Chapter 51: Towards To The Palace

Early in the morning she was woken up by Uncle Jack who was leaving for the capital to deliver food supplies to the palace. After dinner, Disha was allowed to sleep in a small room.

She began to hesitate about going along with Uncle Jack's group who were going with a horse-drawn carriage. She wasn't sure whether when she arrived at the palace, her disguise would not be discovered.

"What are you looking at, young knight? Come on up, we'll give you a ride all the way to the palace!" Said Uncle Jack. Disha smiled awkwardly, she felt so embarrassed that she felt like she just wanted to run.

"I-it looks like I'll just have to go alone, hahaha...thank you for letting me stay the night and giving me a delicious dinner!"

"Hey, what are you saying? You can't just go alone, besides what do you want to get there? Walking? It could take all day. It's better to just go with us! You don't need to worry, every month we always go to bring supply food to the palace. So we're used to doing this!"

"I-is that so?"

"Come with my husband, he is very happy because he can take a knight to meet the king. This is a very rare opportunity because usually knights would not go alone." Said Mrs Lita, Uncle Jack's wife.

Disha was stunned, it seemed she had no reason to refuse their offer to take her to the palace. But the problem is, she doesn't know whether when she gets to the palace she will still be safe? What if someone else knew Sapphire and knew that she was just an impersonator. It made her feel very uneasy.

But seeing the happy smiles of the people in this village who seemed happy to let her go made her unable to refuse their kindness.

"Okay."

She decided to join a group of farmers who would deliver food supplies to the palace. The women, children and other villagers waved as the horse-drawn carriage she was riding in started to move.

She felt very happy to be in this village even if it was only for one night. It allowed her to let go of her longing for her family and hometown a little.

Disha took out the masked man's silk blanket from Sapphire's leather bag which she found floating around the river. The silk blanket caught the attention of Mr. Robert, an old man who was an elder in the village.

"A very nice silk blanket," he said. Silk blankets are not very familiar to villagers who live simply.

"Really? I found this blanket,"

"Silk cloth is usually only worn by kings and nobles because it is very expensive. If you find it, you might be able to sell it for quite a high price."

"I didn't mean to sell it. But someone said earlier that silk cloth was only owned by nobles. What does that mean?"

"Can I see the blanket?"

"Of course!" Disha said while pointing at the silk blanket. Mr. Robert is holding a very soft and high quality blanket. This blanket cannot be owned by just anyone because blankets like this are usually ordered in advance and specially made.

"A blanket like this would definitely have been owned by a noble or perhaps a royal family."

"Is it true?"

"There are stitches made of gold thread, they must be very expensive. Where did you find them?"

"A-around the forest,"

"Is that so? Hmm...very strange, how could there be something like this around the forest? Could it be that it belonged to a nobleman and was carried away by the wind?"

"M-maybe! I want to return this blanket to its owner, if the blanket is very valuable and expensive. Where do you think I can find the owner?"

"At the palace, maybe you can show it to the people in the palace. Maybe one of them can give you a clue about the owner of the cloth."

"That's right, okay, I'll try asking them when we get there." She said. It was clear she wouldn't be so bold as to ask directly who the owner of this silk car blanket was. Because if it is true that the owner of this blanket lives in the palace, she will already be in big trouble.

***

Her eyes were amazed to see a palace that was no less magnificent than Emperor Almaric's palace. This palace is called the sapphire palace, the main palace which is the residence of the king and members of the main royal family.

This palace is very beautiful, filled with flower gardens and dozens of fountains made of sparkling marble. She felt very nervous now and started to change her mind. Maybe she shouldn't be here, it was like accidentally jumping into a lake filled with crocodiles

Disha glanced at her surroundings, hoping that no one would notice her, so she could quickly run away while the farmers were busy carrying potatoes and other vegetables to the food storage warehouse behind the palace.

"This is bad, how is this? Suddenly I'm nervous like this. Should I just run away while they're off guard?" She thought. Her legs were shaking, she was too afraid to face the truth in case her cover was exposed.

She saw Uncle Jack, Mr. Robert and several other farmers busy carrying boxes of vegetables, they were accompanied by several bodyguards who seemed to know them quite well.

Disha tried to look for an exit or at least a gap that she could get through. However, all the walls surrounding the palace were so high that it was difficult for her to climb without being discovered.

"I have to go, I have to go!" She muttered softly. Panicking, she saw the forest right behind the palace. She didn't know the end of the forest, but what was clear was that the forest was the only alternative way to escape.

Disha crept away, away from the place where the horse-drawn carriage was parked which was right in front of the food storage warehouse. After she felt safe enough, Disha immediately ran as hard as she could towards the forest.

"It worked, I managed to leave here-"

"Hey, where are you going?"

Her footsteps stopped suddenly when she heard a man's voice calling her. Disha turned her head with a trembling body, she saw a young man with green eyes sitting on the back of a brown horse. The man looked at her sinisterly, as if suspecting that she was an intruder.

Disha remained frozen in place, she continued to swallow hard until her throat felt sore. Especially when the man got off his horse and walked towards her while taking out his sword which looked very sharp.

Arrogantly, the man pointed the tip of his sword right in front of Disha's eyes, he looked scary and made Disha think of Leonidas, who always did the same thing whenever he found something suspicious.

"Who are you? Why are you running towards the forest?"

"I-I, I-I just-"

"Answer clearly, little man! Who are you?"

***