Chapter 4 - Which princess!? What Princess!?

Seeing Nyx had stopped running, Evelyn was panicked. After all, this was the best time to run as some other beast was fighting the bear. That's right, she didn't notice that it was the wolf from last night as she thought this was a different beast.

"Big sister, what are you waiting for? Let's run away!" Evelyn shouted, which caused Nyx to move forward, not looking back.

Someone as experienced as her could easily gauge a person's strength if she saw them fighting. If she could transform, she was strong enough to take on both the wolf and the bear. 

However, not only could she not transform in front of Evelyn, but she would also put Evelyn in harm's way even if she fought the beasts, so it was best to run away.

But there was one thing she didn't understand.

'That wolf, it was defending us, and I clearly remember its eyes were yellow, yet now they are red. Its body also seems to have evolved. Is that why I feel some kind of connection with it?'

On the other hand, the wolf and the bear suddenly jumped on each other as they started fighting.

There were no flashy moves, only raw animalistic fighting. The bear raised its hand and slammed it down on the wolf that had just jumped on it. However, the wolf's eyes gleamed with intelligence as it opened its mouth and bit down on the hand coming towards it.

Its teeth dug into the bear's flesh as blood started pouring out. The bear roared in pain and continued to slam its hand on the ground, which caused the wolf to hit the ground as well.

The wolf growled in pain but quickly got back up and aggressively pulled its jaws, causing the flesh to tear up as the bear lost a huge chunk of its right hand.

It stumbled backward in pain, and the wolf didn't let the chance slip. It threw the meat from its mouth on the ground and jumped onto the bear's neck.

The bear, which was still in agony, was caught off guard, and the wolf bit down on its neck. Blood started pouring out in huge amounts as the bear slammed onto the ground, whimpering. Even after a few seconds, the wolf didn't let go because it noticed the bear was still alive.

After the bear stopped breathing, the wolf let go of the neck as its eyes roamed around, as though it was searching for someone.

But the person it was searching for was nowhere to be found. It sniffed the air a little and looked in the direction where Nyx had run away, and started following her scent.

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On the other hand, after running away, Nyx put down Evelyn, and they started walking normally.

Since they didn't want to be attacked by another beast, they started traveling fast and carefully.

On the way, Evelyn kept praising Nyx about how strong she was and how fast she could run. Nyx, being so old, of course, couldn't keep up with her cheerfulness, but she did enjoy the girl's company.

Since they had derailed from their original path that Evelyn was taking, it took a lot of time as Evelyn guided her through different routes.

After an hour of traveling, they both arrived in front of a huge wall as they looked at it from the forest.

"Big sister, look," Evelyn exclaimed, pointing at a large line of people on the ground near the wall. "That's where we have to go." Saying that, she pulled Nyx by the hand as she led them to the entrance.

Nyx was still thinking about that wolf and why she strangely felt a connection with it. She was woken up from her daze when Evelyn pulled her hand.

"Evelyn, those guards seem to be checking something. Could it be we have to identify ourselves?" she said as she observed what was happening at the entrance.

"Haha, don't worry. As long as you're with me, they won't stop you," Evelyn replied smugly.

'Sigh, I don't know if I can trust this little girl's words, but again.'She saw the clothes Evelyn was wearing under her cloak, which were very flashy and expensive, making it clear that she was probably a noble.

'I need to trust her, and it's not like I can just run back into the forest or deny entering the duchy.' Thinking that, she followed the girl as she planned what to do afterward.

She would slip away from this girl right after they entered because even though no one could differentiate her from a human, she would still be questioned if Evelyn decided to hand her over to the guards. 

Since she didn't remember anything before being in that carriage, she would be in trouble, so slipping away would be a good thing.

After that, she needed to find some work inside the duchy and again gather more information about the races. And more importantly, she needed more information about her own powers.

She already knew that mana was used as leverage for controlling different elements in this world, other than that she didn't know anything about this world's power system, which was a lot different from her previous one. So basically, she needed to find a library or some secret place where she could get information.

While all these thoughts kept running through her brain, they had already arrived in front of the huge doors that were the entrance into the duchy.

Nyx saw many humans, and since it was her first time seeing them normally rather than on a battlefield, she was indeed amazed. She also observed that there were also other races like elves and dwarves entering the duchy.

Evelyn and she stood in line, and Nyx saw that there was an inspection happening. There were guards with metal armor, and they were stopping each person. And the people going inside were showing some kind of a token, and the guards would verify it and send them inside.

After waiting a few minutes, Nyx saw it was their turn.

As the guards looked at them, they saw two kids in line, so the guard looked a little farther back to see if there was an adult that these kids were accompanied by.

"You two little ones, did you get separated from your parents? Let me tell you, without a permanent or a temporary identity token, you can't enter the duchy. So-"

Before he could speak further, Evelyn took out a token that was gold in color and gave it to the person in front of her.

The guard who was talking showed a little surprise on his face and took the token to examine it. The golden token was quite ornate, and there were intricate carvings on the back of it. And when he turned it to the other side, he saw a golden winged lion on it. His eyes suddenly widened.

But he controlled his expression and suddenly tidied his standing position. He slowly gave it back to Evelyn and kept his mouth shut.

Evelyn just gave a cheeky smile as she passed through the gates while dragging Nyx behind her, all while the guard didn't even flinch nor stop Nyx.

'Oh shoot, she's definitely from some noble family,' Nyx put on an interested expression as they passed through the gates and entered the duchy.

"Woah," Nyx was amazed at the view in front of her.

There was a long road in front of them, leading into the duchy, and on each side of the road, there were horse carriages waiting for passengers. A few meters forward, there were houses and stalls, as this area where people constantly entered the duchy seemed to be a very good marketplace.

"Big sister, let's go. If we tell the royal guards what happened to you, they will give you a new home and even rescue the slaves that you said are in the Silverwood duchy," Evelyn said as she looked around, as though searching for something or someone.

Nyx, on the other hand, slowly started stepping back. 'This is the right time to slip away.'

However, just as she took a few steps back, her back touched something.

"Little girl, where do you think you're going?" A voice came from her back.

Nyx slowly turned to see who it was. A guy who was 6 feet tall and had blonde short hair was wearing armor with a golden winged lion on his chest was glaring straight at her.

"Hey, Gerald! Don't scare my friend," Evelyn's voice was heard from behind as the guy suddenly flinched and stepped back a little.

However, another shadow appeared behind Evelyn and lifted her into the air by holding her cloak's collar.

It was a beautiful woman who was also wearing the same armor the guy wore. She had black long hair tied up in a ponytail and black colored eyes. 

A sigh escaped her mouth as she looked at Evelyn, who suddenly fell silent.

"I thought I'd die a noble death on the battlefield while fighting for her highness. Never did I think I would be on the brink of death because I failed to take care of a child."

As the words came out of her mouth, Evelyn put on a guilty face and unusually fell silent.

Nyx understood what was going on. This girl was probably a runaway from home for an adventure or something, and her parents had vented their anger on the guards.

'Sigh, even though this is my second life, my brain still has that of a tactless, emotionless demon. Even though I know it's risky entering the Duchy with this girl, I still did it because I always think like a brute, my mind telling me I can just run away after entering.'

'Run away?' Her gaze fell on the both armored people. 

'These people are monsters. I can feel the mana around them distorting because of their presence. If it were my previous self, maybe I wouldn't have been shocked, but now being weak, I know I can't even think about running from these guys. The only good thing here is that they don't know I'm a vampire. Better just play along. Sigh, if I want to survive, I need a fast mind.' Nyx thought as she stared at the blonde-haired guy that Evelyn had called Gerald.

The woman in armor turned around and started walking while still holding Evelyn in the air. 

"Hey Mira, what should I do with this girl?" Gerald asked.

"Who is she?" The woman asked.

"S-She is my friend, she escaped from bad guys-"

"Alright, bring her along, and princess, please save your stories for her highness," Mira said with a little menacing smile before continuing her walk.

"Alright, little one, let's go." Gerald caught Nyx's hand and pulled her along.

'Wait! Wait! - Princess? She is a princess? Which princess!? What Princess!?' Nyx's mind raced as she was pulled along.