“What? I didn’t see anything like that!”

“It was faded, but it was there. And what is that thing in your arms. That’s not a cat.”

“It’s not a cat, it’s a black leopard cub—”

Mid-sentence, Blair realized that a black leopard was also a dangerous animal, and her voice trailed off with a blank expression.

“And in the middle of all this, you stopped to rescue an animal. I thought you wanted to win the wager.”

“I couldn’t just walk past it. It looked like it would die if I left it.”

Blair looked away and answered. Kalintz had been needling her, but she meant it.

“And did you come all the way here because of me……”

“Hard to just walk past it. You might have died if I’d left you.”

He looked at her steadily and returned her own words back to her.

“I genuinely didn’t know it was a restricted area……”

She felt embarrassed and pulled the cub a little closer for something to do.

A faint sigh escaped him.

The hard set of his face had eased somewhat. He was no longer quite as rigid as before.

She found it strange that he had been so angry in the first place, but Blair didn’t ask.

“Anyway, since I’ve already rescued this little one, if you could just help me a—”

“Shh. Quiet.”

She had been about to ask him to help her walk, when Kalintz cut her off with a sudden, serious expression.

The sharp shift in his eyes made Blair go still, staring at him with wide eyes.

Then a low growl reached her ears.

“D*mn. Wolves. They caught the smell of blood.”

Kalintz murmured, pointing to the other side of the stream.

Sure enough, a grey-brown wolf was staring at them. Then, one by one, more wolves emerged from the shadows.

Blair felt her blood run cold.

“D*mn it. Blair, go around behind me and get up the hill. Can you make it back to where Fitz is tied?”

Kalintz drew a small dagger from his belt as he spoke.

“What? What about you, Your Highness?”

“I can handle myself.”

“What do you mean, handle yourself! How are you going to deal with those wolves without a bow or a sword!”

The dagger was sharp and well-made, fine for self-defense, but it looked woefully inadequate against a pack of animals.

“Blair, don’t panic. While I draw them away, you go over there and—”

“Ngh.”

Kalintz had reached out to pull her along by the shoulder, and the sound that escaped her made him stop short.

“…… You’re hurt.”

He took in the state of her ankle and murmured it in a flat, cold voice.

“I fell coming down the slope…… it’s nothing serious.”

Blair tried to sound calm, but the situation was getting worse faster than she could manage, and her hands had started to shake. The small creature in her arms seemed to sense her fear and began whimpering again.

In that moment, the wolves broke into a chorus of snarling.

Blair’s startled cry was barely out of her mouth before her feet left the ground.

“Wh, what are you—”

“Keep hold of that thing.”

Kalintz scooped her up and started running. The wolves snarled louder and gave chase.

Watching the frenzied animals bearing down on them, cold sweat ran down her spine.

I must have lost my mind, all over some stupid wager, coming in here like this……

Grrrr…… Bark bark!!

The savage barking cut sharp and close. The wolves had closed a significant amount of ground, and one was nearly close enough to bite.

Its sharp fangs were lunging for the back of Kalintz’s neck when Blair yanked the riding crop from her belt and swung it hard.

The wolf hadn’t expected the blow. It yelped and fell back, struck across the eye.

“…… You should have joined the knights instead of becoming a frons.”

Kalintz let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“You’re making jokes right now?!”

Blair was stunned that he could say something like that in a moment like this, but the wolves were growing more frenzied, so she shut her mouth and scanned their surroundings quickly.

“Your Highness, I think we can take cover behind those rocks over there!”

Kalintz spotted the large boulder she was pointing at and changed direction without hesitation. He set Blair down carefully in the narrow gap behind it.

“Stay here. Don’t make a sound.”

“What about you, Your Highness!”

Blair grabbed his arm on instinct. Kalintz looked down at her hand on his arm for a moment, then smiled faintly.

“Don’t worry. I’ve been through worse than this.”

It was an absurd thing to say, but the moment she looked into his eyes, Blair felt herself calm down.

She was still caught in that strange feeling when Kalintz tightened his grip on the dagger and stepped out from behind the boulder.

The nearest wolf faltered at the sudden charge.

He didn’t waste the opening. He drove the dagger cleanly into the wolf’s throat. He pulled it free in the same motion and, without a moment’s pause, threw it at another wolf lunging toward him.

Three wolves were down before Blair could fully process what she was seeing. His movements were impossibly fast and precise.

She could only stare, barely breathing.

Then another wolf caught her eye. It had dropped low to the ground and was creeping toward Kalintz from a blind spot, slow and deliberate.

The moment its sharp teeth came into view, Blair shouted without thinking.

“Kalintz!!”

The wolf closing in on Kalintz snapped its head toward her at the sound.

“D*mn it, Blair!!”

Kalintz sprinted toward her, but it was already too late to stop the wolf that had turned and launched itself at her.

Blair watched the wolf’s fangs coming for her and slowly sank to the ground.

Strangely, the trembling in her hands had stopped. The world around her seemed to slow. Like time itself had begun to move differently.

Blair, don’t live the way I did. Find your freedom. And live enough for both of us.

Sister. I was almost there. Almost living the way you wanted me to. I won’t be able to keep that promise.

Us? Ha, well. If we meet again in the next life, maybe I’ll think about it then.

Allen. Looks like I’m following you after all. Will you take me in now?

Blair closed her eyes slowly. Through the narrowing gap between her lashes, she could still see him.

Dark hair like deep night, and eyes that held the brilliance of the sun. Kalintz was shouting something at her, running toward her.

I never found out. Why he kept fixating on me like that.

But it didn’t matter much anymore.

In the last moment of her life, seeing the prince racing toward her with desperate urgency was not, she thought, such a bad way to go. With that quiet impression, Blair closed her eyes.

And in that moment.

Whimper…… whine!!

A small cry came from inside her arms.

Hm? Whimpering?

“D*mn it!! Blair!!!”

Sound rushed back in.

Kalintz’s voice, the harsh breathing of the wolf right in front of her, and the whimpering of the black leopard cub in her arms. Everything hit at once.

And then, drowning out all of it, an enormous roar split the air and slammed against her ears. A thunderous cry unlike anything she had ever heard.

Blair slowly opened her eyes. She lifted her stiff head, the flash of memories from a moment ago completely forgotten, and her mouth fell open.

A massive black leopard, its coat the darkest black, had the wolf by the throat, yellow eyes blazing.

The beast flung the dead wolf aside and fixed its gaze on Blair. It was the stare of a true predator, heavy enough to press the breath out of her lungs.

Whimper, whimper, whine!

The cub in her arms squirmed and cried out. The great leopard rumbled low in response.

“Blair!”

Kalintz was suddenly close, calling out to her.

“Put it down! Right now!”

At the urgency in his voice, Blair set the cub down carefully without stopping to question it.

The little creature wriggled free of the jacket and struggled upright, crying out.

The great beast moved toward it with a gentleness that seemed impossible for something its size, and began licking its cub.

“I’ve never seen a leopard that large.”

“…… You’re saying that right now?”

Kalintz looked at her like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then he reached down and helped her up from the ground.

“Are you all right?”

Snapping back to reality, Blair turned to check on him with belated alarm.

His clothes were dirtied and spattered with blood, but he didn’t appear to be injured.

“I told you not to make a sound. What were you thinking.”

He said it in a voice that was clearly holding back anger.

“That wolf was coming at you from behind, I just—”

“I could have handled it. What were you trying to do? Do you have three or four lives to spare?”