Chapter 50: The Knight Of Masquerade

Disha tried her best to climb the steep hill to reach the top of the hill. She only needed to walk a little more to arrive at the forest border. The clothes she was wearing felt quite heavy and a little uncomfortable. However, if she took off her clothes here, there could be people from Paradise nearby and found her trying to disguise herself as a knight.

"Ugh-" she struggled as hard as she could in her hungry and tired state.

She limped after successfully climbing the last hill before she finally arrived at a small village. Her eyes looked around her, she saw the plantation area and several farmers working in their gardens.

Her steps were unsteady and she quickly attracted the attention of the people around her. Two middle-aged women whispered while looking at her, she was starting to worry that her cover would be exposed and she would get into trouble here.

In her entire life, she had never gone far from Almaric, let alone entered enemy territory. This was really beyond her expectations. She felt nervous when she saw two men walking towards her. Her heart was beating very fast, thinking that her cover might have been seen through. However, when she saw the two men smiling and respecting her, she was confused.

"Good afternoon, are you Mr. Knight who came from Silsila?" Asked an older man.

Disha was stunned, suddenly her body couldn't move. She just nodded slowly and smiled. A few moments later, several other men and several women also approached her. They looked curious and enthusiastic as if they had just discovered something interesting.

Being surrounded by so many people made her feel even more anxious, she didn't know how to react in order to appear normal. Every time someone smiled at her, she immediately responded with a smile too.

"She is a very friendly young knight. What is your name, son?" Asked an old woman who patted hee on the shoulder several times as if showing pride.

"N-my name-" she hastily stopped talking when she realized that her voice sounded too much like a woman's voice rather than the voice of a brave young knight.

She thought about changing the color of her voice to sound like a young man's voice. She didn't know if this would work, but seeing the innocent reactions of these villagers made her think that it would be fine if she tricked them a little.

"N-my name is Sapphire, I'm a knight from Silsila. Yes, from Silsila. N-nice to meet you!" She said stuttering in a slightly forced voice.

She smiled awkwardly, but these people actually noticed that her appearance looked a little different from the knight they knew.

"Did you come alone? Where are you going?" Asked an old man. He didn't see any other knights who came with this young man and he didn't even see any horses.

"Y-yes, I came alone. I'm going to the palace to meet His Majesty the King." She said, following the instructions from the scroll she was carrying.

The knight named Sapphire was going to the palace to be the king's personal guard and even though she was supposed to go to the palace and follow all the instructions. But to be honest, she didn't really want to go to the palace, let alone meet the king.

She just wanted to quickly leave the Paradise Kingdom's territory and find the masked man who took her son. She still kept the blanket made of silk which was the only clue of the man.

"So, you are going to the king's palace?"

"N-not really, I just-"

"Hahaha, why didn't you tell me earlier, son? Come on, we'll take you to the palace. The distance from this village to the Sapphire palace where His Majesty the King lives only takes less than half a day if we go by horse-drawn carriage. But, where your horse? Don't you bring a horse?" Asked a middle-aged man who looked very friendly.

"M-my horse was lost and I was forced to walk until I reached this village."

"Really? Oh my God, what a pity!"

The villagers looked at her with pity as if they could feel her hardship. For some reason, she started to feel guilty because she had lied to those who had been nice to her.

The village people welcomed her well, even inviting her to eat and rest in their homes. Even though they live in simple circumstances, the expressions of happiness and sincere smiles are clearly visible on their faces.

Disha couldn't refuse the offer when a middle-aged man known as Uncle Jack invited her to dinner at his house. He offered to take Disha to the palace tomorrow morning because he and several residents in this village would also come to the palace to bring food supplies to the palace.

"Hahaha...what's wrong? Is my house not comfortable enough? Sorry, all the houses in this village are very simple. But our life is very sufficient. There are no people who are hungry because the king leads Paradise very wisely. Do the knights in Silsila also eat regularly?" Uncle Jack asked. While he and Disha continued to chat, Uncle Jack's wife and four children prepared dinner.

Disha could smell the delicious aroma of grilled meat cooked in butter and olive oil, as well as apple pie. Her stomach growled, she hoped she could eat soon. After that, she will think about her next plan to leave this village.

"Y-yes, we all eat regularly and enough." She said while laughing awkwardly. Pretending to be a boy doesn't seem easy enough, all she can do is imitate the actions and body language of her four brothers when they are at home.

When Uncle Jack's wife served dinner on the table, Disha's saliva almost dripped. She couldn't remember the last time she smelled delicious food like this. Since deciding to leave her home, she has only survived by eating fish meat that she catches in the river, mushrooms and wild fruit that grows in the forest.

"Come on, please eat!" Uncle Jack said, inviting Disha to enjoy the dinner that had been served.

Without shame, Disha immediately took several types of food and poured them on her plate before eating the food on her plate with gusto. She looked very hungry as if she hadn't eaten for days. Uncle Jack and his wife looked shocked by Disha's unexpected appetite. They actually felt sorry for her and thought that she might not have eaten enough while in the knight camp.

"Hahaha...how does my wife's cooking taste? It's very delicious, isn't it? She's really good at cooking."

"The food is delicious!"

"Hahaha...let's eat, don't hesitate! Knights must eat well because strong energy is needed to protect our beloved Paradise."

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