Chapter 148 - 148 The mission under a mission (Part 1)

148 The mission under a mission (Part 1)

“I wanted miss River Anne to accompany me and Henry inside.” Said Justice in front of everyone.

An awkward smile plastered into Anne’s face while she was trying to give her reason, “I am sorry Jus… I mean, your majesty, I need to take some rest and the second shift will happily accompany the two of you.”

Justice looks at her face, and immediately said, “No, I want you and not everyone else.”

Leo need to step up and gave a slight warning to Justice, “Given that my friend is so tired after twelve hours shift, it would probably be best if I go with you instead of Anne.”

The crown prince just ignore the plea that was coming from Leo and just keep staring at Anne with his red ruby eyes. Anne knew he will ignore everyone at this point. Taking a deep breath, she patted Leo’s back and asked him to go back to the tent and take the much need it rests, while she ushered Justice and Henry inside the tent.

While inside, she asked them to be quiet to let the patients have a good rest. Justice looked around the room, his red eyes becoming more prominent when he wore the mask. Anne couldn’t take his eyes off the crown prince, while Henry observe her from behind.

He grabbed Anne’s hand and hissed at her, “Stop looking at him. Don’t you have manners?”

Anne looked back at Henry and glared at him. “I look at what I wanted to look. You have no right to tell me otherwise.” And then she pulls her hand away.

Justice pretended that he didn’t hear the animosity between the two of them and turned his back to Anne. “Where’s Bernard? I don’t see him here.”

.....

“Oh, we took him deeper inside the tent. He was using a special bed right now, because of the fever.” Anne pointed at the far corner of the room when Justice saw Bernard. He took his hand and smile at his elderly chief guard.

“Who… who is it? Who’s holding my hand?” Bernard was panicking. His eyes were still receiving treatment from the medicine-soaked cloth.

“It’s me, Bernard… Justice.” Justice was choking when he mentioned his name.

He was always fond of his guard, even considering it more of a father figure than his own three fathers. Because Bernard was always there for him when he was just a five-year-old grumpy boy, into a ten-year-old aloof young boy and a rebellious fifteen-year-old teenager, Bernard was there for him.

“Oh, your majesty, I am sorry you need to see me… like this… Please I am fine now, Anne took care of me so diligently.” He spoke to Justice with bated breath.

Justice almost crumbled in front of Bernard, but before he was crying in agony, a warm hand touched his arm. He turns his head around to see Anne.

“Your majesty, I think you should let chief Bernard take some rest now.” Whispered Anne directly at him.

He whispered back at the healer, “How come he was so weak? Your friend told us that his fever already went down.”

“He is, it was because of the medicine that I’ve given him, so he could take a good rest, he will be sleeping for a while now.” Said Anne to Justice, her hand staying on his shoulder, she felt the need to support him, knowing how much Justice love his chief guard.

He finally agreed with Anne, and let himself out of the tent. Henry patted his back and walks away from Justice and Anne. Anne told the second shift to begin to work, and afterward, she excused herself from the crown prince. Before she could go away from him, Justice grab her hand unexpectedly, he then embraced her from behind.

Anne wasn’t expected this. She tried to let go of his hold, but the crown prince was persistent.

“Justice, please, someone may be watching.” She whispered at him, but the hand never budged.

She felt his body trembling, and a faint sobbing came from the crown prince, “Please… Anne, let me hold you for a while… I… I never see him this weak and so fragile before.”

Being considerate to him, she let him cry without everyone seeing the tears. For the kingdom, he is the crown prince, the pillar for the future empress. In Anne’s eyes, he is just a man named Justice, who also has raw feelings, like everyone else. Anne even put her hand into his, giving him the comfort that he needs right now.

They remain still for a while until someone cleared his throat, reminding them about their situation. Justice released his hold, and quickly wipe his tears, Anne dusted her dress so awkwardly, even though there was no dust visible. Henry looked at both of them and glared.

“What the f*ck are you doing here, Justice?!” Henry was livid, his finger then pointed at Anne, “I thought you said it yourself, she… was forbidden, for the four of us!”

Although Anne was prepared for this kind of word to appear from one of them, still it was heartbreaking to hear it personally. She excused herself before she heard any kind of harsh words from Henry. Both of the men were staring at Anne until she disappeared completely.

“You know, Henry, you’re being plain rude to us. I was fine with it…” Said Justice to Henry. He turned around to see his friend and scolded him, “But you were so rude to her! That was unacceptable! Think about her feeling for once.”

Henry just shrugs and goes away, but Justice didn’t let him go away that easily. He followed him from behind; he goes into the third gate and entered a resting tent for the knight captain. As soon as Henry saw Justice who followed him, his face went sour.

“Don’t you dare run away this time, Henry? When we were trying to have a conversation earlier, you gave us a thousand excuses.” Justice tried to pursue him, and he didn’t want to hear any more excuses from him. “Seriously, what happened to you?”

“What do you want to hear from me? About my adventure with my grandfather? Or how I was fooling around with all the ladies in the rural area?” Henry mocks his friend and pretends that he wanted to go to sleep. “Just go. I wanted to sleep already.”

“Fine! I’ll refuse to leave this tent, then.” Said Justice. He took another bed and lay beside his friend.

Henry scoffed when he saw his friend’s action, he gruntled but let him stay by his side. Five minutes later, Henry was sitting on his bed, while Justice was already fast asleep. “You told me that you demanded some answer, but fast asleep just like this? Unbelievable.”

Henry stayed on his bed for almost two hours until a voice came from outside his tent. Henry recognized the voice. He goes out of his tent to see Anne in the middle of a heated debate with the knights.

“Please, sir, I need to go and see it for myself. It could save so many lives!” Anne desperately tries to persuade the knight.

“I am sorry miss, everyone from inside the encampment is forbidden to go outside at any cost.”

Anne stubbornly stayed in her place. “But I know the cause of this! I need to see it so the alchemist could have the samples!”

“What did you say?” Justice came out from the tent, probably awakened by the commotion.

Anne turn her attention and saw both Henry and Justice, full of confidence. Anne spoke to both of them. “I finally know the cause of this new variant.”