Filed To Story: Queen of the Battlefield Her Return to Glory Novel Online Free
It was one thing if the children were virtuous and loyal, but what if their characters were flawed? What if they used their title for evil, tarnishing the reputation of
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Sophie’s deceased father and brothers?
Moreover, inheriting the title would mean choosing a successor to be like a son to her elder brother. All her nephews were exceptional and irreplaceable in her eyes.
These considerations made Sophie reluctant to choose a successor for the title. The plaques could not offer any answers-they only provided a sense of solace while she knelt there, making her feel a bit more at peace.
She pretended that her parents and brothers were still by her side, and sometimes, such self-comfort could ease the pain in her heart.
After noon, she returned to her room to rest. Lulu then entered, leading Frederick inside.
“My lady, Prince Rafael sent someone with a letter, requesting you to read it immediately,” Frederick said, handing the letter to Sophie. “The messenger said it was urgent.”
Sophie quickly opened the letter, which contained only a few words: [Sophie, come to Eldoria immediately.]
It was signed by Rafael.
Sophie recognized his handwriting. The letter did not specify the reason for the urgency or what she should bring.
“Where’s the messenger?” Sophie asked..
“He’s downstairs in the kitchen, eating. He switched horses three times to get back here; he looks exhausted,” Frederick replied.
Sophie immediately instructed, “Lulu, help me pack a few sets of clothes and other travel essentials. Once the messenger has finished eating, bring him here. I have questions for him.”
“Understood, my lady!” Lulu quickly went further inside the room to gather the items.
Soon, after the messenger had eaten, he was brought to the side hall. Sophie was already dressed and ready. She looked up and saw that the messenger was Dylan. He appeared haggard, sunburned, and covered in dirt.
It was already mid-autumn, yet he was in such a state. He had clearly been on the road for quite some time.
“Deputy Ziegler, didn’t you accompany His Highness to Meadow Ridge? Why did you go to Eldoria? What does His Highness need me to go there for?” Sophie asked.
Having just finished his meal, Dylan let out a burp. He stood awkwardly, likely due to prolonged horseback riding. Sophie quickly ushered him to a seat so they could talk comfortably.
“Thank you,” Dylan said as he sat down. “His Highness did indeed take me to Meadow Ridge. We stayed there for three or four days and were on our way back when unexpectedly, in Greenbrook County, my purse was stolen. I caught the thief on the spot and intended to hand him over to the authorities, but I noticed several ragged beggars nearby fleeing in panic.”
Dylan continued to speak, sometimes with hiccups as he recounted the events in fragments.
As the group of beggars scattered, Rafael happened to look up and see a child beggar who looked a lot like Sophie’s nephew, Ryan. The child beggar had a limp and moved slowly. When Rafael attempted to approach and catch him, a cart suddenly appeared and crashed into several people.
While helping others in the aftermath of the crash, Rafael glanced at the limping child beggar. A burly man soon picked him up and loaded him onto a horse cart.
Instinctively, Rafael called out, “Ryan!”
The child beggar’s head jerked up, and he stared at Rafael in disbelief.
Rafael immediately tried to pursue, but the same cart that had crashed earlier came rushing at him. It blocked his path and knocked several people to the ground. Rafael leaped over obstacles and finally reached the horse cart, only to find that both the burly man and the child beggar had vanished.
The streets of Greenbrook County were crowded and tangled with alleys, so Rafael had no way of knowing which direction they had gone. He had only brought Dylan with him, and the latter was preoccupied with holding onto the thief. He had no idea whom Rafael was pursuing and stood there in confusion, waiting for the prince to return.
As Rafael couldn’t catch up to the burly man and child beggar, he interrogated the thief Dylan had captured, who was also dressed as a beggar. He was mute and illiterate, so he couldn’t provide any useful information.
Rafael handed him over to the authorities, and the county chief, upon learning that the Hell Monarch was involved, personally came to meet him. When asked about the beggars and the thief, the county chief shook his head and sighed.
These beggars have been in Greenbrook for a long time. Some beg for alms, while others engage in theft. They are controlled by someone behind the scenes. Despite several attempts, we haven’t been able to catch those behind them. It’s not just Greenbrook-several other prefectures have the same problem.
The beggars are mostly rendered mute by poison, and some have had their legs broken. We can’t determine their origins or send them back to their hometowns, so they are only temporarily housed in the county’s community hall. However, as soon as they are placed there, they escape. For instance, the thief you caught today has already been imprisoned two or three times for theft.”
Furious, Rafael demanded to know how the county chief could fail to capture the people behind this.
Unable to keep the truth hidden any longer, the county chief finally admitted that these beggars were members of the Beggar Guild. Each of them knew martial arts, and the government officials had sustained many injuries in their attempts to eradicate them. Over time, they simply gave up.
Rafael reprimanded the county chief for neglecting his duty, then stayed in Greenbrook to continue the search for the beggars. He also sent a message to the Pathfinders Guild, asking Sophie’s master to contact the leader of the Beggar Guild.
Eventually, the Beggar Guild intervened and revealed that these individuals were not true members of the guild, but were merely using the guild’s name to steal and beg. They were then required to hand over all stolen goods and alms to their leaders.
“His Highness managed to track them to Eldoria, where he finally found the child beggar. But the child beggar had been rendered mute by poison, and had a limp. When asked if his name was Ryan Devin, he neither nodded nor shook his head and remained extremely wary.
“He tried to escape multiple times. When His Highness attempted to take him, the child beggar either harmed himself by banging his head against the wall or bit His Highness. Given the long journey back to the capital, His Highness feared for the child’s safety, so he asked you to go to him instead.”
Sophie listened to Dylan with a pounding heart, her mind reeling. She shook her head in disbelief.
“It’s impossible.”
It couldn’t be Ryan. His body had been, mutilated beyond recognition, his head severed…
Ryan was dead!
The memory of that scene surged within her, causing her intense pain. She refused to believe it, she couldn’t accept this false hope.
However, she ordered someone to immediately fetch Lightning, her horse. She needed to depart for Eldoria at once.
When Lulu handed over the bag to Sophie, her hands were trembling.
No one wanted to believe the news was true because, during the initial headcount following the massacre, no one had been missing. The household’s young servants and young masters and mistresses, especially the children, had all been accounted for.
Sophie’s mind refused to accept it, though her heart clung to a sliver of hope.
The scene that haunted her was not just the severed head, but also the clothing of the body. Though it had been stained with blood, Sophie had recognized the outfit as Ryan’s. It was the same one she had made for him when she returned to her family home and prepared clothes for all her nieces and nephews.
Sophie took the bag, her gaze vacant as she murmured, “Lulu, I’m just going to see for myself. I know it’s probably not him, and I don’t hold out much hope, but… but please fetch Ryan’s favorite toy from Azure Hall. It’s the slingshot I made for him, engraved with his name. I even painted the wood…”
“I know which one it is. I’ll get it right away!” Lulu replied, hurriedly running off.
She stumbled down the stone steps, her legs giving way momentarily, but quickly picked herself up and continued limping away.
Soon after, Lulu returned with the slingshot and handed it to Sophie. She took the slingshot, her fingers gently tracing Ryan’s engraved name. When she looked up after a long moment, she noticed that Lulu’s knees were bleeding.
“Lulu, go take care of your wounds,” Sophie instructed, regaining her composure.