The firewood crackled under the dancing flames.

   I gently gazed at the blaze that lit the indoors red. The smell of dust and moisture struck my nose. It had rained some time ago.

   The windows and the wooden door were tightly closed shut, making it impossible to see outside. Looking up, I saw some parts of the roof that were thin and dry, perhaps on the verge of collapse. A slight gap allowed me to peek at the dense trees above, but I still couldn’t perceive the sky. A bird caught onto a tiny branch, gave a small cry, and adorably tilted its tiny head.

   I was stuck in an abandoned house within a forest.

   If I were to judge it by the exterior alone, I would be surprised that this house was still standing. However, the inside was unexpectedly beautiful. It seemed that the Kua Clan often used this spot for scouting missions.

“Mary.” As my name was called out, something was thrusted in front of me.

   Bread and dried-roasted meat. It smelled nice despite its hard appearance, but nevertheless I hesitated to accept it.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” The man that sat next to me gave a curious look as he offered me bread.

   For a moment, my mind wandered off as I likened the way he tilted his head to the bird from earlier. Eventually, I accepted his offer. He then gave his usual peculiar laugh.

   I wonder if I’m going crazy. No, that couldn’t be. There should be no reason for my sanity to be slipping. Please get a hold of yourself, my common sense. Do not be swayed so easily.

   After saying ‘Thanks for the food!’ I stuffed my face with bread. It was awfully hard, as expected of preserved meals. I thought my teeth were going to shatter.

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   I bit and tore small bites off the loaf and tried my best to chew. It wasn’t that far off from training my jaw muscles.

“I’m sorry you had to eat a meal like this. If we travel a little further from the village then we can go shopping for proper food.”

   He gave a wry smile as he watched me struggle to swallow my own food.

   I knew there was more to leaving the village behind than just ‘shopping’. It was to derail any pursuers that may come after me.

The man who swept me away, Wolf, gave a wordless smile as he observed my reactions.

Though, he raised his brows as if he was deeply troubled.

   There were a lot of things I wanted to say, but how could I say them after seeing such a face? I was at a loss for words. In the first place, why did he even kidnap me?

   There was no way he would do this for money.

   That wouldn’t even be a good guess in the first place considering Wolf’s personality. Besides, the success rate would be very low. Because I am a princess, the risks would be too high to ask for a simple ransom.

   That said, I wasn’t valuing myself too highly either.

   I had the knowledge from the game, and although it was possible to predict certain events, only Sir Leonhart knew about it. Not only that, but there were now clear gaps in the current world and the original setting of the game. Right now, my information would not be very helpful.

   Another possibility was to stir the violent conflict between the surrounding countries. For a long while, Raptor had harboured malicious intentions to undermine the relations.h.i.+p between Flamme and Nabel. But since Wolf was a member of the lordless Kua Clan, I highly

highly doubted that this was the case.

   I couldn’t come up with a good reason at all…

   It’d be easier to guess his motives if my disguise was true; a rich daughter from a merchant house. That would’ve been plenty incentive for kidnapping. It’d be much more of a ha.s.sle to abduct a princess compared to that.

“Mary.” I raised my face as he called me.

   *Thud!* My forehead received a light finger flick, right between the eyebrows.

“Stop frowning already. You’re ruining your cute face.” He whispered under his laughter.

   I groaned in pain while rubbing where the attack landed.

“…And whose fault is that?” While holding my forehead, I begrudgingly glared at him.

“Mine, obviously.”

   I was forced to swallow my own words due to his unexpected reply.

   After a few moments of hesitation, I asked the burning question that had been stuck in my mind.

“…Why did you go about and kidnap me? I’m a full-fledged princess, you know?” I couldn’t believe it, but to my surprise, Wolf turned his gaze away.

“I knew that.”

“Then why!? You do realise that you won’t get away with ‘It’s just a little prank’ as an excuse, right!?”

“Worst-case scenario, they would probably cut off my head.”

   It was so vexing to me that he could spat out those things so nonchalantly.

   If you knew that, then why on earth did you abduct me?

   The Kua Clan, including Wolf himself, were society’s valuable treasures. They were hard-working individuals, complemented by their vast understanding of medicine that had the potential to save countless lives. There was no way I could let him die a worthless death.

“You didn’t put up much of a fight, am I right? I couldn’t have escaped with you if someone had known what I was up to. But since you didn’t want me to dirty my hands, we got out unnoticed. You’re quite the kind person.”

   I bit my

bit my lip to the words that I didn’t want to hear.

   When I was being carried out of town and into the forests, there were many chances that I could have called out and gotten help, but it would have meant that I recognised my position as being ‘abducted’. I didn’t want Wolf to become a criminal, so I told myself to stay put.

By doing so, I knew I have worried many and caused them much trouble, but I couldn’t make a decision. I was still an indecisive child, even after all I had been through.

“We can still make it back in time. Please listen to me before it’s too late.” Once I declared so, his eyes widened in surprise.

   He gave an exhausted frown before slapping his cheeks with his hands. Then, he looked at me like he was looking at a misbehaving child and smiled lightly.

“No can do. If I give up that easily, I wouldn’t be kidnapping a princess in the first place.”

“Why!? I’ll have you know that I’m not worth a d.a.m.n! I’m just a girl whose real use is to brag about her royal blood!”

“Of course you have your worth.”

   I wanted to retort but stopped myself after I saw the serious look on his face.

“A worth so immense that you yourself don’t even realise.”

   His eyes were terrifying. They were the kind that could see right through a person. At that breathtaking sight, I was at a loss for words once again.

*Pochi*

   Raindrops carried by the wind slipped through the gaps in the roof and fell to the floor. Only the rainfall and crackling firewood could be heard in this quiet room.

“There are countless privileged people in this world. Most of them always stuck their heads in their own interests, though they are not bad people per se. But, unlike you, the

unlike you, the rich that would risk their lives to save their own people are, in any case, few and far between. In fact, I do not know of such a fool except you.”

“…A fool?” I murmured miserably.

   I knew that he was right and couldn’t counter his words. Perhaps he meant it as a compliment. No, I was probably hearing things after all.

   I felt a chill crawled up my spine.

   It wasn’t your normal discomfort. I think I was uneasy from the fact that I couldn’t live up to everyone’s expectations, let alone my own.

   I might not know what Wolf was asking of me, but I felt that behind his words, there was a wish that he needed to fulfil. My thoughts were being tied down by his hopes, like an iron ball strapped to my ankle.

“You give me too much credit. There are a lot more wonderful people other than myself.”

“Then tell me, how many royals would be desperate for their subordinates? How many can truly lower their heads towards commoners?”

“Wolf…”

   He grabbed my hand and faced me head on.

   With a grip that wouldn’t let me escape, he locked his gaze onto mine.

“You ought to learn of your own true worth.”

“…”

   My voice trembled along with my body.

   I couldn’t breathe very well and became slightly light-headed. Even then, he still tried to speak to me, knowing full well that I couldn’t run away from him.

“Mary, I…”

   But he suddenly stopped.

   After a fleeting silence, he rushed himself away from me.

Something struck the ground where Wolf’s body was just a few moments ago. It was a long and thin knife.

“A hidden weapon…!”

   Wolf clicked his tongue and pulled out a knife from his waist belt.

   I was left confused as I heard the sound of birds flying away in the distance.