The Great Wish - Chapter 38: You Are My Destiny (1)

Sienna and her party waited for about an hour. As time passed, the expressions of the knights grew more tense, especially Gilbert, whose face looked grim.

‘How dare these barbarian scoundrels keep Her Highness, the Silver King, waiting. How rude.’

The favorable winds had caused the ship to arrive about half a day earlier than expected, but delays were common when traveling by sea.

This was an envoy sent by the Empire at the Confederation’s request. Naturally, the Confederation should have sent an escort to meet them, greeting them with proper courtesy. After all, wasn’t the Confederation a vassal state?

‘They should have arrived a day in advance and been ready, waiting!’

Gilbert suppressed his simmering anger as he glared at the desert. He couldn’t show his displeasure, especially since Her Highness had said nothing.

He squinted when he saw figures moving in the distance. Two riders were approaching, kicking up a cloud of dust. They were the knights he had sent ahead as scouts. They quickly dismounted and ran up to Gilbert, bowing.

“They are on their way.”

“Understood. Well done.”

Gilbert reported to Sienna.

“Your Highness, the escort party will arrive soon.”

Sienna had been sitting in the shade of a makeshift tent. She stood up and ordered the tent to be taken down.

“Your Highness, there is no need to rush. The sun is harsh.”

“They’ve come all this way to greet us. It wouldn’t be proper to remain seated.”

Gilbert bowed his head in acknowledgment, though internally he vowed to ensure the guides showed Her Highness the proper respect or face consequences.

Before long, the guide party appeared from the direction of the desert. A group of about twenty, riding in a long line. The more well-dressed members rode horses, while others, likely laborers, led camels loaded with goods.

The young man leading the procession pulled on his reins, and the group came to a stop. He dismounted and approached the imperial envoy.

“Apologies for keeping you waiting. I am Verota, the lead guide tasked with escorting you to the royal capital.”

Gilbert, standing in front of Verota, spoke as he gestured to Sienna.

“The envoy is none other than Her Highness, the Silver King. Pay your respects.”

Gilbert didn’t fully step aside, merely shifting slightly to the side, positioning himself between Sienna and Verota as a protective barrier against this stranger.

Sienna lifted the front of her hood, revealing her face.

“You’ve traveled far. We entrust you to guide us safely.”

Verota’s eyes widened in surprise. He had not expected to hear a woman’s voice. He studied Sienna’s face, partially hidden in the shadow of her hood.

“That’s rude.”

Gilbert’s rebuke made Verota quickly avert his gaze.

“My apologies. I was informed that the envoy would be a prince…”

Sienna answered.

“There’s been a change. The envoy faithfully carries out His Majesty’s orders, no matter who they are. Does it matter who the envoy is?”

With his eyes lowered, Verota managed to conceal his discomfort, though inwardly he muttered, ‘A woman, of all things.’

“Yes, of course. Our duty is simply to escort the esteemed guests safely.”

Sienna cast her gaze beyond Verota to the rest of his group, who stood several paces away, scattered in conversation.

“There are more of you than I expected.”

“We couldn’t afford to be negligent when escorting such important guests.”

“Where is Marquis Rad? I heard he was to join us.”

A brief flash of unease crossed Verota’s face, but he quickly regained his composure.

“He is likely preparing to welcome you at the rest stop. We hurried ahead so as not to keep you waiting.”

“I see. Are we leaving now?”

“Yes, we must depart soon if we are to reach the rest stop by nightfall.”

“Then we’ll send word to His Majesty of our departure and leave immediately.”

“Yes, Your Highness. We will prepare to depart right away.”

As Sienna turned to walk away, she called out, “Sir Gilbert,” and he quickly followed behind her.

Verota watched the two walk off before returning to his group.

Once they were out of earshot, Sienna spoke quietly to Gilbert.

“It seems my warning from before may have been correct.”

“Pardon?”

Sienna had subtly tested Verota.

According to Levan’s letter, Kuhn had no plans to greet the envoy. If Verota were the official guide sent by the Confederation, he should have responded that there was no expectation for Marquis Rad to be present when asked. Furthermore, the notion that Kuhn would wait at a rest stop was completely wrong. Kuhn would never send his subordinates while remaining nearby.

“It seems these are not the official guides.”

Gilbert’s eyes flared with anger.

“Shall I make them all kneel right now?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Your Highness, we have fifteen of the Empire’s best knights.”

“If all those guides are desert warriors, are you confident we could win? We also have administrators to protect, so at most, we have about ten knights who can fight.”

Gilbert pressed his lips together, unable to respond. He wanted nothing more than to suggest they return to the ship still docked nearby.

But they couldn’t retreat based on mere suspicion. Her Highness’s honor as the envoy of the Emperor was at stake. No matter what happened, they had to complete the mission.

“For now, let’s proceed.”

“Your Highness, shouldn’t we at least buy some time to prepare?”

“If we delay, they’ll become suspicious. Their goal is not to harm me. If we don’t show any weakness, they won’t act rashly. Tell the knights to stay alert.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Verota returned to his group and informed them that the envoy had changed. A man wearing a purple turban on horseback found it intriguing.

“The envoy’s a princess? A woman, you say? She’s taller than you, isn’t she?”

“That’s not something they’d lie about. Her voice was definitely a woman’s.”

“Did you see her face? Is she beautiful?”

“Whether the envoy is beautiful or not doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Well, if she’s beautiful, that’s a bonus, isn’t it?”

The man in the purple turban asked the group for their opinion, and the others laughed, agreeing with him.

Verota frowned. The reason he felt uneasy about the envoy being a woman was precisely because of the man in the purple turban.

If Sienna had understood their conversation in the desert language, she would have immediately sensed something was off. Verota, the supposed leader of the guide party, was speaking respectfully to his group. The purple-turbaned man, however, treated Verota with complete familiarity.

In reality, the man in the purple turban, Hysilo, held the highest status in the group. Verota was only the representative because he was fluent in the Empire’s language.

Hysilo was the son of the Hotu tribal chief and his heir. Hysilo was popular among the warriors for his bold personality and combat prowess, nearly matching that of a seasoned warrior.

Though Hysilo’s arrogance and self-centeredness were typical of someone of high rank, it wasn’t intolerable. What concerned Verota was Hysilo’s notorious behavior around women. Verota worried that Hysilo’s habits might jeopardize the mission now that the envoy was a woman.

“Lord Hysilo, this is the Imperial envoy. Please be cautious with your behavior.”

Hysilo scoffed.

“You’re spouting nonsense.”

“My apologies if I offended you. Our goal is to negotiate. It won’t benefit us to upset the envoy.”

“I know. With a woman, the negotiation will be even easier. She’ll soon realize that without us in this endless desert of sand, she’ll starve or fall prey to the Desert Ghosts. Outsiders are all the same. They underestimate the desert, but once they’re punished by it, they become compliant. It’d be perfect if a small Desert Ghost showed up.”

Hysilo spoke boldly, and the other men around him laughed loudly. Verota suppressed his rising irritation.

‘Those Hotu bastards.’

Verota was from the Rama tribe. Though he had temporarily allied with the Hotu tribe for this mission, the two tribes despised each other. They often insulted each other, calling one another “loud-mouthed fools” or “brainless brutes.”

The Hotu tribe’s military strength was overwhelming, which was why their help was needed for this operation.

‘Of all people, why Hysilo?’

To Verota, Hysilo was the epitome of the “brainless brute.” As the son of the chief, he was also brazenly arrogant.

Still, without Hysilo and his warriors, they wouldn’t have been able to deal with the royal guide party sent from the capital so cleanly. Hysilo had proven his worth, which made him feel victorious, leaving Verota unable to voice any complaints.

“Lord Hysilo, we need to find a way before we reach the next rest stop. It seems the Marquis of Rad was supposed to be there.”

“What?”

Hysilo’s smile vanished instantly.

“I told them the Marquis was waiting at the rest stop. If we arrive and he’s not there, they’ll get suspicious.”

“That bastard Rad.”

Hysilo’s face darkened, and the surrounding men fell silent. Everyone knew of Hysilo’s intense dislike for the Marquis of Rad.

Hysilo believed Kuhn had ruined everything. His father should have become king, and Hysilo should have rightfully inherited the throne afterward.

“This time, I’ll make sure to humiliate him properly. Change course. We won’t stop at the rest stop.”

“What?”

“We’re the guides. We’ll come up with an excuse. We never planned to go to the capital anyway.”

They had intended to lead the envoy elsewhere under the guise of being guides. Their plan was to detain the envoy with a fabricated story of an internal conflict, using threats and negotiations to secure the rights to the Sacred Tree branch.

“…Understood.”

Verota sighed and agreed. It was a simple plan, but at the moment, there was no other option.

Verota turned his head to look at the Imperial envoy. They were saddling a dazzling white unicorn. At least Hysilo wasn’t greedy for material things. If he had coveted the unicorn, it would have been an even bigger headache.

***

Most of the Imperial troops had already left in the first group. The envoy delegation, which departed later from the capital, included about thirty people, including knights, officials, and attendants. When joined by the twenty members of the guide party, they became quite a large group.

Several hours passed after they officially entered the desert. The landscape was nothing but sand and dunes in all directions. The murmured conversations of the delegation faded away as everyone focused on walking through the deep, sinking sand.

‘This is different from what I expected.’

Sienna found the desert fascinating. When she had only heard about it, she wondered how anyone could survive in such a place.

But seeing it firsthand, her impression was entirely different from what she felt when looking at a wasteland. Rather than being barren, the desert felt grand, and she couldn’t help but feel humble before the vastness of nature. She began to understand where the desert people’s unique strength came from.

The guides led at the front while the envoy followed behind. The knights formed a protective formation around Sienna, with some guarding the rear and the flanks. From above, the group would look like a long spindle.

However, there were eyes watching them. From a distant dune, so far that the people appeared no bigger than fingers, a middle-aged man lay prone, observing through a long telescope. He chuckled.

‘Good, they’re coming.’

The man, with a scruffy beard and a red turban, narrowed his greedy eyes when he spotted the unicorn through the telescope.

He crawled down the dune. Even from this distance, there was no harm in being cautious. At the bottom of the dune, about twenty other men, all wearing red turbans, waited.

The Red Turban Marauders numbered over eighty in total, making them one of the three largest marauder groups in the desert.

Currently, the group is divided into three. One group had gone to the Antlion Pit to lure the Desert Ghost, another would serve as the vanguard attack squad, and this group, the main force, would circle around to steal the unicorn amid the chaos.

A marauder approached the bearded leader.

“Chief, they sent word that the operation at the Antlion Pit will begin when the shadows lengthen.”

The bearded man bared his yellow teeth and raised his fist into the air.

“If we succeed today, we’ll make a fortune! Let’s go!”

The other marauders raised their fists in unison, shouting “Oooh!” in response.

Beneath the leader’s greedy eyes lay a sense of desperation. Running a large organization like the Red Turbans required a lot of resources. But with the formation of the Confederation, their territory had shrunk, drastically cutting their income. The organization was on the verge of collapse.

‘I have to get that beast. After that, I’ll disband the marauders and take only the most trustworthy men to start a trading company.’