It was evening. The sun had set into the horizon a long time ago. But today the busy streets of Lin Kingdom were even busier than normal days. They were filled with lots of people who mourned and prayed to God. The people whined and cursed the storm that had just calmed down for destroying their livelihood and leaving behind nothing but disasters.

The aftermath of the storm was huge. Hundreds of people lost their lives while thousands lay in open hospital camps scared and injured. Trees were uprooted and the dangerous winds leaving blew away houses behind remnants that symbolized the untamed power of nature's rage.

People were scared and didn't know what to do. They prayed to God and waited for someone to come to their aid. As a result, a large crowd of homeless people sat in front of the government offices, demanding rescue and help from the rulers. There were even some wealthy families among the crowd. The impact of the storm was so horrible that even the privileged families were not spared anything by the destructive force. It was a merciless night of fury and rage.

They were uncertain about their future. They had not only lost their homes and stores but also their precious family members and friends. Since most of them had lost their houses or any kind of shelter or money to provide for themselves, they set up slums on the street. It was not like they had other options left except staying under the sky.

A large procession of luxurious carriages was passing by the border of Lin Kingdom; they were entering the Qiu Kingdom. It was difficult for these people to say which country they belong to since they could be regarded as both Qiu and Lin Kingdom's citizens.

In the middle of the procession, decked in red was a simple yet gorgeous carriage with golden borders. At the back of it was the emblem of a flying eagle; engraved in gold, implying that the carriage belonged to the Lin imperial family. It was domineering yet enchanting at the same time.

The refugees thought the higher-ups had arrived. So they gathered in the path of the procession. They also noticed the luxurious red carriage and deduced that someone from the imperial family or maybe His Highness himself was present there. As a result, they started kowtowing on the street while shouting their hearts out.

"Your Highness, thank you for arriving."

"Please help our families."

"Your Highness..."

A small slender hand slightly lifted the curtain of the red carriage. Nuwa peeked at the chaos outside while lifting the thick veil from her face taking care that the people outside do not notice her.

She realized that the situation outside was much more terrible than she had imagined. Though she had the idea that the impact of the storm would be bad; but never had she imagined that it would be this worse since the weather looked so calm and peaceful when she was leaving the palace in the morning.

Nuwa sighed.

'They are my past, my reflection...'

Back then, if Princess Liena had not noticed her or if she had not got adopted by the royal family, she might have also behaved like them. Or worse, she might have already been dead in the deadly storm...

'I'm the luckiest person in the world...'

Nuwa murmured while shifting her gaze again to the crowd. She felt a great urge to stop by and offer them her some help by giving off some of her dowries. Twenty carriages of dowry... It was too much. Only a trunk of gold was enough for an entire city to live well for a month if not two...

But, she didn't do it. She didn't have the courage to act according to her heart and do whatever she wanted to do. For her, it was more important to reach the Qiu Kingdom. It was her responsibility to keep the promises and... She didn't dare to even think beyond this... A shadow she is...She reminded herself.

Nuwa closed her eyes. She was exhausted. It'd been a week since she last slept. After Liena's death, she could hardly close her eyes. As a result, her head was dizzy with an unbearable headache. However, she was feeling sleepy today because she felt a huge burden leave her heart as she left the kingdom to marry Qiu Feng Mian.

Suddenly her carriage sped up. She was not prepared as a result she tumbled forward onto the floor of the carriage. Opening her eyes in shock, Nuwa frowned as she readjusted herself on the seat.

"Miss..."

Xiao Anhao exclaimed in horror. Her miss was bleeding. Her miss's forehead had a cut, that was just before entering her future husband's place. Such bad luck! Could there be a timing worse than this!

"Miss, you are hurt!"

Xiao Anhao offered Nuwa a handkerchief. Nuwa accepted it.

"It's okay. Don't be so loud."

Nuwa said when pressing the handkerchief on her wound. She didn't like to see others worried about her.

The empress dowager's faithful servant, Yao mama, was also present inside the carriage. She took out a small box from god knows where and offered to Nuwa.

"Princess, please apply this. It will prevent your bleeding and... please don't say you are okay when you get hurt. Don't be negligent on yourself. You can't have any scar on your body."

"Why?"

Xiao Anhao asked. She had been serving Nuwa for last three years and was Nuwa's only companion of some assassination missions. Xiao Anhao was surprised that her miss was promoted to the princess's position and was getting married to an emperor. Worst of all, it was that horrible emperor!

Everything happened so suddenly, almost in a blink of an eye for her. She couldn't even grasp enough time to digest what happened before she was seated on the carriage with Nuwa heading for the Qiu Kingdom.

"Because it's not permitted. You can never get married to any imperial family member if you have any scar on your body. Forget being married, even a concubine's position is not possible. These rules are there in the imperial families for generations."

Both Nuwa and Xiao Anhao nodded their heads like chickens. They had no knowledge of these matters.

Yao mama signed. These little girls did not know of the harsh inner court management of the royal families. She had to teach them otherwise they will bring shame to Princess Liena's name.

The next moment, she poured all her frustrations on Xiao Anhao as she scolded her.

"How many times do I have to remind you not to call Her Highness miss or lady?"

Xiao Anhao gulped at Yao Mama's sudden rage. She stared at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world while listening to the lectures of the aggressive Yao mama. She had lost count how many times she had been scolded today.

Besides, it was hard for Xiao Anhao too, to change her three years of habit in just a few hours. She learned about Nuwa becoming the Princess that morning from Yao mama itself. Nuwa didn't tell her anything hence Xiao Anhao wasn't aware of Liena's death.

As a result, she was making mistakes and was getting scolded repeatedly. Yao mama was scary.

She almost cried in fear. She turned to Nuwa for rescue. Sighing, to divert Yao Mama's attention, Nuwa asked.

"What happened to the Coachman? Why the carriage is shaking so much?"

Nuwa was successful since the talkative Yao mama's attention diverted to her. Yao mama inquired the coachman about the situation outside and then replied to Nuwa,

"Our carriage has been surrounded by citizens, Princess. We are already in the Qiu kingdom..."

Yao Mama's could not complete her sentence as the carriage shook once again and both she and Xiao Anhao fell onto the ground.

This time Nuwa was prepared. She was tightly holding onto the edge of the window and her seat with both of her hands to tolerate the violent pressure as she looked out.

The sky had turned pitch black. Clouds covered the sky and they were in the middle of a forest.

But, her beautiful face turned pale when she discovered that a large crowd was chasing after their procession madly. Their attires didn't look like that of normal citizens. They wore black robes worn out probably by time and their large hands held daggers and swords as they looked at the procession with terrifying expressions. Their faces looked dangerous without the shadow of sympathy and kindness.

Nuwa's heart was immediately filled with immersible fear.

She realized, that a group of bandits was attacking them.

[Editor: ElvenBing]