Chapter 29: Getting Involved

Alicia felt as if her blood had frozen solid.

She didn’t care one bit about Dick Schott’s life or death—in fact, she hoped that bastard would die soon, because if he didn’t kick the bucket, she’d never get ahead.

The surrender negotiation had failed completely, and in such a bloody, decisive, and irreconcilable manner!

But what about the lady?

That eerily calm woman, who had seemed prepared for everything… was she still alive?

Yang Pigu wouldn’t actually lay a hand on his own wife, would he?

Around her, after a brief moment of dead silence, the air exploded with fury and calls to fight.

“Your Highness, he killed our envoy! Attack the city!”

“Attack, Your Highness! There’s no reason to wait any longer!”

“Give the order, Your Highness!”

The crowd was seething with rage, their battle fervor boiling over.

Lay En looked up at the maddened figure on the city wall, then down at the bloody mess on the ground below.

With a sharp clang, he drew his sword.

“Take the castle! Capture and kill the traitor!”

At Lay En’s command, the elite soldiers surged forward like wolves and tigers.

Assault ladders were quickly raised, and the furious soldiers climbed the walls desperately, braving the sparse rain of arrows.

Those weakened militiamen were no match for the well-fed regular army.

Their last shred of morale shattered instantly, and before long, the city gate was opened from within.

Under Lay En’s strict orders, the soldiers did not harm civilians.

They poured into the castle with clear purpose—anyone hiding in the castle’s rooms, man or woman, was cut down without mercy.

Blood truly flowed like a river.

Alicia also charged inside with the mass of soldiers.

She paid no attention to the wounded groaning on the ground, nor did she care about Xipuaisi, who was struggling like a cornered beast before being hacked down by a flurry of blades.

Her heart had been clenched tight from the moment she saw Dick Schott’s corpse thrown down.

She had only one goal.

“Follow me!”

She ordered in a low voice to the few personal guards beside her, then without hesitation broke away from the main assault and sprinted toward the upper floors of the castle, where the lord and his family resided.

Stairs, corridors, halls… the sounds of battle quickly faded behind her.

The upper floors of the castle were shrouded in an eerie silence and the scent of dust.

She searched room after room, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

The ominous premonition pressed down on her, making it harder and harder to breathe.

Finally, she reached the end of the corridor.

There, in front of the heaviest and most ornately decorated door—this had to be the lord’s chamber.

Alicia took a deep breath and kicked hard near the door lock!

The door didn’t budge an inch.

Instead, the girl lost her balance and fell flat on her rear.

“What are you staring at?! Break the door down!”

She barked, forgetting all about saving face.

She waved her hand for the soldiers to ram the door.

Bam!

With the combined effort of two large men, the door hinges groaned under the strain and burst inward.

The room was unusually tidy, even spotless.

The afternoon sunlight slanted in through the high windows, casting intersecting patches of light and shadow on the cold floor.

And right next to the brightest beam of light, beneath the central beam of the room, hung Lady Xipuaisi.

She was dressed in her finest dark gown, her hair meticulously combed, hanging there in perfect stillness.

A sturdy rope was tied to the thick beam above; the other end coiled tightly around her slender, pale neck.

Her face was calm, almost serene, her eyes gently closed, as if she were merely asleep.

The sunlight stretched her shadow long across the floor.

Alicia’s pupils contracted.

Her breath stopped in an instant.

All the blood in her body seemed to rush to her head, then freeze solid the next moment.

She stood frozen in the doorway, her eyes locked on the hanging figure.

Her mind went blank.

From below came the soldiers’ thunderous cheers, mixed with General Keleiduosi’s bold roar: “The traitor Xipuaisi has been slain by my hand!”

The cheers surged like a tide, wave after wave, echoing inside and outside the castle, proclaiming that this short and brutal battle had finally ended in total military conquest.

We won… didn’t we?

Alicia slumped to the ground, looking around in confusion.

The sounds of victory drifted up from below, but they seemed distant and blurred.

She felt no joy at all, only a heavy, hollow exhaustion and an lingering, oppressive sadness.

Today, for her, there was no winner.

Before she knew it, the sky had darkened.

The castle and its surroundings were brightly lit with torches.

Soldiers began clearing the battlefield and collecting the dead.

Alicia still hadn’t fully snapped out of the shock from earlier that day.

She stood by the city wall like a lost puppet, her eyes vacant as she watched the soldiers moving about.

Bodies were hastily placed into shallow pits that had just been dug, then covered with dirt.

“She was Baron Cain’s daughter.”

A low, familiar voice sounded beside her.

Lay En had removed his armor and come quietly to her side.

“We sent her body back. She was buried with dignity, as befits a noble.”

The girl nodded, her eyes staring blankly at the distant campfire.

“I just didn’t expect her to do something so foolish.”

“Maybe this isn’t the right time, but I need to tell you…”

Lay En cleared his throat, his expression complicated.

“The lady… she didn’t actually do something foolish.”

The girl spun around sharply, frowning, her eyes full of confusion and even a hint of offended anger.

“She could have survived!”

Alicia’s voice rose involuntarily, carrying suppressed agitation.

“With her child! Even if she lost everything, even if life was hard, at least she would be alive!”

Lay En slowly shook his head.

He reached out and gently stroked the girl’s disheveled hair, as if soothing a frightened little beast.

Alicia didn’t stop him.

“Think calmly. Even if Xipuaisi had surrendered, the lightest punishment I could impose would be stripping him of his title and reducing him to a commoner.”

He paused.

“For the three of them, they would have spent the rest of their lives burdened by the traitor’s name, despised by everyone. Especially little Di Mi An—he would have grown up in the shadow of being the ‘son of a traitor,’ with no future, no dignity. Is that really a good outcome?”

Alicia opened her mouth to argue, but found her throat tight, unable to speak.

Yes, she had almost forgotten—words are often sharper than blades.

But she still couldn’t accept it.

“Even if the surrender failed, the lady could have survived. You wouldn’t have executed her, would you? She provided intelligence, she…”

Lay En let out a long sigh.

“Dick Schott was a noble, and he was the envoy she personally chose. After what happened, someone had to answer for it. I had no choice.”

The girl lowered her head, silent and dejected.

“She chose to preserve her honor. And at the same time, she chose to protect her child. Remember what the lady said in the hall that day?”

The girl nodded silently.

“She said she knew Xipuaisi, that he wouldn’t surrender…”

“She probably foresaw this day back then.”

Lay En sighed again, then continued slowly.

“She told us about the castle’s water source and was willing to come personally to persuade him to surrender—all to protect little Di Mi An. The failure of the surrender was also part of her plan. So choosing Dick Schott as the envoy… I suspect…”

He lowered his voice.

“It was probably to avenge you, and at the same time, to do you a favor.”

“What?!”

Alicia looked up in shock, staring at Lay En with wide eyes.

“Are you saying that day… she suggested sending Dick Schott… she planned it from the start?!”

What a mind, what calculations, and what… motherly love!

The girl sighed, feeling even more admiration for the lady’s courage in putting herself into the game.

“And I believe,” Lay En said, gently patting Alicia’s shoulder, “that she must have made other arrangements for little Di Mi An. She wouldn’t leave him to bear everything alone.”

“Tomorrow morning, we’ll break camp and return to Lide’an City.”

He turned to look at Alicia, his gaze becoming meaningful.

“When we get back, let’s go visit little Di Mi An together! And see what kind of escape route the lady left for him.”

—

Maybe Di Mi An was too young to understand what death meant.

When Lay En and Alicia brought the tragic news, his young face only showed unease and confusion.

He stared at them with those big, clear eyes, so reminiscent of his mother’s.

He looked at the solemn Lay En, then at Alicia, whose eyes were slightly red as she struggled to stay calm.

His small hands unconsciously clutched at the hem of his clothes.

The room was so quiet that one could hear the faint crackling of the charcoal brazier and the distant, muffled sounds of the streets outside, making the silence inside feel even heavier.

“Di Mi An… I’m afraid you won’t be able to see your parents anymore. Do you understand?”

It was cruel, but Alicia had to tell the child the truth.

Telling a six-year-old that his parents were both dead, no matter the justification, sent a sharp pang of guilt through her.

“If you’re sad, go ahead and cry. The road ahead is still long,” Lay En added hesitantly.

A child was still a child.

Di Mi An listened to these words.

First, he stood there dazed, as if digesting the overwhelming information.

A few seconds later, a clear layer of mist formed over his big eyes.

His nose began to redden, and his small shoulders started trembling uncontrollably.

He looked like he was about to burst into tears.

But just as the tears were about to spill, this child, who was still a few days shy of his sixth birthday, suddenly raised his sleeve and wiped his eyes roughly, stubbornly holding back the tears!

Then he walked to the bed and pulled a letter from under the mattress.

“Mother said,” he paused, as if recalling her instructions, “if I never see her again… I should give this… to Lady Ailixiya.”

He solemnly handed the letter to the girl.

Looking at this child who wanted to cry desperately but was restraining himself out of concern for “dignity” and “mother’s orders,” Alicia felt a sharp pang in the softest part of her heart.

Lay En stepped forward first to comfort him.

“You did very well, Di Mi An. Your mother… would be proud of you. Now, let Uncle Andelu take you to get something warm to eat, all right? We have something to discuss with Aunt Ailixiya.”

He signaled to Andrew, who had been waiting outside the door.

Andrew, unusually serious, gently took Di Mi An’s hand and coaxed him out of the room, softly closing the door behind them.

The room was left with only Lay En and Alicia, and the letter lying quietly in Alicia’s hand.

“So this… is the lady’s ‘arrangement,'” Lay En said, taking a deep breath.

“Open it and take a look.”