Chapter 45
Azek looked at her for a few moments incredulously and then sighed.
"I will, Your Highness, but please first grant me royal permission to purify the seeding as an official healer."
Layana looked at him and then said, "So you are saying you could ignore the person in front of you in need of help until a royal command arrives?"
"No, Your Highness. I am saying I will definitely do as you command if you take full responsibility for my actions. And I will need something to work as proof so later I will not end up getting into trouble."
Layana's relaxed posture straightened up and her eyes became sharp. The air changed around her.
"You sure are daring, demanding proof from me." Her tone became seething.
"I am sorry, Your Highness, but Willowheart is still under surveillance by the church. The academy has provided me freedom and reassured me, but I still cannot allow any slip-ups and get my family dragged into a mess."
Azek replied respectfully not backing down in slightest.
Layana looked at him for a few moments, gauging his words and then her angry expression vanished slowly, replaced by a placid calm as if she was never even bothered in the first place.
She then took out a royal insignia from her pocket. It was a crisscross silver and gold leaf pattern with a sword in middle, which was the symbol of the Saika family.
"From now on, you will only do as I say, and you aren't allowed to go back on your word. Otherwise, the whole Willowheart family will have to bear the consequences."
Azek took the insignia and gave a respectful bow.
"It will be done as you command, Your Highness."
Night had already fallen by the time people from North Fortress joined them at the inn. Initially, they discussed whether to delay the journey until morning, but another report arrived—a new monster had now been spotted outside the Northwest town.
The northern front of Saika was originally a border area of flat land, with boulder mountains stretching across vast distances. It bordered the Ronaian Kingdom, a small kingdom that had already lost one-third of its territory to monster assaults. In the end, they chose to abandon the border region and focused solely on defending what remained of their lands.
But this brought grim news to the Saika Empire, which now had to station a knight brigade there permanently—bearing the brunt of a full frontal attack.
The northwest side had originally been relatively safe, but due to recent organized attacks, they had to dispatch personnel there as well. Now, it had become absolutely necessary, as the monster's area of operation was widening by the day. Therefore, they immediately decided to depart that night.
Carriages moved without stopping.
Azek drifted to sleep immediately after returning from camp. When they were departing, he was woken by the inn staff and only managed to board the carriage before dozing off again.
Princess Layana looked outside the window. Shadows elongated in the moonlight.
A face appeared before her—a skinny man in his thirties, whose eyes showed nothing but despair. When he discovered that his infection had been removed and he could now return to the normal camp routine, life bloomed in his eyes.
He couldn't comprehend it at first, but when Layana gently explained it again, reassuring him repeatedly, he was overwhelmed with joy.
In the end, he stood up and fell to his knees before her.
"I have a two-month-old daughter and a wife, Princess. When she was born, I thought the greatest of all miracles had happened to me. When I managed to bring them both into camp safely, I was sure I would build a new life for us. But... but..."
Tears streamed down his face, and hiccups began.
"For the past few days... I... I only thought... how will they survive without me? My wife is shy and doesn't know much of the world. What if they get caught in another monster attack? This time they were safe because I know how to swing an axe, but if they're alone, who will protect them? Who will provide for them? They'll be left behind with no one to rely on."
He was prostrating on the ground now.
"You're telling me it's not over, Princess? I can still hold my daughter in my arms? I... I..."
He couldn't continue and simply cried without stopping.
After he became somewhat stable, he went to shake Azek's hands and kissed them repeatedly. Azek was flabbergasted at the situation and didn't know how to deal with it, so the Princess had to step in.
The joy on the man's face when he saw his wife and daughter—who had also become emaciated—was something that stirred Princess Layana's heart.
She motioned to her attendant, who secretly brought some milk supplies and food. The sheer joy she felt after watching the family of three leave—with the wife holding tightly to her husband's hand in the setting sun—was something that made her heart full.
And she looked toward the person responsible for making this happen.
Azek Willowheart.
He had examined patients nonstop from the moment they arrived until evening, without taking a break, eating only a short meal before resuming his work. By the time they had to head back to the inn, the medical camp had been sorted out. The seedings had been removed, and irreversible cases were isolated.
Azek had also erected a barrier around the corpse ditch with mana in excited state outside the camp, significantly reducing the amount of infectious air.
he couldn't maintain the spell for long so they had to supplement it with mana crystals. But there was only so much he could do; he wasn't capable of purifying everything. Still, what he had done was commendable enough to earn a recommendation.
The Princess flicked her hand, and a shadow knight emerged behind her.
"Willowheart is a first-grade priority target."
The knight simply nodded and melted into the shadows. From now on, besides the Princess, there was another person whose safety had become their priority.
📢 ANNOUNCEMENT
I will be taking 5 day break due to eid.