Day ?? of the Fourth Month, Year 1016

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When she opened her eyes, her vision was dim, and she felt her heartbeat quickened. Where was she? What happened? Her head throbbed, protesting her efforts to sit up, but she forced muscles to move. Hours of daily training didn’t fail her.

She had felt the tremor around her, and seeing that she was in some kind of carriage, it now made sense. Victoria felt up her waist and found that her blade was gone. Internally, she cursed. Well, at least it wasn’t her beloved sword, she thought. She didn’t bring one when she sneaked out earlier.

She really shouldn’t have sneaked out earlier, she muttered inwardly. When will I ever learn?

Well, not now, at least.

She assessed her situation. The carriage was still moving. From the covered window with no light came through it, seemed like it was night out there. Victoria frowned. How long had she been unconscious? Hours? Days?

Strangely, she was alone in the carriage. Where was her abductors, anyway? Why leave her alone?

There was no time to think. The carriage was locked, but thankfully none she couldn’t pick. It was her talent, after childhood of being locked in the room—since she kept causing troubles. Hey, what’s a little mischief, anyway? It saved her life now.

When she was finally done picking the lock, she carefully opened the back door of the carriage. It was still moving—a sign they still didn’t know she was awake. She jumped from the carriage soundlessly and thank the Goddess she actually landed on soft, snow-covered soil rather than the harsh rubble of the street.

Where was she?

The carriage moved fast, leaving her alone. She looked around and found that she was near forests. Forests! She was at the edge of Forewood Kingdom… Surely? It couldn’t be outside of the Kingdom, could it?

Victoria decided that her best chance of cover was the woods. It was a good decision, too, because not a minute after, she could hear the carriage stopping and there were shouts. Her legs started moving as fast as she could, and it wasn’t easy with her head throbbing every few seconds.

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Suddenly, she heard yells from the area she ran from.

They found her escape! She heard the footsteps frantically going behind her. She forced herself to ignore her headache and moved faster, faster, and faster into the woods. The trainings she had before ensured that she was able to run without injuring herself, but her pursuers weren’t green, either. Fortunately, the woods were thick and especially dark in the night, and she used that to her advantage.

She had always been the fastest runner all the way through knighthood schools, and it showed. She moved through the trees, taking a few random turns and making sure that she had left the behind.

Her pace slowed, and along with that, she started to feel out of breath. Did they do something to her when she was unconscious? That would make sense, because she felt particularly weak. It was as if her stamina drained faster than usual.

She narrowed her eyes when she saw a tall fence that obstructed her way. What? Where was she? Was this… the border between Lirsk and Forewood?

She had no time to think, not with her shortened breath and the pursuers catching up behind her, so she climbed up on a tree as silently as possible—then she jumped through the fence. She hit the ground quite hard, but thanks to the snow, none of her bones broke.

Then, Victoria kept running.

She couldn’t go on for much longer. So, she turned a few times, trying to make her chaser confused, but she could feel that they were still behind her. How was that possible? Were they experienced trackers? She cursed inwardly. Did they jump through the tall fence as well?

She ran as far as a few more minutes, then felt even more out of breath. No, she couldn’t keep going on like this. She had to hide!

Her eyes frantically searched her surroundings, and they lit up when she saw a big, hollow tree not far from her place. It had a hole, and with extreme flexibility that hurt her back, she managed to put herself in there smoothly—well, almost, if only she didn’t hit her head. It was the Goddess’ mercy that she didn’t yelp out loud. Ah, she was careless! Blame her headache—that was now aggravated by the bump.

Victoria rubbed her forehead. In the silent woods, she could hear their footsteps. The Princess held her breath as much as she could, to be the quietest ever possible for her—a feat that almost never happened unless she was asleep. The footsteps slowed, as if confused, and they walked around nearby. She heard some hushed voices.

“She was here… Wasn’t she?” A deep voice asked.

“She was,” the other replied. “Lost track of her somehow.”

“That wasn’t supposed to be possible. What would Lady Zevanfya say? What should we say?” The voice trembled.

“Well, that her spell was not strong enough.” Footsteps sounds again. “Let’s go back.”

Victoria held her breath for a few more minutes, and then it became apparent that her chasers weren’t coming back. She was about to leave her hiding spot, but her body felt so tired and so weak. A few more minutes, she decided. Just a few more minutes of rest.

But unknowingly, she had already closed her eyes and went deep into the world of dreams. []