The Princess’s Bodyguard Can’t Say No

The air in the war room was cold. Reth pushed the door open, stepping inside. His boots made a dull sound on the stone floor.

Asthia came in behind him, her red cloak dragging slightly. Her face didn't show much, just her usual calm.

Elenya was already there, sitting at the table. She looked tired. Her braid was messy, and there were ink smudges on her fingers. Scrolls and maps were scattered everywhere, but the note with the red wax seal sat in the center under a stone.

She didn't look up.

"Anything?" Asthia asked.

Elenya shook her head, still staring at the note. "No. I've tried every kind of code I know. It's not normal. I think it's waiting for something."

Reth's vision blinked for a moment. A soft [System] ping:

[Note contains minor enchantment. Interaction required.]

He frowned, thinking. In stories, when something was "waiting," it usually meant blood. Always blood. It was dumb, but sometimes dumb worked.

Asthia stepped closer to the table. "Waiting for what?"

"I don't know," Elenya said. "Could be a spell. A password. Maybe something only the intended person can do."

Reth spoke up. "Let me try something."

Asthia turned to him right away. "Try what?"

Reth pulled his knife from his belt. "Just a guess. If it doesn't work, no harm done."

Elenya finally looked at him. Her eyes didn't show much, but she didn't stop him.

Asthia didn't like it. "You better not burn the damn thing."

"I won't."

He pressed the tip of the blade to his palm. The cut wasn't deep, but it stung. A small drop of blood welled up. He leaned over and let it fall onto the paper.

It sat there for a second. Nothing.

Reth pulled back a little. "…Well."

Then the wax seal glowed red. The symbols on the paper shifted, almost like they were moving under water. Elenya blinked. Even Asthia looked surprised.

Reth muttered, "Huh."

The seal melted. The glow faded. Slowly, the strange symbols disappeared, replaced by tight, rushed handwriting.

"…That actually worked?" Elenya blinked. "Seriously?"

"I didn't think it would," Reth said, wiping his hand on a cloth.

Asthia stared at him for a moment, eyes narrowed, but said nothing.

Elenya leaned in to read. "Meeting. Four nights from now. Redhill Town."

"Redhill?" Asthia frowned. "Isn't that place heavily guarded?"

"It is," Elenya said. "Because of the iron deposits. But it falls within Graykeep's borders. Technically, it's under our control."

"Who's it addressed to?" Reth asked.

Elenya pointed to the bottom of the note. "Just says: 'To the No. 6.'"

The room went quiet.

Then Asthia said, "We'll go. Just us."

Reth raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?"

"I want to see who sent this," she replied. "If it's a trap, we deal with it."

Elenya stood, folding the note carefully. "I'll chart a route. Best to ride at dusk—less chance of being spotted."

Reth looked down at his hand. The bleeding had already stopped.

He glanced at the note again.

He didn't know who sent it, or why.

But it didn't feel random.

And it definitely wasn't just politics.

Reth turned to follow Asthia when a faint blue flicker touched the edge of his vision.

[System Notification]

Puzzle Solved: Enchanted Note – Blood Activation

+200 EXP

+0.3 Strategic Insight

+2.5% Loyalty Sync – Action Recognized

[Current EXP: 300 / 400]

[Loyalty Sync: 26.0%]

Reth exhaled and followed Asthia out of the war room. The door shut behind them with a low scrape.

They walked the hall in silence. Torches flickered low—half-dead flames casting long, shadows.

She didn't speak until they reached the stairwell.

"You didn't tell me you could read enchanted glyphs," she said without turning.

"I can't," he said.

A pause.

"Lucky guess, then?"

"Something like that."

Another pause. She didn't look at him, just started down the stairs.

At the landing, she stopped. "Pack light. We leave tomorrow night. Dusk."

"Just us?"

She nodded once. "I said that already."

The next evening came fast.

Dusk bled over Graykeep like smoke, curling along the battlements and sinking into the bones of the fortress. Clouds hung low, thick and bruised with coming rain.

Reth stood by the stables, adjusting the strap on his saddle. His pack was light—cloak, knife, flint, spare shirt. He'd learned the hard way not to carry too much when traveling with Asthia.

She arrived not long after, dressed in black riding leathers, her cloak traded for a tighter hooded coat. No armor. Just practical layers. Her sword hung at her hip, but the rest of her looked like any other scout preparing for a quiet mission.

"You're late," she said without heat.

"Just cautious."

She checked his gear with a glance. "Good. Elenya left two hours ago to draw eyes south. She won't meet us again until Redhill."

Reth nodded. "You trust her?"

"With my life. With yours too, I'm still deciding."

He smiled and mounted up.

They rode out the back gate in silence, just two shadows slipping into the wild.

From a crumbling arch across the inner yard, high in the dark lattice of stone and ivy, two figures crouched.

Lorem didn't move. His breath misted faintly in the cold air, but he kept his body still, gaze locked on the gate below. His subordinate—a wiry man named Kel—shifted beside him, trying not to make noise.

"There," Kel whispered. "They're going without escort again."

"I can see that," Lorem murmured.

Three hours later, the woods swallowed the road.

The trees grew thick and crooked, their branches clawing the sky. The only light came from the moon, broken and pale through the canopy.

Reth guided his horse over a fallen log. "Tell me something," he said, voice low. "What's a No. 6?"

Three hours later, the woods swallowed the road.

The trees grew thick and crooked, their branches clawing the sky. The only light came from the moon, broken and pale through the canopy.

Reth guided his horse over a fallen log. "Tell me something," he said, voice low. "What's a No. 6?"

Asthia didn't answer right away.

When she did, her voice was quieter than before. 

"I don't know."

He blinked. That wasn't the answer he expected.

He looked at her, and for a moment, her face was turned just enough for moonlight to catch her eyes.

They rode in silence a while longer, the sound of hooves muffled by dead leaves.

Eventually, they made camp in a place by a dry creek. 

Reth lay on his back, cloak over his chest, eyes tracing stars through a gap in the branches.