CH 45

Zelle softly walked towards the tent entrance and carefully peeked outside. It was to check the number of soldiers guarding the tent.

It would be difficult to escape if there were too many since at least a few of them will spot her and follow her. But…

“??”

It was strange. No one was guarding the tent.

Zelle rubbed her eyes and checked again.

Even though Valhayle was strong enough to protect himself, he was the chief commander. How could there be no one guarding him?

‘Unless Valhayle told them to leave, there’s no way.’

This never happened back when she was a bird too.

He was the chief commander after all so there were always guards around him.

Seeing that there was no one on her way… Her urge grew even stronger.

‘Now that I think of it… This camp was set near a castle.’

So there must have been contact with the people from the castle since when staying near big castles like this the military distributed food in return for supplies like ropes and bandages. 

Zelle had seen some servants coming in and out of the camp in that process.

‘Yeah. Hold on.’

I shall disguise myself as a servant and just take a short leave. Just like how I sneaked into the basement or the tower when I lived back in the palace. It’ll just be a while. Just enough to clear my thoughts.

It’s still dusk so I can probably return before Valhayle returns in the morning to find me. I’ll leave, clear my thoughts, then ask the people about the war and update myself.

Since no one in the military knows of my existence and those who do know won’t tell me anything.

Zelle packed her dagger and the sigil of the chief commander that was on Valhayle’s desk and left. 

When she came outside, the serene view of dusk filled her sight. 

Zelle acquired a big brown cloth on the way and covered herself with it like a cape to hide her face. 

The fact that regular soldiers didn’t know of her existence played a big role in this escape plan. 

Right now, she would just seem like a girl from town and Valhayle made sure no one would mess with the women of the castle so no soldier would dare approach her. 

She came across a few guards but when she explained to them that she had lost her way, they even guided her to the entrance. 

The problem was the checkpoint there. 

The soldier requested to have her and her belonging checked. 

She didn’t bring any valuables with her but she had the dagger so she hesitated. 

The servants must be disarmed to enter the camp so even though it was a small dagger, it could cause trouble. 

‘I was only going to use it for coming back in but… I have no choice.’

Zelle showed the chief commander’s sigil to the soldier. 

When he saw the sigil, he didn’t question further and let her pass. 

Zelle felt her heart race and put the sigil back into her pocket.

-The chief commander’s sigil.

This sigil was round and was marked with Roheneim’s symbol.

Only Valhayle could keep it it but there were exceptions.

If Valhayle had to send a representative to replace him or when he deployed someone far away for an important task, he would give this sigil for them to exert Valhayle’s authority.

She lived in Valhayle’s tent for a long time when she was a bird so she knew the absolute power this sigil held in this military.

And she knew where Valhayle kept it too.

He kept in a box on top of his desk.

On the surface, it just seemed like an ordinary box for keeping his sword strap but inside it, there was a secret space.

Zelle pulled the entire fabric lining and revealed the space underneath. She grabbed the flat, round object in it.

Its handle was made of silver-cyan silk which was the Lumares Family’s specialty.

It had to be one of the two only chief commander’s sigil in this world.

If she showed this sigil, she won’t be questioned further and would be allowed in and out of the camp anytime like just now.

Zelle left the camp and headed towards the town.

And that’s how her escape began.

*･ﾟ:༻✦༺･ﾟ:*

Valhayle left his tent where the princess lay asleep and headed to her tent.

He mulled over the princess’s words and actions which he found suspicious.

All the unnatural and odd behavior she showed made perfect sense if the princess truly was the bird.

She called his name with much affinity when she first woke.

She asked about the bird and was concerned for his wounds.

And she knew the military confidentials and his deepest thoughts he only shared to the bird.

“….”

He felt all of it making sense and felt skeptical of his judgment.

‘Perhaps my judgment is clouded right now.’

It was what he often thought after meeting the princess. Or no, was it when he first me the bird?

Vahayle rubbed his face.

His head was telling him it was impossible and to make a logical judgment but his intuition was telling the opposite.

The princess’s words scrambled in his mind.

“…”

Valhayle clenched his jaw.

‘Get your head straight. I can’t lose judgment in the middle of war.”

He scorned himself.

He caught the princess’s tent in sight and approached it.

“Sir!”

The soldier guarding the tent saluted. Valhayle nodded and spoke coldly.

“Her Majesty will be staying in my tent until the morning. But make sure this tent stays protected.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll go in and take some things she’ll need. And when she returns, notify her of my visit.”

“Understood, Sir!”

Valhayle slowly entered the princess’s tent. It seemed desolate without a person’s warmth.

Valhayle studied her belongings to see what he could take for the princess. He could have ordered a servant to do this instead but he didn’t want other people to touch the princess’s belongings.

He looked around the room multiple times and frowned.

It could be because of the war but the princess owned terribly less. Excluding the blue waist ornament he returned to her, the only thing precious in this tent was the princess herself.

Valhayle brought a few white cloths and one dress to change. Just as he was about to leave, something caught his eye.

He was drawn to it unconsciously.

He brushed through it as it spread away with a ruffly sound.

“…This is…”

Paper. White paper pieces. It was torn into thin pieces as if a bird bit through it.

Valhayle lifted the leftover paper.

He tried to imagine the princess sitting here, tearing paper but he could only think of one thing. His messenger bird.

Before the mission to rescue the princess, the bird kept tearing paper. To the point he was concerned for its beak.

The bird continued to tear paper and he continued to pick out pieces of paper stuck on it.

Yes, so that happened.

Valhayle stared at the torn paper pile the princess created and felt an eery dejavu. 

He looked away and caught the scribbles on the ground.

She must have erased them in a hurry when he barged in yesterday since some were brushed away.

He observed the scribbles. It looked like there were drawings and letters on it. 

He studied it as if he was trying to decode it and…

“……!”

Recognized one of the drawings on the ground. He looked at it so many times that he could draw it exactly the same by memory.

It was the map of the Granoir’s camp that the bird had memorized. 

Valhayle uttered softly.

“No way.”

It wasn’t just a map of Granoir’s camp that was drawn on the ground. If it was Granoir’s way of drawing maps, his suspicion of her being a spy would only have thickened. 

Granoir and Roymonde had very different ways of making maps. But this drawing wasn’t Granoir’s or Roymonde’s. 

It was a bird’s eye map.

It wasn’t a map created with human foot and ruler units. It was a map only possible to create with a bird’s eye.

And his messenger bird showed him this map, moving each stone with its beak.

“….Hah.”

He released his breath.

He felt like a fool. Now that he knew the truth, everything was so obvious.

There were so many proofs of the truth but he never realized it. Since this was beyond logic.

He now understood why the princess kept her mouth shut for the past few days even amidst his obvious suspicion.

She knew it best that no one would or could understand her situation.

But to him.

But to him, the princess revealed the truth.

It was a confession he got after pressuring her but she looked him straight in the eyes and said.

I am your messenger bird.

She even proceeded to say what happened between him and the bird but even still he didn’t believe her.

Regret filled his head.

He was enraged that the princess didn’t trust him or see him as an ally but did he ever see her as an ally?

She didn’t treat me as an ally…

‘Was I really an ally to her?’

Valhayle reflected on himself.