3 A Man From the North

"My lady, I think we should rest." Milith held her chest as she tried to catch her breath. "You just recovered from a fever last week. You can't exhaust yourself."

Rosalind looked back at her maid. Then she nodded and looked around the snow that had started to cover the once healthy green foliage. They were never meant to come here.

The snow was a sign that they are moving closer and closer to the north where it snows for ten months of the year.

"Shall we go back?" Rosalind asked.

"But I have yet to see the herb that you were looking for. It should not be that far away from where we're at."

"Are you certain the plant had purple leaves?" Rosalind asked. It had been three days since she came back from the future. By now, she had learned a lot of things by using her knowledge of what was supposed to happen.

She had arranged her thoughts and had pretty much had a plan in mind.

"I am— though your painting— "

"Are you mocking my way of expressing myself?" Rosalind chuckled. She was well away that she had no skills in arts or music. She spent her childhood being hidden away by her very own family.

Treated as an outsider, she never learned arts or music or many things that were said to entice a man. Though she did her best to learn those things when she got back, Rosalind never succeeded.

"No, my lady," Milith said. "But really… if I hadn't seen that plant before. I would never recognize it from that painting."

"Milith?"

"I apologize, my lady. I didn't mean to insult your special way of expressing yourself."

Rosalind's lips thinned. She turned away and pretended to ignore the maid. Since she came back, Rosalind had started treating Milith more like a friend than a servant and Milith had reciprocated.

"But my lady, that plant is nothing but a weed that animals loved to consume before the winter. Colorful leaves could mean that it is poisonous for human consumption. I know I have already asked you this, but why do you intend to have that plant? Isn't it too dangerous? We are far from any physician. If that plant— "

"It is poisonous…" Rosalind said. The plant that is considered poison to humans is considered special for the blessed ones, like Rosalind.

But most people, even the blessed ones, are not a year aware of it.

"Then— "

"Milith, you shall not start crying." She interrupted the maid, who seemed to think that she had been doing these things because she wanted to end her life. However, that assumption wasn't uncalled for.

Her birthday just passed and Rosalind had been very depressed when she didn't receive a single greeting from the Lux mansion. Not even the butler, who always took the time to send her some cards and chocolates since they sent her to this place five years ago, sent her anything.

"I wanted to start experimenting."

"Are you perhaps trying to dabble in herbology? My Lady— "

"Shhhh…" Rosalind signaled Milith to stop talking.

"What?" Milith whispered. As an ordinary human, Milith cannot feel the sudden fluctuations of magick that Rosalind just felt.

Rosalind covered Milith's mouth and dragged her to the nearby bushes. As someone who had spent her time studying her blessings in her past life, Rosalind was very familiar when it comes to magick fluctuations of someone like her and or something that was not quite human.

She frowned and tried to think of a way to get out of this precarious situation.

Based on the magick fluctuations, she knew that someone was fighting against many people and they were moving this way. If she had her blessing, she could easily avoid being caught up in another person's fight.

Sadly, Rosalind has yet to awaken her blessings.

A blessing would usually awaken on someone's eighteenth birthday, but hers was quite different. She received the blessings of the goddess while trying to kill herself. Absurd, she knew.

The reason why she came here is that she wanted to awaken her blessing as soon as possible. Who would have thought that they would actually stumble upon other people's business while coming here?

The two of them hid for a few more minutes before they heard footsteps. She looked at Milith, whose hands were tightly holding the knife that she always used for hunting. Then she signaled her not to say another word.

If they are lucky, they could just hide her until those people — eh?

Rosalind's eyes widened when a man suddenly fell and landed right next to her. It was as if a cold bucket of water enveloped her body as she met the man's red, cold-blooded gaze. She opened her mouth but failed to utter a word when she felt a sharp blade against her neck.

Half of the man's face was covered with a dark cloth, yet his eyes were enough to tell her that he wasn't jesting. He would kill her if she moved.

She felt Milith stiffen next to her.

For a moment, she felt her world stop. Fear overtook everything inside her. But it didn't last long as she heard other people who were chasing this man. She held her breath as she silently cursed the current situation she was in.

She just came back from the dead. Three days later and her life was once again in danger.

Why was she so unlucky?

Soon, the footsteps vanished. She immediately looked at the man next to her only to discover that… he had fainted!

"We need to leave!" she crawled out of the bushes along with Milith. "Those people will come back."

"But — what about that man?"

"What man?" she asked, almost irritated. She needed to awaken her blessings before those people came.

"The one from earlier?"

"He dared to threaten a lady, Milith," she said. If this was her in the past, she would have dragged that man towards her small house and treated him, but she was no longer the person of the past.

"Are we leaving him?" Milith asked as she followed Rosalind deeper into the woods.

"But of course! Do you think one of us is capable of saving him?"

Milith said nothing.

"Now… lead me to the purple plant!" Rosalind said. Milith complied and soon, they arrived next to a palisade cliff, a high cliff that lined a shallow river she didn't even know existed.

"It's there…" Milith pointed near the rocky ledge.

"That — " It was indeed the purple plant, but she looked back. Once again, she could feel strong magical fluctuations coming their way.

Did those men find the man who lost consciousness?

"Run," Rosalind said.

"What?"

"Let's meet at the cabin."

"My lady this— "

"Milith, listen to me," Rosalind said. "Those people are going to come. I can handle myself but— not when I'm with you."

"I— "

"You have to run away. Wait for me at the cabin."

"But — I could— "

"Wait for me. Do you understand?" With that, Rosalind gently pushed Milith away as she turned and approached the ledge. Without Milith, it would be easier for her to escape.

Plus, she knew that Milith was already familiar with the topography of his place, so she would have a way to leave this place.

For now, Rosalind needed to focus on the purple plant and awakening her blessing. She wouldn't be able to do it if Milith was with her.

After reading the rocky ledge, Rosalind cut a few stalks of the plant and tucked it into her dress. Then she used a knife to cut her dress to her thigh, making it easier for her to move. Right now, she needed to find a place below this cliff to hide from those people!

With much difficulty, she used the other half of her clothes to support herself as she lowered herself into the cliff. The cold breeze from the river almost made her regret coming. She could have easily run away with Milith to save herself. However, a part of her recalled Jeames and Dorothy's loving gazes.

Those two needed to be punished! Her hatred propelled her lower and lower into the cliff. But how could someone like her who hasn't tried rock climbing successfully do it with just pure determination and luck?

She heard what sounded like a ripping sound. Then she felt her body start to fall.

But just as she was about to hit the rock, she felt someone envelop her small frame. Her eyes flew open. Then she met the bluest eyes she had ever seen.

"Have you lost your mind!?" a deep voice filled her ears. She blinked and realized that the two of them landed safely, not one scratch or cut on their bodies.

Was it just luck?

Or…

She swallowed and took a step back. The man gave her a suspecting glare, his handsome features contorted into a scowl. His perfectly carved brows drew closer as he looked at her with irritation.

"There are easier ways to kill yourself," he said.

She blinked. "I wasn't trying to— "

"Shhh!" The man silenced her and looked up. "If you don't want to die, shut your mouth!"

She, too, looked up. Then she felt the man's powerful hands pull her towards him. Her small frame landed against his hard muscles. She stilled.

She opened her mouth but was silent by his glare that sent daggers into her soul.

The smell of blood soon drifted toward her. She frowned and looked down. Then she realized that the blue-eyed man had a large cut on his right leg, and blood continuously flowed from his wound.

How was he still alive? That kind of blood loss would have killed even the strongest knight in the empire.

She swallowed. Perhaps… he was from the North?

She felt her face lose its color. If he was from the North, then… her life is in danger!