"Rose, where are we going?"
Ronie, her arm linked with Rose's, asked with confusion in her eyes. She didn't even know how she had left Carloi's house, and before she could sort out what was happening, Rose had already pulled her out.
"Shh."
"Just follow me."
Rose continued to hold Ronie's arm tightly.
Unexpectedly, a patrol of ten guards approached them head-on. Rose's expression tensed abruptly, and she pulled Ronie behind her.
"Miss Rose."
The armored guard leader stopped before Rose and bowed slightly in greeting.
"Mhm, are you on patrol? You've worked hard," Rose said with a smile, nodding as she blocked Ronie. "With you all here, the Lord's Mansion is much safer."
"It is my duty."
The guard leader continued to smile respectfully, his gaze then falling upon Ronie.
"I didn't expect Miss Ronie of the Elton family to be here. It seems we haven't received proper notification about outsiders visiting the Lord's Mansion."
"How interesting."
Almost the moment the guard leader finished speaking, Rose burst into laughter.
"Ronie just came to our city. She's my good friend, so it should be fine for her to visit me at the Lord's Mansion, right? Does my friend need to report to you to enter the Lord's Mansion?"
"The city has been unsettled recently," the guard leader explained.
"Mhm, and so?"
Rose shrugged lightly, looking at the approaching guard squad.
"The city's unrest is the Lord's Mansion's management problem. Whether the Lord's Mansion is safe is your responsibility as guards. What meaning does telling me this have?"
"Or are you suspecting me of being a dangerous element?"
"And Ronie too?"
Ronie looked intently at the guard leader, her tone somewhat displeased.
"We wouldn't dare!" The guard leader quickly lowered his head. Rose narrowed her eyes. "If you dare not, then quickly get out of the way. Ronie and I have much to discuss, don't waste our time."
The guard leader immediately moved aside, and Rose, still linking arms with Ronie, walked away proudly.
However, they hadn't taken more than a few steps.
As they rounded a corner, Rose grabbed Ronie's hand tightly and they ran for their lives.
"Rose, why are we running?" After running for about half a minute, Ronie asked the slightly slowed Rose in a low voice, "What happened?"
"Ronie sister, do you know that you just..."
Rose, biting her lip tightly, looked at Ronie and cautiously scanned their surroundings.
"You almost died, do you know that?"
"Died?!"
Ronie looked at Rose in astonishment, not understanding where her words were coming from.
"Let's go to my place quickly," Rose said, still cautiously surveying the area and holding Ronie's arm tightly. "It's not safe here."
Allowing herself to be pulled by Rose, Ronie followed her to Rose's residence.
Upon entering the courtyard, the guards in the yard bowed in greeting to Rose, who gave them a knowing glance.
"No one is allowed to enter. If anyone dares to force their way in, kill them directly!" It was hard to imagine that Rose, who looked like a little loli, could utter such chilling words.
The guards took their orders and stood guard outside. Only then did Rose breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"Ronie sister, what are you thinking?"
"How could you dare to come to the Lord's Mansion?"
Rose, leaning against a chair, panted heavily, looking at the somewhat bewildered Ronie.
"If I hadn't received word that Carloi had brought you to his place just now, and if I hadn't rushed to get you out before he could act, you would have been dead if I had been a moment later."
"Why did Carloi want to kill me?"
Ronie pursed her lips, her eyes filled with deep confusion.
"I don't know what happened in your Lord's Mansion. I met Carloi in the city, and we were friends in the academy, so he invited me to visit the Lord's Mansion. I don't understand, I have no grudges against him, why would he want to kill me?"
"Sister, how many years has it been since you last saw Carloi?" Rose suddenly let out a dry laugh.
"Three years!"
"You know, you haven't seen each other for three years." Rose said with a helpless expression. "Carloi is no longer the Carloi from our school days. In recent years, he's become somewhat deranged in his struggle for the position of future Lord with my elder brother. Did he say anything strange to you just now?"
"Some."
Ronie narrowed her eyes and whispered. Rose looked at her for a moment before smiling.
"You don't need to cover for him. If nothing unexpected happened, he probably said something like the kingdom is corrupt and only war can solve it, right?"
"How do you know?" Ronie's eyes showed surprise.
She had always been very cautious, even towards Rose. She hadn't forgotten Chen Yu's admonitions.
However, hearing that Rose knew Carloi's words still shocked her.
"Hmph, he said those words to me too." Rose snorted, "He's a madman. Thinking he had no hope of becoming Lord, he started taking extreme measures and became completely radicalized. He wanted to cooperate with me, and we would go to the Batu Kingdom and overthrow the Tatú Kingdom's regime with the rebels there. It's truly..."
Rose muttered, shaking her head incessantly, her disdain for Carloi completely undisguised.
"Then, why do you say Carloi wanted to kill me?" Ronie was full of confusion, looking intently at Rose.
"Where are the guards?"
Rose threw the question back to Ronie.
"Ronie sister, think carefully about where those guards were heading just now."
Click!
Ronie's heart trembled slightly.
They had come from Carloi's residence, and the guards were heading only towards Carloi's residence. And she had indeed felt that the guards had looked at her strangely.
"Did he really want to kill me?"
"That's for you to judge." Rose shrugged slightly. "That's what I thought, which is why I hurried to take you away. If you still believe him, then you can consider me meddling. Regardless, as long as you are safe now, that's what matters. Oh, right, a friendly reminder, that guard leader just now was promoted by my second brother to balance my eldest brother."
"Then what was his motive for killing me?"
Ronie's eyes were filled with confusion as she looked intently at Rose.
"Even if he wanted to kill me, there must be a reason. What does the internal competition for the Lord's position in your Lord's Mansion have to do with me?"
She didn't really believe Rose's words.
It made no sense!
Carloi had no reason to kill her, and her life or death wouldn't determine who would become the future Lord. Although the guards had looked at her strangely.
This didn't prove that Carloi harbored hostility towards her.
Besides, would killing her be so complicated?
She had already gone to Carloi's residence. If Carloi truly wanted to kill her, he wouldn't need the Lord's Mansion guards to do it.
"It's very simple."
Rose smiled slightly and raised her eyebrows.
"You die, the nation plunges into chaos!"