Loving The Mad King

Archadia Troops Come To Attack

"BROTHER!"

Anwen's scream that sounded panicked made the three people in the room startled. Trish immediately got up to open the door, followed by Rion and Odette.

"Brother!"

Rion was surprised because Anwen suddenly called him, and he was confused because Anwen looked panicked. "What is it?" he asked.

"Emperor Dario and his three thousand troops are heading for Panthera."

Rion's eyes widened as his breath hitched slightly when he heard what Anwen had just said. The same thing seemed to happen to Trish.

"Who told you this?" Roon asked. Anwen explained that she had been alerted by a soldier carrying a message from the troop leader guarding the southern border.

"The soldier is waiting outside," Anwen added.

Without further ado, Rion immediately went to meet the soldier for more information, while Trish, Anwen and Odette followed closely behind.

"Is everything you said true?" Rion asked as soon as he stood face to face with the soldier, who was carrying a message from the southern border.

"That's right, Your Majesty." The soldier bowed slightly to salute the king, and then added, "We await your orders, Your Majesty."

Odette noticed Rion's face which looked tense.

"Rion ..." she said softly then looked at the man's hand that was below.

Rion's thumb seemed to be pressing on the tip of his pale middle finger, indicating that he was really tense. Odette felt sorry for him.

"Trish, let's go," Rion said and Trish immediately nodded.

"I am coming along!" Anwen wanted to come along, but Rion forbade him.

"No. You stay in the castle."

"But I can help." Anwen insisted.

Rion didn't respond to Anwen, instead he looked at Odette, and it made Odette a little surprised.

"Take care of her," he said.

For a moment, he and Odette locked eyes. Rion immediately left when Odette nodded in understanding.

"Brother!" Anwen wanted to catch up with her brother but Odette immediately grabbed her shoulders.

***

"It seems His Majesty has a lot of trust in Odette," Trish said as they walked briskly toward the exit. Honestly, he was quite surprised when he heard the king asked Odette to take care of Anwen.

"I just feel like she's reliable." Rion looked at the butler who happened to pass by him.

The butler bowed respectfully.

"Tell all your subordinates to look after Anwen. Don't let her outside the castle." Rion gave the order while continuing to take wide strides.

The entire castle's occupants were bewildered to see the king and Knight Trish leaving in a hurry. But their confusion did not last long because they immediately learned what happened from the soldiers, who were already preparing to go with the king.

"You go to the palace and ask for help from the soldiers there and you go to see Duke Carolus. Ask him to send reinforcements to the southern border," said Trish, giving orders.

After the two soldiers left, Rion and Trish immediately mounted their prepared horses. The bridles were pulled and the horses stood up and galloped off to confront the enemy.

"Your Majesty, do you think Emperor Dario wishes to avenge Duke Redragon's death?" Trish spoke in a loud voice as their horses galloped along.

"Maybe," answered Rion curtly.

His eyes looked straight at the one in front of him. He had doubts that Emperor Dario's purpose of bringing his three thousand troops to Panthera was to avenge Duke Redragon's death.

Rion's heart was restless, he wouldn't let his former father-in-law hurt the people of Panthera.

Meanwhile, inside the castle, the atmosphere was in an uproar, as everyone was trying to prevent Anwen from leaving the castle.

"Anwen, stop!" Odette ran after Anwen who was running very fast.

"YOU GO TO THE LEFT, AND YOU CLOSE THE ENTRY IN THERE! YOU AND YOU CLOSE ALL THE WINDOWS!" Odette gave instructions to all the maids she saw and all the maids immediately moved to follow her instructions.

What Odette was currently doing was what she often did to catch her runaway patients. She would run and scream loudly in the hospital corridors, then all the hospital staff would move to follow her instructions.

Anwen, who was running towards the exit, came to a sudden halt as the door closed and the maids stood in front of the door forming a defensive line. She turned to her left, to escape through the window, but the servants had also stood in the same line, and all the windows were closed. She turned to the right and she again found the same thing.

Anwen was surrounded!

"Anwen, stop. Try to understand. It's dangerous out there and Rion doesn't want you to get hurt," said Odette, trying to make the young girl understand what Rion meant.

Anwen turned her head then turned back and looked at Odette who was standing in the middle of the line of maids.

"I know it, Miss Ody, but I want to help my brother! Miss Ody, currently three thousand Archadia troops are heading towards Panthera and my brother is going to confront them with only three hundred troops!"

Odette was silent. She realized that right now Rion, Trish and the troops, who were accompanying them, were in a very difficult situation. If they had to compete for strength, it seemed impossible for them to win.

This made Odette also feel afraid. She wondered if that was the kind of fear felt by those whose countries were at war or were being colonized?

They were inside the house but they didn't feel safe. They expected a lot from the country's leaders.

"I order all of you to step aside!" Anwen commanded all the maids who got in her way.

"Forgive us, Princess, we have been ordered by the king not to let you out of the castle," said the butler.

"But I must go to help my brother. At least, until the troops from the palace arrive!" Anwen started to speak in an irritated tone, but the maids remained unmoved in their places while Odette seemed lost in her own thoughts.

"In that case, okay." Anwen's brows dipped, she reached into his shirt pocket and took out a purple ball which she directly threw in front of the maids.

"Hold your breath and open the window!" Odette shouted as the entire room was enveloped in green gas and made everyone cough.

That was when Odette saw Anwen run away. Anwen ran quickly towards the stables to pick up Dan, but Dan wasn't there. The stable was empty, not a single horse was there.

Anwen wondered if her brother or Trish had took Dan?

Jeez!

She was angry because she did not have any means to go after her brother. She didn't know that all the horses, including Dan, had already been moved to the other side of the castle by some servants.

***

"Miss Odette is really smart," said a servant, chuckling, as he fed Dan a carrot.

"Hahaha, that's right. Finally, the princess has found a worthy opponent," said another servant and laughed with the five friends.

"Sorry, Anwen," said Odette looking at Anwen from the window.

***

Meanwhile, somewhere, Aathreya was standing in the middle of the clearing looking at the thousands of horses galloping towards him. His facial expression didn't look like his usual. His brows dipped and his ruby eyes stared intensely, as if there was anger hidden within them.