1.6

With solemn faces, the group of four older and experienced knights took her along their planned route. Before they reached the next meet-up point, they had been attacked twice and were heavily injured.

Seti's plan was well thought out, using diversionary tactics to mislead. Unfortunately, it was obvious that the assassins not only knew their route but seemed to be in larger strength than anticipated.

"Your Highness, did you happen to piss someone off?" Horris bitterly laughed but was genuinely trying to lighten the mood.

The relentless attacks on her were abnormal. Assassins should try once, then sneakily bide their time to go again. This was just a full frontal attack no longer caring for secrecy.

In the plot, she was killed by the villainous Marquees to disturb relations between her brother and the Emperor as well as with the innocent Asim Empire. She had never even met this Marquees, how did she piss him off? Had he heard what she said to the assassin that night... she shuddered at the thought.

Irini gave him a helpless silent smile, it appeared she had pissed the big bad villain off and they had suffered for it.

Horris was a rough-looking middle-aged who had introduced himself as the captain of Seti's personal guardian knights. Though Irini could barely remember him, since he barely came North to assist the Emperor in protecting the border, he seemed to act like he knew her well.

During the first attack, Irini noticed they were again using the artifact that turned arrows into guiding missiles and frowned. This was her technology. Lily's father owned a corporation that created military technology and weaponry for the government. He was an ex-soldier with PTSD and a vast knowledge of engineering, though she hated his guts, she still learned a thing or two as his only child.

Lacking in her physical strength, she dabbled more into the blessings granted to her by the God of Alchemy to create this weapon, among many other artifacts, for her brother. She often applied her twenty-first-century knowledge to the artifacts she helplessly gave her brother to lower their death toll. The Faen were formidable enemies and she wanted to leave him enough tools to help in her absence.

She began to feel like Frankenstein as they tried to repeatedly kill her with the monster she created. If only she had taken better care of her monsters. If only she had just cared a little more about the consequences of the plot following her death. 

All four of the poor guards were now heavily injured, each having to block the unwavering arrows with their battered and almost broken shield artifacts. Luckily they had reached the meet-up point for the group of knights to take her 'relay rod' self before a third assault.

There was yet another niggle in her stomach that made her think there was more to her assassination than originally in the plot.

Guilt consumed her as she thought of all the artifacts she had happily made in excitement to save lives, realizing their potential to kill many more lives instead. Never mind Frankenstein, she began to feel more like Oppenheimer. What had she done?

She knew when she accepted her role here, she should have played it fully. Yet she was unwilling to keep watching everyone around her forced to suffer her fate of death. Since she was capable of preventing it, she did her best to do so. If only she focused on just staying alive herself, she wouldn't have made such a large childish mistake.

She finally accepted that the plot was not set in stone, it could change, she could change.

"I may have made a few mistakes," she jumped off the wyvern and fished in her pocket like a domereon to hand out the purest, best quality salve within her storage artifact to pass to Horris, "Quickly heal up and get ready to set off immediately. Since you've already been betrayed, it's better to forgo your original plan and wing it home."

Horris held the jar of salve larger than her pocket and though frowning, did as instructed. 

"Hello, you're Countess Rosaline, I know you," she greeted the middle-aged female knight, with firey red hair, walking towards them, with slight disbelief. Though she knew Countess Rosaline was one of her husband's vassals, she never imagined she'd be part of the relay team.

"Your Highness, I do believe it's our first time meeting?" Rosaline arched a brow but still put a hand on her heart and bowed her head. 

"Ah, yes, I guess it is," Irini awkwardly blushed a little at her eartips, "then I'll rephrase myself, I've heard of you." Countess Rosaline was her idol as a young girl, one of the first female knights in the Empire. It was thanks to her efforts that helped give women the idea that they could also be strong enough to be independent and raise weapons to protect their homes and families. Her biggest admiration was for the fact Countess Rosaline made it 'fashionable' for young women to wear pants outside of riding a steed.

In the plot, she is vaguely mentioned when Yi writes about the female lead, but that is it. If she had not had a face-to-face conversation about the female lead with Yi, she would have forgotten this character. In the novel, it was just mentioned that because of Countess Rosaline, Anise joined the knights instead of accepting a marriage proposal when she reached fourteen.

Seeing the Countess for the first time with her appearance matching the way Yi told her he imagined her, made her feel strange. Was he actually the God of this world?

"I hope you've only heard good things," Rosaline chuckled, used to the young female knights acting this way, though this wasn't just a little knight, this was her new princess, "Your Highness, are you well enough for us to keep going?"

"No, we can't do the relay race, somebody's betrayed us already," she shook her head and fumbled back in her pocket. She exchanged the ring on her right hand, her appearance returning to normal.

Rosaline, unable to understand the abnormal name for their plan, quickly shifted from the mention of bitter betrayal and tried to coax the new Princess who looked like she was chewing a wasp nest.

"That's a good artifact, is that from your brother?" Who in the Empire doesn't know that the Astera Duchy has an artificer that most territories could only dream of?

"No, it's one of my own," she replied honestly, trusting the character of Rosaline, then looked up at the sky. It was lunchtime, somebody had tried to kill her three times and her husband was nowhere to be found.

"Countess, remember, don't follow a plan, just wing it home, I'll treat you to some good wine later," Irini dutifully reminded her, before twisting the inner ring letting the barbs pierce her skin, disappearing altogether.

"Your Highness?" The Countess panicked, looking around sensing that her ward had completely disappeared. Even if she had suddenly become invisible, she like every other one of the Prince's aides was a beast. Her nose alone would smell her if she was still here.

"Where did she go?" Horris stumbled over, his wounds finally reaching a state where he could move freely again.

"She doesn't trust us," The countess bitterly groaned and began to strip off her uniform.

"Countess?" Horris looked away in embarrassment.

"Oh shut up, it's not like you haven't seen it before," she rolled her eyes whilst tossing her clothing and weapons into a bag. Stretching to limber up, she let her body transform into its beast form, a large barbary leopard with a slight tinge of red to her fur.

Horris looked at the large cat and exhaustedly slumped against his wyvern, watching her sniff into the air, hold her bag in her mouth, and abandon them all to 'wing it' home.

Excitedly, Irini looked around her, "Onyx?" She called out, looking for her husband who should be the strongest beast around her. This artifact would change her location to the nearest beast. As someone able to easily bribe them, this was her best escape tool.

To both Lily and Irini, animals were always easier to deal with. Their thoughts and actions were much more pure only caring for self-preservation. As long as you coax them well and don't threaten them, you don't need to watch your back with them. Not like you have to with people who always harbored complex emotions and greed.

"Seti?" She called out again, wondering if she had somehow been too close to another powerful beast, after all, though a Dragon was at the top of the food chain, he was not the only one in the Empire.

She heard the grumbling roar of her husband, near the sound of trickling water and broke into a run.

At the edge of the waterfall, she saw the dragon nursing a wound whilst washing away blood under the rushing water.

"Get here now," she shouted, almost growling like a beast herself.

Sheepishly, the dragon slid through the water like a snake and lay lowly on the rocky edge of the water beside her.

"Transform," she reached into her pocket to take a potion from her storage artifact.

Seeing her husband be disobedient, she strode over and grabbed the mouth as large as her body, "If you don't transform for me right now, I am returning to my brother."

The cracks and groans of his body eerily filled the air until the naked man lay on the rock beside her.

She could see bone through the wound on his chest.

"Fuck," she directly poured the potion onto the wound instead of his mouth and then began taking out the relevant tools needed to hurriedly tend to his wound.

His twisted face was so pale, drenched with both sweat and water.

"You just wanted to wash this off," she scoffed in disbelief, "how are you even still alive?"

He still did not speak, but gave her a look like he was saying 'hypocrite'.

She wanted to refute that it was not her fault, that she was destined to die. Then recalled he too was destined to die, by her brother's hands, after he turned insane and burned the capital to rubble and ashes.

Her hand stroked away the wet black locks to show his handsome face clearly.

"I won't be like that anymore, so you cannot do this again," she promised, hoping he would take his body more seriously in the future, "you might be a dragon, but dragons can still die, you will die."

The hand touching his face flinched, thinking of the cold black and white of the screen that showed his scene of death towards the end of the novel. She had passed her day of death, his was still to come.

"Promise me Seti, promise me you wont die?"

Upon seeing the girl who worshipped the God of Death, beg him not to die, Seti was perplexed. Unsure if that made him happy or more aggrieved.

"We all die eventually," he finally spoke hoarsely.

"Then promise me you'll die after our happy ending?" She rephrased her words, wanting to hear him promise with her ears before she could shed the heavy weight in her chest.

"I don't think we're destined for a happy ending," he bitterly spoke in barely a whisper as his eyes fought to stay open. His body was entering into a coma to heal, but he used all his strength to stay conscious.

Looking at the cold black eyes stare at her, speaking the same words Yi had told her wearily the last time they spoke, Irini could not hold onto her grief. 

Hysterically she laughed and then cried, whilst hugging him at the waist below his wound. The most insane idea had taken route in her mind.

"Yi?" She looked up with anticipation.

"I'm not him," he growled and looked away from her. Angrily aware of the stories she told him as a dragon. Though initially fascinating, he had no memories or feelings of familiarity with that world. Now, he hated that world with a passion and wished she would just once and for all forget it.

"I don't believe you," she refused to accept that her idea couldn't be true. If he was Yi, then she wasn't alone in her misery anymore. Misery loves company just as she loves her best friend.