Chapter 4
“Ugh… *Cough* *cough*……”
Ji-woo barely opened her eyes. She didn’t know where this was. She had fallen somewhere off a cliff, so it was likely in the mountains. But it was dark all around. The rain had already stopped, but perhaps because she had been exposed to the raindrops for so long, her body felt a chill.
‘I fell off a cliff and survived…’
She raised her hand and made a fist. There were scratches from branches or stones, but she didn’t seem seriously injured. It seemed that being Akarna meant she didn’t die easily.
“Ugh…”
However, a large tree was pressing down on her leg. After struggling, she finally managed to pull her leg out and stand up, but she almost collapsed immediately. Her ankle seemed to be twisted; it was hard to stand properly. Moreover, the ground was muddy from the rain.
Since she was the only one who had fallen off the cliff, if she waited here, the guards who had lost her would come to rescue her.
She was thinking about whether to wait here when…
*Swish, swish… Swoosh, swoosh…*
An eerie sound was heard. It wasn’t the sound of leaves crunching, nor was it the sound of wind rustling through leaves. A black shadow was moving around in the forest. Instinct told her. That was not a wild animal.
‘A monster?’
The carriage had been heading far from the Holy Capital, and the further they moved, the closer they got to the polluted outer walls polluted where monsters appeared. Since they were nearing their destination, encountering a monster was possible.
The monster didn’t approach her, but the thought that something unseen was watching her sent chills down her spine.
*Plop. Plop, plop.*
She was unlucky. On top of that, it started to rain again. If she spent the night here getting rained on, she would surely die this time. With her unsteady gait, Ji-woo hobbled along, moving her body. It would be good to find a cave, or at least a place where she could avoid the rain.
‘If this is how it’s going to be, maybe letting go was a mistake.’
It had been such an impulsive decision. Regret was already washing over her. But even if she were put back in that situation, she didn’t think she would act differently.
‘Thank goodness. Found one.’
After walking for a while, Ji-woo finally found a place to take shelter from the rain. It wasn’t a stone cave, but a space formed by strangely twisted tree roots. It was wide enough for her to conceal herself.
Even if a rescue team was coming, it was hard to expect them this late at night, especially in a rainy forest. Thinking it would be best to wait for the sun to rise while avoiding the rain, Ji-woo headed that way.
But after walking for a bit, Ji-woo suddenly stopped. Because there was someone else deep under the tree roots.
Ji-woo swallowed dryly.
―*The other races don’t try to believe in the Sacred Power, and the alchemists outside the walls blaspheme against divinity.*
Someone who looked different from humans, had different ways of thinking and values, and above all, was hostile to humans.
It was a male of a different race.
She had heard they looked different from humans, but she had never actually seen one. But encountering him like this, she could recognize him immediately.
The color of his hair, draped over one shoulder, was mysteriously light. One might think it was silver, but upon closer inspection, a faint forget-me-not blue was mixed in. It seemed that way because it was wet from the rain. It was a color humans couldn’t have without dyeing.
His build looked lean, so at first glance one might think he was small, but due to his good proportions, if he stood on two legs, he would probably be quite tall. Well-knit muscles could be seen through his thin clothes.
Most importantly, his ears were not human ears. Long ears that couldn’t be hidden by his long hair. With pointed tips, they also looked like rabbit ears.
Those ears, perked upwards, seemed to have heard Ji-woo’s footsteps. Leaning against the inside of the space, he glared fiercely at her before she even fully registered his presence.
His eye color was blue, making his glare seem even more piercing.
*Shhh! Shiii-ik!*
He made a threatening sound through his teeth, highly wary of Ji-woo. It sounded like a snake hissing. He wasn’t trying to threaten her; he was simply terrified.
But he didn’t attack. He couldn’t. The reason was that he was already injured. A serious wound, presumably inflicted by a monster.
Torn pants revealed shredded wounds on his thigh, calf, and down to his ankle, as if torn by an animal’s fangs and claws. Instead of blood, a black liquid dripped from them; it was a wound that had been inflicted by a monster and was being eroded by mana.
With that level of wound and the mana applied to it, it was a major injury that would kill him within a day or two.
After a moment’s hesitation, Ji-woo approached the injured person. She had already found a resting place and didn’t have the energy to look for another. Moreover, seeing the wound inflicted by a monster, she didn’t want to throw herself back into a forest swarming with them.
Not wanting to rest or sleep next to a corpse was a secondary reason.
“I can… I can treat that wound for you.”
As she got close enough to almost touch him…
“Ah!”
*Shing!* With the sound of sharp metal cutting through the air, Ji-woo was so startled she fell backward. The pain came later. Not from the hip that hit the ground, but from her arm.
“Ugh. Hoo…”
The dagger that had just cut her spun skillfully once in his hand. Then he pointed the blade at her again.
Blood dripped from her cut arm. This was a wound that would heal quickly on Akarna’s body, but Ji-woo wasn’t brave enough to take such an attack lightly. Above all, Akarna’s power was currently greatly weakened.
Calming her pounding heart, Ji-woo stayed seated, dragging her body to barely put distance between them.
As she retreated closer to the entrance, she felt the rain, now even stronger than before. Cold water touched her back. She couldn’t retreat any further. It was the same: die outside from hypothermia or die here.
Fortunately, he didn’t swing the knife again or throw it. He seemed to have judged that she wasn’t a significant threat. He just shifted his position slightly, continuously watching her, but nothing more.
Ji-woo trembled in the corner, watching his reaction. After a moment, quickly assessing the situation outside and Ji-woo’s condition, he turned his head away with a snap. Staring at his long, upright ears, Ji-woo hugged her knees and curled up. It seemed he was okay with her just being there. After all, what kind of threat could a shabby-looking woman possibly pose?
‘I was trying to help…’
The blood didn’t stop quickly. Normally, Akarna was insensitive to pain, and wounds like this should heal fast. But maybe because her body was weakened now, the wound stung for a long time.
Her body was shivering with cold. Fortunately, it was midsummer, so she could probably endure one night in this state. The cut on her arm was already starting to heal little by little.
‘It hurts…’
Would it be strange if the physical pain was almost welcome?
Thinking about the Crown Prince felt like a needle being periodically stabbed into her heart. It wasn’t a pain like she was dying. But it was impossible to ignore. This dull, persistent pain was gradually weakening her.
She should have just died there. It felt ridiculous to crawl into a place like this to survive and curl up in a corner. Being so terrified by a mere scratch from a knife and cowering like this was pathetic.
‘I wish I had died.’
What would be the point of living on like this?
* * *
“Ugh, uuugh. *Keuk*… Ha……”
Ji-woo woke up to a strange sound. Her body must have been exhausted; she had apparently dozed off while sitting.
*Hoo…* Ji-woo let out a deep sigh and clutched her cheek. She had a slight fever.
The reason she felt so bad was because she had dreamt of the Crown Prince. About the time she first met him. The time they snuck out of the temple and played around. The time she laughed, enjoying meat and alcohol she couldn’t have freely in the temple. The time when she knew nothing and her heart fluttered simply because the person before her seemed amazing.
If it had been an unhappy memory, it would have been better. Because it was a happy yet fleeting memory, waking up made her current situation feel even more miserable.
As she blankly watched the raindrops to wake herself up properly, she heard the sound of someone groaning again.
“Heugh, *huk*. *Keukeuh*……”
The condition of the injured person lying down seemed to have worsened. The mana flowing from his wounds filled the space.
The dagger he had used to threaten her earlier was now rolling on the floor; he must have dropped it.
‘He handled that dagger well.’
Ji-woo stared blankly at the dagger glinting sharply even in the darkness, then got up.
“*Keu-euk*, ha, *euk*, aaah……”
He was moaning, losing consciousness. He didn’t seem to have the energy to pick up the dagger and swing it again, let alone to get up and watch her.
Approaching him, Ji-woo picked up the dagger instead. The only bladed things she had ever held were kitchen knives or scissors. A weapon like this was much colder and heavier than she expected.
