cherish their legacy,” Four said, looking at Astill. “How about you? What is your new name?”

“... Astill Erelight.”

“So you stayed with that name.”

“That name?” Kakashi asked curiously.

“It means the second sun in an old language, apparently,” Astill said, shrugging. “I thought of it as a temporary name, but it stuck.”

“Erelight, huh…” Four nodded. Despite her flat expression, Kakashi could feel an ounce of happiness coming from her. “That is a nice name. I shall take it as mine as well.”

“Do what you want…” Despite her words, Astill’s way of speaking was softer to Four compared to the rest of them. Kakashi kept his curiosity at bay, letting them enjoy their reunion.

“Well, we need to find your other member, right? Do you have any clues about where they might be?” Neila asked.

Four brought her hand to her chin. “He’s still in the empire, as far as I know.” She then looked at Neila. “How do you plan on repaying the sin your nation committed?”

Neila averted her eyes. It was obvious she didn't think that far ahead, and even if she did, she wasn’t sure that whatever she did could help Astill and Four. All she knew was that she could never bring back those who had left.

“You do know that we aren’t the only group the empire abused for dominance,” Astill said.

“Ah, you are right. That also aligns with my secondary goal. How about we pursue that instead?”

“There’s… more?”

“You truly are oblivious, huh?” Astill shook her head. “There’s another group used in human transformation research.”

“People from the kingdom of Elesia are being kidnapped and transformed into mindless werewolves. It showed more promise compared to using the White Dragons, but I had been attacking their groups and freeing the test subject. They’re now gathered in that region, preparing for war with the empire.”

Neila blinked. “This is all news to me…”

“Well, I guess it made sense that your parents wouldn’t tell you what’s going on,” Syorin said. “It is the empire.”

“Is it because of the patriarchy?” Kakashi asked. Everyone except for Neila turned his way.

“Patriarchy? What’s that?” Syorin asked.

“It’s a system where male control more than women. Jobs, roles in households, those kinds of stuff.”

“Like you did during battle?” Astill said. Kakashi averted his gaze.

“Sorry…”

“How many times-”

“Does that count as controlling? I mean, we can just turn hostile, like Astill back during testing.”

“That was a joke.”

Even Four looked surprised, even if only for a slight bit. “You know how to joke?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“That’s… partly not true,” Neila murmured. “While it's uncommon, it's not impossible. There's no rule against me being the next ruler. But…” Neila trailed off.

“And… I don’t think my parents want me to rule, either. I mean, if it’s just because of my gender, then I don’t think things will be this difficult.”

“Is there another reason?” Syorin asked.

“Because the princess is actually a good person,” Four states. Everyone looked at her, shocked to hear what she had just said.

“What?” Astill stared in disbelief.

“It’s said that she voted to free the kingdom of Elesia, which had been annexed a couple of years ago, because of the oppression of the locals. And she also supported normalization of relationships with this kingdom, Monemai,” Four spoke as if Neila wasn’t there with them.

“Really?” Syorin asked.

“I… did have some rather different opinions.”

Those stances meant huge changes coming to the empire if she came to power.

“Well, that is what I heard anyway. I would not hold you any higher nor any lower based on such opinions.”

“I- I’ll try my best to make sure you’re satisfied with me!” Neila brought her hand over her chest.

“I guess that means if those aligned with the kingdom know about where she was…”

“They’ll try to kill her, but they can't do so in their own country.”

The empire had expanded too fast in the last few years, meaning its control of certain territories was unstable. Her death inside the nation could be used to destabilize the country. Some might use the chaos to rise and fight for their freedom.

“I see… that’s why one newspaper said she was exiled,” Syorin said.

“I guess you can call it that,” Neila laughed wryly.

“So, shall we meet up with the rebels for now?”

Everyone agreed with Four’s suggestion, and they continued their journey north.

The north-western lands of the kingdom bordered the eastern regions of the empire, regions that once were an independent country called the kingdom of Elesia. It remained independent until the empire claimed it a hundred years ago. Now, they’re used as staging grounds for the empire’s army to plan an attack on the kingdom.

Helping the region regain its independence would be a huge help in both normalizing relationships with the kingdom and weakening the empire. It would also help stop the white dragons' research, as if the two nations joined forces in fighting off the dragons, then the dragons wouldn’t be as much of a threat.

The question is how.

“Could we even enter?”

The group parked on a tall hill overlooking the border. There were guards stationed at every crossing, and things were tense. Things had been like this ever since the area fell, and the only reason the empire hadn’t invaded yet was the kingdom’s military strength keeping them at bay.

As such, a large number of soldiers occupy the crossing. This made sneaking into Empire territory difficult.

“Can’t you just use a disguise?” Astill asked.

“It’ll need to be so good that people can't recognize me.”

“... Can't we ask for help from the kingdom?”

“What, you're trying to start a war?” Astill spat. “We're trying to improve relationships, not make it worse.”

“Haha, I guess so.”

“I've contacted a friend in the rebellion,” Four said. “Let's get to this town.” She took out a map and showed it to Neila.

“Alright. It should take a few hours.”

“Affirmative.”