After the commotion in the cave, we began walking through the forest once again.
If it had been an ordinary person here instead of a reincarnator familiar with the novel’s plot, they might still be doubting Luca, who had just revealed he was the crown prince.
So I made a show of going through denial, asking him multiple times if he was serious.
Smoke was rising gently from the orphanage chimney beyond the forest.
It was only a matter of time before Miss Laiola came running out, not even able to remove her hair rollers.
Even so, tracking us into this deep forest we’d walked through all night wouldn’t be easy for her either.
We strolled along, breathing in the fresh dawn air.
“So Luca really was the crown prince, huh.”
I’d known already, but it still didn’t feel real that Luca, whom I’d thought of as just another kid at the orphanage, was actually royalty.
To me, he was just a precocious kid who couldn’t fall asleep unless I held his hand.
At my words, Luca gave a soft laugh and nodded.
“You know you owe your big sis a huge gift later, right?”
“Just a gift? I could give you a whole country if you wanted…”
“Okay, calm down.”
He always says strange things out of nowhere.
As the sky gradually brightened with the sunrise, we saw the stars fade and eventually found a paved road with train tracks.
The tracks were overgrown with grass and wildflowers, suggesting they hadn’t been used in a long time.
Holding Luca’s hand, I balanced on the tracks as we walked.
Just like I had once done, holding my mom’s hand in my past life.
I looked over at Luca, walking beside me and asked, “Do you think they’ve noticed by now?”
“Probably. I covered our tracks before we left, so they won’t know where exactly we escaped.”
Before leaving, we’d anticipated being followed and had hidden the excavation site and escape tunnel under a pile of clothes.
A sudden thought occurred to me.
“You said you were kidnapped, right? Do you know who did it?”
“They were masked, well-trained knights. Their armor didn’t bear any insignia, so I couldn’t identify them.”
Luca frowned slightly as he recalled the event.
A rising star who awakened sword aura at the youngest age—still, even for him, handling multiple elite knights wouldn’t have been easy.
“I was tied up, blindfolded, and lost consciousness. When I came to, I had no memories and was wandering in this forest. That’s when Laiola found me and brought me to the orphanage.”
“I see. But why this forest of all places—where the Troy Orphanage is located? It might have something to do with the Duke of Cablos.”
I couldn’t outright say that the Duke of Cablos was behind his kidnapping, so I tried to lead him closer to the truth.
After all, that wasn’t the kind of information that’d be in the newspapers Laiola read.
“The Duke of Cablos, huh…”
He nodded, saying he’d look into it.
In the original novel, Luca didn’t find out that the Duke of Cablos was behind his kidnapping until later.
Yes, there was a scene on the battlefield where Senia, wracked with guilt, confessed everything she knew. That’s probably when he found out.
Watching Luca suffer under the puppet spell cast by her father, she couldn’t bear to keep it hidden any longer.
Even though it wasn’t her crime, Senia carried guilt and pain. And Luca forgave her.
Since the novel was written from Senia’s perspective, the villain had always appeared to be Laveria—not the Duke of Cablos.
By the end of the novel, the duke just became Luca’s quarrelsome father-in-law.
Thinking back, the duke did much worse to Luca than Laveria ever did to Senia.
As we talked, we arrived at a small village, and beyond it, a larger town.
It was the first time I’d seen people other than the orphanage kids, bustling through the streets—finally making it feel real that I had escaped.
I looked around with wide eyes, marveling at the tailor shops and fruit stands lining the road.
Some people looked at us strangely—two children in ragged clothes, barefoot, holding hands.
Eventually, we reached the prosperous center of the capital city, where carriages lined up in rows.
We picked one and climbed in.
At first, the coachman looked annoyed, clearly wondering how to shoo away these troublesome kids. But once we told him our destination, he opened the carriage door like we were any other customer.
I sat on a straw-padded seat and said,
“Please take us to the Duke of Rayes’ residence. We’ll pay upon arrival. My parents work there.”
“Y-Yes, little miss.”
The coachman, now all smiles, shut the carriage door and set off.
As the horses took off, I felt my body lift and sink again.
It wasn’t a luxurious carriage, but it was spacious enough for two children.
Exhausted from walking, I propped my aching legs up on the seat.
Luca sat across from me, staring out the window as the scenery blurred past.
Looking at him like this, I finally understood what the novel meant by “the most handsome face in the world.”
Even in rags, he seemed to shine. His soft brown hair danced in the wind, his crimson eyes looked like a drop of ink had spread in a blood-red lake, and his pink lips were full of life. Every part of him was stunning.
It was the exact image described in the novel—so much so that it felt surreal.
Even Senia, said to be so beautiful that all the men in the empire pursued her, seemed like a faded flower next to Luca.
Honestly, maybe he saved the country with his face, not his sword?
A very reasonable suspicion.
Seeing such a national-treasure-level face tinged with worry, I spoke up.
“Luca, what’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”
“Because I’ll have to part ways with Ria soon.”
“We’ll meet again soon.”
I lied—worried that his beautiful eyes might droop in sadness.
But even if I hadn’t, Luca, now regaining his memories, probably already knew what fate awaited him back in the palace.
Even though the story had twisted, it was still true that Luca would finish his imperial training, go to war, and be aided by Senia, the original female lead, using her healing magic.
There was no need for me to be too involved. Fate would flow the way the world intended.
That’s just how things are, right?
I looked out the window beside Luca and watched the reeds sway. A gust of wind made my eyes sting.
The carriage raced westward without pause.
Clatter, clatter.
Apparently, the place we escaped from had been extremely remote, because even after riding all day, we still hadn’t reached the capital.
By the time the red sunset blazed in the once-clear blue sky, we were still stuck in the carriage.
In the novel, the heroine always used teleportation magic or high-speed carriages to travel. At times like this, I was extremely envious.
As I sulked and looked out the window, Luca asked worriedly,
“Ria, are you okay?”
How could he sit still in perfect posture for half a day without shifting once? It was a mystery.
He must have remembered what it was like riding in the ultra-luxurious royal carriages.
“My body aches. And I feel carsick.”
I stretched as I spoke. This was definitely nothing like the noble carriages.
It felt more like I was on a deep-sea fishing boat—my head was pounding.
“Should we stop and take a break?”
No, this isn’t even our carriage…
We couldn’t irritate the coachman by asking to stop. He’d already taken a risk by giving a ride to two unknown kids.
I said it was fine and slumped onto the seat, not caring about decorum.
Lying down helped a bit.
The coachman said we had to cross one more mountain before we’d reach the capital, meaning we’d arrive by tomorrow morning.
“Luca, you should lie down and sleep too.”
At my suggestion, Luca leaned his back against the seat and replied,
“Maybe I will.”
Lying side by side in the swaying carriage, we gazed silently out the window or up at the ceiling.
Only the sound of hooves and the jolts over the rocky road filled the quiet.
Then Luca broke the silence.
“Ria, you’re still planning to meet the Duke of Rayes, right?”
I nodded. I was just returning to the place where Laveria was originally meant to be. Whether it would go smoothly was another matter.
“They say he’s been searching desperately. I also lost my parents when I was little.”
The Duke had remembered his wife the moment he saw me.
Apparently, I looked so much like the late duchess that he had to check for himself.
The part of this body I liked best was the eyes.
A pure, vibrant green—passed down from the duchess.
As I was lost in thought, my gaze met Luca’s crimson eyes.
“If it turns out I’m not the duke’s daughter, I’ll just follow you.”
“No matter where Ria goes, I’ll always be with you.”
What a reassuring thing to say.
Ever since leaving the orphanage, the world had felt like a vast universe.
Just like when I was first abandoned at the orphanage.
But unlike back then, Luca was here with me now.
He probably didn’t think much of what he said—but thanks to him, I wasn’t afraid anymore.
Luca explained that we were currently passing through the region of Gesila, a sort of gateway to the capital. He’d said it was a very unique place—and he wasn’t wrong.
At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Though the sunset sky outside was beautiful, it was also filled with meteor showers.
Trailing white tails across the pink sky, they looked like random brushstrokes on a painting.
If the astronomers from my old world saw this, they’d go wild trying to study it.
It was a stunning cosmic show—but since I hadn’t slept a wink since last night, my eyes kept closing.
I laid my head on my arms and made myself comfortable.
We weren’t arriving until morning anyway, so I decided to sleep.
There was still a lot I wanted to say before parting with Luca—but travel always leads to late-night chats. So I set aside my regrets and closed my eyes.
