“Elara!” I exclaimed while crying to a certain extent.

“Why do you have to leave the castle, princess!” Elara cried, rushing to hug me.

“I—I can’t breath.”

“I—I’m sorry Miss Veniara! I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said, releasing her hug. “By the way, there’s something I need to do yet.”

“I didn’t know you’re this powerful!”

Elara barely appears time in the novel. If in this world, she has her strengths, then she has a backstory as well.

“Elara?” Ellyn asked while standing up from being knocked. Her abdomen bleeds, but she can still manage to move.

“Isn’t this Senior Ellyn? Aren’t you too young to stoop like a grandma? And why do you spill ketchup on your cloth?” Ellyn mocked in a different deep voice.

“Elara!” Ellyn growled. “You think too high after being babysit by the queen. Maids are no different than slaves.”

“Wait— You two know each other!?” I asked with a rising pitch. Ellyn retreated near me together with Elara.

“This is no time to talk. You know what our priority is, Elara.”

“Kids before your wound? Isn’t that the punchline you give to every country you visit?”

“Thank you for irritating me. I suddenly had the motivation to shut my mouth. Murdering this family isn’t enough to satisfy my rage.”

With this extreme bloodthirst surrounding me, I felt like I was burning. These two ladies' laughter has a hint of murderous intent— but they mentioned ‘family.’

After that, nine ferocious bears attacked us. But, I didn’t see the struggle on their faces even while protecting me.

These two might make a deadly tag team. Both their weapons and moves are naturally the same. They’re related in some way, except attitude.

They hurled taunts at each other while they slashed their swords as if dancing in the spotlight. Fighting bears seems like a child’s play to them.

“Senior Ellyn, I thought you were rushing forward again. If you’re painting red in your outfit, you should’ve stayed in the museum instead.”

“Other than being a maid, you’re more compatible to be displayed in a zoo.”

“I’ll be gratified to classify myself to be a creature other than a petrified and clothless statue.”

“Then, gorilla. It rhymes with Elara well.”

“I’m not a gorilla!”

Before they knew it, the nine bears had already been knocked down. It took them a deep breath to catch their energy back.

“Whew, no sweat,” Ellyn exclaimed as she wiped her forehead with her arm. “Having trouble fighting in a maid outfit, aren’t we?”

“Coming from someone who wipes her forehead after saying ‘no sweat.’”

“Huh!? You have a problem with me!?”

“That’s my line!”

“You two really get along well,” I inserted with a chuckle.

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“We don’t!” They shouted synchronously. As they looked at each other, they turned their heads away.

Elara’s voice remained deep, and it would be a nightmare to me if it turned back.

“By the way, senior Ellyn, can you explain to me why the princess of the kingdom wanders with you in this dark dangerous forest?”

“I don’t even know that she’s the princess. Can the court maid explain to me first why this little cutie escaped your supervision with hundreds of knights inside the castle?”

“Are you blaming this on me!?”

“And who else is her guardian!?”

“Your narrow eyes only lock on one person when you have someone to blame.”

“Don’t judge my appearance! Grow some height first before you do.”

“Please, don’t fight!” I shouted with a drawn face. “It’s all my fault. I’m sorry. I’m fully aware of my sins in escaping the castle and running here.”

The two calmed down. Elara tapped my head and smiled with warmth. Her voice came back into the sweet tone she showed me at the mansion.

“It’s alright, Miss Veniara. You’re safe now. There’s no other important thing than your safety.”

Safety…

More of the reason I’m here isn’t safety at all. I’m too stubborn if I choose to go back with them right now. If I can’t prove my word to myself, I can’t be trusted.

I’m making them too worried about me, but they’re worrying about the wrong person. I’m a total stranger.

The real Veniara deserves this treatment more than I do.

They turn back, thinking that I’m following them, but I stay sitting in the same place. When they turned back, their eyes widened.

I feel like the air around me turned heavy. A shadow grows behind me as I look from the ground. Suddenly, Elara vanished beside Ellyn.

The next thing I knew, a metal and a claw clashed behind me, and after that, the sound of a jab in the flesh ran through my ears.

Blood scattered throughout the ground. When I slowly turned back, my eyes sighted a vulgar scene I could never erase from my memory.

“Elara—”

Blood trails follow Elara’s dagger which is flying away from her hand. Red filled half of her pure-white outfit. The moment I saw her, she was already lying on the ground.

“Elara! ELARA!” I shouted, with my eyes filled with tears.

The claw marked the wound deep in her body. Her eyes left no energy in her blank stare. She lost all her sensations in her body.

Ellyn rushed to deflect the bears’ attacks and buy time for me to escape, but I couldn’t leave them there. I can’t leave Elara here!

“S—”

“Please, don’t speak, Elara! Help is on the way! Please hold on, Elara!”

“S—Save A—Veniara—” Elara stuttered, and after that, the ground pulled her head like it lost a soul.

There’s no way. There has to be something that I can do at this point.

I should be the one in that state! I should be the one suffering! I should be the one entering the gates of hell and bathing in the fire!

I—I should’ve been dead.

Nobody deserves to die more than I do. I involved everyone related to me. I’m a curse that steals other’s life from them.

It should’ve been that way, but… Elara reminded me of what’s my purpose here.

Her last words left a mark on me. ‘Save Veniara.’

She’s asking for help, not from Ellyn alone, but from those who control the fate of her princess. That’s right, she’s talking to Sachika.

I’m the only one who can save someone precious to her.

I exaggerated thinking that I didn’t consider Veniara’s life. If I die right here, there’s no guarantee that Veniara will come back. There’s nobody for her to come back.

I’ve been narrow-minded into a gamble I didn’t carefully thought of. I didn’t consider alternatives from rushing and panicking for escape.

I’m not escaping. I’m running away… I’m blindly running away in circles. I made the wrong decision in choosing a path.

But now, I know what I should do. The only person who knows Veniara’s past, present, and future is none other than me.

I’ve been too lucky that I’ve been given too many second chances. But now, the path has been clear.

I will save Veniara.

I will live.

Unconsciously, I hovered my hand over Elara’s wound while thinking that she’d recover. My eyes are closed as something I’m unaware of comes out of my mouth.

A blinding light strikes out of my hand like the sun. It lit most of the area, even those out-of-reach ones. The bears are also blinded.

“W—What’s happening, little princess!?” Ellyn asked while stalling the bears.

She’s unaffected because of her narrow eyes, but she can’t focus on what I’m doing since I’m busy.

Beyond what I expected, Elara’s wounds recovered as if nothing happened. Her flesh grows, and her skin covers it after.

I did it with haste. After the light vanished, I fell to the ground, paralyzed.

My eyes are still conscious and open, but I lost total control of my body. I have the will, but not the strength.

I depended on Ellyn too much, but she couldn’t hold this for long.

In my view, I can see knights riding horses going towards us. They have great numbers, and even from the gaps of trees, all I see are knights.

They are being led by the royal knight captain who has familiar looks based on the book. From what I recall, his name is something like Brodveth…

But I can’t see a clear picture of his face. My eyes are all blurry, and it’s begging for me to rest. Since the knights are already here,

All I wish for tomorrow is a day full of peace.