I Became The Childhood Friend of the Obsessive Second Male Lead - Chapter 363

The soldiers returned to their camp and explained the situation to the others who remained there.

There were no tears shed or regrets expressed at the sight of Taylor’s body. Perhaps it was because of his rough treatment of anyone below him. No one liked him.

However, the soldiers had a new concern on their minds.

What would happen if they were to return to the King?

“We’re going to be killed.”

Someone stated the obvious fact, and no one disagreed. The King had started to trust the mercenaries he had brought in from various countries, and the seasoned mercenaries had already been harassing the soldiers in secret.

As a result, there was hardly any place left for them in the castle. With this incident added, it was certain that the King would be furious enough to kill them.

“Or maybe we’ll be sold.”

Someone suggested a new possibility.

This time, everyone nodded in agreement, since it made sense.

They were healthy and strong Liz’s soldiers, it was obvious their value was surely higher than expected.

“…”

A heavy silence hung in the air. The only fortunate thing was that nobody dared to suggest, ‘Let’s go back now and blame it on the villagers.’

“What do you think the Princess will do?”

“She’s going to the border, is she? After all, she’d left to get married.”

Someone cautiously brought it up amidst the murmurs.

“Should we ask her?”

“And then what will we do?”

For now, they decided to go to the Princess.

A few representatives were chosen from the soldiers and they went to visit Rieta.

Rieta was still in the slash-and-burn village. Even though the soldiers had withdrawn, there were injured individuals amidst the tense atmosphere, and Rieta was assisting the mercenaries, going back and forth between the tents and helping the wounded.

The soldiers’ representatives cautiously requested a meeting from behind the tent.

“I’m sorry.”

Rieta said, stepping outside the tent.

“They’re still afraid of you, so… please bear with it.”

As she glanced around, she noticed sharp glares directed at the soldiers.

But those gazes were not only directed at the soldiers. The way they looked at Rieta was not nice either.

Perhaps it was because her identity as the daughter of King Liz had been revealed.

“I’m fine.”

Were the soldiers worried about Rieta in their own way?

She shrugged and smiled.

“Still, Princess…”

She smiled, troubled, without offering any particular response to their lingering words.

As the day passed and the sun began to set, Rieta led the group down to where the soldiers were encamped.

Though she appeared somewhat fatigued, she immediately went to look for Taylor’s body. Staring at his gruesome corpse for a while, Rieta nodded as if she had made a decision.

“Then… shall we do it this way?”

“What?”

“While you were moving to carry out the King’s orders, you encountered Princess Rieta and her party.”

The soldiers stared at her, wondering what the Princess was talking about.

“The Princess was running away to avoid the wedding the King had arranged.”

“What?! Did you do that?” They exclaimed in surprise.

Rieta nodded as if it were obvious.

“Yes, you didn’t expect me to go to the extent of killing the ones trying to capture me.”

She pointed to Taylor’s body lying on the ground. It seemed she was determined to pin everything on herself. The soldiers were left speechless at this absurd revelation.

“But in the end, I was caught by the soldiers.”

Rieta extended her wrists forward, as if presenting herself for capture.

“If you report it like this, everyone can be safe.”

“But wouldn’t that… cause a big problem for you, Princess?”

One of the soldiers asked hesitantly. Rieta shook her head.

“It’s alright. I just need an excuse to return to the castle.”

Ah, so that was why. The soldiers glanced at each other for a moment. If they took the Princess with them, they would likely be safe. This was because they had discovered a more important issue than capturing the slash-and-burn villagers and trying to rectify it.

“But to do that, it means we have to treat the Princess as a criminal and take her back to the castle.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy.

Rieta claimed that she was just taking advantage of the situation. However, the soldiers couldn’t easily nod in agreement.

They couldn’t help but consider the possibility of something happening to the Princess.

The only ones left by King Liz’s side were the mercenaries from abroad or those who had bought their honor with money.

They felt a deep sense of responsibility for the situation, in which the support for Rieta had dwindled considerably.

Because of the despicable deeds they had committed, muttering, ‘It can’t be helped. It’s an order’ until now…

Want to read more chapters and support us? Please consider becoming a patron to read up to 40 chapters in advance!