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My breath hitched. Down in the sea, I could see horses swimming for their lives. There’s two... No, three of them. Even though they were land animals, they were skillfully navigating back to the island. However...none of their riders were with them.
In the surrounding waters, two heads popped up among the waves. Seemingly Visselian soldiers, they were struggling to not get swallowed up. We had to save them posthaste, or else they’d drown. It was already high tide, and the sea was violent due to the stormy weather. On the other side of the bridge, some of our knights jumped back onto their horses and galloped toward the hotel to alert the island.
Lord Simeon clenched the muscles in his arm and managed to pull his entire frame up. Once his other arm was near enough to the railing, he grabbed it with his hand. Now holding on with both hands, he valiantly swung his legs, and the motion, like that of a pendulum, made his body sway back and forth in large movements. He then used that energy to launch his body forward. His subordinates atop his side of the bridge shot their hands out immediately, and Lord Simeon grabbed hold of them. Once he was safely back on the bridge, my sigh of relief was so strong that it took the rest of my energy with it—I felt as though no air would be left inside of me.
Prince Severin raised his voice enough for the knights on the other half of the bridge to hear—the distance was small enough to allow for that. “Was anyone hurt?”
“There are a few with light injuries,” answered Lord Simeon with an equally loud yell. “What about over there?”
“Ah... This one has light injuries as well.” His Highness turned back and chuckled at Lord Hilbert, who was still pressing his hands against his backside as he complained incessantly. “Seems those who fell off their horses managed to avoid getting stomped on.”
I nodded. “Yes. They were lucky no one else was too close.”
Taking a moment to calm down and think rationally, I realized what had occurred without having to ask: An explosion had destroyed the bridge. A bridge wouldn’t simply explode on its own without something igniting underneath. Some human force had intentionally set up explosives here.
Prince Severin examined the area. “What about the objects from earlier? Those didn’t explode, did they?”
“No, sir.” Lord Simeon’s voice was frustrated. “Those were empty cylinders. They’d been placed in obvious spots, so I assume they were decoys. My deepest apologies. I noticed far too late.”
The cylinders had been made to look suspicious so that they would distract our guards. The real explosives had been placed in the areas where Their Highnesses would’ve stopped their horses, and they had been underneath the bridge so we wouldn’t find them. But...how were they detonated? There were still a few questions left, but the goal had certainly been to harm our royalty.
Though my husband had figured out their motive, he’d been unable to stop the explosion. He’d lamented that he’d been too late, but it had been unavoidable. There was no way he could’ve made it in time, especially since no one had known where the bombs had been set up. Had he come back just a bit earlier, he could have been hit by the explosion directly. A cold sweat ran down my back at the realization that his delayed response had kept him safe.
This is classified as terrorism, isn’t it? Bombs were planted to attack Their Highnesses. The knights’ fears have become reality.
I couldn’t help but quiver. I shook my head and told myself to hold it together. Terrorism had happened, but no one had been severely hurt, meaning the culprit had failed. Nobody died. We survived by the skin of our teeth.
Prince Severin said that same thought out loud. “Let us be glad that we’re all safe. The only thing we have to worry about is the rescue boat, but I think we’ll be fine on that front.”
The people who’d fallen into the sea had managed to swim over to the legs of the bridge. They’d be able to grab on to the pillars and wait for rescue. The horses swam more energetically than the humans, so by this point, they were making great progress toward the island. We wouldn’t have to worry about them either.
That meant the current problem was actually us, stranded on the wrong side of the broken bridge.
His Highness stared up at the sky, accepting the raindrops that fell straight onto his masculine face. The sounds of thunder had gotten closer, and streaks of lightning occasionally darted through the clouds. If I recalled correctly, open areas were dangerous during times like this...and so was water. Are we not surrounded by danger everywhere right now? Bomb terrorism and a lightning storm. What a situation.
Prince Severin immediately decided that standing around doing nothing would do us no good. “Simeon, we’re going back for now. The tide will lower while we wait, and if the rain doesn’t die down, then we will leave by boat once it stops. We’ll be on standby indoors.”
“Understood. We, the knights, will do our best to retrieve you as fast as possible.”
“Please do.”
“Marielle?” my husband called out. I leaned over so he could see me. “Follow His Highness’s orders, and don’t do anything rash. You must not act alone, no matter what.”
“Yes, sir...” I’d anticipated words of comfort, yet he was lecturing me again. My shoulders slumped at my betrayed expectations.
“Sir Nigel, please take care of Their Highnesses.”
Lord Nigel’s laugh had bass to it. “Yes, sir. Leave it to me.”
Boo! That’s it? That’s all you’re leaving me with? You won’t tell me anything else, dear husband? My glare at Lord Simeon—with my cheeks puffed out to maximum capacity—caught his attention.
“I’ll be back for you as soon as I can. Please trust me and wait.”
I do trust you...more than anyone else in the world. “Understood! Please bring sweets as well!”
His Highness drove his knuckles into my scalp. “Why would you say that in a situation like this?”
It’s important, I’ll have you know! We were heading back to the island as fast as we could, but we most likely wouldn’t make it in time for lunch. Everyone’s already starving!
That made Lord Simeon laugh. He raised a hand to signal his agreement. Yes, he’ll be fine. He never breaks his promises. He won’t betray me. As he said, he’s going to return as soon as he can. I waved back at him. Don’t worry. I’m not afraid! I’m fine!
Prince Severin swiveled his horse so he could address those behind us. “We’re going back to the island and waiting until the storm passes.”
Voices of approval rang out. “Yes, sir!”
“Good idea. Let’s hurry back!”
Lord Hilbert, who was still on the ground making a fuss, hastily got back on his feet when he realized no one would help him. “W-Wait! Don’t leave me behind!”
Lord Nigel, seeing that there was no other option, reluctantly offered his hand to Lord Hilbert to pull him up onto his horse. No word of thanks came, of course. Lord Hilbert simply continued to gripe the whole time.
Escaping from the strengthening rain, we galloped back to the island. Behind us echoed the sounds of lightning splitting the sky apart.