Elena was on her knees.
Her face bled.
Her hands trembled.
But she still held her head high.
The royal knight crouched in front of her, staring down with contempt.
"Captain Elena," he said coldly. "Come to your senses. Tell us where that girl is. Now."
Elena lifted her gaze.
Her eyes burned with defiance.
"I already told you," she answered, voice weak but steady. "I don't know what girl you're talking about."
The royal knight gritted his teeth.
"The consequences are going to be severe if you keep this up," he warned.
Elena let out a weak laugh.
"You know what?" she said, looking at the royal knights. "I don't understand why my men suddenly decided to make up that rumor."
Elena's knights looked at her in confusion.
"You can search room by room," Elena continued, coughing up a little blood. "You can check every corner of this place. You're not going to find any supposed girl."
Her knights exchanged glances.
Some started murmuring under their breath.
"Who the hell leaked that information?" one whispered.
"No idea," another replied. "But the captain's lying to protect her."
"Then where is the girl?" a third asked.
The royal knight heard the murmurs and frowned.
"You think this is a game?" he asked, glaring at Elena with fury.
He turned to his companions.
"Search every room in this building!" he ordered. "Every corner, every closet, every inch!"
The royal knights nodded and started up the stairs.
The royal knight turned back to Elena.
"And you," he said with a cruel smile. "For every minute we waste here, I'm going to cut off one of your fingers."
Elena stared at him without blinking.
"I accept the punishment," she said calmly.
The royal knight blinked, caught off guard by her response.
But he quickly recovered.
He drew a knife from his belt.
The blade gleamed under the light.
"As you wish," he said.
Slash!
The knife cut clean.
Elena's thumb fell to the floor.
"AAAGH!" Elena screamed, unable to hold it back.
Blood poured from her hand.
Red.
Hot.
Abundant.
One of Elena's knights stepped forward.
"You're going too far!" he shouted, glaring at the royal knight. "This is torture!"
The royal knight looked at him coldly.
"The princess's health is no game," he replied sharply. "If your captain cooperated, this wouldn't be necessary."
Elena's knight clenched his fists but said nothing more.
The royal knight turned back to Elena.
"Ready to talk now?" he asked.
Elena shook her head.
The royal knight sighed.
Slash!
Another finger fell.
Elena bit her lip so hard it bled.
But she didn't scream this time.
"And now?" the royal knight asked with a smile.
Elena looked at him through tear-filled eyes of pain.
"No…" she gasped.
The royal knight let out a long sigh.
"Fine," he said, wiping the knife on a cloth. "I'll take your word that there's no girl with those abilities here."
Elena eyed him suspiciously.
"But," the royal knight continued, "I will take the heads of every one of your men who claimed she was here and that she healed them."
Elena's knights tensed.
The royal knight walked toward one of them.
It was Marcus.
The same Marcus Sheila had healed.
Marcus closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
The royal knight raised his sword.
"Wait!" Elena shouted.
She surged to her feet.
Her body began to radiate aura.
A visible energy that enveloped her figure.
The other royal knights reacted instantly.
"What the hell are you doing?!" one shouted, drawing his sword.
"Stand down!" another ordered, pointing his weapon at her.
Elena ignored them.
"I have a better offer," she said, staring straight at the royal knight in front of Marcus.
The royal knight lowered his sword and looked at her curiously.
"An offer?" he asked.
Elena nodded.
"I went mad," she said firmly. "I made up this rumor and ordered my knights to spread it."
Elena's knights stared at her in shock.
"Captain, no!" one shouted.
"Shut up!" Elena ordered without looking at him.
She continued.
"So take only my head," she said, locking eyes with the royal knight. "As the sole responsible party. And leave the girl alone."
The royal knight was silent for a few seconds.
Then he laughed.
"Hahaha," he laughed, shaking his head. "So you're confirming the girl really is here."
Elena gritted her teeth.
'Shit,' she thought. 'I walked right into his trap.'
But before she could say anything, the royal knights who had gone upstairs came back down.
"Sir," one said. "There's no trace of any girl hiding on the upper floor."
The royal knight frowned.
"Search again!" he ordered furiously. "Climb on the damn roof if you have to!"
The knights nodded and went back up.
The royal knight pointed to one of his men.
"You," he said. "Give the order to seal the capital. We're going to check every woman in the city until we find that girl."
"Yes, sir!" the knight replied, leaving the building.
At that moment, the sky outside lit up completely.
A brilliant light flooded everything beyond the windows.
But no one paid it any attention.
The tension inside the building was too thick.
◇◆◇
Shawn appeared in the room.
The same room where Elena had told him to rest.
But there was a problem.
He was naked.
Again.
And he was back in that girl's body.
Again.
"Damn it," he muttered, looking down at himself.
But then he noticed something.
On the bed lay the clothes they had given him before.
The tunic.
The pants.
Everything was there.
Though it looked a bit rumpled.
Shawn walked over and picked up the clothes.
But before putting them on, he brought them to his nose.
And sniffed.
'Smells… sweet,' he thought, surprised.
It was a pleasant scent.
Soft.
Comforting.
Out of curiosity, Shawn sniffed his own armpit.
Then sniffed the clothes again.
The smells were similar.
'Weird,' he thought, repeating the process a few times. 'Normally when I sweat in my other body it doesn't smell this nice at all. Guess that's one perk of being a woman.'
Shawn finished dressing.
But then he heard something.
A shout coming from downstairs.
He couldn't make out the words, but it sounded urgent.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The clash of swords.
"Stop!" someone yelled.
A chill ran down Shawn's spine.
'What's going on?' he thought, trembling slightly.
He remembered the scene with the doctor sawing off the knight's arm.
The blood.
The screams.
'What kind of method is that lunatic using now?' he thought, swallowing hard.
Shawn walked to the door and opened it.
He decided to go downstairs and see what the hell was happening.
But the moment he stepped into the hallway, he froze.
Three knights stood in front of him.
But their armor was different.
More elegant.
More polished.
They weren't like the knights he had healed earlier.
The three knights saw him and pointed.
"Hey, you!" one shouted. "Are you the woman who healed the knights with her hands?"
Shawn blinked.
'Do they recognize me?' he thought, a proud smile spreading across his face.
"Of course it was me!" he answered proudly. "Who else could do something like that?"
The knights exchanged glances.
Then they started to surround him.
One pulled out a rope.
Another drew his sword.
The third stepped forward.
"Please come with us peacefully," he said seriously. "The queen wishes to see you personally."
Shawn eyed the rope warily.
"What's that for?" he asked, pointing.
"To bind your hands and feet," the knight replied. "In case you try to escape."
Shawn raised his hands.
"No need," he said with a smile. "I'm willing to help anyone who needs it."
The knights looked at each other in silence.
Then they nodded.
"Very well," one said. "Follow us."
The knight with the rope put it away.
But he drew his sword instead.
Shawn swallowed.
'Well…' he thought. 'At least they're not tying me up.'
The knights started walking toward the stairs, and Shawn followed.
But as he descended, he heard more noises.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Clashing swords.
Shouts.
Curses.
When he reached the lower floor, Shawn froze.
There was a fight.
Two knights in elegant armor were battling several knights in regular armor.
They were the knights Shawn had healed earlier.
And they were losing.
But that wasn't what caught Shawn's attention.
What caught his attention was the figure lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
It was Elena.
The captain.
Panic surged through Shawn.
'What happened to her?' he thought, heart racing.
One of the knights he had healed spotted him.
"Why did you come out of hiding?!" he shouted desperately.
Shawn was confused.
'Hiding?' he thought. 'What is he talking about?'
But there was no time to ask.
Shawn turned to one of the knights beside him.
"Why is the captain like this?" he asked, voice shaking.
The knight looked at him coldly.
"She was interfering with the queen's orders," he replied flatly.
Shawn looked at Elena again.
Her face was wrecked.
Her hand was mutilated.
And her back… had a massive wound right over her heart.
Blood was everywhere.
Shawn didn't think twice.
He ran toward her.
"Hey, wait!" one of the knights shouted, trying to stop him.
But Shawn dodged.
"Stop her!" another yelled.
But Shawn was faster and threw himself toward Elena.
◇◆◇
Elena's eyes were barely open.
She could hardly see anything.
Just blurry shadows.
She could barely hear the chaos around her.
The shouts.
The clashing swords.
The curses.
Everything sounded distant.
Like she was underwater.
'I'm incompetent,' she thought, tears sliding down her face. 'I couldn't handle this situation…'
Now not only was she going to die.
Some of her most loyal knights would die too.
The ones who had gotten angry seeing her punished.
The ones who had tried to defend her.
'All because I wouldn't say a word,' she thought, guilt crushing her.
Elena thought of her little sister.
She missed her so much.
She wanted to visit her grave one last time.
She wanted to hug her.
She wanted to tell her she loved her.
But it was too late.
'I'm sorry,' she thought, closing her eyes. 'I'm so sorry.'
But then she felt something.
Hands touched her face.
They were warm.
Soft.
And there was a scent.
A comforting scent.
Sweet.
Familiar.
Elena felt strength flooding back into her body.
The pain vanished.
The weakness vanished.
Everything vanished.
'Is this what death feels like?' she thought, a great peace settling over her.
But then she heard a voice.
"Get up!"
It was that girl's voice.
The girl who had disappeared.
"Captain, she's alive!" her men shouted.
"No way!"
"Her wounds disappeared!"
Elena opened her eyes.
Everything was clear.
No more shadows.
Elena moved her arms—they worked perfectly.
She looked at her hand.
Her fingers were there… as if they had never been cut off.
Elena lifted her face.
And saw her.
Sheila stood in front of her.
With a smile on her face.
A smile that stood out against all the chaos around them.
The royal knights had stepped back.
Their faces showed pure shock.
But Elena didn't care.
All she cared about was the girl in front of her.
Elena raised her hand and gently touched Sheila's face.
"Why did you come back?" she asked in disbelief.
Sheila looked at her, confused.
"Huh?" she said, tilting her head. "Don't you remember I said I came here to heal you all?"