Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 151: An Important Errand

Chapter 151: An Important Errand

Once the letter was carefully folded and sealed within a neat white envelope bearing Melania’s personal seal in the center, the princess hurried out of her chambers directly to the bedroom of her lady-in-waiting, who was engrossed in one of the many tear-jerking romance books she had brought with her from Lafad.

"Your Highness! What is it? Do you need something?"

Startled by the sudden opening of her bedroom door, Loraline dropped the book to the floor, pressing her palm against her frantically beating heart. Melania fixed her big brown eyes on the book for a few seconds before returning them to the woman, a loud exclamation escaping her lips.

"Loraline, get dressed! There is an important errand you need to do right this instant!"

"An important errand?" The woman arched her eyebrows, still trying to cover the cover of the book she had just dropped with her shawl. "What is it? Shall I call for a footman or an errand boy, then?"

"No!" Melania shook her head and stepped closer to her attendant. "This is too important and urgent to be handled by someone else! Take this envelope and see to it that it is sent out right away!"

With her face still wearing a confused expression, Loraline accepted the envelope and tried to read the address, but to her disappointment, there was none. While the woman fidgeted with the letter, the princess pressed her index finger to her chin and contemplated quietly,

’Come to think of it... I haven’t gotten a response from my parents yet. They didn’t even send me a congratulatory letter for my wedding. I don’t think they’re capable of ignoring their daughter’s letters. It’s very strange... Could something have happened to the royal messenger?’

She then looked back at her attendant and asked,

"Loraline, which messenger was in charge of sending my letter to Lafad? Has he returned yet?"

For some reason, Loraline became flustered for a moment and hesitated to reply. But as the princess’s gaze became too intense, she released a long sigh and finally answered,

"Well, it wasn’t me who sent out the letter, so I can’t be sure which messenger received it."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"When I went to find the messenger, I stumbled upon His Highness Prince Valon, who was also on his way to send out some correspondence. He offered to send your letter as well, and I agreed because it seemed like an efficient thing to do."

"I see..."

Although Loraline’s response was not particularly alarming, something within Melania urged her to be more cautious this time.

"Loraline... I want you to hide this letter and not show it to anyone. Go to the shopping district and hire an independent messenger, pay them well to ensure the letter is delivered. If someone from the palace asks you where you are going, tell them that you are on your way to the florist to get me some flowers."

The careful undertone of the princess’s voice made her attendant wary as well. She, too, had been feeling rather uneasy ever since she left that letter in Prince Valon’s hands, and now, she was certain that it was probably a big mistake.

"Very well, I will do just as you instructed, Your Highness."

When Loraline got ready and left the palace, Melania returned to her bedroom and stood before her desk.

She carefully slid her elegant fingers over the envelope and the letter itself, then took a deep breath and whispered,

"Something tells me I might get in trouble for this..."

The princess took the letter, folded it carefully into a square, and walked up to the wide bookshelf standing against one of the walls of her room. She retrieved one of the books from the middle section of the shelf, opened its flowery cover, hid the paper square underneath it, and closed it back, pressing the book tightly against her chest before putting the book back in its place.

Then, she took the envelope, walked up to the burning fireplace, and threw it into the orange flames, watching as the paper turned into black ashes before disappearing completely.

***

"Fire? How can there be fire?"

Tillian looked in the direction pointed out by the scout knight and widened his eyes as he finally noticed the soaring clouds of black smoke.

He was baffled, to say the least.

"It’s impossible. Nothing like that could ever happen in The North unless someone deliberately set the forest on fire."

Aideen, too, couldn’t help but feel lost in the whirlwind of frustration and confusion.

"Do you think someone would really dare to do something so outrageous?"

"No, I doubt it," the Duke shook his head, still unwilling to comprehend the situation completely. "It’s far too dangerous."

The feeling of uneasiness refused to leave the princess’s heart,

"Do you think a neighboring kingdom could be behind this?"

Tillian responded with another shake of his head,

"To access the forest, one has to cross our border. Since it’s guarded by the Raven Knights, if that indeed happened, I would have been notified about it. Even if they did manage to sneak in successfully, they wouldn’t have made it to the forest because they would have been eaten by the roaming beasts. The only kingdom that can access the forest directly by crossing the Dragon Mountain is Utar, but I don’t see why they would do this. They have never shown any sign of hostility towards us, especially since I have a very profitable trading agreement with them."

While it was indeed vital to have at least a vague idea about the source of such a calamity, time was of the essence.

"Your Grace," the scouting knight moved his horse closer to the Duke and continued with a tone of urgency in his voice, "We have to hurry and do something about the fire. The beasts have already left the forest and scattered in all directions; it won’t take long before they approach the villages and the castle."