Chapter 7
The Crown Prince, who had been looking straight up at me, spoke slowly.
“……My Lady, why aren’t you letting go?”
“What?”
What kind of nonsense was he spouting at a time like this? I felt like I should actually just let go and run away. When I glared at him with sharp eyes, the Crown Prince let out a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd.
“I simply don’t understand. Are you aware that you’re on the verge of dying right now because you’re trying to save me?”
“Who doesn’t know that……?!”
Behind me, the zombie swarm was rushing toward us, practically shoulder-to-shoulder with their comrades. Were they coming over to ask to be friends?
“Ugh.”
Strength gradually drained from my body, and my upper torso slumped forward. The sudden recoil caused my hair tie to snap—snap! Silky silver hair fluttered down, brushing against the Crown Prince’s cheek, and my eyes met his bright yellow ones. Perhaps it was because of those eyes, which remained impossibly calm. The strength left my body, which was already exhausted to the limit. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Ah, this is the end.
It was just as his hand began to slide away. Grab—. The Crown Prince caught my wrist with the hand that wasn’t holding his spear.
“My Lady.”
“……Ugh, what now?”
“……If I die like this, will you die with me?”
I snapped my eyes open and glared at him. Are you crazy? Why would I? Are you saying it’s unfair for you to die alone in the midst of all this?
I thought he was joking, but his eyes were serious. His black pupils flickered with a variety of strange lights, like opal fins stirring the water—like a child who had discovered a new toy. Instinctively, I felt like I was standing at a crossroads. I had a gut feeling that his actions would change based on my answer.
Ugh, I don’t know anymore.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted in desperation.
“Fine, fine! I’ll die with you! So just……!”
Do something about this!
As I screamed inwardly, a zombie pushed past its comrades and approached from behind. A shadow loomed over my head. In the moment I stared anxiously at the hammer lying right in front of me, something flashed and grazed past my face.
Crunch—!
The sound of bones being pierced echoed instantly, followed by a few strands of my hair falling into the abyss. I stared blankly at them, then rolled my eyes to look at the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was wearing a deep smile. His eyes, shimmering with that strange light, were quite different from before.
“Just hold on, My Lady.”
The Crown Prince gripped my hand tightly and braced his feet against the wall.
Thump, thump, thump—!
Just like that, he ran up the wall, leaped high into the air, and landed steadily behind me.
What on earth…….
I slumped down in a daze, blinking my eyes. I slowly turned to look at the Crown Prince.
“Get up.”
The Crown Prince spoke in a surprisingly tender voice as he grabbed my arm and helped me up. Standing on legs that wobbled like a newborn fawn’s, I looked up at him with a blank face.
“We have to go. To the forest.”
Giving me a deep smile, he began to run, holding my hand while fending off the lunging zombies. In the confusion, I managed to pick up my fallen hammer and was dragged along.
“……”
How long had we been running? The zombie swarm began to thin out, and a lush forest came into view. As we reached it, a single thought took hold in my foggy mind.
“……Gah!”
That crazy bastard! He could have climbed up from the beginning!
Crack!
Panting with rage, I had to settle for crushing a zombie’s skull instead of the back of the Crown Prince’s head.
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By the time we reached the northern Holy Forest, the sun had set, and the surroundings were pitch black. The entrance to the forest was surrounded by a thin, transparent film, as if a barrier had been cast. I passed through the transparent membrane first, and the Crown Prince followed. The grotesque cries of the zombies were cut off, replaced by the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.
It’s nice and quiet.
Walking ahead, I pulled out the map. There were ‘X’ shaped engravings scattered throughout the illustration of the northern forest. A note at the bottom of the map explained that trees marked with an X would guide the way to the pond. I took out a light-stone (a stone-shaped flashlight made by Hayton) from my bag and muttered the spell inscribed on it. Squinting against the brilliant white light, I shone it on a nearby tree trunk.
“Found it.”
There was an engraving in the rough bark. I traced the ‘X’ mark with my hand and moved according to the map. After walking for a while, it grew cold. I walked along, picking up twigs and pine cones one by one to build a fire. The Crown Prince approached silently and took the items from my arms.
“……”
I practically shoved them at him and kept walking ahead. After moving like that for a while, the Crown Prince suddenly spoke up.
“My Lady.”
“……”
“Are you still angry?”
“……”
“It’s lasting quite a while.”
So what? Don’t talk to me.
I kept my mouth shut and focused solely on walking. As we moved along, feeling our way past the trees, the heavy scent of water suddenly hit my nose. Pushing aside the thick leaves, a shimmering pond came into view. The water quality of the Holy Forest pond directly reflected the strength of the barrier.
“It’s clean.”
I had been worried that the Holy Forest might have collapsed due to the earthquake—an event not in the original work—but fortunately, it was fine. I went to the pond and peered at my reflection in the water. Eyes that glowed as red as rubies. Bangs covering my forehead and layered side hair that framed my jaw. As I leaned forward more, silver hair that reached my waist slid down my back.
She really is pretty.
I’ve lived with this face for over a month, but I just can’t get used to it.
With such a pretty face, why did she waste it by living like such a tyrant?
As I stared indifferently at my face, the Crown Prince’s face appeared over the surface of the water. I glared at the reflection and left the spot. Immediately after, I pulled a hair tie from my pouch, tied my hair up, and searched for a flat area by trampling the weeds with my feet.
“Here.”
The Crown Prince, realizing I was trying to start a fire, brought over the twigs and pine cones he had been carrying. Naturally, I pulled paper and matches from my bag and tossed a lit match into the kindling. As I poked at the twigs to help the fire catch, the Crown Prince sat down on one knee beside me and took the branch away. I had thought this when he was making the raft-bridge too, but for a member of the Imperial family, he seemed remarkably skilled at manual labor.
I took a step back, hugged my knees, and watched the campfire. Having finished starting the fire, the Crown Prince sat leaning against a tree next to me.
“I apologize for startling the Lady.”
“……”
After a long silence, he offered a concise apology. It was very like him. It just didn’t do anything to improve my mood.
“My Lady.”
I sighed at the low voice that followed after another long silence.
If I leave him be, he’ll probably keep talking to the back of my head even after I fall asleep.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. Our eyes met, and his golden ones flickered slightly. Truthfully, I was inwardly surprised by his unexpected reaction. In the original work, he was the type who wouldn’t have given a damn if a noble lady was angry.
Sigh. I let out a breath and turned my head the other way.
“You were testing me. Because you don’t trust me.”
His golden eyes, tinted red by the campfire, widened slightly.
“You probably thought this incident might be the work of the Emperor’s faction, and further, that I might be an assassin or a spy sent by them.”
The Empire was currently divided between the Emperor’s faction and the Crown Prince’s faction. The Emperor would often send the Crown Prince out to participate in various wars, subjugation missions, and even wars of attrition. No one in the Empire was unaware of his tyrannical intention—hoping his younger brother would die in battle. Yet, the Crown Prince never faltered, returning as a praised hero every time. How irritating that must have been for the Emperor. So, he likely planted spies and sent assassins frequently. Thinking about that, I could understand why the Crown Prince had become so distrustful of people and why he suspected me. But… did he really have to test me by putting his own life on the line?
How much I…….
As the emotions I felt at that moment came back vividly, my eyes began to sting. Because I was sad? No, because I was pissed off. Whenever I couldn’t control my anger, I would occasionally tear up. The Crown Prince’s eyes grew wide as he looked at me.
