I straightened my posture, puffed out my chest a little, and threw in an indignant glare for good measure. “He ran that way!”

The guard didn’t fully buy my story, his heavy armor clanking ominously as he marched closer. His silver dragon emblem, enchanted to gleam like a silver lamp, marked him as one of the elite royal guards. Inner security.

The kind who’d take one look at you sneezing wrong and slap you with a treason charge.

Just my luck.

“Guard,” I said, trying to keep my voice composed yet distant, like I wasn’t some thief about to scamper off with a small fortune. “I’m a princess.” I lifted my hand, letting my signet ring catch the dim light. Its unmistakable insignia shimmered briefly before I clenched my fist dramatically. “And my bag… my bag!” I let the image of Ian laughing at me fill my mind. The rage, the humiliation—tears welled up, real ones. “He took it!” I choked out, voice cracking.

If Ian’s memory was going to haunt me, I might as well put it to use.

The guard’s gaze darted to my ring, and one of his enchantments flared, a faint glow confirming its authenticity. He nodded slightly, but kept his piercing stare fixed on me, his hand lingering on the hilt of his sword. “You saw someone?” His tone was clipped, efficient, as though anything less than precision would offend him.

“Yes! I ran as fast as I could, and then this man—” I stopped myself, my voice hitching, as if the memory was too painful to recount.

Without hesitation, he flicked his wrist, casting a spell that spread across the ground like silver snakes. The glowing enchantment pulsed, creating a shimmering circle around me. “Wait here. Don’t move. The captain will assist you,” he ordered before turning and marching toward the corridor ahead.

I stood perfectly still, watching the guard’s silhouette disappear around the bend. The moment he was out of sight, I looked down at the spell, its glow reflecting on my beautiful heels.

Sorry, Captain, but I have a schedule to keep.

With a silent prayer to every deity who might still like me, I stepped out of the circle. It flared once, angrily, then dimmed as I darted away.

The prince’s voice broke the tension, full of his smug amusement. “Impressive. You’ve weaponized incompetence. Quite regal of you.”

“Shush,” I muttered, weaving through the maze of corridors with the speed only guilt and adrenaline could fuel. “You can applaud my genius when we’re out of here.”

I reached the now-clear exit, my heart hammering in my chest. As I pushed open the heavy door, a sliver of fresh air greeted me. I couldn’t help but grin, wiping away the remaining tears from my performance… memory.

“Plan Z,” I whispered to myself. “Always works.”

The prince groaned, his frustration palpable. “I don’t know if I should be amazed at your luck or your audacity.”

“Neither,” I whispered, darting through the imperial halls with practiced speed. “Just tell me when I can teleport and maybe—just maybe—don’t risk me like that again.”

“Soon,” he replied, his tone smug. “And I don’t owe you anything, pretender.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t respond.

Despite my memory being a little fuzzy recently, these halls were as familiar as my face. I’d spent countless hours here, whether trying to impress someone or exploit something. Navigating them felt like second nature, even under pressure.

Especially under pressure.

“You better cooperate,” I muttered under my breath, my voice with mock menace, “or you’ll feel the prerak upakaran.”

The prince let out a scoff in my mind. “Good one.”

I didn’t reply, pushing open a heavy door that led to the third princess’s kitchen. Inside, the room was deserted, the air thick with the faint lingering aroma of past culinary efforts.

“You’re joking, right?” The prince’s tone carried a hint of desperation. “You can’t be serious! Nobody knows—”

“I do.” I grinned, my confidence contrasting with his panic.

“Nonsense!” His voice rose, a mix of anger and fear.

I tiptoed through the kitchen, my heels making soft taps against the tiled marble floor as I approached a concealed doorway at the back. “Have I found the sovereign? The obelisk? The imperial treasury?”

He fell silent.

The door creaked open, revealing an abandoned guard room. Dust motes danced in the faint light filtering through a small, barred window. I stepped inside and lowered myself onto a rickety chair, its wood groaning under the weight of my… let’s say, exhaustion.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Now it was the prince’s turn to be silent.

“I promise to fulfill your wish,” I whispered again. “But before that, you better cooperate. Unless, of course, you want to be... motivated by prerak upakaran.”

The prince let out what sounded like a resigned sigh—impressive, given he lacked actual lungs. “Pretender, you drive a hard bargain.”

“I learned from the best.” I smirked.

“Fine,” he relented. “I’ll advise you. But let me make this clear: robbing the imperial treasury is pure lunacy. Even in my time, it was considered the height of foolishness!”

“And yet, we did it.” I stretched out my legs, reclining just enough to take some of the pressure off my sore muscles.

“The palace is under lockdown now,” he continued, his tone irked. “If you had anything less than me, even another legendary artifact wouldn’t save you.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’ve got you, isn’t it?”

“Pretender…” His voice was strained, brimming with the long-suffering frustration only a prince cursed into a ring could muster.

“Prerak—” I began, drawing out the word with dramatic flair.

“I GET IT!” he snapped, his regal composure finally cracking.

I couldn’t help but grin. “Good. Let’s get out of here, your highness.”

The area shifted again.

This time, we found ourselves in a damp, dripping cave. The air was heavy with moisture, and the faint sound of water dripping onto stone echoed softly around us. The only source of light came from narrow cracks overhead, spilling a sparse, brownish hue into the gloom.

It was disorienting, like being lost in the shadowy twilight of another world.

I shivered involuntarily. That was... odd. I shouldn’t be able to feel the cold—at least not unless there was magic involved. “Great,” I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself as if to ward off the chill. “This wasn’t the plan either.”

“Where are we now?” the prince asked, his tone carrying the heavy weight of resignation. “A smugglers’ hideout?”

“Shiluo Miao,” I answered mechanically, my voice quieter than usual. My eyes scanned the dim surroundings, searching for anything magical. But it was difficult. The scant light made everything look flat, and even if there had been something, it would’ve been nearly impossible to spot in the murk.

The prince fell silent for a moment, likely processing the name.

When he finally spoke, his tone had shifted to one of grim seriousness. “Pretender. With you, I feel like we’re on a worldwide tour of mythical places—like tourists who’ve accidentally stumbled into the forbidden wing of the royal palace.”

I snorted softly, my breath misting in the damp air. “Guess I have an aptitude for finding the impossible.”

“No, no, no,” he corrected, irritation returning to his voice. “It’s not ‘finding.’ It’s ‘walking into danger headfirst without thinking.’ You realize this is a cursed place, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I figured that part out.” My eyes continued to scan the uneven stone walls, their slippery surfaces sparkling faintly in the dim light. “What I don’t know is what’s doing the cursing—and why I’m cold.”

“Cold?” His tone sharpened, concern seeping into his words. “Pretender, if you feel the cold here, it’s not just the atmosphere. There’s something—”

“I know.” I cut him off, my voice low but firm. “Looking for it. Or the thing I want.”

I stumbled through the damp darkness, my hands brushing against the cold, uneven surfaces of the surrounding rocks. The light filtering through the cracks above was useless now, and each step felt like I was walking blindfolded in a maze of shadows.

I knew it was here—somewhere.

The player who originally found it claimed as much, and Lucy had verified it on the test server before gleefully exploiting it.

I was late.

Half an hour passed. My patience frayed with each kick, nudge, and futile scrape at the stubborn stones beneath my heels. It felt like a test run all over again, when Lucy was faster. The damp air clung to my skin, heavy and oppressive.

Or maybe it was the curse.

It shouldn’t be so strong in the reward room, but who knew with curses? Not me. Then, finally, one rock shifted. Not just shifted—it rolled easily under my foot, as though it had been waiting for this moment.

YAS!

I crouched down, my fingers immediately digging into the hidden crevice. There it was—a small metal tube, its surface cool and smooth under my fingertips. A triumphant grin spread across my face as I held it up to the dim light. “Hah,” I breathed, brushing off the dirt. “Who would’ve thought this little thing will be worth so much in a few years?”

“You got what you wanted,” the prince said, his voice tinged with unease. “Let’s vanish. This place is giving me bad feelings.”

“For once, we agree,” I replied, tucking the tube securely into my inventory. “Let’s move.”

I focused on the ring, feeling its magic pulse and tug as the world dissolved around me. When it reformed, we were standing in a meadow in the night, the sun only a faint memory over the horizon.

Waist-high emerald-green grass swayed gently in the breeze, brushing against my legs as if welcoming me. A soft babbling came from a nearby stream, its crystal-clear water weaving gracefully alongside us before joining a wider, deeper river in the distance.

The air was rich with the aroma of wildflowers—sweet and delicate, along with the earthy aroma of the meadow itself. It was the scent that could lull someone into forgetting their troubles, but not me. My eyes were fixed on the far end of the meadow.

There, rising ten feet above the ground, was a sheer gray cliff.

Atop it stood a wall—solid, imposing, and unmistakably defensive. The wall loomed high, tall enough to dwarf at least three human soldiers stacked atop one another. It stretched from the riverbank on one side, curving and disappearing into the craggy embrace of the mountains on the other.

It was more than a wall; it was a boundary, a declaration.

The soft shuffle of boots caught my attention. Soldiers carrying magical lights to illuminate the evening patrolled the top of the wall with precision, but they were only a few in numbers for wall that long.

“Where are we now? A mythical farm?” the prince asked, his tone suspicious.

“This is…” I trailed off, tilting my head to get a better look at the soldiers and the massive fortifications. My gaze swept over the structure and the surrounding land, taking it all in with a sense of pride I hadn’t expected to feel. “My fortress.”

“I had a bigger castle,” the prince quipped, his tone as smug as ever. “This? Quite small. And the enchantments—sloppy work, at best.”

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head as I started toward the nearest gate. The soldiers on the wall seemed to stiffen at my approach, their patrols slowing just enough to give me the impression they were assessing me.

Or maybe just trying to figure out who the heck I was.

“Hush, you,” I muttered under my breath, adjusting the straps of my stolen bags. “There wasn’t even a wall here a week ago. Can’t believe this.”

The closer I got to the gate, the more the enormity of the wall hit me. The faint shimmer of wards lined the edges—functional, though not perfect.

It was a start, at least.

“Maybe we have a chance of stopping Irwen here,” I added, almost to myself as I reached the open gate. Nobody was stopping me.