Chapter 91: How I Got Here

Stark started to bow down with his head sticking to the ground toward Belle. He said to her, "That's the only thing, I remember in that time, Lady Belle. Please forgive me for my powerlessness during that time!"

Belle felt relieved a little after hearing what Stark had experienced back then. Based on Stark's story, the Earl still did not meet his demise which only means that there was still a little sliver of hope that he was still alive even though he was currently missing.

"That is not your fault, Sir Stark! My father decided to give you a command to keep us safe so you should not blame yourself for not being able to defend my father against those evil practitioners," she said.

Stark couldn't stop his tears from flowing down his eyes. As a great man, who respected by the people of the territory Schild City, he decided to cease his crying to maintain the little honor he had. "Okay, I'll go ahead now. I'll leave you two alone so that the two of you can catch up." Belle said after knowing what she wanted to know.

Belle gained more hope than she ever had before about her father. Her grandfather and other relatives from the royal capital, Stolz City, decided to not give him any details about her father so that they would avoid giving her more worries. Without them knowing, the thing that they did only made Belle more anxious about the situation of her lord father.

"What happened to you afterward, Sir Stark? How did you end up here?" Kraftvoll wondered after hearing what happened to Stark at that time.

He answered, "I stopped the bleeding caused by my amputated leg and I decided to follow the two of you. I want to make sure that both you and Her Ladyship are both okay."

He continued talking. He said, "When I reached Yorkshire City after a couple of days, I heard that both of you were escorted by the younger brother of His Lordship, Earl Garen, which is Sir Ross. It made me relieved."

"So you didn't catch up to us at that time. I think Earl Garen talked about reinforcing Earl Blaire, did you come with them?" Kraftvoll wondered.

"Yes. After hearing you were escorted by someone stronger than me, I decided to go with the Earl of Yorkshire City. I told him everything I knew but unfortunately, when we arrived, Earl Blaire was not there. We faced the expert that amputated my arms. In the end, he was immediately defeated by the might of Earl Garen. Like Earl Blaire, the other experts from the dark alliance were nowhere to be found."

Kraftvoll realized something based on what Stark had said to him. He said, "They are the ones who attacked us on our way to the royal capital! It is truly fortunate that Duke Gawain rescued us and he safely escorted us to my master."

This made Stark startled a little, his eyes widened a little after hearing that. Everything made sense to him now. He lost his focus for a moment.

A moment later, he regained his composure in front of Kraftvoll so he continued his stories.

He said to Kraftvoll, "Yeah. It seemed like they transversed another route which was why we didn't encounter them on our way there. Anyways, I stayed within the command of Earl Garen for a few days but we were not able to find any traces of the Earl."

He continued telling his stories. He said, "That's why I decided to go to you and Lady Belle to the Royal Capital. But when I arrived, I heard that you are already within the King's jurisdiction and that Her Ladyship is with her relatives in the royal capital so I decided to not go to either of you."

"Why didn't you come to Feuersturm Castle? I'm sure my Master would reward you for helping us escape," said Kraftvoll with a confused face.

"No, I couldn't take any reward because I did not personally escort you and Lady Belle. So I decided to go on my way. Also, since my leg got amputated, I can't be a soldier anymore. I would only become a burden to my comrades. So I decided to come here where my old master is currently spending his retiring days. He's the father of Owner Steph, a great man from the Verrater Academy," he said.

"A great man from the Verrater Academy?"

"Yeah. He's the previous Headmaster of the Verrater Academy, Stephen von Stolz, great-uncle of the current King."