novelDon't come to the imperial ball (2)
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Chapter 91: Chapter 91 Don't come to the imperial ball (2)
Grabbing her hand, Lard began to run. She breathed out as if surprised.
The sound of the two running on the road rang into the tense night air.
The closer they came to the banquet hall, the greater the disturbance was. He smelled a slight smell of gunpowder. He was growing very impatient.
"Haa.... haa..." Her breathing was rough. While running, holding her big dress, she looked up at him on and off. Feeling her worried gaze, he signalled to her with reassurance.
Her pale skin seemed visible through her yellow hair falling around her ears.
After looking at her worried expression, he was a little relieved. If she had felt fear at the moment, it would have been difficult for him to move with her further.
He turned his head shortly after quickly checking her complexion.
"It will be fine, " he said as if he was trying to calm down her anxiety.
She breathed out instead of replying.
As yelling and screaming resonated through the hall, she had sweat on her hand holding his. He felt she was getting more and more tense, so he tightened his grip on her hand.
When they arrived in front of the palace where the banquet took place, they saw a cloud of dust scattering behind the building, which overlooked the imperial lake, Odot. Schroder followed them as he saw a group of knights running towards it.
The situation was terrible. The outer wall of the building was torn to pieces, with fragments everywhere. Several people were bleeding among the fallen column debris. Knights and several nobles were dragging them out of the rubble.
Wendy felt cold in her neck amid the white dust still rising from the rubble.
"Carry them this way!"
The knights shouted loudly and carried the wounded on one side.
Watching their faces, Wendy's eyes trembled. She wondered if Dylan was among them, and checked out the people who were injured, but no one was dressed in imperial knight uniform. She felt a great relief after confirming he was not there.
"Captain!"
At that moment, a lean knight who discovered Lard rushed to him. His black hair was covered in dust and looked whitish.
"Where is the prince right now?"
Lard shouted at him even before he approached nearby.
"His Excellency returned to his palace before the explosion. The princess and her family also left here under the protection of the knights."
Lard breathed out shortly with a great sense of relief.
"Did you find who was responsible for the explosion? What is the damage?
"I haven't yet found the suspect yet. Fortunately, there were not many people outside the banquet hall as the party had just begun inside the banquet hall. So far, six people have been confirmed to have been wounded. I sent someone to call the royal doctors to treat them."
"Has there been any messages from Sir Simuan?" Lard asked, recalling that Jean Jacques Simuan and some other knights were deployed to protect and escort the emperor.
"No, sir."
The emperor was supposed to appear at the end of the eve party. That meant that the explosion was not aimed at the emperor, to say the least.
"Send the vanguard party of the 1st Knights to the emperor, so they can help Sir Simuan escort him. Right now, the alert level is the highest risk level. Deploy the security knights to escort the crown prince and the princess, and put all the rest here. Just in case, escort the nobles still inside the banquet hall to the Chessirant Palace, and place two teams of knights to prevent their agitation."
Lard also ordered them to move the princess and her family secretly to the Sabrina Palace. He chose that palace on purpose because it had nothing to do with the princess. He had to be conscious of the threatening letter the princess had received.
"Yes, sir. We'll carry out your order."
"Immediately find the whereabouts of Captain Hoikin of the 2nd Imperial Knights and bring him here. Double the royal guards around the palace. From this moment on, no one should be allowed to leave the palace."
Lard then ordered the imperial palace sealed off to prevent the escape of the suspect.
The knight nodded at his order and quickly ran out.
Lard turned his head to Lake Odot shrouded in the darkness. Beyond the lake he saw the crown prince's palace, with its spires pricking up into the sky. He stared at the other side of the lake with a heavy heart then turned back to the chaotic scene. The scene of the wounded moaning here and there was like a cold mist.
None of the injured seemed to be unique enough to catch his eye. The wounded were less influential noblemen in the border areas and their young sons and an attendant.
Accordingly, it was unreasonable to conclude that the explosion didn't seem to target any particular person.
'Was it unrelated to the prince's legislation on the new hiring system?'
After thinking for a moment, Lard shook his head.
He felt it was not related because the timing was not good. However, the explosion was too radical to be regarded as a simple warning. What did the suspect make such a fuss then?
Right at the moment he suddenly felt something ominous. His eyebrows were distorted grossly.
'Why didn't I think of that?'
"Sir Owen!"
Lard called a knight standing at a distance and ran to him. Given the blue badge on the shoulder, he was a member of the 2nd Imperial Knights.
Suddenly led by Land as he was running, Wendy breathed in a lot of dust and exhaled a cough.
"Owen! How many knights escorted the princess's family?"
"...At the order of the crown prince last night, Sir Badge Enos and 20 knights ..."
"How many were dispatched to protect the crown prince? Were there additional knights assigned?"
According to the knight security manual, the Lottea of the 2nd Imperial Knights and 20 competent knights were supposed to be assigned to the crown prince in contingencies.
"Sir Jessie Kressen was just dispatched to select nine knights from the 2nd Imperial Knights. When they join, a total of twenty knights will be on security detainee."
Lard distorted his face miserably.
The security force to protect the crown prince was ridiculously weak. If the enemies had targeted the prince from the beginning, the explosion was nothing more than a trick to distract the knights. The same was true of the threatening letter delivered to the princess.
"Sir Owen, gather ten knights right now and follow me. I'm going to the prince's palace."
As if he sensed Lard's anxiety, Sir Owen turned back with a gloomy look.
"Wendy, go to the Chesirant Palace now. Let me send a knight to protect you. You will be safe if you are with other nobles, " he said, releasing her hand.
She raised opposition to his proposal.
"I don't want to be a burden to the knights in this situation...I'll be taking care of the injured over there. Don't worry about me. They need helping hands here, too, " she said, watching the knights carrying the injured.
"No, move to a safe place!"
"Captain! We are ready!"
Sir Owen came back with the knights and shouted at Lard. Lard was interrupted by Owen briefly then looked at Wendy. He was hesitating. But she nodded as if she had no problem.
"... Sir Gerrard!"
Lard called the name of the knight that Wendy pointed to. The knight who had just put the wounded down looked at his boss.
"This lady here will help you guys treat the injured...Ask this knight for any help."
After he finished talking in an uneasy tone, he led the knights quickly and left.
Looking at him disappearing through the dim dust, Wendy shook her head as if to come to her senses. She grabbed an attendant who was running around and asked for the cleanest cloth possible.
"Are you a doctor?" Sir Gerrad asked.
"I'm not a doctor, but I can do first aid."
Fortunately, the wounds of the injured were not deep. She noticed torn and bruised flesh as well as broken bones from the fragments of the broken building, but no one seemed to be directly hit by the explosion.
Wendy, who agonized whether to use the power of her index finger for a while, decided to wait for the imperial doctors after confirming that their lives were not in danger. She could grow a plant like Bahazman or Venenta, that would help heal the injured quickly, but she didn't need to take that risk.
Wendy pulled a long piece of cloth around injured limbs to stop the bleeding of the wounds while looking around. The explosion scene, full of chaos a little while ago, was now getting back to normal gradually thanks to the quick response of the knights. Wendy was busy again, hearing the painful moaning of an injured person.
"This is a dangerous place!"
"Just a minute is okay. I just want to check the face of the injured!"
Suddenly, there was a loud quarrel. It was a familiar voice.
Surprised, Wendy turned her eyes toward the source of the noise while cleaning the wounded area of an injured person. Beyond the rubble, she saw the red hair of a woman who was haggling with the imperial knight. She was Francis Hazlet.
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