Chapter 464: Chapter 464- Neighbor District

While the Trial brewed within the grand walls of the Castle, a different scene had begun to play at the opposite side of the Castle.

Deep within the Capital where the sun’s rays refused to touch. The Neighbor District.

A neighbouring street to the Infamous Backward District, and the main path, West of the Main Market.

And in front of it, a carriage of withered gold and peeled silver.

A symbol of the dignified stork was plastered on the side of it, though years of lack of maintenance had begun to pry it of its dignity.

Now, what lay left was a dimly colored bird.

Two horses were clasped tightly to it, and the Coachman, a man in the Imperial Guard armour, with a diamond Chest plate, held their reins dutifully.

He had been lost in thought for a while. After all, none of the orders given to him by the leader of the faction he chose to follow had made sense.

He had even begun to rethink his choices and decisions when the door clicked open and the voice of the Princess reached his ear.

“We’ve arrived.”

He jerked slightly, nearly jutting his helmet off his head.

With an unsteady arm, he held it firmly while he turned to her.

“My lady. Is this right?” He asked, without an ounce of caution.

Then again, they weren’t really ones to play hierarchy between themselves.

Meadow, who was now in a dull brown cloak with a hoodie glanced at him with an arched brow.

“Yes, this is the right place.”

She turned to a building right next to the street they stopped by.

An old, creaking building of oakwood and poor carpentry work appeared.

On a single glance, one would have easily dismissed it as a rickety, useless building, but when looking closer.

A sign, though tilted and covered in moss came into view.

‘Raph had not told me the name… but…’

Another footstep echoed. A second person had descended from the Coach.

A young boy with black toned skin, dark, curly, neat dreadlocks, and blue eyes stood in a cloak, similar to the Princess.

Ban Xen had joined the crew.

“Are you sure this is the only Collection store in the Vicinity?”

Meadow turned to her new Guard with the same curiosity as the Knight.

Ban looked around in return, before turning to both of them.

“Yes.” He said with a nod.

With that, Meadow glanced at the Knight with a relieved sigh escaping her lips.

“We had asked around as well, and this was the place it led to.” She said. “From here on out, we will go on our own.”

The Knight’s grip immediately tightened on the reins.

A vivid disapproval would have been written on his face if it weren’t hidden behind his mask.

Instead, he sighed heavily.

“Princess Meadow, For five years, I’ve searched for fault within you… and yet, when I finally see it, it’s that you burn brighter than the rest of us.”

The young princess stopped in her tracks at that moment.

Turning her head slowly in his direction with a furrowed brow.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

The man tilted his head slightly. “You have changed, Princess.” He paused for a second.

As if letting his words settle in the air with the weight of the truth.

“Something I had not seen during these five years is suddenly burning alive now… I don’t know if it was your guards’ deaths that caused it… or your closeness with the son of the Juns… but what caused it doesn’t matter to me.

What does, is your will to keep burning bright, so your followers find their way to you, always.”

Meadow sighed inwardly as a wry smile formed on her lips.

“You do not even know what I am about to do… neither do you know the people I have trusted at my side… you’re in the dark, Cullum.

I may have placed you there, but you, as well as the others, don’t know me well.”

The man groaned slightly.

“And yet, we follow you.” The man chuckled. His battle-hardened deep voice reverberated with his helmet.

“Seeing you move alive… within the walls of that Castle and even out of it is more than enough for me.”

He tugged at the reins as his head shifted to Ban, who took a step back instinctively.

“… And if you’re willing to trust these people… then I am sure they are worth more than what meets the eye.”

There was one more within the Castle who knew of her secret. A high-ranked member of the Imperial Guards, no less and one of her most trustworthy allies.

‘There were only a few who were foolish enough to follow me… and out of all of them, he was the worst of the fools.’

The thought raced in Meadow’s head while the man continued with his statement.

Cullum the Underdog was his name, and he had been on Meadow’s side for as long as she could remember.

The man whipped the reins once as his voice broke into her line of thought.

“Never forget that we are your followers… until death do us part, My Lady.”

Meadow’s face beamed at his statement.

“I will wait at the designated location and your time limit remains the same.

The hours of the Trial.”

The man continued as the horses neighed and the Coach moved forward.

“I bid you luck on your task, My Lady.”

Meadow stood in silence as she watched the carriage leave while her new Guard walked up to her side, slowly.

“Princess?” He muttered.

She flinched slightly. “Of course.”

Then turned and walked into the street.

Time was of the essence, and staring into space would only waste what little they had.

“Firstly, do you know how to find it?”

She asked as they walked through the silent, muddy streets of the Neighbor District.

Its features were quite predictable for the backwater parts of the Capital.

Dull, old, rotten and crumbling buildings that staggered with the sway of the stale air.

Around them, people were either absent or minding their own business.

Meadow didn’t need to look twice to know this was the Slums.

A part of the town that was quite large, and comprised the poor citizens of the Kingdom.

Most of the affairs in this place were either handled by a small Lord fixed here by the King himself or one of the Knights.

‘… but never the King.’

With her thoughts lining in order, her head spun about in silent contemplation.

“Most of the instructions were straight to the point… but specific parts were rather vague.”

Meadow paused mid-step at his statement, glanced at him for a fraction of a second before resuming.

“What parts?”

Ban followed after I’m startlement.

A bit hesitant in his reply until she glanced at him once more.

“Ha… the part about the Forest and Stream. From what I can remember, no one goes there.”

“Hmm~” Meadow muttered for a moment as she looked ahead.

There, far into the distance, a thin line of green grew across the Horizon like encroaching darkness.

She only looked once to realise what it was.

‘The forest.’

Her steps quickened and Ban followed suit.

“Well, we’ll simply struggle when we get there.”

Ban glanced at her form as she led the way, and for a moment, his heart began to tug at him.

He frowned slightly and looked ahead.

“As you wish, Princess.”

The young boy remained silent afterwards, but his head was anything but.

And unfortunately for him, it was the same as talking directly to her.

“Are you that curious about why I chose you?”

The young boy literally jolted from her question. Slipping on one foot and nearly tripping down.

“So– Sorry?”

He muttered as he stood back up and continued on his way.

Meadow glanced at him.

“You don’t want to be here with me, do you?”

Ban’s expression contorted into a frown.

He bit down on his lip, bitterly and turned away.

” I-I apologise, Princess… I– I just don’t understand… anything. Everything since your proposal has been a blur to me.”

His lips curled I a wry smile as he chuckled awkwardly.

“The pay as well… I… I don’t know what to think or feel about it.”

Immediately, the Princess came to a forced stop and her entire body turned towards him.

Ban, in return, took a step back instinctively, before holding her gaze.

“I understand the worry… and the hesitation, but I want you to put your head in the game, Ban.”

She narrowed her eyes, slightly as she continued.

“I don’t know why Raph had recommended you, but I’m guessing you’re stronger than I think you are… but none of that would matter if we’re not aligned.”

Ban gulped slightly as he muttered.

“Aligned?”

“Yes. I’m sure you saw my situation at the Castle. After all, you’ve been with me for a week now…”

Ban’s gaze flared open slightly as he attempted to avoid her gaze.

As she said, he had observed as much as he could, and even without being an observant individual, he could tell the far difference in treatment between Royal members.

From the wife down to the kids.

Everyone was treated differently… and from what he could tell, it was based on importance.

‘It’s messed up.’

He thought to himself with his head bowed. Failing to notice the smirk that grew across Meadow’s face.

“Life isn’t equal anywhere you go, Ban… from the Destruction of your Hometown, to the higher-ups who bear that responsibility, it’s never the same.

Everyone’s experience is different… and I can only assume yours was as well.”

She raised her hand slowly towards his and grabbed it firmly.

“But I can tell we are more alike than what is seen at the surface… and from that, I want us to work together in my goal– OUR goal.”

Ban raised a brow in curiosity.

He had not heard of a goal until now. In fact, he had not heard of anything at all.

Accepting the job simply because of the money attached to it without actually knowing what it entailed… this was the kind of person he was.

‘It’s not like poor people can go about being suspicious when there’s an open task laid for you with good pay… we take it.’

“Wha– What goal?” He asked as he lifted his head.

At that moment, that fraction of a second, he had seen something– an expression that had nearly made his heart sink.

But just before he could make sense of it, she had completely turned away and continued on the way.

Her arm was clasped behind her back.

‘Wha– What was that smile? Was that even a smile…’

He wondered to himself as he hesitated before following after her.

This was his fate now.

He had accepted it reluctantly for money before, but now, it was beginning to weave itself into his existence.

“When we get to our destination, you’ll find out.” She replied with a smug tone, and that tone, so easily evident, rose a storm of unease within Ban.

‘It was supposed to be a job… money, nothing more. So why does it feel like I’m being dragged into something I’ll never walk away from?’

Meadow heard him clearly and that only caused her smile to grow wider.

‘At least he’s sharp.’