The Debt Of Fate
Chapter 133: Sending message.

Chapter 133: Sending message.

Since the kidnapping of Princess Anastasia, checkpoints had been arranged all over the kingdom. At first, Anastasia and her team could still easily pass these checkpoints because the caravan belonged to Lord Williams and there was nothing suspicious about the goods.

But now, the king had died suddenly, and the news reached the North quickly. Anastasia guessed that a few things might change. She was less than a day’s journey away from Lowe Village, where she had agreed to meet the commander, when the news was released.

The news meant that, apart from military personnel who were fighting, defending against the people of Gube, or performing other important tasks, there would be no movement for the next seven days. Everyone was expected to mourn the King.

When Anastasia heard the news, she wasn’t too shocked. After all, the Queen had mentioned that the King was poisoned. So she decided to take the chance and travel at night to reach Lowe Village and regroup with the commander and others. Although she had not opened the box, she could guess what the Queen had placed inside. She felt that only the Sceptre of Authority or the King’s Seal would be so important that the Queen would rush to send it. After all, only with either of those items could the prince firmly establish his standing if the king suddenly died while Prince Edward was still in the North. Anastasia believed the box must contain one of these items. She didn’t think it was both, as that would be unwise.

As their carriage drove, it suddenly came to a stop.

"What happened?" Anastasia asked with a frown. She knew traveling at night wasn’t a good option and had always avoided it.

"There’s a checkpoint up ahead," the guard outside answered.

"Oh." Anastasia, who had feared they might have run into thieves, took a deep breath of relief when she realized it was just a checkpoint.

Anastasia waited for the journey to continue. In the past two days, once the guards showed the token from Lord Williams, their carriage had not been searched thoroughly.

"Your Highness," the guard knocked on the carriage door and spoke in a low voice.

"Come in." Anastasia tensed. Although she wasn’t doing anything wrong, she felt uneasy. After all, if the guard was asking permission to enter, something must be wrong.

"Your Highness, our carriage can’t continue the journey. We heard that General Robert sent word last night to stop every carriage from Wiwell Village, since it’s close to where the princess disappeared," the guard reported.

Anastasia frowned. "How long will we have to wait?" she asked after a moment of thought. According to her calculations, the ship from Wiwell should have arrived two days ago. The commander couldn’t afford unnecessary delays.

She was worried her cover might be blown. The kidnappers might realize they had taken the wrong person. She would only be safe once she was with the rest of the group.

"I don’t know, Your Highness," the guard replied, shaking his head. Now, every carriage or caravan that left Wiwell was under suspicion. He wasn’t sure how they would be cleared or whether they would just be held indefinitely.

Moreover, the king was dead. With no movement allowed during the mourning period, they would have to wait seven days—unless the princess revealed her identity.

"Your Highness, since we’re close to Lowe, is there a need to continue hiding?" the guard asked.

"No, but I’m worried our enemies aren’t just from Gube. Someone from within the kingdom might have other intentions," Anastasia said. If it truly came down to it, she could reveal her identity. But only two guards by her side were in fighting condition. The others had not fully recovered from their injuries, and the road travel hadn’t helped their recovery.

Although Anastasia had been trying to understand more about the kingdom and the nobility, her knowledge of the military was still limited. Even though she knew General Robert was looking for her, she didn’t trust soldiers easily unless she was sure they weren’t part of the group searching for her. Just like the people from Gube had disguised themselves as crew members of the ship, how could she be sure these people weren’t disguised as well?

"Do you have a way to send a message to the commander?" Anastasia asked after a while. She felt it was better for the commander to come to them.

"Yes," the guard answered.

"Send a message to him. Tell him our location. Let him come forward to receive the supplies," Anastasia instructed. She felt this solution would allow her to continue hiding for now.

"Yes, Your Highness," the guard bowed and left the carriage. He immediately did as he was told and sent a message to the commander.

---

Earlier: A small camp in Lowe

"Reporting to the Commander, the first group has arrived," a guard informed. Commander Eldric was in his tent, making plans to gather information on the princess’s current situation when the guard reported the return of the first group, which had delivered supplies to the army camp outside the village. Lowe was currently the closest village to the warfront, so the news of the King’s sudden death had not yet arrived.

"That’s good," Commander Eldric said as he stepped out of the tent and followed the guard.

Outside, the first group had indeed arrived. "How was the road?" he asked his assistant commander.

"Answering the Commander’s question, there was no trouble on the road. I heard that after the attack on the army supply convoy last time, Captain Ernest led a group of soldiers to catch the thieves and spies," the assistant replied.

"That’s good. Let the second group set out," Commander Eldric instructed. The next group was already prepared to leave.

Just as the group was getting ready, Dorothy came forward, requesting to go with them.

Miss Magdalene frowned. She knew Dorothy wanted to go back and pester the Crown Prince, but she couldn’t find a reasonable excuse to stop her.

"Why don’t we just follow the second group? Although we don’t have medical knowledge, we can assist," Miss Magdalene suggested, hoping to keep an eye on Dorothy and prevent her from having private time with the prince.

"Alright, you all go ahead," Commander Eldric agreed. He also couldn’t think of a valid reason to keep them back.

Rosa, however, was unwilling. She knew Anastasia was supposed to meet them there and didn’t want to continue without her.

"I’ will stay back," Rosa said.