The Max-Leveled Princess Is Bored Today as Well - Chapter 147

“It was indeed a deliberately made puddle.”

Even watching the descending horde of adversaries, Caesar’s tone was surprisingly calm.

Well, the adversaries were all in shabby attire, wielding weapons that were nothing more than rusty swords, sickles, and clubs.

On his side, there were over ten elite knights. Naturally, it wasn’t a fair match.

‘Bad luck. Of all times, they choose now to attack the imperial carriage.’

“Guard the lord! Prevent the enemy’s approach!”

At Leonard’s command, the knights steadfastly held their positions. Meanwhile, the adversaries, devoid of strategy, launched a chaotic assault.

“Aargh!”

“Aaargh!”

Screams and blood filled the air.

“Regina, don’t open your eyes until I say it’s safe. Understand?”

“Yes, Father.”

Caesar gently pressed Regina’s head against his chest to shield her from the sight. Regina, too, nestled quietly against Caesar’s chest, covering her ears.

“Your Majesty! Princess! This way!” Hamilton, who had received a hearty slap on the back from Regina, urgently called out to Caesar.

Caesar silently followed Hamilton’s lead, taking cover behind the carriage, only checking Regina’s condition after the battle had moved away.

“Regina, are you okay? Is it uncomfortable?”

“No. But how long do I have to keep my eyes closed?”

Caesar glanced cautiously from his position behind the carriage. Given the adversaries’ numbers despite their disorganization, it seemed it would take a considerable amount of time to clear them out completely.

“Well… Regina, you know how to count, don’t you? Count up to 100 in your mind.”

“Um, okay,” Regina started murmuring numbers with her ears covered.

At that moment, one adversary the knights had missed approached Caesar’s hiding spot, wielding a small axe.

“Hand over everything you’ve got and scram!”

Uh-oh.

Trouble. I’m unarmed at the moment.

Fortunately, Leonard, the captain of the guard, swiftly assessed the situation and approached.

“Your Majesty!”

Leonard’s sword swung diagonally, slicing through the adversary’s back.

“Aaargh!” The enemy screamed, writhing in pain. Amidst the pouring rain, crimson droplets mixed with the downpour.

“Caesar! Regina!” Helena leaped off the carriage, shouting.

Even in that situation, Regina innocently counted numbers with her eyes tightly shut before asking such a question. “Father, what comes after 79?”

“Aaargh, spare me! Spare me!”

The adversary wielding the axe, feeling a searing pain in his back, driven mad by the unpredicted fear of death, began to thrash about.

“The carriage is falling!”

Amidst the pouring rain and the chaos of enemies, the tilting carriage, stuck in the mud, finally toppled over.

All these events unfolded in an instant, without any discernible order.

And as a consequence, weakened ground due to the dug-up pit collapsed. Right where Regina was standing.

“Huh?” Regina, who had her eyes closed, reflexively opened them as the ground beneath her wavered. When she did, she was already tumbling down the darkened slope.

“Regina!”

A startled Caesar reached out to Regina.

Leonard and Helena witnessed the scene, but Helena was too far away, and Leonard was engaged with the axe-wielding adversary.

‘She’s falling!’

He managed to catch Regina, but by then, Caesar’s body had already shifted toward the slope.

Ultimately, holding Regina tightly, Caesar descended below in a tumble.

“No! Caesar! Regina!” Helena cried out in despair. The pouring rain soaked her hair and clothes. She felt nauseous, witnessing her beloved husband and daughter plummet simultaneously.

Leonard, who had completely knocked out the axe-wielding adversary, quickly approached Helena, speaking urgently, “Your Ladyship, you need to get out of this place first…” He couldn’t risk putting Helena in danger in this situation.

At that moment, Helena rose and seized the sword from Leonard’s grip. Leonard willingly relinquished it to her.

Mounting a nearby restless horse, Helena, bewildered by the emperor and princess’ fall, shouted at the disoriented knights, “Why has everyone stopped moving?! Your liege is waiting for us! How much longer will we waste time here?”

Then, Helena, her voice tightly gripped by rage, continued, “Just three.” Her voice cut like a blade even from a distance. “Leave only three; the rest are unnecessary. Kill them all!”

The knights were taken aback hearing her say “kill.” Usually, she preferred to incapacitate rather than take lives. But now, devoid of that virtue, her sword mercilessly descended upon the adversaries as though she were the deity of death.

***

Slap.

Slap, slap, slap.

The sensation of being repeatedly slapped made Caesar laboriously open his eyes.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

As he woke up, he found one of the women he loved smiling brightly before him. Despite being soaked and covered in mud, a sorry sight compared to her usual self.

“…Regina.” Struggling to sit up, Caesar spoke. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay,” Regina responded confidently, but despite her words, she clearly had bruises here and there.

‘Well, doesn’t seem like any serious injuries. That’s a relief.’

Or is it too early to feel relieved?

Caesar sighed softly as he looked at his left leg soaked in blood. It seemed torn from catching onto something during the fall.

‘No weapons, body temperature dropping due to the rain, and this leg… If the adversaries find us before our knights do in this state, it’s going to be troublesome.’

Lost in various thoughts, Caesar remained silent, prompting Regina to look at him with a worried expression.

“Father, are you cold?”

“Hmm?”

“Should I take off my clothes?”

Oh no. He had worried his young daughter.

Caesar purposely smiled brightly, gently patting Regina’s head, “I’m okay. I was just thinking about what to do next.”

“Don’t worry! Regina will protect Father!”

Caesar chuckled at Regina’s words. They were heartwarming, yet they pained a corner of his heart. “Why do my beloved ladies only know how to protect?” Muttering so, he opened his arms to Regina. “Come here, sweetheart.”

Though Caesar beckoned, Regina hesitated. She was contemplating whether it was okay to snuggle up to the injured Caesar. At barely four years old, she oddly seemed astute in these matters.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. You know how strong your dad is, right? He always wins even against the knight uncles.”

“But you can’t beat Mother.”

“There’s no way around that. No one in this world can beat your mother.”

“Then will Mother beat all the bad guys and come save us?”

“Mm-hmm. So until then, I will protect Regina.”

Finally reassured, Regina nestled into Caesar’s embrace with a relieved expression. Caesar, holding his warm and small bundle close, let out a thin sigh.

Seeing the barely four-year-old trying to act brave made Caesar’s heartache. Nestling into Caesar’s embrace, Regina was noticeably trembling.

Perhaps relieved being in Caesar’s arms, Regina sobbed softly, “Sorry. Father got hurt because of Regina.”

“It’s okay. It’s not Regina’s fault.” Caesar took off his outer garment to cover Regina, ensuring she didn’t catch a chill.

“Why is it okay when it hurts because of Regina?”

“Because I love you,” Caesar whispered, holding Regina tightly. “You’re the most precious daughter Helena and I love.”

Regina clutched onto Caesar’s clothes tighter.

Caesar gently lifted Regina and rose from his place. He intended to find shelter from the rain.

As he stood, excruciating pain shot up from his left leg, but he gritted his teeth and bore it.

“Regina loves Mother and Father the most in the world,” Regina whispered in a shy, small voice.

Hearing Regina’s words, Caesar felt he could endure the pain somehow.

“Hamilton, too. Just a little bit.”

“Ah, I see.” Caesar smiled gently in response, resolving to make sure Hamilton suffer from excessive work upon their return.

‘Nevertheless…’

The power of love truly is magnificent.

Even in excruciating pain, there’s a feeling that he could endure anything for this child.

Caesar chuckled softly, thinking so.

Right now, this small and delicate girl, who relied on him for everything, was unbearably adorable.

***

It’s been two years since Mendel joined the band of thieves.

At first, guilt and anxiety about immorality plagued Mendel, but that lasted only about six months.

They robbed merchants’ carriages, even those of the nobility. Nobles were harder to rob due to their escorts, but Mendel learned it could be quite profitable.

They killed without hesitation. Afterward, they lived without worries for a while. When money ran low, killing again became a solution.

Mendel was the leader when they embarked on stealing. No matter how esteemed his victims were, they would beg for life and offer him money. 

However, he never expected to fall victim to those he intended to attack one day, especially to a lady who appeared refined and well-bred in her dress.

“Please spare our lives!”

The woman kept her word.

They ended up killing everyone except for three.

Desperate to be among the survivors, Mendel flattened himself on the ground, begging for his life from the start.

Seeing how easily they were all killed, in the end, it was a wise decision.

“Did anyone escape?”

The woman asked the knight. Despite his disheveled appearance, the knight answered with a serious expression.

“No one. These three are all that remain.”

“Among us, who knows the terrain below the cliff?”

“We have a map, but no one here knows this area well enough…”

“Hey, you three.”

The woman’s sharp blue eyes pierced the three trapped miscreants as she conversed with the knight.

“Who among you knows the geography beneath the cliff?”

The three glanced at each other, unsure whether stepping forward or pretending ignorance would be the wiser choice.

“None of you know? No use. Since you’re useless, I’ll kill you all.”

“I-I-I know!”

At the woman’s ruthless command, Mendel blurted out as if having a seizure. The remaining two cursed, seeming regretful of missing the timing, clicking their tongues.

“You know?”

“Yes! I do! I understand! I know the terrain here better than the knights of Holden!” Mendel shouted desperately to survive. The woman scrutinized his words, trying to gauge if Mendel spoke the truth.

Stepping down from her horse, she approached Mendel. He hoped she was going to release him, raising his expectations.

However, as she got closer to Mendel, she forcefully kicked him with her boot.

“Argh!”

Mendel, struck so fiercely that his teeth almost fell out, cried out in agony, collapsing to the ground.

“You knew but didn’t speak up immediately. You were considering your own survival while my husband and child might be down there, their fate uncertain. How dare you.”

“P-please spare me! I was wrong! I’ll do as you say!”

“You three can’t be all there is. Where’s your base?”

The woman threatened, her voice tightly packed with rage, a tone Mendel hadn’t heard before.

In response to the woman’s inquiry, one of the remaining two promptly answered, as if he had been waiting for it, “It’s the forest in the Holden territory! Our remaining comrades, uh, I mean, the miscreants, are there!”

“Hawk.”

“Yes, command me.”

“Lead some men to their headquarters.”

“I will comply.”

“Sir Peresca, Agoth, and a few others, head down below to find our liege waiting for us. The rest, stay here and wait.”

“At your command!”

The knights echoed sharply at the woman’s sharp command.

In truth, Mendel inwardly chuckled at the mention of them heading to the base. The band of miscreants he was part of had a considerable size, and he believed they couldn’t be defeated even if they all went.

However, as the knights shouted “At your command,” Mendel sensed a tingling sensation in the air, realizing he might have been mistaken. Perhaps they could truly sweep them all away. Numbers seemed meaningless.

“If you attempt any more futile tricks, I will cut off one of your fingers each time.”

Under the woman’s icy threat, Mendel vigorously nodded in agreement.

Strangely, he felt a strong certainty that this woman would kill him even if things were resolved well.

He sincerely hoped the man and the girl who had fallen below the cliff were unharmed. That might be his chance to beg for some mercy from this woman.