Chapter 8 – Truth Revealed (8)

With her eyes closed, Iz pulled up the blanket and covered her face. When there was finally no one around, tears that had been held back since yesterday flowed quietly.

‘I was thrown away from the start.’

The leader’s words pierced Iz’s heart like a thorn and did not disappear. In fact, she even had a vague idea of it. Ever since Princess Eloise couldn’t tell her the details of her plans after sending her to Akram. Ever since she noticed that she pretends to soothe her but her eyes are full of irritation. And since she knew that dying here would be the most comfortable outcome for the kingdom.

Still, she wanted to believe in the princess and the kingdom. Whatever it may be, the king was a benefactor who saved her. It was his country where she continued to live with loyalty. As the leader told the maids, he acknowledged her hard work and had a faint expectation that he might save her.

In fact, she thought there was nothing she could do about it even if he didn’t save her. Even so, she just wanted them to worry and think about her a little bit…

Tears ran down her cheeks. She was a loser from the beginning. In the first place, no matter what happened to herself, Princess Eloise was going to marry the crown prince of another kingdom, and the allied forces were planning to attack Akram. 

‘I knew it.’

The reason she begged to save her.

‘Even if I knew… I came…’

If the leader had said so and regretted her situation at all, she would have smiled bitterly and turned around. However, the leader and the two maids laughed after saying so. It was a sneer at Iz, who must have false expectations.

Iz wept quietly for a long time. Then she fell asleep with swollen eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, the sun was setting. Was it because she cried and fell asleep? She had a throbbing headache. Iz, who was going to take medicine, got up from her seat while touching her stomach. When she went outside, the maids followed her.

“I’m thinking of looking at the garden alone, so stay here.”

When Iz said it, the maids stopped at the entrance of the garden, as if they knew what it meant. At the same time, they looked worried. Since she collapsed from heatstroke, she thought that no matter how much the sun was setting, it might be a burden on her body again.

Iz, who was walking slowly in the garden, headed to a place that was least popular. The opposite side of the garden, where the leader and the maids were seen, had fewer people coming in and out than the oasis. The guards who were guarding the entrance bowed their heads when they saw Iz. Iz passed them and went deeper and deeper.

After heading to a place where there were no people for a long time, Iz crouched down among the overgrown vines. A while ago, the plant she was managing overgrown and she left it there, and it was a space she found while cutting off the branches. Originally, there was a huge old tree that was rarely found in Akram, but now it has died and only the stump remains. The stump had a hole large enough for a person to enter.

Iz crouched there, feeling the desert wind and thinking.

‘I’ll have to tell Barca.’

Since they abandoned her, there is nothing wrong with her conscience even if she betrays the Delane kingdom. Nevertheless, it is because of what she has done that she’s also hesitant. No matter what she says, she can’t deny that she joined this huge scam and played the most important role.

Iz wanted only one person to forgive hey for this. Iz clasped her hands tightly. Now all she would believe was Barca. Exactly, she had to bet everything on the affection Barca showed her.

It reminded her of the night in Urtalib. The night she called his name and became one with him. Since then, Barca no longer hugged Iz roughly, and Iz was no longer afraid of him.

‘Therefore….’

It’ll work out. He loves her. It was when Iz, who made up her mind, was about to get up. People were heard nearby. The sound held her breath. There was no reason to hide herself from others here, but she didn’t want to show that she was crouching alone in this space.

Besides, it will pass soon anyway, so it won’t be a problem if they leave after that. Iz, holding her breath and hoping people would pass by, saw something strange in an instant. The vines seemed to have moved to covet her. Although the wind was blowing, it was too alive to be said to have been shaken by the wind. Because of that, she couldn’t see who was coming.

When Iz held her breath even more because she thought she should stay still for a while, she heard the voice of the approaching person.

[So, what do you want to say?]

“……!” 

The owner of the voice was Barca. She was going to visit him, but he came. If he wasn’t with someone else, she would have gone straight through the vine and called him.

[Because I have something to tell you.]

The voice that answered was also a voice that Iz knew.

‘You were with Taz.’

She wondered why Hardin came in a hurry in the morning, but Taz seemed to come. Then it made sense that Barca went out. Everything was fun during her stay in Urtalib, but the only thing that bothered her was Taz’s eyes.

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