Uno also searched around but still could not find any trace of the person.
This meant that the one watching her this time was extremely powerful, even stronger than Uno.
That night, Elara chose a flat spot on top of a mountain for the army to rest. She also took the chance to think about how to handle the stalkers.
But before she figured anything out, a loud and chaotic noise suddenly came from outside.
She got up and left the tent. Down in the valley, a group of bandits was robbing what looked like a very wealthy merchant caravan.
In the middle of the caravan was an elaborate carriage that had already been broken into. A man holding a swaddled baby stumbled out of it, protecting the child with both arms. He didn't care as his expensive jewelry fell off him.
The guards around the caravan were being killed by the bandits. It looked like the man and the baby were about to fall into their hands. Elara raised her hand and a small elite team rushed down, quickly killed the bandits, and brought the messy man holding the baby back up the mountain.
The moment the man saw Elara, his eyes lit up, and Elara even thought she saw a flash of joy in them.
But when she looked closely again, there was nothing there, only the man's grateful and relieved expression.
The man walked up to Elara with the child in his arms and suddenly knelt down before her.
"Thank you for saving me and my child!"
Elara reached out to help him up, gently feeling his pulse without him noticing. He had no inner strength, so it seemed he had nothing to do with the stalkers. He was just an innocent man.
Elara nodded, helped him up, then let go of him. "It's fine. You can rest here for tonight. Leave tomorrow."
As soon as she turned to leave, the man suddenly grabbed her arm.
Elara turned back, a little surprised. The man lowered his head. One hand held the baby, and the other held her. His face showed a strange shyness, and there was something hidden in his eyes.
When Elara looked at him, he suddenly held out the baby toward her. "My savior, we were just attacked by bandits. I lost all my servants and guards. Luckily, I still have my ID token. We're not far from Plumera City, and I have some relatives there. Can you please take care of my child for now? I'll return with a new carriage and servants and thank you properly!"
Elara didn't really want to take the baby that was suddenly handed to her. The man's actions were odd. Even though she saved him, who just hands their baby over like this?
But before she could push the swaddle back, the baby inside suddenly looked at her and started giggling.
This was a baby just a month or two old. The delicate little face was already very pretty. Its eyes were like black grapes, wide and bright, and its skin was fair and smooth like jade.
The baby seemed happy to see her. Without any fear, it reached out and grabbed a strand of her hair hanging in front, laughing even more cheerfully.
"He really likes you..." the man murmured softly, looking at the baby's smile. His voice was touched and distant.
Elara's words of refusal got stuck in her throat for no reason, and she instinctively took the swaddled baby into her arms.
"This child... where's the mother?"
Only after holding the baby did Elara snap back to her senses, still a bit stiff. In her past life, she had never had a child. She didn't know how to hold one so small. It felt like he might break if she wasn't careful.
When the man saw her reach out and take the child, there was a moment of satisfaction in his eyes, like something he wanted had come true. But it vanished in the next second.
Hearing her question, he gently stepped closer. He reached out a finger, letting the baby grab it and play. Standing beside Elara, he looked at the baby with a joyful expression, completely unlike someone who had just been robbed.
"His mother... hmm, his mother is a very good person, but she doesn't know him yet."
That sentence made Elara feel a little confused. What did he mean by the mother doesn't know the baby yet? Did this man give birth to the child himself? And the mother was unaware the whole time? Was he from Carnation Kingdom?
Elara instinctively looked at the man's forehead but didn't see the flower mark that men from Carnation Kingdom usually had.
The man stayed beside Elara, gently playing with the baby. The smile never left his face.
As night fell, Uno came to inform Elara that the camp was ready for the night. The man suddenly looked at Uno for a second, then looked away. He turned back to Elara and asked her again to take care of the child. He would come back once he found a carriage and his servants.
After watching Elara return to the tent with the baby in her arms, the man stared at the tent for a while, unwilling to look away, then turned and walked toward the shadows of the forest.
In the deeper shadows, once his figure completely disappeared from the Plumera Kingdom army's sight, his body slowly began to transform.
Every few meters he walked into the forest, his height, body shape and facial features changed slightly.
Bright red hair, as vivid as blood, gradually appeared in the dim light. His figure was tall and slender, his facial features looked like the finest creation of a divine artist, his skin pale as snow. In the night, he gave off a breathtaking beauty.
He walked step by step into a rugged and shadowy bamboo forest. A long sword, the same blood-red color as his hair, appeared in his hand, drawn slowly from who knows where.
"Are you planning to kill yourselves, or should I do it?"
His smooth and magnetic voice flowed from his throat. From a distance, it looked like he was talking to the empty and dark bamboo forest.
But a few seconds later, soft rustling sounds came from the bamboo. Three figures silently emerged around him, watching the crimson beauty in the center with great caution.
"Sindri, Vanesa told you to kill that woman, but not only did you ignore her order, you dare defy her like this. Are you betraying Vanesa?!"
Sindri toyed with his blood-red sword. Upon hearing that, he let out a low laugh, as if he had just heard something very amusing. "Betrayal? I, Sindri, am not even loyal to myself. How could I be loyal to her? What betrayal?"
"You!" The man speaking was choked up. "Aren't you afraid of the poison Vanesa planted in your body?!"
"And don't act so arrogant. You just gave birth less than a month ago. You're still in a weak recovery period, aren't you? Do you even have a third of your normal strength now?"
"The three of us may not rank higher than you on the continent's top assassin list, but we are still ranked fifth, ninth, and tenth."
"If you were at full power, we might not be a match for you, even together."
"But you're still in recovery. You haven't even regained half of your strength. Are you sure you want to fight us for that woman, who might not even know your real identity?"
As soon as the man finished speaking, thinking his words would at least make Sindri hesitate, his pupils suddenly widened.
Even though he didn't blink, it was like an illusion appeared before his eyes. Sindri, who had been fifty meters away, suddenly flashed in front of him like a ghost.
A pale and slender hand gripped a blood sword gleaming in the dark, its edge sharp and filled with killing intent. In a swift blur, it slashed down at his head.
"So noisy. You'll only look better once you're dead."
...
After returning to the tent with the baby, Elara ordered Uno to look for cow or goat milk, and also told others to stay alert to the surroundings.
A few minutes later, Uno returned holding a small bowl of goat milk and reported, "Your Majesty, the people hiding in the dark are gone."
Elara paused. Holding the baby, she walked out of the tent, circled around, and sensed carefully.
The faint, lurking gaze watching her had indeed disappeared.
"Did anything happen around here just now?"
Uno shook his head. "I already checked the area earlier and found nothing unusual."
They had appeared out of nowhere, then disappeared just as suddenly. Elara thought for a moment, then assigned several elite teams to take turns keeping watch, and returned to the tent with the baby.
In the days that followed, this same situation happened several more times.
But each time, as soon as it began, it would disappear in a flash. The speed was so fast that Elara had no clue where to begin investigating.
Although she didn't know who those people were or what they were doing, their vanishing was a good thing for her.
The whole troop kept moving steadily toward Reex, and they didn't encounter any more conflicts or battles on the way.
The person who had handed her the child to care for never showed up the next day as planned.
Elara's journey to Prince Leland was already on a tight schedule, and she couldn't afford to wait too long.
The baby was so tiny and fragile, she couldn't just leave it behind. So that morning, after waiting an hour and still not seeing the person, Elara left a sign and a letter at the spot, telling them to go to the capital of Plumera Kingdom if they saw it. She then continued the march with her army.
However, since Elara had never raised a child before, and the baby was such a soft, small bundle, though it was very lively and cute, and she couldn't help but feel a bit fond of it, after carrying it for a few days, she finally started to feel overwhelmed.