Chapter 169: Chapter 169

DAHLIA:

Of all the times he would ask for the truth, I didn’t know why Tristan was picking this moment…

I wanted to go to Laudicia. No, I needed to go to Laudicia. I cannot come back to Camdress and ask someone else to help me go there lest I encounter papa, and he’d recognize me…

I have no other choice but to enlist Tristan’s help to get there.

So now, I had no choice but to hide the truth from him too… And yet, despite my dilemma, why was my heart yearning for him to recognize me?

“If I… If I tell you I’m not who you think I am, would you believe me? If I tell you I’m really not Samalah, would you take me for a fool or believe my words wholeheartedly,” I blundered even before I could stop myself.

His eyebrows shot up in curiosity. “So who are you? If you are not Samalah then who are you?”

Sweat began to pour down generously on my back once more… No, I must not yield into this. If Tristan learns the truth now, my plan to meet King Helion would fail!

I swallowed the nervousness back to my throat. “I could be the girl you want the most, Tristan… So who do you want me to be? I could always fulfill your wishes,” I said as sugary as I could the way I have seen Samalah do it in front of other men.

In an instant, Tristan’s look turned from curiosity into contempt.

“You sure like making fun of me, huh?”

I did not say anything further. That was enough to allay his suspicion of me, right?

“Let’s go now. We can’t stay here for long… Since the duke is here, they’d be looking for Kaist. We’ve got to go,” I said.

“How about we take Sir Casior with us? Surely he could serve as a bridge if you were to negotiate with the king,” Tristan suggested.

“I’d love too, but we don’t have time for that… If they find me and Kaist here, they might drag me back with them to Talandor.”

“Very well… Then hop into my back. I don’t want to burden you since you’re pregnant,” he said after transforming into a wolf and bundling his clothes up for the journey.

I nodded and climbed on his back. I was relieved he did not suggest that I turn myself into my wolf form. Otherwise, I’d have to think of another excuse why I can’t do it.

As soon as I get on his back, wisps of black smoke began to envelope us. I feel much safer now that Tristan was using his powers. With this, papa will have a hard time chasing us, right?

“So what is your plan?”

“Nothing in particular… How long would the journey take to Laudicia?”

“Not later than two days. A day if we hurry.”

“I see… So we still have time, right?”

Our enemies gave us three days, but for sure they would either be there already or would be at the appointed place at least a day earlier.

“Let’s take our time going there.”

As long as Kaist and papa don’t catch us, I’m positive that I would be able to seal a deal with the Blasted Ones.

“Why? Do you have something you want to go to,” Tristan inquired.

I nodded at his question. “I want to do several things first…”

“Like what?”

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TRISTAN:

When Samalah said she wanted to do several things, I didn’t know she really meant doing several things she never liked before…

“First of all, can you take me into a valley with flowers?”

“Flowers?... I thought you hated flowers?”

“Um, ah, I think being pregnant made me want to do things I used to hate… Plus my pollen allergies aren’t that bad anymore…”

I gritted my teeth and stopped myself from telling her it wasn’t the pollen allergies that stopped her before from wanting flowers…

“Very well. I’ll take you somewhere that matches that landscape exactly.”

There was a terrain that I used to play with as a child. It was a bit close to Laudicia.

I remembered my mother. She liked flowers too.

It took us only an hour as we galloped into the Angressa Flower Valley, the place blessed by the Dragon Gods with fertile lands and luscious floras and faunas.

I wanted to impress Samalah, but since we arrived there at the dead of the night, the atmosphere was not as impressive as I hoped it would be.

Samalah always had a complaining streak about her. When something doesn’t impress her, she says it outwardly, at least to me. That is how I know that although she could be quite sly, she could also be honest in front of people she trusts.

I have already half-expected her to whine for taking her in such an unappealing place after bragging a bit about it on the way, so I was surprised when she spoke.

“This place… It’s really pretty!”

“It is?” I couldn’t see Samalah’s face, but her voice seemed really impressed. How did that happen?

“Yes. They have all kinds of fruit bearing trees and flowers. Why didn’t you tell me you knew a place like this before?”

“Um, I did tell you.”

Samalah froze. “Oh… My memory must have gotten bad since I got pregnant…”

It was a lame excuse, but I let it slide. “Whatever… Why do you want to go here?”

Samalah had always been interested in spells and potions. In fact she had experimented with so much spells and potions because she wanted to run her own pharmacy someday…

That was the dream she and I used to have. We will live peacefully in the countryside. She will open up a pharmacy while I will continue to study magic and hunt on my free time.

Now, it was nothing but a childish dream… The effects of our revenge had taken us farther and farther away from that silly, little dream of our younger years…

Yet, looking at Samalah right now, playing by the flower beds, it made me remember that we were also once children with such simple thoughts and happiness.

“Hey, Tristan, look here. This is a tiger lily, and this one here, I think these are roses, but they look queer. What do you think?”

I could only smile at her. I had no idea what kinds of flowers those were.

“It’s such a waste to pluck them though… What should I do?”

“Just pluck them. As long as you’re happy today, who cares?”

“Yes… Who cares, right?”

Suddenly, Samalah started bursting into tears.

“A-Are you okay,” I asked, perplexed. People really say that pregnant women have erratic temperaments, but I never thought it would be this unpredictable. She was smiling one moment, and then she was crying the next.

“Tristan… Do you not truly love me for who I am,” she suddenly asked. “Did you really just love me for my face and body?”

Why the hell was she asking me these questions?