Chapter 3: Leaving

"Hasten your pace! We need to find the Third Prince as soon as possible!" Another series of horse hooves pitter-pattering on the wet ground resounded throughout the whole forest. If Ruth saw them, he would have recognized the one at the forefront leading the group– it was the hired mercenary with silver hair, but this time was now adorned with an icy blue cape with the insignia of the Northern Territory of Alister. 

Every soldier behind the silver-haired man did their best to ride their horses as fast as possible, everyone had a solemn expression on their faces, thinking, 'Third Prince, hold on, you must hold on!'

They did not stop even for a second, and when the rain was finally at its end, they finally found where the carriage had fallen, but their alertness had been heightened instead of lowering. Tempered by the cruel battlefield, they can vividly sense the dangerous feeling as they approach. In a certain distance, they already smelled the stench of thick blood permeating the whole area. The silver-haired man didn't even stop his horse before dismounting with a jump. The other soldiers of the also riding horses also simultaneously dismounted and unsheathed their swords, ready for battle at any time. However, when they arrived at the battlefield, even the battle-hardened soldiers couldn't' help but shiver at the sight.

What–What the hell was this?

Their sights were filled with red, severed limbs strewn on the muddy ground and blood forming a pond. All of the corpses wore silver armors and a cape with the insignia of the Royal Family.

It wasn't hard to deduce what had happened here, but the main question was–who did all of this?

"Hey…" It was at this time that the voice of a little girl sounded in this creepy silence. The silver-haired man sharply looked at the direction of the sound and saw a little girl with purple eyes and hair glistening with the pale moonlight while holding the severed head of a familiar person–it was the Chancellor!

Even without the little girl telling them what had happened, the curly-haired man beside the silver-haired man already cursed in anger, "They attacked the Third Prince?! Those beasts!"

It was already well-known that the Chancellor had defected from the Crown Prince's party. The fight for the throne was already at a critical stage and appearing here at this time only meant one thing–the Chancellor had already planned the assassination of the Third Prince to deal a huge blow to the Crown Prince. Once that happens, they will already have complete control over the chessboard that has been at a stalemate.

Hearing those sentences, Ruth's eyebrows raised, "I'm assuming that you're not one of them?" She lightly jumped from the high tree and approached them with an aggressive posture, the curly-haired man stepped back subconsciously, only to realise how ridiculous it is to get frightened by a mere child.

However…this kid was really weird.

"Did you do this?" The silver-haired man had a solemn expression while looking at the little child that didn't even reach his waist. His gaze was not like looking at a barely four-year-old child but a soldier.

Ruth paused for a second and smiled before answering, "Yes"

The wind blew, and the dull purple hair of the little girl swayed with the wind. She smiled lovingly while holding a head that was still dripping with rainwater and blood, standing in the sea of red with unrecognizable and mangled corpses. It was a terrifying sight.

The silver haired man breathed lightly, "What's your name?"

"...you can call me Ruth." Ruth slightly lowered her head. "If you're looking for the prince, he should be there." Ruth pointed her finger to a slightly far corner where children who had passed out were huddled sleeping in the corner. The silver-haired man glanced at the curly haired man beside him and nodded, the other immediately understood and moved to the Third Prince. Ruth followed their movements and saw them take the golden-eyed boy.

She couldn't help but say, 'Sure enough.'

Ruth stood there without speaking, her gaze travelling through the hustle and bustle brought by the soldiers. They didn't only take the golden-eyed boy with them but the other children as well. The Empire protects the children, that is why they cannot just leave these children. They need to put them into proper orphanages. Unconsciously, the soldiers worked more diligently this time, subconsciously keeping a distance from the purple-haired little girl. Only the silver-haired man continued to stare at the child without blinking.

It was only after a while that he opened his mouth to talk, "Kid, do you have anywhere to go?"

"Why? Are you going to take me in?" Ruth smiled, as if mockingly. The silver haired middle- aged man didn't mind it and thought about it. 

"Yes." He paused. "You are, truthfully, a very dangerous existence. I can't let you roam free, nor do I plan to eliminate a mere child. I don't plan to ask how you killed them either, but I need to keep you under my nose."

"Even if you don't plan to, it doesn't mean I couldn't kill you. What makes you confident that you can stop me?" Ruth released a silent but heavy pressure. The middle-aged man's eyes twitched for a second, but his eyes also softened, "Because you're a child." The man rubbed Ruth's head, like the middle-aged man really treated him like a child.

'I'm not a child either.' She swallowed those words in her heart with a bitter look.

Memories silently flashed inside her mind, and for a while, her feelings were quite complicated. Because of the danger of the apocalypse, her memories before the apocalypse became vague over time--she couldn't even remember the last time she was patted on the head.

It made her feel uncomfortable. 

Ruth's brows wrinkled a little, but the pressure emanating from her body receded. 

Ruth really didn't have anywhere to go. Inexplicably landing in this world, she still hadn't thought of what she plans to do in the future. Now that someone offered her a path, she unhesitatingly accepted the offer. In the future, when she can finally think of what she plans to do, she'll leave then. So, the soldiers led by the middle-aged man split into two teams–one team going to the Alister Duchy together with the unconscious children, and the other back to the barracks in the frontlines at the border of the Kingdom.

Little Ruth rode on a horse together with the middle-aged man, her purple eyes gleaming in the moonlight. The two teams split after half an hour of rest.

While on the road, remembering the golden eyes of a certain little boy, Ruth couldn't help but ask,

"That boy…" Ruth paused. "The golden-eyed one who you call the Third Prince. What was his name?"

Lucas Alister--the silver-haired man-- had a questioning look on his face and looked at the little child huddled in front of him and replied.

"Aleran. Aleran Mikail"

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Ruth stayed in the battlefield for almost two years. She participated in many of the battles, and in those years, she was only ever in the frontline covered in a shawl, so no one knew her except for Lucas Alister himself and his trusted aides. But no soldier in the frontlines had seen less of her terrifying power. Though, none of them really knew what her exact abilities, but because of the ruthless ways of killings, they just called her the 'Bloody Witch'. 

They described her as a terrifying immortal creature that just looked like a child but was actually a 10,000-year-old monster, feasting on the body of her enemies to maintain her youthful figure. What they didn't know was this ferocious 'bloody witch' was truly just a seven-year-old child. 

For the purpose of helping the child to control her own power, Lucas was very strict on her. Although Lucas recognized Ruth as a child, but he did not treat her like one. He knew that this seemingly harmless child is capable of razing the kingdom to the ground. Lucas personally guided her, instilling not only knowledge but also a sense of morality. Although Ruth really felt that there was no need, after all, she wasn't really a child deep inside, but the old man was very persistent himself, so Ruth could only continue to compromise over and over again, absorbing knowledge like sponge.

After Ruth beheaded a recently tortured spy, she heard the metal door of the prison creak open, revealing a man with long green hair tied on the side of his cheeks wearing frameless glasses–tis was Lucas' secretary, Aldus.

"The General is looking for you."

Ruth didn't ask the reason for her summon and just noncommittally nodded with an inaudible hum before whisking away the blood dripping on her blade. She then stood up, placed the bloodied sword on the table not far away and hurried inside the tent where the General was.

"I'm here."

"Come in." The taciturn voice of the Lucas sounded inside.

When she went inside, what she saw inside was the familiar posture of Lucas sitting in a mini study with mountains of paper on the table. It was already a familiar sight for Ruth.

Sensing her presence, Lucas placed the document he was holding on the table and faced her with a cold expression.

Not beating around the bush, he straightforwardly said, "The Emperor sent a letter, asking me to go into an unexplored land beyond the border of the Snow Savages."

Ruth didn't react to any of that, it was only after Lucas then said, "This time, you're not coming with me." that Ruth's expression distorted for a second before getting back to normal, thinking that she will just be left here in the frontlines anyway.

But what she didn't expect was the Lucas still continued, "I will send you to the Alister Duchy."

"...what?"

Lucas looked into this young child, her tiny body still had a strong stench of blood, but the child didn't even bat an eye, not even wiping it with her hands with a handkerchief. He just wanted for this kid just to study properly and train a little–he just didn't know when had this kid become this capable in even torture.

He originally planned to teach this kid to be an upright person--but he himself wasn't a good person, not to mention that he really didn't have any experience in being a father. Although he did have a child, but on the day that his wife died, he just threw him to a nanny to take care of without much thought and went back to the border once again to fight.

In the end, with his guidance, Ruth still became more and more crooked.

What he didn't know was that this child was already crooked before he even started to take care of her.

He just sighed and, looking at those clear purple eyes, asked, "Don't you resent me?"

Ruth didn't reply and waited for his next words. "I really didn't know what kind of mud went inside my brain at that time, taking you away with me. Aldus already said that the frontlines isn't the right place to raise a child, why didn't I listen?" A heavy sigh escaped from his lips once again.

"What I was thinking at that time was just, that…" Lucas looked her in the eyes, "That you are an existence that might endanger the Empire, so I need to nip it in the bud as early as possible."

"But after all, you're just a seven-year-old child, barely eight this year. I basically robbed you of your childhood."

"So, what did you mean by saying that?"

Lucas paused a little before continuing, "Before I stepped down as the Duke of the North, I already appointed my son, Alexis Alister, as the new duke. He already had three children close in age, though he's a pain in the ass–but with him as your father, you can spend your childhood like any other normal children."

"Old man, you already know that I didn't need that." Even though her skin is that of a child, she will never really act like one.

Lucas went silent. It was only after a few minutes later that he continued,

"That unexplored land beyond the territory of the Snow Savages had been branded as the No-Man's land."

Ruth realized, and her little expression turned cold, "The Emperor wants you dead?"

Lucas smiled wryly, "Although I'm happy that you're very smart, it was really sometimes worrying. Once you go to the Duchy, be sure to act a little restrainedly, my son is a paranoid one." He then continued to say in a solemn tone, "But yes, you're right. The Emperor indeed wanted me dead. Although I'm not as easy to kill, just in case, I'm leaving Aldus with you as an assistant. You're too young, there's more to life ahead of you, while I'm just a rotting old man sacrificing himself for the greater good."

Ruth was silent for a moment before replying, "I got it." She got up from her seat and held the flap of the tent, about to leave but in the end, she still turned her head back and said in an almost inaudible whisper, "Don't die, old man."

The next day, Ruth packed her bags, wore her shawl around her neck and rode a specially prepared carriage and rode to the Imperial City, ready to go to the duchy of the North.

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