The soldiers dragged Rebecca towards Millman. ‘Hmm… I can understand why Lord Vanstorm wants this woman.’ Millman thought as he studied Rebecca, who was drenched by the rain, from head to toe. He looked at Ted who was in her arms. ‘We will bring this boy with us too, so that this woman will listen to our every command.’
“My Lord! Please don’t take our Rebecca!” Aunty Serda cried out as she begged, kneeling on the wet ground, oblivious to the dirt staining her clothes.
“Please don’t! Take us with you, instead. Please spare them!” Uncle Tias also kneeled beside his wife, hoping that Millman would reconsider.
“Shut up! Why would I want an old trash like you?” Millman shouted, his face filled with scorn. He looked at the villagers and ordered, “Leave some men to keep an eye on them! Get those four to the carriage! We will go back to the Manor!”
“Yes, sir!”
“No, please!” Aunty Serda continued to plead, grabbing the feet of the soldiers who were arresting Rebecca and Ted.
“Get lost!” The soldier kicked her aside and continued to drag the unwilling ‘prisoners’ toward the carriage.
“Rebecca, Ted… My children...” At the thought of being unable to see them again, she cried louder but the sound of the rain overwhelmed hers.
“Please!” Uncle Tias too was still on his knees, his head banging on the ground. He continued to beg until his forehead was bleeding.
Millman didn’t even spare them a glance, looking away. “Let’s get going! We shouldn’t be wasting more time here!” He then looked around him with disgust. He did not want to stay there any longer than necessary.
Rebecca, Ted, Ren, and Mill were escorted to the carriage. Rebecca and Ted looked at the married couple who didn't stop kneeling as they carried on pleading loudly. The soldiers who were left behind, blocked them from coming closer to the carriage, lest they will try to break through to the four people inside.
And that was the last time the people in the village saw them.
“I’m sorry… aunty, uncle…” They were crying not because they were regretting their decision to help Ren and Mill. But they were sad because they made them cry.
“My children… My children!” Aunty Serda and Uncle Tias’ sorrowful voices field the mourning rain.
…
Inside the carriage, Rebecca was hugging her younger brother tightly in her arms. She did not look scared at all, but rather, she put on a brave front.
Ren and Mill were still crying at the corner with shackles being placed around their ankles to prevent them from escaping. It was quite cramped inside the carriage as there were additional two soldiers who were inside to keep an eye on them.
Ted was crying loudly in his older sister’s arms when suddenly one of the soldiers shouted at him to keep quiet. The two soldiers felt greatly irritated by the annoying sobbing from the three children.
The children became frightened by the outburst that they started to quieten down.
“Man, what a start to begin our day!” One of the soldiers grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest.
“Right. It's such a boring mission. Only to go to this small village for this farce!” the other agreed, implying that apprehending the four people in front of them were ‘nothing but useless’.
“I don’t get why Lord Vanstorm and Lord Millman have to go through all this trouble for a woman. If he wanted a woman, there are plenty out there than the ones in that measly village.”
“It’s to make this woman break the legal rules set by Lord Vanstorm. So even if the villagers wanted to report it to the capital, they couldn’t because the law is on Lord Vanstorm’s side.”
“Ah, makes sense.”
“Also, you know how he is, he’s unreasonable.“ The soldier scoffed. “And I do think that that law is stupid, though.”
“Hey, Dann! Be quiet! What if someone heard you and reported you to Lord Millman?! Don’t drag me too into your mess!”
“Don’t worry, Ron. Apart from these slaves, the rain is too loud outside to be heard by people outside.”
Rebecca felt confused as she eavesdropped on the soldiers’ conversation. ‘Farce?’ she repeated softly in her mind.
“Si-sir, wh-what do you mean by farce…?” she asked quietly.
The soldiers looked toward Rebecca. Ron was about to scold her when Dann suddenly cut him off, letting out a sigh. “Wait, Ron. It won’t hurt to tell her the truth.” He said to his partner and turned to Rebecca. “Those slaves were a trap.”
Rebecca’s eyes went wide. “A trap? Wh-what do you mean?” she asked again, still confused.
“Those slaves aren’t actually without parents. Their parents are also slaves at Lord Vanstorm’s manor. They were held hostage by him. These kids were beaten up and dumped at your field to make sure that you would be the one who found them.” Dann paused for a moment and continued,
“Lord Vanstorm knew your personality and knew that you wouldn’t be able to resist helping them so he threatened them with their parents being held up. With this, the kids won’t be able to escape after being rescued by you. . And you know why we were able to find them that quickly? That was because they revealed themselves to us.”
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Ren and Mill’s faces paled when they heard Dann’s words. They cried harder,repeating the same words in their mouths. “We are sorry, we are sorry…”
Ted was shocked. His understanding of the world turned 180 degrees. He looked at Ren and Mill with hatred. “WE HELPED YOU! AND THIS IS WHAT WE GET?”
Ted regretted his decision. He felt his view of the world crumbled down as betrayal of trust flooded in him. If he could turn back the time, he definitely would not persuade his sister to help them.
‘W-we helped them, but they betrayed us in return!’ Regret filled Ted’s mind. All the things he did with Ren and Mill; their smiles, their tears, their laughs.
All of it got twisted in his mind and were replaced with endless hatred.
‘All of that was a lie!’
Bang!
“Agh!?”
“AH!?”
The people inside the carriage suddenly became shocked. Apparently, something had struck the side of the carriage and created a hole. It made everyone inside lose their balance and soon after, the carriage fell to the side, due to the impact of the shock.
And not sooner than that, shouts could be heard from the outside, despite the heavy rainfall.
“Monsters attack! Don’t let your guard down!”
“All soldiers, eliminate all monsters!”
Ron and Dann hurriedly stood up and took a look outside as they readied their weapons. “This is bad, the rain is too intense, I can hardly see anything.”
“We need to regroup!”
“What about the slaves?!”
“We don’t have time to think about them! From that impact alone, it must be a C rank monster at the very least!” Dann said, jumping out from the carriage.
They quickly rushed to the side of the carriage. However, they could not see any monsters.
After looking around them with caution, they finally heard screams from the soldiers who were at the front of the carriage.
“IT’S A BERSERK BULL! WE NEED TO SURROUND IT!”
“You heard that? It’s indeed a C rank monster! Why is it here?!” Ron said in shock.
“Let’s help! With this heavy rain, a Berserk Bull would be hard to take down!” Dann said, running forward to help. Ron nodded his head as he followed from behind him.
Inside the carriage, Ted was groggy because of the previous impact. Just then, a lovely familiar face appeared in front of him as she gently prodded him. . “Ted, let’s run. We have a chance to escape while they are distracted by the monster!.”
“But we are shackled…”
“It’s fine!” she said hurriedly. She held up a rusty looking key and continued, “I got the key! It fell from the soldiers when we were hit by those shocks!!” She then quickly unlocked the shackles for her brother and hers. “Let’s go!”
Rebecca didn’t unlock Ren and Mill’s shackles not because she didn’t want to help them again, but because she now knew their real story. Even if she helped them again, they would not save themselves because of their parents.
Rebecca took a peek outside of the carriage and then jumped out of the carriage. “Come on, Ted, the soldiers are distracted right now!”
The rain was very heavy, making it difficult for one to see their surroundings.
“Let’s head over to the forest! We can’t go back to the village, we need to run somewhere else!”
They swiftly ran towards the forest, despite the limited vision. Rebecca fully knew the risk of going to the forest in this heavy rain, but they had no other choice.
It was better to bet everything on this chance than to be enslaved .
It was do or die!
Rebecca led her brother into the forest. As they went deeper and deeper, the path they took was getting difficult and more difficult. They need to be very careful of thorny plants, sharp rocks and branches and slippery grounds. Doubled with the heavy rain, it was clearly not easy for mere villagers.
Not to mention Rebecca had to take care of Ted while staying vigilant all the time.
Suddenly, they heard roars not too far from them . Even with the thundering heavy rainfalls, they recognized that fearsome roar.
“Oh no! It must be wolves!” Rebecca panicked. She tightened her hold of Ted’s hand and started running.
Rebecca pulled Ted along as they tried to run desperately. She ignored all the obstacles as she went through all of it without any heed to her injuries. Adrenaline took over her senses as she didn’t even feel any pain in the slightest.
Roar!
No matter what she did, common villagers like her couldn’t outrun the pack of wolves. She turned her head while continuing to run, trying to see whether the wolves were behind them.
The wolves were and they have easily caught up to them!. She could see their figures appearing in the heavy rain!
She pushed her younger brother ahead and ordered.
“RUN! DON’T TURN BACK! JUST RUN!”
“Bu-but sist-”
“JUST RUN!” She shouted pleading could be heard in her voice. She decided to stay behind to distract the wolves so that her brother could escape.
When the wolves jumped toward her, it was like time had slowed down. Everything was moving slowly. That was when Ted saw his sister for the last time.
His sister turned her head towards him. Even though he could not see her clearly, he knew that she must be smiling warmly at him. Then surprisingly, he could see her mouth moving, telling him,
‘Keep on living, I love you.’
Tears burst out from his eyes at her proclamation. He gritted his teeth, turned around and ran as fast as he could. He could not forget the look on his sister’s face.
He hated Ren and Mil for their betrayal.
He hated Millman for being heartless.
He hated Lord Vanstorm for his illogical laws, selfishness and lust.
He hated his sister for sacrificing herself for him.
Most of all, he hated himself for being so weak.
He continued to run, not looking behind him. He crashed through the branches, leaves and all, ignoring the pain. In his mind, all he could think was to escape from the wolves.
But it wasn’t done yet. Some wolves chased after Ted. He soon slipped on wet mud.
“AAAH!”
Splash!
Ted fell into the river. Due to the continuous heavy rain, the river current was fast. Ted felt like he was about to drown and the last thought he had was of his sister. Guilt soon swamped him.
‘I’m so sorry, sister…’ and then he lost consciousness.