The Regressed Princess - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Bone-Eroding Poison; “See You Tomorrow, Andra.”

Falling. Andra was falling continuously.

She watched the Princess grow more and more distant, unable to see Her Highness’s expression as those overlapping shadows stacked upon her face, gradually swirling into a distorted black hole.

Why…

The youth’s thoughts were sluggish, but under the threat of death, time slowed its pace. Why did the Princess do this? There was no reason absolutely no logical reason.

Crack.

The youth’s ears caught a faint sound; even paralyzed to this extent, her keen five senses still captured the sound of a bow being drawn and an arrow notched.

Whoosh, whoosh. Two arrows flew toward her from the left and right.

[If this continues, I will definitely be hit,] her brain said coldly.

I cannot be hit. I… don’t want to die!

Andra was fearless, but as the footsteps of death were about to overtake her, she felt a massive void expand from the depths of her heart. No, how could she die here?

The nannies had said more than once that when she was born, the sky was filled with a thousand rays of light, and a halo gathered at the mountain peak like the radiance of a crown. She was the warrior most envied by all, possessing strength far exceeding that of ordinary children even before drinking the medicinal decoction strength far exceeding all children!

She was different… I. AM. AN. EXISTENCE. COMPLETELY. DIFFERENT. FROM. OTHERS!!

Andra exerted her strength to adjust her body, seizing a branch in the spark-flash of a moment. The branch growing horizontally from the cliff was gripped fiercely in her hand—Snap! After a crisp sound, her body continued to fall.

The change in angle caused the two arrows to miss one after another.

Andra’s luck seemed to end there; her stiff limbs prevented her from grabbing a second protruding branch, and she slammed hard toward the ground.

Crunch! A sound of overburdened fracture came from her shoulder blade.

Mnh…

Andra frowned; her body didn’t hurt much, and the fall actually cleared her head. Even with her shoulder making a crunching, shattering sound, she was able to flip over and sit up immediately.

She instinctively looked to the side oh, it seemed I am still loved by the Gods.

She saw a ring of stones with upward-pointing sharp tips surrounding her body. If she had accidentally fallen on them, she would have instantly become a victim of a “natural accidental death.” Fortunately, to make the forgery look more natural, these stones did not cover every spot but were placed at intervals. Thanks to the mastermind’s clever little thoughts, she happened to land in the gap between two patches of stone.

Andra’s lips twitched unconsciously, and the sound of breaking wind came from above again. This time, the sound was even more violent, carrying immense energy.

They are still shooting arrows at this distance? With so many trees in the way Andra looked up and saw rock after rock falling from the clifftop, smashing down toward her head with force!

The youth did not hesitate for a moment; before her mind realized it, her body had already rolled into the nearest thicket.

Rustle, rustle.

Even the thicket was filled with wooden thorns and crushed stones. They left fine bloody gashes on her knees, dripping fresh red blood, sowing a trail along her path of escape.

The high cliff gave the stones greater kinetic energy, but it also created greater difficulty for those throwing them. After the slaves had thrown two volleys, they realized Andra had run out of their range; they could no longer hit her.

Manju and Thorns could have thrown further, but from the beginning, they had abandoned such aimless actions, drawing their longswords to give chase down the slope.

Andra fled silently. Although her joints were slightly paralyzed, her consciousness had been forcibly awakened by the will to survive amidst the repeated falls and strikes. Some blood trickled from the corner of the youth’s mouth, signifying internal organ damage. But she didn’t care at all, simply running blindly into the forest.

She had to flee, flee quickly, whether to the King of Nolanna’s side or to a place where no one else could see her… Andra’s brain operated with difficulty; she reined in her scattering thoughts, unable to fathom Eleanor’s reason for doing this.

Was she forced by Miscella? No, they seemed to have a very good relationship. Andra ran blindly; had her body been normal, few people could have caught her in the dense forest. However, her stiff joints and lost sense of direction dragged her down completely. Soon, she heard the rustling of footsteps behind her.

Manju, Thorns… and perhaps more.

As she ran, Andra suddenly calmed down. No, she had always been calm; a strand of thought meticulously took over all her reason and emotion.

Kill them.

As long as she killed them all, she would be safe. Yes, why not kill them? It was a moment of enlightenment; what a simple truth!

Andra reached for her waist, but there was no longsword.

“Don’t bring cumbersome weapons when we’re going to fly kites.” The little Princess had smiled enchantingly.

Manju and Thorns, charging toward her in her field of vision, were raising their longswords high. Andra expressionlessly drew the short blade hidden at her side. She was actually very skilled with a knife, just as she was very skilled at brawling.

When the little Princess said, “You are my Guardian Knight,” she swore to protect the Princess with a sword. When the little Princess said, “Andra, you are the strongest,” she fantasized about using a knife to slit the throat of anyone who dared to harm the Princess.

…She could have done it. She could have done it.

But now, it seemed she would have to use this short blade to slit the throats of these people first. Andra stepped forward quietly, walking toward Manju.

Without any eye contact, the twins Manju and Thorns parted in a tacit understanding, letting Andra walk proactively into the angle formed by their weapons and bodies. In a situation where combat power is close, two against one holds an absolute advantage, as two people with weapons can easily lock down a person’s front, back, left, and right.

Unfortunately, the prerequisite was… close combat power.

Andra’s movements were indeed very stiff; pain and flexibility had not yet returned to this body. But she had already grown accustomed to this stiffness within a few short minutes, allowing her to strike with precision, perfectly blocking Manju’s blade.

Clang.

The moment Andra raised her hand to block, Thorns swung her longsword to thrust directly from the diagonal rear. This strike was both fierce and dangerous; with a slight turn of her wrist, she could have cut down the enemy’s right arm and waist in sequence.

Andra didn’t have eyes in the back of her head, but she could guess their attack trajectories. After all, it was the same when her sisters played with her—there would always be a warrior swinging a hammer with all their might from the side or back!

Andra suddenly released her force; as Manju pressed forward, she dodged to the right and stabbed directly at Thorns.

“No—!” Thorns let out a deafening shriek. This was the signal she had agreed upon with her sister, meaning to “trade injury for injury.”

Thus, Manju did not come to rescue her sister. Instead, while Andra’s dagger was plunged into her sister’s shoulder, she stabbed forcefully at Andra! The longsword struck Andra’s right leg. At the moment of impact, Manju couldn’t help but marvel at how much the Mother Goddess favored this royal daughter—

Her sharp blade cut through Andra’s clothes and leather trousers, but the skin and flesh beneath were harder than imagined; they could be gashed but not pierced through. Even though everyone who drank the medicinal decoction would receive the Mother Goddess’s blessing and undergo a Third Development, someone who could develop to this degree was truly one in ten thousand.

Manju didn’t complain. After leaving a bloodstain on Andra’s leg, she continued to strike at the right arm. I must sever the hand; only by cutting off her hand do we have a slim chance of survival…!

Crack!

The heavy strike suddenly hit empty air, slamming hard into the nearby bushes.

Not good!

Manju felt a sting in her chest. The moment she looked up, she saw Andra kick Thorns in the heart, sending her flying quite a distance.

“Pfft-agh—” Thorns’ head happened to hit a sharp stone on the ground, and massive amounts of blood gushed from her mouth. It was clear she wasn’t going to make it.

Manju’s eyes turned blood-red as she thrust at Andra’s neck based purely on instinct!

Even such a perilous strike didn’t make Andra bother to dodge; she merely tilted her angle slightly to let the sword pierce her left shoulder, and then backhanded the dagger into Manju’s heart, twisting it twice.

Mnh… Manju’s body crashed to the ground.

Phew… The lives of two enemies vanished in her hands; Andra could finally breathe. She stared blankly at her fingers.

To her, killing an enemy was an interesting and happy thing, but now she felt no excitement or pleasure, only a massive sense of being lost and… unwilling.

Was it because her heart was too calm? No, it was still thumping wildly, but it was completely filled with a certain doubt.

Princess Eleanor, please answer my question, alright?

Andra looked at the cliff with an expressionless face. If she couldn’t clear up this insoluble riddle, she would be bothered by it for the rest of her life. Thus, she turned and ran toward the cliff. In the interim, some slaves seemed to charge at her. But that wasn’t important; she had already retrieved the longsword from Manju’s hand.

Finally, there was a beautiful young girl who drew a dagger and charged at her. Oh, she was called Coral, right? But it didn’t matter; she was also very weak.

Andra returned to the place where it all began, covered in blood. She climbed the slope step by step; her legs, injured in multiple places, finally began to wobble. Andra straightened her body. The little Princess had not fled.

Clearly, she might not have caught her if she had simply fled into the forest, yet this child… this girl with pitch-black hair was sitting on the carpet, drinking a full cup from the silver wine vessel.

“How did it come to this, Your Highness?” Andra said in an extremely calm voice. “Are you coming back with me?”

She spoke so seriously, as if she truly were still a loyal Guardian Knight.

Hahaha.

We can never go back, Andra.

The little Princess laughed until tears appeared, pouring another cup and drinking it slowly. “How could I abandon them?”

She spoke so gently. That was absolutely not the despair of a master in a dead-end, but a kind of… care and attachment for friends and kin.

The little Princess’s silhouette split into two sides of light and shadow in Andra’s eyes. One side was full of affection, possessing a love for even the lowliest slaves that she shouldn’t have. The other side was distorted like a ghost shadow, attempting to stretch out poisoned claws toward her until she was swallowed whole.

Andra could understand her action of drinking the wine, because that wine could strip away a person’s senses, including the sense of pain.

But why? Since the little Princess was so afraid of pain, why did she do something so dangerous? Eleanor must have known she was strong. No, regardless of strength… did she have even the slightest reason to target her, or even kill her?!

She walked step by step toward the Princess. Andra tossed aside the longsword, opening her arms as if for an embrace.

“Highness, tell me.” Her deep pupils dilated a fraction, adding a touch of the supernatural. “Did the King of Nolanna have you kill me?”

The little Princess shook her head. “No, it has nothing to do with Mother.”

This sentence sounded very much like a pretext. How could it have nothing to do with her? Without the King of Nolanna’s approval, why would how could a little princess dare to murder a neighboring royal daughter?

But Andra believed it. The Mandragora had paralyzed part of her, but it made another part more active. She came to Eleanor’s side, using her body to block the sunlight for the little Princess.

Andra’s golden-red hair brushed Eleanor’s cheek. She gazed at the little Princess and asked softly, “Then for whom was it? Miscella? Or some minister…?”

“Hehe.” The little Princess suddenly laughed; her smile was both radiant and serene. Eleanor reached out to stroke Andra’s cheek; there wasn’t a trace of madness in her eyes. Instead, they revealed strands of relief.

“I did it for you, Andra.”

“Your Highness, please answer my question seriously.”

Andra plummeted suddenly into a terrifying fury. This was total, absolute disregard! She could feel that the Princess wasn’t looking at the “her” of this moment at all, but was simply expressing her own emotions and thoughts.

Be serious with me! Look at me properly!

In her agitation, Andra gripped the little Princess’s slender neck. With a casual twist, she could have taken away this beautiful head. However, the little Princess merely smiled submissively; the smile was even somewhat sweet.

Andra was furious specifically, she was the only one who was furious! She grit her teeth to keep the roar from escaping her throat, only using a raspy voice to whisper in the Princess’s ear: “Tell me. Tell me your reason for killing me.”

“Andra, are you suffering now? Are you afraid?”

The little Princess’s neck and life were held in another’s hand, yet the corners of her eyes and brows were overflowing with a warm smile. In this smile, there was no longer any eeriness or coldness, only a joy from the heart.

Andra was grateful that the drug in the wine allowed her to suppress the suddenly soaring rage. She shook her head as calmly as possible. “I am just very confused. You… I simply don’t understand why you would do this.”

Hahaha.

The little Princess laughed suddenly. This smile made one tingle, yet it dragged Andra into a deeper cold; it was a laughter colder than the drug. Just as the string in Andra’s mind was about to snap, Eleanor raised her face and leaned in close. Their lips seemed to be pressed together, yet seemed to maintain an eternal distance.

“What a coincidence. So am I.” The little Princess raised her hand and pinched the golden pendant swaying between Andra’s fingers.

“See you tomorrow, Andra.”

Support