CH 119

Meanwhile, Gareth was resting in the woods close to Logan’s estate, greeting a messenger from his estate. Giggs was at his side, taking care of a wound made by an arrow that had brushed past his shoulder earlier. Upon listening to the short report from the messenger about William, Gareth jumped up, shoving Giggs’ hand away from him.

“Elena ended up learning about everything in the end. She must have been shocked…” he trailed off.

“She’s fine, sir,” the messenger answered calmly as he had been instructed. His words gave Gareth some relief, giving him peace of mind to ponder for a moment.

‘Rowena and Marina are being held captive by Lydia, and she deliberately let William escape to my estate…’ Gareth realized that it was probably Logan’s life that Lydia was after and that she had decided not to side with Logan anymore. Gareth mulled over the complicated situation, rubbing his forehead roughly with one hand. ‘What a smart woman she is, that Lydia. I’ve never met anyone as cunning as her.’ Goosebumps rose on Gareth’s body when he thought about what the sly woman was willing to do for her survival.

At that moment, Giggs shuddered and asked, “Will they put children in front of them like that tomorrow?”

Gareth turned towards the drawbridge to see that Logan had finally come out of his castle and had crossed the drawbridge. However, he had children lined in front of him like a shield. Gareth and his subordinates became appalled by such a cruel sight. Although they were mercenaries, they had never killed innocent people who were not related to their commissions. Gareth decided not to attack Logan due to the children shielding him and began to think.

‘Lydia is trying to get rid of Logan… and Logan is using children as his shield…’ His lips twisted into a smirk when he realized that Lydia wanted Logan dead right away in order to take control of the troops before word about Logan being a coward spread throughout the country. Meanwhile, Logan was stalling, allowing more time for the rumor about his recreancy to unfurl. Once everyone had learned of Logan’s lack of confidence, his troops were going to be shaken, and above all, Halbert’s morale was going to rise.

“I’ll have to curry favor with him for now,” Gareth announced, although he had planned to kill Logan initially.

“What?” Giggs asked back, confused.

‘I’ll let you stall for the whole world to learn about you. This will help Ethan as well,’ Gareth thought, then quipped, “We’ll still need to clear the shield, right, Giggs? Do you want to surprise them?”

Giggs immediately recognized what Gareth was thinking. “Shall we cut down the trees first?”

“Good idea,” Gareth smiled, then he suddenly turned to the messenger as if he had remembered something. “Is Elena really okay?” he asked.

“Yes, she is, sir,” the messenger replied as he had been instructed by Elena.

Feeling something strange, Gareth kicked the messenger hard in the shoulder out of the blue. “Are you sure?” he asked, kicking the messenger again. The poor man rolled back but gave no more than a “yes” for an answer.

Gareth felt his heart burn at that instant as if he was thrown into flames. His expression turned fierce as he raised his foot again to kick the messenger for the third time. Giggs quickly intervened when he saw what was happening.

“It’s a messenger, boss. He is simply telling you what he knows.”

“He knows something. Open your mouth before I kill you,” Gareth snarled.

As soon as Giggs realized he couldn’t stop Gareth, he turned around and pressed the tight-lipped messenger for an answer. “Keeping your lips sealed isn’t what’s important right now. Say what you know.”

The messenger looked at Gareth with a frightened expression, his eyes shaking. Gareth stood still, his lips forming a thin line out of impatience. After a moment, he pulled out his sword, prompting the messenger to finally confess the truth.

“She’s in a lot of pain! She’s in pain!” the messenger screamed, shuddering.

Gareth dropped his sword at the messenger’s words and stumbled. Such words were enough to let Gareth know what had happened to Elena.