“Huff, huff… I almost got caught…”

She wished she had more invisibility scrolls, but invisibility scrolls required pouring in 7th Circle magic power, so there weren’t any more. Even for a Tower Master, creating more than two 7th Circle scrolls in a short time was difficult.

Thanks to that, Chohee had to cross the barbed wire that the knights were guarding while avoiding their encirclement. Fortunately, the knights couldn’t guard every bit of the barbed wire stretching across that vast land, so she planned to hide and use a scroll called ‘Wind’s Rising Current’ to cross over when night came.

“Haah… I’m hungry…”

Her stomach growled since she couldn’t eat dinner. When she was on the stagecoach, they had stopped at villages along the way for meals, but now she had skipped dinner, so her body lacked strength.

‘But somehow I have to get to Heritail Kingdom.’

The food there would taste like honey when she finally ate. Chohee carefully watched outside the cave entrance where she was hiding to see if anyone passed by, but the knights’ encirclement was limited to the barbed wire visible in the distance.

After listening to the continuous growling sounds, Chohee gazed at the sunset slowly settling over the plains. When the red sunlight illuminated the trees in the mountains, a cool breeze shook the leaves and penetrated deep into the cave.

“Haah…”

Chohee leaned against the cave wall and closed her eyes.

After an hour or two, the outside became thoroughly dark. Chohee walked out of the cave. The barbed wire fences viewed from the mountain stretched to the horizon.

‘It would be impossible for knights to guard this entire long distance. I’ll run to a place with the fewest knights or none at all and cross immediately. Let’s make that the goal.’

Tasting the cool night air, Chohee used the wind magic that hadn’t worn off yet to climb to the mountaintop. Spotting a place with no torches at all, proving the knights weren’t guarding it, Chohee immediately started running in that direction.

‘But it’s a bit strange that there are so few guards…’

Chohee felt uneasy, but suppressed that emotion and circled around the village to head toward the place without torches. However, when she got close to the barbed wire, a net came flying at her from the darkness.

“…!”

Chohee dodged the net by a hair’s breadth. Then came a disappointed tongue-clicking sound, and knights rose from the bushes.

“…Catch her!”

The knights’ hands grabbed at her hood, but Chohee escaped from their grasp with desperate speed. However, she couldn’t prevent her black hair from flying in the wind. Seeing the black hair fluttering in the cool breeze, they shouted, “It’s Elysia!”

She ran hurriedly. The scenery under the torches was lush with summer greenery, but she was too frightened to properly take in the sight.

And what was even more terrifying was hearing Karad’s voice following behind.

“Elysia! You know about the responsibility for running away, right? When I catch you, I’ll violate you even more intensely than before.”

‘How did he know to follow me!’

She started running again toward the nearest barbed wire fence without torches, but the sound of hoofbeats followed closely behind her. Apparently, after losing Chohee once, they had prepared horses.

“I told you to stop!”

Karad shouted roughly. Chohee barely suppressed her desire to cry. Being a Sword Master, Karad could easily break her running legs by sending sword energy at her. But unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one chasing her.

‘Ugh.’

An arrow grazed past her ear. She might have been hit if things went wrong, but the only person who could show off the skill of shooting arrows only as threats while riding a horse was Claes. And Chohee’s prediction proved exactly right.

“…”

But Claes kept his mouth shut and only shot blunt arrows.

He never imagined Elysia would be caught so easily. The plan he and Lars had devised was perfect. But Duke Serow had been playing above their heads.

Therefore, it pained him to put her in this situation. Recalling that this d*mn situation where he had no choice but to pursue her with his own hands was created by the collaboration between Serow and Karad, he could decide on candidates to eliminate immediately upon ascending to the throne.

‘Karad is no longer my brother.’

Though he had shown inferiority complex toward him and Lars from time to time, he had pitied him because he couldn’t adapt to their mother’s early death. 

But now Karad had joined forces with Duke Serow to try pulling him down from the Crown Prince position and had trapped Lars so he couldn’t move from the Third Prince’s palace.

‘I can no longer trust someone like you. I heard from Lars that you also spoke harshly to Chohee. You must have run wild to your heart’s content, taking advantage of this situation where I can’t protect Chohee. But from the moment the emperor dies, you’ll pay back for all of it.’

Claes’s eyes burned with blue fury. However, the knights beside him mistook that anger for fury about Elysia running away from him. Therefore, they naturally didn’t speak to him and silently devoted themselves only to pursuing Elysia.

‘Somehow I have to escape from here. Otherwise, I’ll…!’

Meanwhile, Chohee’s heart ached as she thought of Lars, who had been kind to her. Since helping Elysia escape was a grave crime, he must have been captured by the emperor’s orders too.

“Elysia. It’s not too late even now. If you stop running and return obediently, I won’t hold Lars accountable, and I’ll speak well to His Majesty the Emperor so you won’t be violated either.”

Her stomach churned. She never knew Claes’s voice, never telling her the truth, would bring her such disappointment. Perhaps he too was different on the outside and inside.

Chohee quickened her steps while holding back tears that threatened to fall. Though she slowed down a bit from disappointment, she soon squeezed out every ounce of strength and ran forward.

“…”

Claes felt he could understand Elysia’s heart wanting to escape from the Imperial Palace. Therefore, even while pursuing her, his arrows only missed her. Seeing this, Karad’s face contorted, and he soon growled like a monster.

‘This has become quite troublesome.’

“Brother. Shoot properly. The more you shoot only as threats, the more arrogant Elysia becomes, struggling to escape the encirclement! If you don’t show your skills as a master archer here, His Majesty the Emperor will be disappointed too!”

“…You…”

Claes was about to speak, then stopped. Like he held some grudge against Elysia, even when she treated Karad well, he would only growl and snap at her. It was no different from revealing that even though everyone around him had treated Karad well, it was now meaningless.

“Elysia! If you go any further, I won’t stop violating you either. If you don’t stop immediately before crossing that border, I’ll make you stop even if it means injuring you!”

At the beautiful voice of Claes, famous as a master archer, Chohee moved her body in zigzags, narrowly dodging the arrows. That too was within Claes’s expectations, but he continued shooting arrows only as threats.

“Elysia! Stop right now! Don’t make me hurt you!”

‘You think I’ll stop just because of that? I absolutely can’t stop. I don’t want to be treated as a Breeding Vessel again. I… want to return to my original world!’

Three months since possessing this body.

She was sick and tired of being violated and hearing harsh words from Karad. Though Claes and Lars were kind to her, resentment toward Claes, who had no choice but to treat her silently after receiving orders from the emperor to ‘not act like lovers,’ and resentment toward him for telling Karad her name, swirled in her chest.

‘No more… I hate it.’

She didn’t want to return to the time when receiving only s*men every day in the deepest part of the Imperial Palace was considered virtuous. She hated how no matter how hard she tried, the palace people’s gazes toward her remained only as treating her like a Breeding Vessel.

Chohee’s eyes welled up with tears as she thought of a future where she’d have to alternate only between eating and s*x, and resolved not to reach that point.

And using that resolution as driving force, she ran forward.

“…Brother. Brother Claes. Now, show your determination to catch Elysia!”

“…”

“Otherwise, I’ll report that attitude of yours to His Majesty the Emperor.”

Karad’s shout was truly triumphant. Claes recalled the emperor’s warning that he would take away the Crown Prince position if he treated ‘Elysia’ as a lover. Surge – an indescribable emotion welled up inside him… But he had no choice but to nock a blunt arrow to his bowstring.

Twang!

The arrow grazed Chohee’s shoulder like it had eyes. Knowing she would feel sharp pain, Claes’s face contorted. Guilt for aiming an arrow at his one and only wife welled up in his heart.

It would hurt.

She would bruise too.

‘Is the Crown Prince position that precious to me?’

He wanted to take Elysia and cross over to Heritail himself.

The corners of Claes’s eyes reddened.

‘But if that happens, Karad, who truly treats Elysia as a Breeding Vessel, will become Crown Prince and ascend to the throne. Then Chohee’s days of suffering will become natural routine.’

Claes felt pain like his heart was being stabbed. Naturally slowing down, the knights filled the front row in his place.

‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Chohee.’

Fortunately, Chohee being grazed by the arrow only slowed her down for a moment. She ran forward with even greater speed. Claes cheered for her inwardly while slowing down even more.

However, Karad spoke cruelly.

“There’s no choice. Throw the Divine Net!”

They were now right near the border. Elysia’s expression became particularly bright. Despite the pain in her shoulder, there was now only one way to catch her as she ran with even greater speed.

“If we throw the Divine Net… she’ll feel slight pain. Is that alright?”

At the knight’s words, Prince Karad replied irritably.

“Yes. We have to stop her escape even if it means that!”

“Understood.”

Feeling glad he had torn the Divine Net in several places beforehand, Claes took a deep breath.

The Divine Net that the emperor had given Karad as a reward for his achievements was an ancient relic that would chase and capture anything when thrown.

He couldn’t count how many Dark Mages they had caught with this net. He hated Karad for wanting to use such a net on Elysia. But Claes could no longer be kind to Chohee.

Because he would lose the Crown Prince position.

Then, it would only make Chohee suffer more.

He gritted his teeth.

“Do you really have to use that?”

As he increased his horse’s speed and approached Karad, he replied coldly.

“Yes. We have to use it.”