When Rolando saw the names of envoys from the Bright Dynasty, his expression and overall demeanor became as cold as ice.
Immediately noticing his temper, Miguel raised a small and awkward smile on his face. "Your Majesty, it seems like you're
currently in a bad mood. Prince Matthew, a powerful man from the Bright Dynasty, has been sent here to celebrate with us. It's a
kind gesture on their part. Why aren't you happy?" he asked.
But Rolando just ignored Miguel's question. Instead, he walked out of the door and watched the gentle sunshine outside. There
seemed to be a touch of gentleness in his eyes, but no one saw it.
Meanwhile, upon closer assessment of Rolando's reaction, Miguel finally understood that the emperor was disappointed and
frustrated because the one he was expecting wasn't included in the list.
"Miguel, I want you to do one thing for me. Just one thing! If you can't do it well, you don't have to come back," Rolando slowly
said.
At that, Miguel's face paled. "Your Majesty, aren't you being too cruel? I don't know what you want me to do. You're being too
harsh. I'm afraid I really can't harass or hurt someone else. And I can't beat up a capable woman like Princess Harper. So
please, calm down!"
Rolando glanced at him and bitterly smiled. "Don't worry, I won't ever dare to let you do that. The last time that you did, she was
buried under the library of the South Kingdom and almost lost her life. She's a vengeful woman. This time, if you go and she
doesn't kill you, you'd be so lucky."
Miguel laughed out loud. He was even more convinced that Harper did cause quite a lot of trouble. She even made Rolando love
her from the bottom of his heart. "Your Majesty, you are indeed very devoted to Princess Harper."
Rolando turned around and glared at Miguel. In an instant, Miguel shut his mouth and murmured, "I didn't say anything wrong.
It's the truth."
"Just finish what I'll ask you to do." Rolando's voice was low and cold like the frost early in the morning. It was so frightening that
Miguel shivered just by listening to him.
"Your Majesty, what can I do for you?"
While still looking at Miguel, Rolando smiled even more sinisterly. Naturally, Miguel felt uneasy. Rolando opened his mouth and
said something in a very low voice; nobody but Miguel heard it clearly. Upon hearing the order, he felt that the blood all over his
body froze. For a while, he just stood there and forgot how to react.
Without saying anything else, Rolando turned around and left. Miguel remained standing by himself for a long time before he
came to his senses.
Meanwhile, the road to the Great Jade Kingdom was quite troublesome for Matthew. Throughout their journey, they had
encountered various problems. First, the road collapsed which ultimately affected their speed in moving forward. Then, there was
heavy rain so the bridge was submerged. In any case, accidents kept happening every step of the way. When Harper and her
entourage set out to the Great Jade Kingdom, Matthew and his people even hadn't left the land of the Bright Dynasty.
On her way to follow Matthew, Harper chose another path, different from the one Matthew and the others were taking, as the
couple had decided that they would travel to the Great Jade Kingdom, one in public and one in secret. The one Harper was
taking was rough and quite dangerous. She climbed over the mountains and went through forests. Although unable to ride a
horse or get in a carriage while going through this path, Harper had a good health condition and only brought Forsythia with her.
The rest of the maids stayed in the mansion. It was much easier for them to pass over mountains and rivers that way. Moreover,
the twelve secret guards were closely following her.
With utmost confusion, Forsythia asked, "Your Highness, why did we choose this path? It's very difficult to climb over mountains
and go through rivers. If we went on the official roads, perhaps we would have caught up with His Highness and the others on
the way."
Harper laughed. "We're going through this path because it's a shortcut. His Highness and the others left five or six days ahead of
us. By this time, they might have already entered the Great Jade Kingdom. With this path, we can get to the border in three days.
So if everything goes well, we can reach the kingdom at the same time as them."
"How do you know this path?" Shawn was actually quite surprised. The more time he spent with Harper, the more astounded he
was. How could a weak woman— His thoughts were interrupted when he caught a glimpse of Harper who was casually walking
in front. He then threw away his line of thinking. She was not a weak woman. On the contrary, she was so strong that he didn't
know how capable she really was until then.
"I heard of it by accident when I was on a trip in the past. It takes only half of the time to go back to the imperial capital through
this path. I often took this way when there were accidents in the imperial capital," Harper said with a broad smile on her face.
The corners of Shawn's mouth twitched a little. He concluded that during the past years, Harper rarely stayed in the imperial
capital and often traveled around. But how did she hide it from everyone and wander outside of the kingdom all year round?
"You were often away from the imperial capital?"
"My uncle always had to leave in the past. Well, I didn't like to just stay at home to be despised, so I often followed him. With my
uncle as an excuse, it was easy for me to go out. But then he disappeared and since then, it became difficult for me to go out
whenever I wanted." A hint of sadness flashed through Harper's eyes. Her uncle had treated her so well, a hundred times better
than the way her father treated her.
"Let's take a break. We've been walking for a long time," Shawn suggested.
"Okay," Harper agreed.
"I am going to look for food," Zorro immediately said. Harper sat down against a trunk and unconsciously shook the branch in her
hand. Staring into nothing, she seemed to be recalling the past. Her eyes were gentle and confused, as if she had a very vague
memory of what happened then.
"Please drink some water, Your Highness." Forsythia handed the bottle to Harper. She then took a sip before saying, "I hope
everything will go well on this trip to the Great Jade Kingdom."