The Daughter of Evil - Volume 1 - Chapter 1.02

♦Allen ~Lucifenia Kingdom’s “Forest of Bewilderment”~

Here in the Kingdom of Lucifenia, commonly known as the “Yellow Kingdom”, a vast forest covers the northern region.

It is called the Forest of Bewilderment: a densely forested place with no roads worthy of that name; for anyone but the local woodcutters, it is tantamount to suicide to enter it carelessly.

The Forest of Bewilderment continues into the neighboring country of Elphegort, taking the name of the Thousand-Year Tree’s Forest; the capital city of Elphegort, Aceid, isn’t far from its limits. But in reality, when going from Lucifenia to Elphegort, the usual route is to follow the main road that takes a big detour towards the east. To purposely try to pass through the Forest of Bewilderment, one would need to be in a great rush, or just ignorant.

Originally, Lucifenia was just one of the small countries grouped together in the region of Evillious; in one generation, it was expanded into the great kingdom of that time through a policy of military expansionism. The one responsible for the change was its founding monarch, Alth; apparently, he hadn’t attacked the weak nation of Elphegort since this forest presented an obstacle towards a big-scale military incursion.

In the middle of such a forest, in the hours when the sun started to set, a group of servants and the royal guards wandered about, in search of the princess.

As for how we knew that the princess had entered this forest, it was nothing less than a matter of following the tracks of Josephine from the stables into these woods. But then, to separate Josephine’s hoof-marks from the numerous imprints left in the grounds and follow them was a feat only someone like Leonhart could accomplish.

The members of the Royal Guard were frantic. It wasn’t surprising. Not only had they lost track of the whereabouts of the princess they were supposed to protect, she had ventured towards the Forest of Bewilderment. If anything happened to Riliane, simple beheadings would be out of the question.

In the darkness, the Vice Commander of the Guard loudly berated a newly-appointed soldier.

“Why didn’t you stop Princess Riliane from going outside?!”

“But…it’s Princess Riliane! If I displeased the princess by stopping her…” 

“So you didn’t think of coming with the princess as her escort, at the very least? Idiot!”

The new recruit even then he seemed about to cry, or more accurately already half-crying; there probably wasn’t a point to keep censuring him any further. Although I pitied him somewhat, it wasn’t really the time for that.

The one that really deserve our sympathies was Ney. She was running around without paying any attention to the dirt covering her clothes. When she arrived into Riliane’s room and its owner wasn’t there, her only thought had been at first:Perhaps she is again by the mirrors?  

However, when she noticed the passage dug at some point inside the fireplace, the color had drained from her face.

A secret passage inside the fireplace… For the inhabitants of the palace, who knew nothing of it, it was likely like a bolt from the blue, but to tell the truth, I knew about the existence of that opening. Once, long time ago, I had passed through that passage, along with a certain someone.

Chartette wasn’t participating in the search, since she had firmly refused to go into the forest. Hardly surprising, I thought at the time. When Chartette was a small child, after losing her way in these woods, she had been kidnapped by a band of thieves that were using them as their hideout. Germaine and I had managed somehow to rescue her in that occasion, but she appeared to be traumatized by the experience.

“Don’t stray too far. You’ll get lost.”

Leonhart told me as he walked by my side.

“It’s alright. I’ve come here before.”

“…That’s true.”

Of course, Leonhart knew about what had happened to Chartette as a child. Never before he had struck me, and he never did afterwards. That was the only time. As you might expect, he hadn’t lift his hand against a Germaine, since she was a girl, but I had never seen him so upset (And then, when Leonhart became maudlin after drinking more than usual, his insistent quarreling had even worse).

Why?! We saved Chartette, and yet…

At the time, I railed against him, but wasn’t his reaction natural, since we had done it without consulting him, risking our lives in the process?

Though, I had already been inside this forest once before Chartette’s abduction. Before I was adopted by Leonhart, when I was even younger, I had slipped out of the castle, and passed through these woods…

“Commander Leonhart, I’m going a bit farther.”

“Do you have an idea or something, Allen?”

I gave him a slight nod as an answer.

“I’m telling you again, don’t get lost.”

Leonhart said those words behind me, as I started walking.

She didn’t remember what had happened then. But even so, it might be possible…