Nonna silently leaped in front of the man who’d brandished a knife at Mills and drove her foot into his stomach.
“Argh!” He crumpled to the floor with a groan. The other man swung his dagger, but Nonna jabbed her elbow into his chest, taking him down.
“C’mon! Let’s run!” Mills urged, and the four of them started fleeing again. But partway through, the woman stopped and spoke to Fred.
“I changed my mind! I’m going back home. Let’s just call off the elopement. Fred, come with me to my house. Maybe if we plead with my father, he’ll let us get married. We don’t have to get married in secret. My father can take care of your debts, too.”
“There’s no way. I owe way too much money for your father to ever approve of me.”
“Can’t we at least try? I’ll beg him!”
After that exchange, Nonna and Mills decided to lead the couple to the main road, just in case.
The woman didn’t live in the capital but at a farm some distance beyond the city gates.
“I want to thank you for helping us. Won’t you come with us?” the woman asked.
“No, we’re fine. We’ve got other things to do.”
“Please. Those men might chase after us again. And Fred was beaten for so long. If he collapses on the way home, there’s no way I can manage to carry him on my own. I also need you to explain to my father what Fred went through. If he hears that Fred’s life is in danger because of his debts, maybe he’ll help us. Please, I’m begging you!”
Nonna and Mills exchanged glances, unable to refuse her pleas. “What do you think?”
“Well, we don’t have much choice. Let’s go.”
Meanwhile, the woman flagged down a carriage. The four of them climbed aboard, and the woman said, “Take us to Fitte Village, please.”
Nonna had never heard of that place before. “Fitte Village?”
“Yes, my father is the mayor there. He oversees the nearby farmers as the lord’s representative.”
“That sounds impressive,” Nonna said, and the woman puffed out her chest proudly.
“We’re a big agriculture family.”
Nonna had noticed from the start that the woman’s clothes were too fine for a typical farmer’s daughter.
I wonder if they’re as wealthy as the Enlokam family from Shen? Nonna thought.
Mills spoke up with concern. “Nonna, it’ll take three hours just to get to Fitte Village. You’ll be really late.”
“Yeah, but if I leave now and something happens, I’d feel terrible. What if those men come after these two? I’ll head straight back after we drop them off.”
“But still…”
“I’ll probably get in trouble when I get home anyway, so it’s okay. I want to help these people.”
“Is your mom strict? She seems like she would be.”
“Hmm, well, she’s usually really nice, but I have a feeling she’ll be mad this time.”
The woman listened to them and then spoke up. “Sorry for not introducing myself before, but my name is Rosalie. You two are really strong.”
“Thanks.”
The four of them continued riding in the carriage, but the story didn’t end there.
About two hours into the journey, Fred began groaning and clutching his stomach. He doubled over, in too much pain to even speak.
“Maybe I have internal injuries…,” he groaned, and then Rosalie panicked.
“What should we do? There’s no doctor in Fitte Village!”
They had no other choice but to turn around the carriage and head back to the capital.
Jeffrey and I listened quietly to Nonna’s long story.
I’d already sent word to Chester that she had returned with Mills.
She continued to speak.
“We searched for a hospital in the capital, but since it was late at this point, the places we visited either turned us away at the door or asked us to pay way too much. Rosalie said she didn’t have that kind of money. It took forever to find a hospital willing to help us, so that’s why it got so late.”
“What happened to Fred?”
“Well, Rosalie was crying and kept saying, ‘What if Fred dies?’ so I stayed with them until the end. Mills told me I could go home, but I was the one who’d suggested going to Fitte Village. It felt wrong to leave them there like that.”
Mills looked sheepish and hung his head.
I began to speak in a harsh tone of voice. “Nonna, if someone has been punched or kicked in their internal organs, they wouldn’t be able to suddenly run and escape. They’d be doubled over, struggling to breathe.”
“Huh?” Nonna didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, so I told her what I thought.
“I believe Fred was faking it, Nonna.”
“But why would he do that?”
“He’s in debt, and Rosalie seems like she has some money. The men who punched Fred were his friends.”
Nonna looked absolutely shocked. Meanwhile, Jeff had a grim expression on his face.
“No way! That’s impossible!” she said.
“What do you think, Mills?” I asked.
“After Fred saw the doctor, he walked out very briskly, which I thought was odd. But I didn’t want to get involved any further, so I didn’t tell Nonna. I’m sorry!”
Jeffrey finally broke his silence. “Fred could walk, Nonna?”
“Yes. He said the doctor told him to rest, but he was moving around.”
“I see.”
Nonna turned to me with a serious expression on her face. “Mom, if Fred was working with those people, what would happen to Rosalie?”
“Fred’s associates might’ve taken her. Maybe he never intended to elope with her and was after her family’s money from the start, which is probably why he lured her there. But don’t worry, they wouldn’t kill her. They wouldn’t get the money if they did.”
I turned to Mills. “Now that you’ve come to this house, you know my identity.”
Mills lowered his gaze even further, while Nonna also looked down, realizing the magnitude of her mistake.
I sent Nonna to her room and left Jeff to speak with Mills.
“The Second Order will handle the matter of those men and Rosalie. I’ve already told Chester about this. Only he, Mike, and your boss know my wife’s true identity. I need you to swear you will never tell another soul.”
“Of course. Please accept my sincerest apologies for inviting Nonna to train without your permission, Lord Asher.”
Mills bowed deeply.
“No, I told Nonna not to go. It’s our fault she disobeyed. You were unaware of the situation, so it’s not your fault. However, I can’t have the relationship between you and Nonna lead to anyone finding out my wife acted as the princess’s double.”
“You’re absolutely right. I’ll refrain from such behavior in the future.”
“Thank you. I’ll explain everything to Nonna. Now, tell me the location of the building you entered.”
Mills provided a rough address and drew a map, before he bowed repeatedly again and left.
“Anna, I’ll contact the Second Order. The sooner I do it, the better.”
“Do you know the place from Mills’s map? It looks like you’d have to climb over three walls.”
“I know the capital well. This map is enough. We won’t use the same route as Nonna, though.”
“Be careful.”
Jeff rode off on horseback, and I quietly peeked into Nonna’s room. She wasn’t asleep. When I went inside, she sat up. I took a seat on the edge of her bed, and she immediately apologized.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I told Mills he could leave before we got here, but he insisted on explaining why we were so late. I’m sorry for exposing your identity.”
“What’s done is done. Worrying won’t change anything. You just need to be careful from now on.”
At bedtime, Nonna took out her braid. Her golden, silky hair felt cool to the touch.
“Jeff told you not to go because he was worried about my secret being exposed. But I was against you going for a different reason.”
“What is it?”
“I trained you so you could protect yourself, but you’ve become far stronger than I ever expected. You can speak Ashburian, Randallish, and Shenese fluently, and you’ve even gotten quite good at Haglian.”
Nonna listened silently, clearly unsure of where I was going with this.
“You would be an invaluable asset to organizations like Hagl’s Special Operations Force and Ashbury’s Third Order. I’m terrified they might try to recruit you. I should have just told you this. I’m sorry for not being clear.”
“Do you hate those kinds of organizations, Mom?”
“I started working for Hagl’s Special Operations Force at eight years old, and I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I had to do it for my family’s sake. But you’re different.”
I continued speaking, praying my words would reach Nonna’s heart.