The Crown's Entrapment

Chapter 717  Roam Around

"Please come back to me! No! Please!"

Bella whimpered as the visage of Osman falling off a cliff repeated itself in her dreams. She was trapped in a nightmare, and she didn't know if she would ever wake up.

"Bella, wake up!" she heard Jayra's voice calling out to her. "Bella!"

That instant, Bella opened her eyes as she jolted awake from her nap.

"Bella, are you alright?" Jayra asked while she gently squeezed her shoulders.

Groggily, she weakly nodded before quickly wiping the beads of sweat off her face.

"You're dreaming about it again in broad daylight?" Jayra asked.

"I don't know why, but I've been dreaming about him and what happened that night a lot lately," Bella muttered as she tried to stop her eyes from welling over.

She didn't want to worry Jayra. She was already fine. It was just that… The fact remained that she had still not moved on from that night she lost Osman.

"That's fine," Jayra reassured as she pulled her into her embrace. "Come here…"

Bella bit her lower lip as she accepted her friend's offer. Closing her eyes to relax her body and mind, she did her best to let things go. It had been a year already, but like always… that night when she lost Osman still felt like it was just yesterday.

She and Jayra were currently inside a carriage since she suddenly felt sleepy while riding her horse. Jayra had offered to accompany her, having seen the opportunity to also take a quick nap inside the carriage.

Two days already passed since their journey back on the road from Castle Ebodia. Bella was honestly enjoying her travel in the company of her friends but she noticed that she had been dreaming about Osman often too whenever she was dozing off since the journey started.

"Did I sleep for too long?" she asked with a whispered sigh.

"Hmm, not that long, Bella," Jayra replied. "I slept too, and I only woke up once I heard you whimpering. Bella, I…"

"What is it, Sis?"

Bella paused, and she couldn't help but ask what it was that Jayra wanted to say. She had this conflicted expression on her face as if she wanted to tell her something but she was holding back.

"Bella, I'm not sure if it's alright to tell you this, but-"

But before she could speak her words, she was cut off by the sudden forceful stop that their carriage went through. The sudden jerk caused both of them to hit their heads against one another, but they quickly composed themselves as they looked around.

"What is going on?" Jayra hissed as she quickly turned to open the door to get out. Likewise, Bella followed behind her sister-in-law to see what happened as well.

"There was a report of a sudden famine in a village where we were supposed to pass," the coachman explained. "There was an instruction for us to stop. My apologies for the inconvenience, miladies. We will need to change our course."

Hearing the response, Jayra shrugged as she murmured, "What route are we taking then?"

The coachmen explained the route to them, and from there, they understood the added time to their journey.

"Looks like we'll be taking the longer route around, circling to the other side," Seth, who was currently riding with Lena on a horse, stated. "It's a good thing that we left ahead of time so that we won't cause any delays."

Seeing Lena's current arrangements, Bella couldn't help but give her friend a knowing look, and that made her blush.

"I wanted to ride a horse, but I found it too hard to navigate it well," Lena timidly explained.

Bella suppressed her laughter at her friend's defensive words. She hadn't even said anything yet.

From what she could recall, Lena had turned down her two suitors, Master Kasper, and Seth because she felt like she had a past with one man before. Still, the fact that Lena seemed to be very comfortable around Seth didn't escape Bella's notice. Her friend would also always blush whenever she would tease her about Seth unlike how she would just laugh when she teased her about Master Kasper.

"Ah, sure, Lady Lena. You'll be safer with Lord Seth's assistance," Bella remarked. "You two go on ahead. Sis Jayra and I will follow shortly…"

Adjusting their routes, the rulers of Cordon and their entourage began changing their course. Likewise, Bella and Jayra followed behind, riding on their respective horses as they kept to their leaders.

"I miss traveling in my wolf form," Bella suddenly stated.

Jayra chuckled. "Let's do it then. I can ride you and bring you your clothes for your convenience."

"But I don't think His Majesty will allow you to," Bella reminded her. "Remember, your actions are still restricted since your life is still connected to Her Majesty's sister…"

"Oh, yeah right, I almost forgot. I'm almost done cleansing away the remaining remnants left from the dark energy that Devon's bloodthread left in me anyway," Jayra hummed. "I'm confident that by the time this summit ends, I can return Queen Mineah's bloodthread and be on my way."

"That's good news," Bella smiled. Looking around, however, she then pouted, "It's too bad though… I want to roam around and use the wilderness path surrounding the kingdoms. Oh, I've been wanting to visit this famous forest in the Celestine Forest, but that Demon Devon conquered the lands on the way there before I even got the chance to see it."

"Oh right, the new King of Helion gave the conquered kingdoms their autonomy back," Jayra murmured with a slight frown. "Although, while the paths going there are all safe now, I don't still want you traveling alone, Bella."

"Hmm, I just asked Seth through telepathy and learned that you guys will have a final stopover at Zion's southern border tomorrow," Bella smiled. "I'll meet you all there."

Without waiting for her sister-in-law to reply, Bella hopped out of her horse and quickly shifted to her wolf form.

"Bella!" Jayra called out, but Bella ignored it as she excitedly ran towards the wilderness.

[It's been a while… Ah! This feels good!] Poona gleefully burst out as she ran and jumped across the wilderness. [You've been very busy working your ass off in that business that you already forgot to give me this kind of exercise!]

[I know, Poona,] Bella hummed. [But now that there's no significant threat around, I can let you have a feast on the beautiful places around the neighboring kingdoms!]

Bella smiled at her wolf's joy. Poona also deserved a break after being with her through her gloomiest of days. But for some reason, she had a feeling that something was off and she couldn't point it out somehow.

Still, she shook off that feeling and murmured, "Let's have fun and a memorable sightseeing trip, Poona. Now, show me what you've got after resting for far too long!"

[Hahaha! I will tire you out today! Of that, I'm sure!]