The carriage entered a large village which looked like a medieval city.
Houses were packed close together and the streets were busy, and markets lined the roads.
People were buying food, shouting, trading, and moving through the crowd in every direction.
The village was alive with light and noise.
Cara's hand which had completely healed.
She looked up at the sky and thought, "It's night already... Good thing we made it all the way." and as fog was making her head wet so she hooded herself.
Inside the carriage, the others peered out the windows, watching the crowded village pass by.
"Wow… this place is way busier than the last village," Nikola said, impressed.
Doulong nodded. "This is the central village of the country. Most of the population lives here. People who don't want to become warriors settle here or other villages. Instead, among other villages this is the village with the most people and it has the most security . It's really big too. This place is called Wall's Village, or the Village of Stone. People here are more focused on living peacefully than fighting."
"It's been a year since I last came here," Diana added. "They've really improved a lot."
She glanced at Selay and noticed the tension on his face.
"Why do you look so tense, Selay?" she asked.
"Huh? Me? Oh… I was just thinking about those horses with men's heads we left behind," Selay replied, staring out the window. "I get what Ms. Cara said, but still… We just left them there. What if someone breaks the wall and rescues them?"
Cara overheard and turned her head slightly. "You don't need to worry. I'll know if they escape or if the wall is breached. And if you're imagining someone strong enough to break through that wall… well, let's just say if someone that powerful really shows up, they could probably Injure me and all of us down anyway, and I'm not going to wait around for that to happen. I'm fully sure of what I did."
"Hmm… I'm not blaming you," Selay said. "I'm just saying."
"I still can't believe it," Doulong interjected. "If you could use that crystal power earlier, why didn't you use it at the start of the fight?"
"I wasn't trying to fight," Cara explained calmly. "I wanted to understand the situation first. Using a special power like that consumes a lot of mana, I couldn't afford to waste it early. I waited until they were physically and magically drained. If I'd used the crystal at the start, their mana was strong enough to resist it or escape. I waited for the right moment."
She looked ahead. "We can talk more later. We're almost there."
The carriage rolled up to a large mansion built of wood and stone, surrounded by sturdy walls. Several knights stood guard outside the gates. Cara brought the carriage to a stop.
One of the knights stepped forward and held up his hand. "Hey…hold on there, lady. Where do you think you're going? "
Cara narrowed her eyes. "I stopped in front of the main gate. Does it look like I'm trying to go to the moon?"
The knight didn't back down. "I see that. But the entrance is closed for the day. King Caprio is expecting guests, and we're under strict orders not to let anyone inside unless they work here."
She began to say something but...
Before she could finish, a young man in his twenties with long blue hair approached. "What's going on here?" he asked, his voice smooth but curious. He looked at Cara. "Wait… is that Cara? I almost didn't recognize you. When did you start working as a carriage driver?"
Cara's face soured. She shot him a glare. "Watch your mouth, Xavier."
" He's still the same cocky man as he used to be.." she thought bitterly.
Xavier smirked. "Oh, come on, darling. Don't be so upset. I didn't mean anything bad…"
She reached for her sword. "Say another of those words, and I swear I'll stab you right in the throat."
Xavier looked seriously and turned to the knight. "Let them in. They're the guest who was supposed to come ." Then, turning back to Cara, he added, "He's new. Don't mind him."
Inside the mansion, a man who looked to be 40 years old sat at a desk, writing with a pencil.
His hair was mostly purple, streaked with white. He was focused on the paper in front of him and a woman entered the room.
She wore an elegant royal gown and walked softly , though her sleeves hung loosely because she had no hand beneath the fabric.
"Darling, the guests have arrived," she said gently.
The man stood up quickly. "Oh! Where are they now?"
"They're at the gate. They should be here any moment," the woman replied.
He walked over to her and helped her into a wool sweater, then pulled one over his own shoulders.
"Why haven't you put on a sweater yet? It's cold, isn't it?" he asked with quiet concern.
A maid entered, bowing her head. "King, Queen...they've entered the palace."
The queen turned to her. "Inform Lisa. She's been waiting to meet them."
"Yes, my queen," the maid said before hurrying out of the room.
.
.
.
In the quiet corner of the royal garden beside the mansion Cara stood face to face with Xavier. His back leaned casually against a tree, his hand resting just above her shoulder on the bark.
"You still miss me, Cara?" Xavier said with a smirk. "I can see it in your eyes. You want me back."
"You're still the same scum," Cara snapped. "Why would I miss you? After you cheated on me...not once, but more times than a person has fingers. I feel nothing for you anymore. In fact, I hate you. And just so you know, I'm getting married soon...also now I love someone else.. I have moved on from you."
Xavier's smile faltered. "With whom?"
She shoved him back with a firm push. "That's none of your business. Whatever we had ended two years ago. I don't want to waste another second thinking about you."
She turned and began walking away. "I have better things to do than talk to garbage."
Unnoticed by either of them, a maid in the distance watched silently from behind a hedge.
Meanwhile, in the royal guest lounge, Selay, Diana, Doulong, and Nikola sat on a circular sofa surrounding a table piled high with fresh fruits. Doulong bit into a crisp apple, crunch echoing lightly.
Across from them, the purple-haired king and his wife sat elegantly.
"It seems your journey was difficult," the king said kindly. "But I'm relieved to see you all safe. I hope you can forgive any shortcomings in our welcome."
"No, it's quite alright," Diana replied. "We arrived safely, all thanks to Ms Cara."
"Where is she now?" the king asked.
A knight standing at his side answered, "Lady Cara was approached by Mr Xavier, requesting a private conversation. We had to allow them to go."
The king's brow furrowed. "Xavier? That doesn't sound good... Those two have some issues."
Just then, the grand doors opened and Cara stepped into the hall, bowing slightly before the king. "My apologies for the delay, Your Majesty."
"Cara," the king greeted warmly, "we were just speaking of you, about your journey, and the dangers you faced along the way."
She carried a leather bag and held a spear in one hand. "I am sorry I don't think I have time to talk about this. Since you've already been informed, I'll get to the point." She placed the bag before the knight. "These are weapons I confiscated during the battle. I request they be examined carefully."
The knight stepped forward and took the bag.
"I would also like a team of knights to accompany me back to the site. We must capture and study the creatures responsible for the attack."
The king nodded slowly. "Hmm… yes, I've heard what you all faced . They described the creature as a centaur with four arms, dangerous and unlike anything we've seen."
"That description isn't accurate," Cara interjected. "These weren't centaurs."
The king looked surprised. "But they said it had the body of a horse and the head of a man."
Cara shook her head. "Centaurs have a human upper body with a human chest , they have leg skin like humans, and rest like horses covered in both humanlike skin and horse skin . The one we fought didn't resemble a centaur at all. It was as if someone replaced a horse's head with a twisted, malformed human head. I can't explain it fully without examining the body. Please, grant me permission to take a squad back for retrieval and investigation."
The king's expression grew grim. "That's disturbing… It seems the situation is worse than I thought." He glanced behind Cara, where Xavier had quietly entered.
"Xavier," the king said, "please assign some of your knights to support Ms Cara."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Xavier replied respectfully. Then, turning to Cara, he added with a faint smile, "Lady Cara, would you mind if I join as well?"
Cara turned to him with slight annoyance.
Upstairs in the mansion, in a softly bright room with a single lantern, Lisa stood before a mirror wearing a formal dress.
She frowned and muttered to herself, "Ugh... What should I wear? I can't just meet Selay after a whole year looking like this."
The room around her was a mess of dresses scattered everywhere as she desperately searched for the perfect look.
A maid watched quietly before speaking, "Princess, you look beautiful in anything. There's no need to stress yourself like this."
"Shut up..." Lisa replied, flustered, avoiding eye contact. "You don't understand how deeply I love Selay." She looked at herself in the mirror again, her voice softening. "It's been a year since I last saw him. I have to look perfect..."
Downstairs, the king looked over at Nikola and said with polite confusion, "I'm sorry… I don't believe I know this young man."
Selay said. "He's my friend."
"A friend, huh?" the king asked, "And what's your name?"
"I… I'm Nikola," the boy answered nervously.
"Nikola?" the king mused. "That's a name from one of my old poems. A man whose love was stolen by evil… He crossed an infinite sea to rescue her. Before I became king, I was just a writer, Caprio the Poet. But five years ago, Douzen convinced me to rule. I became King Caprio, and since then… I hardly write at all."
"You don't write anymore?" Diana asked, surprised.
Doulong didn't talk, only ate baked potato listening to their conversation and thought " If dad became king this County would end within a few months, he is not responsible enough to be a king"
"Rarely," Caprio admitted. "I was trying to write something just a moment ago..." He trailed off, noticing Selay staring blankly toward the stairs. "Selay… is something wrong?"
Selay came back to attention. "No… it's nothing."
But then, his eyes landed on the stairs and there she was. Lisa, descending slowly, wearing a red dress that shimmered under the chandelier. Her elegance stole the air from the room.
Selay's heart skipped. A strange warmth flooded his chest, leaving him oddly breathless.
Deep in the jungle, seven figure riding horse galloped down a moonlit path. The silver light cut through the dense trees, casting shifting shadows on the ground.
At the front, Cara rode a white horse, her expression sharp and focused. Beside her, on a brown horse, was Xavier. The rest were armored knights following closely behind.
"Why didn't you just kill them instead of trapping them?" Xavier asked, his tone more accusing than curious.
"Because," Cara answered flatly, "when I fought one, I cut off its head and it didn't die. That's when I realized its soul needed to be destroyed, something I'm not capable of. Another way might be turning them to ash, completely obliterating their bodies… But if I did that, we wouldn't have anything left to examine. Capturing them was the best choice for investigation."
Xavier scoffed. "Sounds like an excuse for lacking the power to finish the job."
"I'm more capable than you in every possible way," she snapped back.
Just then, something whistled through the air.
Arrows that were as fast as lightning.
Everyone dodged quickly, but one arrow struck a knight's horse, bringing it down with a thud. The rider tumbled to the dirt with a grunt.
"What the hell…" Cara shouted, drawing her sword. Her eyes locked onto the path ahead.
Three figures stood in the clearing, illuminated by the moonlight on top of three different trees.
Each of them had the head of a horse, but the body of a man. In their hands were bows and arrows
"What are those things?!" cried the fallen knight, scrambling to his feet.
"You said they had human heads on horse bodies," Xavier muttered, tense. "But these... these are the opposite."
Cara's eyes narrowed. She gripped her sword tighter. "Whatever they are, they are not normal as i have already mentioned "
Tbc