Rescue

Rescue

Rescue

The horse I was tied to was galloping at an incredible speed, and I could feel the rough impact of every single jolt. I was enveloped by the cloth bag and still couldn’t see anything, so all I knew was that I was being taken somewhere.

Huh? I can’t move my eyelids anymore...?

I could no longer even blink, my eyes only opening and closing due to the force of each bounce, and a chill ran through me as I realized that I couldn’t move a single part of my body. The anxiety-inducing thought that I might just lose all of my senses and die here started to feel more and more likely as time went on, and it was all I could do to force it from my mind.

No, no, no... That black-clad man said to carry me to a carriage, and that someone would be happy to have me. He wouldn’t have made me drink a potion that would kill me... right?

It was a little strange to be analyzing the words of an enemy, but with the feeling that I was about to die growing stronger and stronger, I was grasping at whatever straws I could. They weren’t planning to kill me; they had simply disabled me so that I couldn’t resist. The man’s eyes had been cold and lacking in human sympathy, but there were no traces of murderous intent. Had he wanted me dead, it would have been easiest to kill me then and there.

I kept telling myself that everything would be fine, but just as I was starting to calm down, a terrible realization hit me.

What if the dose was safe for most people, but not for me ... ?

That seemed extremely possible, but I desperately tried to shake the thought away. We were still within the castle grounds; so long as Wilfried and his retainers reported the attack, then reinforcements would surely be coming soon.

They’ll go to the northern building where the attack happened, get brought up to speed, and then they’ll come straight here.

I broke out in a cold sweat as I wondered what the reinforcements might do. Would they actually reach me? Would they notice the horse running through the dark trees and underbrush? Would they make it before the potion made me stop breathing?

Maybe Ferdinand can help...

A mad scientist like him who knew all about potions would surely be able to do something about the poison. I just needed to put my faith in his extreme talents.

Save me, Ferdinand!

Then, out of nowhere, I heard a massive explosion.

The horse that had just moments ago been running in a steady line neighed and reared. I was only raised into the air a little since I was tied onto its back like luggage, but the man riding beside me let out a scream that made him sound just as terrified. This must have frightened the horse even more, as it suddenly sped up to a furious pace.

The other horse that had been riding next to us had presumably also lost its mind, since I could hear it running in another direction.

“Calm down! Stop!”

The horse being frightened only made the bouncing worse, and I could hear the man yelping for it to stop. My vision remained blocked by the wall of cloth, but the nighttime forest that had previously been enveloped in a silence broken only by hoofbeats was now teeming with life. I could hear nearby birds and animals letting out surprised noises as they fled.

“ARE YOU THE FOOL WHO KIDNAPPED MY ONLY GRANDDAUGHTEEER?!”

And then came a bellowing voice so loud that my body actually started to tremble. It was perfectly audible even with the cloth bag over my head, and my heart clenched despite all of my senses being messed up by the poison.

The words and the ferocity with which they were spoken told me exactly who was coming to my rescue.

G-Grandfather?!

Bonifatius’s shout was filled with seething anger. It rang out even louder than the explosion, to the point that the horse kicked its legs again before stopping entirely.

What...? The horse stopped running?

All of a sudden, I could feel it start tipping over to one side, and it was then that I started to panic more than ever. Given that I was tied over it, there was a chance I would be crushed depending on which direction it fell.

Um, wait... Wait!

I let out a silent scream, but the ropes binding me to the horse were suddenly cut, and I felt someone speedily pick me up.

“Rozemyne, are you in there?!” came Bonifatius’s unmistakable voice as he raised the bag I was in high into the air, crudely shaking it to investigate. But the poison had numbed me into silence, and I could neither respond nor complain.

Grandfather, I’m upside down! I can’t feel anything, but the blood is going to rush to my head! Stop! Don’t shake me!

“No matter how much I shake her, she isn’t responding! Don’t tell me she’s dead?! Rozemyne, I’m getting you out of there right now!” he yelled, and for a brief moment, he stopped shaking me to hold me sideways.

But my relief didn’t last very long at all. He gripped the edge of the sack, then hefted me up in the air again. I could tell that he was about to swing it around to get me out, and so I started silently screaming in a desperate attempt to stop him. If Grandfather swung as hard as he could, then my small body would undoubtedly be sent flying.

Wait, wait, stop! Someone, please stop him! I’ll die!

My cries of course reached nobody, and Bonifatius swung the bag in an attempt to free me as quickly as possible. I was instantly launched out, flying into the air exactly as expected while spinning as fast as a high-speed drill.

Hyaaaaaah!

“Gwah?! Rozemyne is flying?!”

I heard Bonifatius let out a panicked cry, but then someone else caught me with a grunt.

“Bonifatius! Did Karstedt not tell you to stay away from Rozemyne so as to not accidentally kill her? Good grief... I understand your concern, but doing that would have proven fatal even for a healthy person. Are you alright, Rozemyne?”

Ferdinand... I owe you my life.

He prodded my cheek to check whether I was conscious, but considering what Bonifatius had just done, even that felt supremely kind and gentle. I had nothing but gratitude for Karstedt having kept Bonifatius away from me up until now.

“She’s not dead, is she...?” Bonifatius asked, sounding a little dejected after his scolding.

“I can hardly say she is doing well, given that she is utterly unresponsive, but she does have a pulse,” Ferdinand replied, briskly giving me a checkup. He measured my temperature and pulse, then leaned forward, putting his face so close to mine that I could feel his breath. “I smell a potion. This is... not good.”

I heard a rustling noise, then something like a scrap of paper was stuffed into my mouth. There was a pause before Ferdinand muttered again, his voice tinged with anger this time.

“To think they would use that of all things...”

“What is it, Ferdinand?”

“Rozemyne will die if we do not give her an antidote as soon as possible.”

“What?!”

Both Bonifatius and I screamed at the same time, though my voice never actually left my throat. I had considered the possibility that I might die like this, but with Ferdinand now saying it as well, there was no longer any doubt in my mind.

I heard some clinking metal, followed by a strong smell. I quickly concluded that Ferdinand had opened one of the potions hanging from his belt, at which point he abruptly pulled open my jaw and stuck a liquid-soaked cloth into my mouth. It was wrapped around his pointer finger, and he rubbed it against my teeth and gums like he was brushing my teeth.

Urghghghghgh!

Ferdinand then removed his finger, leaving the cloth stuck in my mouth. “That was a potion to dull the effects of the poison, but it will do little more than buy us time. I must hurry to my workshop and get the antidote at once. I will take her back to the temple now to begin the process.”

“What?! The temple?! That’s no place to heal Rozemyne...!”

The temple was not a place that nobles visited by choice, so it was understandable that Bonifatius would not approve of taking me there to recover. But I trusted my attendants in the temple a lot more than those in the castle, and nothing would have made me feel safer than being right by Ferdinand’s workshop and the jureve we had made.

“I understand Rozemyne’s ill health and her potion tolerance more than anyone. Being at the temple will also make it harder for other nobles to approach her and interrupt us. Even this conversation is wasting time, so if you’ll excuse me...”

Ferdinand wrapped my body in a cloth, but unlike the nobles who had thrown me into a bag like I was an object, he adjusted my head and left space for my face so that I could breathe. He was treating me like a person, and once I was securely wrapped, he picked me up.

“Ferdinand, wait! I’ll look after her in my estate!”

“I am the only one who can save Rozemyne right now! Do not interfere !” Ferdinand roared, dropping his polite act entirely and squeezing his arms around me tighter. The raw anger in his voice sent a shiver down my spine; I would die for certain if they started arguing here.