I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 57

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 57

 

“Ah, no!”

 

After a moment passed and his vision brightened again, Nicolaus cursed and recoiled at the sight of Ponia before him.

 

“How dare you try to kill me!”

 

He tried to push away the woman in front of him, but Ponia was trembling with fear and couldn’t stay still. Sensing something strange, Nicolaus’s vision soon took in the surrounding scenery.

 

“Your Highness!”

 

The knight and physician entering the tent saw that he had opened his eyes and rushed over urgently.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

“What? Why am I here?”

 

“Your Highness collapsed unconscious, so we brought you to the tent.”

 

When Nicolaus looked outside through the tent opening, he saw darkness had fallen and other knights were lighting campfires.

 

Confused, he spotted Ponia and pointed at her with wide eyes.

 

“Arrest that forest keeper immediately! She dared to attempt assassination of the Empire’s Prince!”

 

He clearly remembered the forest keeper’s insolent attitude and disrespectful words before he closed his eyes.

 

Surely she had been caught by another knight and was pretending otherwise.

 

However, the knight and physician only blinked with bewildered expressions, not following his orders.

 

“That forest keeper tried to kill me! What are you doing?!”

 

The hesitating knight looked at Ponia and carefully spoke up.

 

“But, Your Highness… it was that forest keeper who carried you here after you collapsed.”

 

“What?”

 

When the knights following Your Highness couldn’t find your whereabouts, that forest keeper personally brought Your Highness to the tent.

 

“The forest keeper carried me here?”

 

She didn’t try to kill him?

 

He could still picture that devil-like figure toying with his life, so it didn’t make sense.

 

Ponia, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, stepped forward and dropped to her knees, bowing her head.

 

“I should have protected Your Highness more safely… *sob* I’m truly ashamed!”

 

“What are you doing all of a sudden?”

 

Ponia wiped her eyes with her hand and continued speaking.

 

“A-actually, there are monsters near this forest that show hallucinations, and it seems Your Highness was caught in those hallucinations.”

 

“What kind of ridiculous excuse are you spouting!”

 

However, the knight nodded and added an explanation to Ponia’s opinion.

 

“There really are monsters that show hallucinations. When I participated in monster subjugation, there were quite a number of comrades who died after being caught in monster hallucinations.”

 

All of that was a hallucination? Even though it was so vivid?

 

“No! That was real!”

 

Nicolaus raised his voice.

 

“Arrest that forest keeper immediately and lock her in the Imperial Palace prison! I’ll interrogate her personally.”

 

The knight in charge of this expedition looked at the Prince with a troubled expression. Throwing a tantrum without any evidence made him look just like a petulant child.

 

“There aren’t many volunteers for forest keeper positions in this forest, so if it becomes vacant, it could take over half a year to find applicants. That’s why the Imperial Court offers high compensation.”

 

“That’s not my concern…”

 

“Your Highness, His Majesty wouldn’t be pleased either.”

 

Nicolaus, who had been extremely agitated, couldn’t continue speaking. The knights assigned to him were carrying out their mission to protect him, but they were also the Emperor’s eyes.

 

He was the Prince, but until he inherited the throne, he had to watch his father’s mood.

 

Even after becoming Prince, his father had never once given him trust or confidence.

 

That’s why he had come to Mirban Forest with the Devonham Duchy to try to prove his abilities.

 

If word got back that he had only caused trouble in the forest instead of showing ability, the Emperor might think differently of him.

 

“Remove the forest keeper from my tent. Don’t let her catch my eye again.”

 

This time the knight immediately carried out his order. As he took Ponia and left the tent, the sound of something breaking came from inside.

 

The knight sighed and looked apologetic.

 

“We almost treated our benefactor harshly.”

 

“No, I was also careless in attending to His Highness.”

 

“It’s late, so get some good rest now.”

 

“Yes.”

 

The knight went back into the tent and Ponia returned to the cabin, where Chad was waiting in front.

 

“Where did you go to just show up now?”

 

“I’m quite shy, so I stayed a bit away.”

 

Ponia didn’t hide her bewildered expression. She was recalling Chad’s overly familiar behavior from their first meeting.

 

“But, Nia. Did the Prince really see hallucinations?”

 

Does she think it’s true that she doesn’t act shy since she’s become close enough with the other guards to hear news from them?

 

About to refuse giving an answer, Ponia opened her mouth.

 

“As if that would happen. I just scared him a little, and he fainted right away.”

 

It was something she did knowing that a hothouse flower who had only lived inside the Imperial Palace wouldn’t be able to handle it. He shouldn’t bother her with this anymore.

 

Watching Chad giggle, Ponia also threw out a question.

 

“Oh, have you seen Sio? He wasn’t in the cave.”

 

“I went to look, but couldn’t see him.”

 

“Should I go look for him…”

 

Ponia muttered and passed by Chad to enter the warehouse. It seemed she had already completely forgotten about Chad’s confession.

 

While she didn’t want things to become awkward, her attitude being no different from before made him suspect whether she hadn’t even registered it.

 

Sionel had also disappeared without a trace, and she was only around people she couldn’t let her guard down with, so it was natural.

 

Chad also followed her in, but Ponia, who had entered inside, blocked him with the door between them.

 

“Nia?”

 

“You sleep with the guards.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Why, you ask. Did you think we could sleep like before? After confessing and all?”

 

At Chad, who only tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand, Ponia shook her head and closed the door.

 

“Good night.”

 

Chad, who had been standing there blankly while listening to her thin voice, soon realized the meaning of her words and burst into laughter.

 

* * *

 

Finally, the day Ponia had been waiting for all along dawned.

 

From early morning, the guards moved busily. It was because of Nicolaus’s order to leave the forest as soon as the sun rose.

 

Gideon and Aren from the Devonham Duchy were also outside. Gideon, as always, wore a painted-on smile while giving encouraging words to the guards.

 

Ponia’s gaze, which had been scanning the procession, stopped on Aren.

 

He had looked precarious even while in the forest, and she had been concerned about him, remembering his ending in the original story.

 

But the Aren she saw today looked somewhat different.

 

His frail body and anxious-looking eyes were still the same, but he was no longer keeping his head down.

 

He was looking straight ahead at Gideon.

 

That upright gaze reminded her of Sionel, making her pause for a moment before moving her gaze. Then, she met eyes with Nicolaus, who had been watching her all along.

 

He showed signs of being startled at Ponia bowing her head in greeting, then cleared his throat several times before turning his head away.

 

He had specifically refused Ponia’s offer to guide them to the entrance, seeming to still believe she was after his life.

 

“Let’s depart.”

 

The group departed. Before long, they had moved far enough that the group couldn’t be seen from the cabin.

 

And Ponia was alone again.

 

“Where did Chad go in the meantime?”

 

She was the forest keeper, yet it was an absurd situation where everyone except her was freely roaming around the forest.

 

“Sionel should be fine.”

 

“Won’t you even look for him now?”

 

A voice came from right behind her.

 

Even though it was a familiar voice she had heard for over two months, Ponia felt it was somewhat unfamiliar, as if she hadn’t heard his voice for a long time.

 

When she turned around, Sionel was tilting just his head sideways from a few steps away. He was so calm that it was hard to believe he was the person who had disappeared without a trace for three days.

 

Ponia, who was about to run straight to him, stopped her feet again. Sionel was only calm, making her feel like she was overreacting after worrying about him all this time.

 

Suppressing her somehow rising anger, Ponia also opened her mouth calmly.

 

“You won’t need my help anymore. You’re getting around just fine on your own.”

 

“Were you worried?”

 

“Not really.”

 

The sarcastic words came out naturally, which couldn’t be helped. Sionel, who had been staring at her intently, closed the short distance between them.

 

And he embraced the small body that wasn’t being very honest.

 

“I was worried. That you might do something reckless.”

 

Speaking his true feelings first, on behalf of the forest keeper who wasn’t being very honest.

 

He could feel the small body shrinking in his arms. Now he felt like he had returned to where he belonged.

 

“I missed you, Ponia.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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