Chapter 49
Time seemed to rewind, and just as Lucy couldn’t regain her composure because of the horse running wild,
Bartholomew chased after her.
“Something’s wrong.”
Bartholomew had a strong premonition that something was seriously amiss.
The state of the horse Lucy was riding was strange.
It wasn’t unusual for a horse to suddenly get agitated and bolt.
Usually, though, it would calm down after a while.
But Lucy’s horse didn’t seem inclined to calm down at all.
Instead, it increased its speed and continued to run wildly.
Its excitement showed no sign of abating.
“Lucy! Don’t ever let go of the reins!”
Bartholomew urged, hoping that Lucy could hear his voice, and spurred his own horse forward.
First, he had to catch up to her horse.
As Bartholomew closed the distance,
Lucy was completely disoriented.
Honestly, she was scared.
She had never imagined she’d be riding a horse running this wildly.
“Why is a perfectly fine horse acting like this all of a sudden?”
Lucy was confused.
Had Elisha done something?
But there was no sign of that.
To any onlooker, the horse seemed to have had a sudden, spontaneous seizure on its own.
Lucy struggled to hold onto the reins as Bartholomew had instructed.
But after running for an unknown amount of time in this state, her arms began to tremble.
Was it because her stamina stat wasn’t fully developed?
Once Lucy realized the strength was leaving her arms, she felt her entire body weakening rapidly.
She felt she could no longer endure it.
“Lucy!”
Bartholomew’s voice called her.
This time, unlike before, his voice was close.
Lucy turned her head toward the sound.
The wind was so strong she could barely open her eyes.
Through her half-opened vision, she saw Bartholomew riding close beside her.
“Lucy! Can you hear me?”
Lucy nodded weakly.
Bartholomew reached out his arm to her.
“Grab my hand!”
Lucy hesitated.
If she let go of the reins now…
If she failed to grasp Bartholomew’s hand…
She would fall from the horse running at full speed and die.
Seeing Lucy unable to reach for his hand, Bartholomew shouted,
“I will definitely hold onto you! Even if you fall, we’ll fall together. So grab my hand!”
Lucy shut her eyes tightly.
If she continued to ride this frenzied horse, she was going to die anyway.
The horse showed no sign of stopping, even if it reached a cliff.
“Then I might as well try something before I die.”
Lucy resolved.
The fear in her eyes faded, replaced by determination.
At that moment,
Something wrapped around her waist and pulled her with great force.
“Let go of the reins!”
At that command, Lucy quickly released the reins.
Her body lifted off the horse.
The fleeting moment felt eternal.
Then, thud—she landed on a solid saddle.
“Bartholomew?”
Finally, Lucy turned her head.
Bartholomew was behind her.
He had caught up to Lucy’s horse as closely as possible.
He had judged that it wasn’t a situation where she could reach out her hand.
He brought his horse alongside hers, wrapped one arm around her waist,
and with the determination never to let go, pulled her onto his horse with him.
It was a gamble even for him.
But for Lucy’s safety, he had no choice but to take the risk.
Bartholomew breathed heavily.
Relief finally allowed him to breathe freely.
He looked at Lucy, sweat beading on his pale face.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. Thank you, Prince Bartholomew.”
Lucy’s face was still pale, but she was at least able to regain her composure.
Seeing her condition, Bartholomew slowed the horse and surveyed the surroundings.
By now, twilight had fallen.
Because they had run recklessly without considering direction, they had ended up deep in the mountains.
It was a remote, layered mountain range.
They couldn’t just keep riding like this.
Going back now was impossible; they would have to reassess once the sun rose.
“First, we need to find a place to spend the night.”
“Right. If we try to go back like this, we’ll just get more lost.”
Above all,
Lucy shivered.
She had heard the cries of unknown beasts.
“If we stay here, we could become their prey.”
As Bartholomew said, they had to find a place to stay for the night.
Soon, the two discovered a cave suitable for shelter.
Bartholomew stopped the horses in front of it and dismounted first.
“Grab my hand.”
He extended his hand toward Lucy.
Lucy didn’t refuse.
Her hands and legs were still trembling too much for her to get off the horse on her own.
With Bartholomew’s help, she safely got down and looked around.
After running at full speed for so long, the horses were clearly exhausted.
Bartholomew entered the cave first and called Lucy in.
She cautiously stepped inside.
The cave was dark and damp.
Bartholomew took off his coat and laid it on the floor.
“Sit here.”
“Uh, where are you going?”
“I’ll get something to start a fire and something to drink. If we’re lucky, we can find some mountain berries.”
With that, Bartholomew left the cave.
Silence settled over Lucy, who was left alone.
“Huu…”
She finally let out a long sigh.
‘I thought I was going to die for sure.’
If Bartholomew hadn’t caught up in time—if he hadn’t been there—what would have happened to her now?
She didn’t even want to think about it.
Of course, she knew this was a game world.
But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t get hurt—or die.
If this had been some kind of quest, she might have been able to escape using her own strength.
But clinging to the running horse and desperately calling the system window brought no response.
This wasn’t a situation the system would intervene in.
‘I’ve only been thinking about reaching the true ending until now.’
She realized she also had to think about survival.
She had only one life.
‘What happened today isn’t part of the game story.’
It was a kind of variable.
If this variable caused such a situation,
Lucy immediately suspected Elisha.
After meeting Elisha, the horse had suddenly gone wild.
She couldn’t shake the thought that Elisha had used some trick.
But there was no evidence.
If there had been, she might have been able to use this as an opportunity to defeat Elisha.
But the horse that could have been evidence had run off somewhere.
Huu, Lucy sighed deeply again.
She was so exhausted that if she closed her eyes, she felt she could fall asleep immediately.
But when she tried to close them, her mind sharpened instead.
Could she really sleep comfortably in a stranger’s mountain cave?
It was completely dark now.
Lucy grew uneasy.
The longer Bartholomew stayed out, the more anxious she became.
‘Could it be that Bartholomew got lost?’
Or that he had been attacked by a wild animal?
Once the thought surfaced, it surged uncontrollably.
‘No, I can’t.’
She decided to at least check around the cave for Bartholomew.
Just as Lucy was about to get up,
“Didn’t I tell you to stay still?”
Bartholomew’s voice, which she had missed so much, reached her.
“I was worried because Prince Bartholomew was taking too long.”
“If we had gone separate ways, it would have been much worse.”
Bartholomew had collected dry leaves, branches, and flint and started a fire.
The previously dark cave was finally illuminated.
The warmth seemed to calm the trembling in her body.
“How are you so calm, Prince Bartholomew?”
Lucy asked in wonder.
“Have you ever been stranded in the mountains?”
At her question, Bartholomew chuckled softly.
“I’m not calm at all.”
He said, looking at Lucy.
She noticed that his complexion was paler than before.
His weak body had been overexerted.
“My right arm started causing trouble.”
“Your right arm? Why?”
Lucy checked for injuries but found no trace.
Ah.
Then she realized.
The arm that had held her was his right arm.
