Lynch was crushed beneath a pile of heavy men.
Trapped under several guards, he had to endure a pungent mix of sweat and body odor while pushing up with both arms to hold a bit of space for the woman beneath him.
Lynch was struggling terribly, yet the woman beneath him was actually smiling.
She had shown a rare look of panic at first, but after Lynch tackled her and landed on top of her, she recognized who he was—and the corners of her mouth actually twitched upward.
“Maybe check the situation before you start smiling? You almost got your head blown off just now.”
“With my knight fighting before me, I have nothing to fear.”
Princess Sophia bit her lip softly. Taking advantage of the moment when their faces were pressed right up against each other, she suddenly raised her head...
“Sir Levive is here protecting the Princess! The situation is under control, and the assassin has been killed. Up, everyone! Move Her Highness to safety!”
Baron Boivar's voice rang out from atop the pile. The guards covering them peeled back layer by layer, and someone finally helped up Lynch, who was clutching his lips with a strange expression, along with the Princess, whose smile was dignified and completely unruffled.
The moment they stood up, a group of guards pushed their heads down and kept them stooped over, shuttling them at a jog into the nearest barracks. The place had already been searched inside and out multiple times to ensure there were no suspicious characters. Only after escorting the Princess inside did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
Lynch let out a breath of relief as well.
This had been the only way out he could think of.
Even if an attack took place, regardless of its success, it would be nearly impossible for the Valente family, the hillmen, and Lynch himself to clear their names. However, if the Princess was attacked before stepping onto the Valente family's fiefdom, and those parties went to great lengths to protect her, then even if something happened to her, it would be hard to pin the blame on the Valente family or the hillmen.
Thus, Lynch couldn't be bothered to explain and had charged ahead right away. Their established tacit understanding led the two ladies to immediately have Nikolai catch up while they followed close behind, making it in time to complete this tense, thrilling reunion.
After a brief exchange with Princess Sophia and Baron Boivar, they finally cleared up the situation.
Guards had actually been sent ahead before Princess Sophia's visit, but Lynch and his two companions had already entered the mountains at the time and hadn't run into them.
The guards hadn't neglected their duties; they had searched the entire engineering camp several times. However, the attacker had clearly possessed authorities over the forest and hunting, giving him specialized abilities to conceal himself. No matter how thoroughly the guards inspected the camp, they hadn't been able to spot him. Instead, it was Lynch's group who had spotted the attacker beforehand thanks to their angle of vision.
But this couldn't go on forever. Lynch felt deeply conflicted. They had just taught the culprit a lesson, yet only a few days had passed before another assassination attempt occurred. Was the culprit utterly determined not to give up?
“No, Sir. You have misunderstood.”
Inside the barracks, Princess Sophia had dismissed most of her guards, leaving only her spymaster, Baron Boivar. Lynch's side was fully present, including the elder hillman. The old ghoul had revealed high-tier power for the first time just now, frightening the Princess's guards so badly that they treated him with utmost deference, terrified he might dabble in blood and make clay figurines out of them. Princess Sophia didn't mind his presence and explained quite calmly:
“This attack likely wasn't carried out by the parliamentary faction.”
“Hmm?”
“Our reason for staying in Rhine recently was precisely to negotiate with the parliamentary faction,” Princess Sophia explained in detail. “Thanks to you at the ball, they failed to kill me and fell into an absolute disadvantage. They've already begun purging their own radicals to keep the fallout from spreading. If we followed my father's wishes and took this chance to crush our opponents, we could indeed leave them unable to recover for years. But that isn't actually a good approach.”
“Why?”
“On one hand, the harder you suppress them, the stronger the eventual backlash will be. On the other hand, heavy suppression might backfire entirely. Our sworn enemy, Friedman, is a prime example. The conflict between their king and parliament is even fiercer than ours in Lande. In their capital, Paris, alone, several large-scale conflicts have broken out over the past ten years, and the entire nation is in turmoil. If we continue down this path, we might end up following in their footsteps.”
Lynch nodded thoughtfully, beginning to grasp Sophia's reasoning.
“Rather than doing that, it is better to take advantage of the parliamentary faction's current disadvantage to ease tensions between them and the royal family. Perhaps we can find a middle ground and prevent Lande from falling into the same chaos as Friedman.”
Sophia smiled and spoke with confidence:
“That is why I have been in contact with the parliamentary faction over these past few days. While I cannot go against my father's wishes, I can show my sincerity within the bounds of what I can decide, letting them see where I stand in the future. Once they shift their focus to me, my dear younger brother won't be as important to them anymore. Then, when Father wants to discipline my brother, he won't have to worry about such a fierce reaction from the parliamentary faction.”
Hiss. Killing two birds with one stone, pulling the rug out from under them... Do all these politicians love dealing silent, lethal blows like this? Lynch marvelled inwardly, feeling that Princess Sophia's gorgeous face suddenly seemed a bit chilling.
“The progress has been encouraging, so under these circumstances, even the radicals within the parliamentary faction wouldn't attack me—it offers them no benefit whatsoever. I am inclined to believe the mastermind behind this attack comes from the royal capital.”
“Hmm? Could it be Emperor Rudolph? He wouldn't think that you...”
Although Lynch didn't finish his sentence, the expression on his face betrayed his thought. Sophia shook her head calmly.
“No. I haven't crossed his bottom line yet. Besides, if it were Father, he would never send just a single mid-tier assassin. The secret unit under his command hides many formidable figures; if he sent them, we would hardly escape alive. Furthermore, if Father wanted to move against me, he wouldn't involve all of you. That would be equivalent to openly clashing with Duke Vane.”
Something he had only guessed by relying on knowledge from his past life and a stroke of luck had been casually articulated by a young girl. Feeling a rare moment of awkwardness, Lynch exchanged glances with the two ladies, coughed dryly, and said:
“Then it's likely Prince William. Seeing his biggest backing about to be dismantled by you, he had no choice but to strike first. He also hates me for shattering that mirror and ruining his scheme, and he hates the Valente family for hindering his plans. So he took this opportunity to strike, dragging us down as well.”
“Even if he failed to kill me in the end, it would still plant seeds of discord between me and the parliamentary faction. It must be him—my disobedient younger brother.”
Princess Sophia stood up abruptly and said softly:
“My mission for this trip is essentially complete, and I am preparing to return to Norin to settle this score with him. I will depart around the twentieth and head back before his investiture ceremony on the twenty-eighth. Sir Lynch Levive, I now have a matter on which I solemnly require your counsel.”
“Hmm?”
“The few days after I return will be the most critical. They may decide the fate of many, perhaps even the fate of all Lande. I hope my knight can stand at my side during those days to help me cut through the thorns ahead. You do not need to answer me right now, my knight, but I hope you can give me a clear response before the day I depart. I eagerly await it.”
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