"Look at you. Snarling at me like a wounded animal"

"You don't need to be so angry" Taunted the masked assassin in a childish tone.

He seemed to be the head of all the assassins the Frost Knights had fought so far.

He stopped walking and extended his hands towards the knights. On receiving the orders, the others behind him started to attack them.

"CHARGE!" Sir Tate was the first one to swing his sword.

The major disadvantage of mages was that they were weak to physical attacks.

The knights used this point as leverage and focused on the mages while dodging their attacks.

Sir Tate took down two mages at once after attacking them from behind. The other knights were not far off taking down the enemies at their own paces.

All this while, the head assassin was watching the show as a spectator. He was even clapping and whistling at times.

Sir Tate stood in front of him covered in blood.

If he were to defeat the head assassin then victory will be ensured.

"Oh...You're here for me" The head assassin pointed to himself, recognizing Sir Tate's intent.

He was still talking like a child while his comrades were fighting with their lives. Unfazed by the blood spilling on both sides, he was enjoying the fight as if he was watching a play unfold.

In an instant, the playfulness in his face disappeared. It was full of malice wanting to see bloodshed.

With a single flick of his hand, he sent the knight who tried to ambush him from behind flying.

The knight was thrown towards the trees. He rolled on the floor and groaned with pain, heavily injured from the impact.

The head assassin was distinctively different from his peers. Green lighting like thunder launched at the knights at the speed of light.

If the other assassins were average mages then he was a sorcerer.

"Come on" He taunted Sir Tate.

Sir Tate could feel that he was smiling at him mockingly behind the snake mask.

The duo charged at the other and started to fight.

The sky rumbled like a mad titan, thunder striking across the sky igniting it with bright light.







Meanwhile, inside the carriage.

"Listen to me"

Angelica held Eve and Heather's hands. They were trembling all over, scared of the people outside.

Angelica tried to comfort them to her best. She could sense that there was a change in the atmosphere outside.

Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"No matter what happens....." She tightened her grip on their hands and reassured them,

"None of this is your fault. Or the knights fighting outside"

'It's that b*stard Edward's fault' Angelica didn't complete her sentence.

No matter how much she wanted to curse Edward, doing that in front of the maids would blow her cover big time.

Angelica had a fiery expression on her face. She felt bad for not having punched Edward's perfect face at least once when she had the chance.

The maids calmed down a bit after listening to her. At the same time, they also sympathized with her.

It was normal for a person to be frightened when threatened with death.

Instead of panicking like them, the young duchess was handling it from a mature standpoint.

For her, who was being brave at a time her life was in danger, there was nothing they wouldn't do. Even if it meant they had to sacrifice their lives, they would do so gladly.

'Madam...' Their loyalty for her only increased as the time went by.

'The heck am I going to do'

On the other hand, Angelica herself was feeling panicked. But, if she were to lose herself to fear, there would be no point in fighting so far.

Contrary to the other two, she was experienced. She had been in countless dangerous situations though this one was unlike anything she had ever seen. If she were to survive this, then there would be nothing that would scare her.

The people outside who were fighting for her.

They didn't deserve this.

They were just at the wrong place with the wrong person.

Angelica clenched her fists.

Then she noticed that the area around suddenly turned quiet. Or it has been for a few minutes.

'Did the knights win?'

Angelica was confused. According to the book, they would lose with her life being taken.

She felt eerie from the uncomfortable silence.

When she reached out to open the window curtain, she heard an unfamiliar man's voice that was mimicking that of a child.

"Hey princessssss......." He dragged.

"Come out come out wherever you are......."

There was no way anyone from the Frost residence would call her out like that.

Angelica hypothesized that the knights had lost from the tone of the unfamiliar voice. It was being sweet and taunting at the same time.

Before she could react it continued.

"The more time you take to come out. The more blood your loyal knight will shed"

The assassin was calling out for her.

Angelica stood up ready to walk out the door when she felt a light tug at her clothes.

It was Eve and Heather. They were holding onto her clothes with tears running down their cheeks.

"Haah..." Angelica sighed.

She got to her knees and looked them in the eye.

"Promise me...."

"That you would stay inside the carriage until help arrives. That you won't burst outside to sacrifice yourselves"

""Madam"" Their voices were hoarse and tired from crying.

"This is my fight. So stay in and stay safe" Angelica patted their heads as she got up.

"That is the least thing you could do for me"

"We promise" Eve said, holding onto a sobbing Heather.

Angelica smiled at them before turning away. She opened the door and stepped out.

The assassins were standing on the other side of the carriage. She had to walk around to face them.

When Angelica stepped from the side, she could see a shadow move above her.

*slash*

Blood splashed on her light-colored clothes turning them red in an instant.

A figure fell down in front of her like a dead corpse.

It was the Frost Archer, who had been hiding the whole time while guarding the carriage.

"Don't worry. He's not dead...yet"

It was the same voice she had heard from inside.

Just from the tone of his voice, she could guess that he was the most authoritative person among the attackers.

The head assassin scanned Angelica from head to toe.

"My my...." He clapped his hands.

"The rumors were true. You really are beautiful beyond words" He chuckled.

"Your husband is a very lucky man. Or to be correct. He was lucky...."

Angelica glanced around to assess how much trouble she was in. And from the looks of it, it was more dangerous than she had initially anticipated.

The Frost Knights were sprawled all over the area unconscious from their injuries. Sir Tate was also among the pile.

She faced forward to find a bunch of men in dark clothes staring at her face. They were wearing a white mask with a red snake drawn across it.

They moved like Moses parting the ocean when they saw her tread forward.

A man stood in front of the cliff with his hand extended towards her. He was the one who had been taunting her.

"Now come here, princess. That is, if you don't want your dogs to die....."