Chapter 2 Moving the Rescuers, Returning to the Mansion to Reclaim Identity
She wore a blue embroidered crane cloak over a cold white dress.
With minimal hair ornaments, she looked quite plain.
Walking through the wind and snow, with the wind cutting like knives, Cressida kept her back straight and her steps steady.
She had only one goal—
Never again would she let others enjoy the military achievements she had earned with her own hands.
The Hamilton family, those heartless people, would spit out what they had eaten of hers, return double what they had taken, and pay with their lives!
This time, she would carve out a path to survival for herself.
"Miss Hamilton, wait for me!" Emma clutched their few belongings and jumped straight down from the carriage.
She hurriedly paid the driver and chased after Cressida.
But she saw Cressida kneeling with each step. Emma was shocked: "Miss Hamilton, what are you doing..."
"I need to guide my brother's soul home. I must kowtow with each step. You should go get the carriage back."
"I want to stay with Miss Hamilton." Emma copied Cressida's movements and knelt down to kowtow.
Cressida glanced at her, knowing this was a loyal girl.
Emma had nearly been sold to a brothel by her father. Cressida bought her just moments before Emma would have killed herself by running into a wall.
Since then, Emma had followed her with complete devotion.
With Emma by her side, Cressida wasn't completely alone.
She had already thought it through. When she returned, she couldn't rush to admit she was Cameron, or it would surely bring deadly trouble.
However, the identity of Cameron's only sister—she would never let Rose have it.
Tyler Thompson held considerable power and prestige in the royal palace, which was why the Hamilton family wanted to curry favor with his wife Thalia.
If Cressida wanted to establish herself as Cameron's only sister, she needed someone more powerful than Tyler to back her up.
The help from that one secret letter wasn't enough. She needed someone to solve her immediate crisis.
If she remembered correctly, in her past life when she returned home, she had encountered a carriage stuck in the snowy mud outside the city.
She had helped them then, brushing off their gratitude and hurrying away, only learning later that a very important person had been inside.
In the wind and snow, Cressida knelt, crawled, and kowtowed with each step.
They continued like this, approaching Emerald City.
"Miss Hamilton, the north gate of Emerald City is just ahead." Emma's voice carried joy.
Cressida's calm eyes indeed spotted a low-key covered carriage stopped by the arched bridge not far ahead.
Several guards with servants were trying to figure something out.
She withdrew her gaze and continued kowtowing forward.
The person in the carriage soon noticed her.
In the freezing snow, a woman in thin clothing kneeling and kowtowing with each step was indeed eye-catching.
But after watching for just a moment, the woman kneeling in the snow suddenly swayed, then collapsed, unconscious.
Emma cried out in fear: "Miss Hamilton, Miss Hamilton! Don't scare me!"
"Juliet," the jade hand lifting the curtain paused, and a dignified voice came out, "Go see what's happening."
Juliet quickly approached Emma, while a pair of beautiful eyes in the carriage watched with concern.
Soon, Juliet returned to the carriage: "Princess Russell, the girl who fainted is actually General Hamilton's own sister!"
"What?" Sophie was surprised.
Everyone knew Cameron had a sister, a daughter of the Hamilton family, but she had always been kept sheltered at home, rarely seen by anyone.
How could she be kowtowing step by step in the snow?
Juliet: "Her maid says the young lady is bringing the general's belongings back to Emerald City. A monk told her she must kneel with each step to guide General Hamilton's belongings home and set up a memorial for him. But she ran into this snowstorm, and I think she's fainted from the cold."
Sophie didn't hesitate: "Quick, have someone carry her into the carriage."
Then she suddenly stopped Juliet and lowered her voice.
"Send someone else to ask around along the road and find out which direction she came from."
Moments later, Cressida was brought into the carriage.
With her eyes closed, she felt a warm hand warmer being placed in her arms.
A servant fed her hot milk, and blankets were wrapped around her.
Sophie must have been studying her, and soon her voice rang out: "Poor thing, frozen like this."
Cressida had truly fought and struggled on the frontier. Her skin wasn't as delicate as ordinary women's, and her slender fingers had calluses from years of holding a gun.
Both she and Emma's faces were red from the cold, looking quite miserable.
Though Cressida kept her eyes closed, her ears listened as Sophie questioned Emma.
"If Miss Hamilton is a daughter of the Hamilton family, why aren't there servants escorting her?"
"Miss Hamilton got separated from her servants."
"The Hamilton family doesn't know? They haven't even arranged for anyone to meet her at the city gate."
"Miss Hamilton said that with General Hamilton's death, the whole family is grieving and it's understandable they couldn't attend to everything."
Emma said everything Cressida had taught her beforehand.
At the mention of Cameron's death, Sophie let out a long sigh.
"General Hamilton's death is like a falling star—it's the nation's grief. The Hamilton family's sorrow is only natural."
But having said this, Sophie showed no intention of sending Cressida back.
Cressida knew Sophie was waiting for her people to verify her identity.
If anyone most wanted to reward and thank Cameron, it would be Doyle and Sophie.
Years ago, when Novaria was weak and surrounded by powerful nations.
To preserve peace, Doyle and Sophie had been sent as hostages to enemy countries since childhood, living in extreme humiliation, treated worse than animals.
Cameron had defeated Eldoria and forced their ruler to commit suicide—true revenge.
But Sophie had never met Cameron's sister. No matter how grateful she was, she had to verify the truth first.
Sure enough, in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Juliet entered the carriage and whispered a few words to Sophie.
After that, Sophie's voice actually choked up, tears flowing freely.
"This child, coming back alone from so far away, what if she's badly hurt from the freezing cold?"
Juliet: "General Hamilton was a man of iron will. Miss Hamilton is also tough—truly worthy of being from the Hamilton family."
Sophie immediately said: "Take her back to Princess Palace, and use my token to summon the court physician from the palace to examine and treat the young lady properly."
The carriage jolted, and Cressida woke at just the right moment.
She couldn't let the court physician examine her pulse now, because she had old injuries from the battlefield on her body.
If the court physician saw them, they'd be hard to explain, and Sophie's favor couldn't be used for this.
Cressida opened her eyes and coughed a few times.
Emma quickly said: "Miss Hamilton, you're awake! Princess Russell saved you and even said she'd call the court physician for you."
Cressida looked at Sophie. She was nearly fifty, with a dignified and graceful appearance.
Right now, Sophie was looking at Cressida with pity, saying gently: "Your knees were soaked in snow and badly chilled. You can't keep walking. You need to rest first. I'll take you back to Princess Palace for proper treatment."
Cressida lowered her head, revealing her bloodless face.
"Thank you for your understanding, Princess Russell. It's just that I've been separated from my servants for many days. I'm afraid my family is worried, and I want to quickly bring my brother's belongings home."
Sophie showed an understanding expression: "Alright then, I'll give you a ride."
Cressida didn't refuse: "Thank you, Princess Russell!"
The carriage entered the city. Through the swaying curtain, she saw white mourning banners hanging everywhere, the whole city draped in white.
It had been the same in her past life. Doyle had ordered the entire nation to mourn, banning entertainment, to observe three months of mourning for Cameron and comfort his spirit.
It was precisely by taking advantage of Doyle's regretful feelings that the Hamilton family had received honor after honor.
Cressida's eyes were empty as she gazed at the fluttering white banners. She thought, in this lifetime, no matter what, she wouldn't let the glory fall into someone else's hands.
The carriage entered an alley and arrived at the entrance of The Hamilton Mansion, where wreaths were also placed.
The plaque under the eaves had been changed to gold lettering, so glaring against the heavy snow.
Cressida had Emma go knock on the door, with Juliet accompanying her.
The gatekeeper Jett opened the door and looked at them suspiciously: "What do you want?"
Emma: "Miss Hamilton has returned. Quickly go notify Mr. Patrick Hamilton and Mrs. Clio Hamilton."
Jett froze, then scolded.
"What kind of con artists are you? Miss Hamilton came back this morning! Right now she's having tea with Mr. Patrick Hamilton and Mrs. Clio Hamilton."