No, first she needed to somehow handle this situation……

“Miss Hari, you’ve been restless since earlier. What’s wrong? My goodness! Are you hurt somewhere?”

Doris cried out in shock, seeing her sweating condition. Ominous thoughts flashed through her mind one after another. Hari grabbed Doris’s shoulder to stop him, then lowered her waist and whispered.

“Give me that map and go back now.”

“What are you saying? We still have a long way to go. Besides, your current condition……”

“I’m fine. The way back from here should be safe.”

The stomach pain subsided a little. Earlier it hurt like being stabbed with a spear. Was she too tense?

Hari wiped away her cold sweat and forced a bright expression, then placed the sacred beast on Doris’s shoulder. The one chasing them now was definitely Antor’s person.

If so, the target would be Hari, and Doris might be killed just for being beside her. If they needed her, at least they wouldn’t kill her.

“Go, quickly. Just in case, don’t take the same path back – go around behind that cave.”

“If you give me the sacred beast, what will you do when you’re in danger?”

“I’ll stop by the sacred beast habitat, so it doesn’t matter.”

Doris shook his head like he found it absurd, but when Hari firmly pushed him away, he reluctantly retreated.

“Please be careful, Miss Hari. I wish you luck.”

Only after hurriedly sending Doris away did Hari breathe a sigh of relief. She calmly moved forward again. Seeing that the presence still followed her, it seemed they wouldn’t chase after Doris to kill him.

Left alone in the dim forest, her body trembled with belated tension and fear. She could roughly guess what the opponent’s purpose was, but it definitely wouldn’t be in a good direction for Hari. At that moment, someone’s face was faintly reflected in a puddle she stepped in with a splash. In the tree.

It was definitely that man who had been looking around the west wing of the White Jade Palace earlier. Her mind snapped awake like cold water had been poured on her chest, and goosebumps rose along her arms.

‘I need to escape. I can’t get caught here.’

Hari clutched the map and ran down the forest path. If she found any sacred beast, she could shake off that person and escape safely.

Then, miraculously, not far ahead, a translucent creature passed through the leaves. However, before Hari could desperately reach out her hand, a dizzyingly strong blow struck her back. Hari tumbled and fell to the ground. Her consciousness slowly faded in the dusty haze.

* * *

“Ugh……”

Her body ached everywhere like her bones had split apart. Hari barely opened her eyes and looked around. It was a small room, but the decorations were antique, and there was a strange smell.

Hari realized it was sleeping incense and pulled the blanket over to cover her nose.

‘Where is this?’

She only belatedly realized that one of her legs was tied to the bed post. Scratches from rolling around covered her shins. While Hari tried to understand the situation, the tightly closed door opened with a creak.

The silhouette of a man, blackened by backlighting, approached step by step. Hari, staring blankly with a hazy mind, reflexively moved her lips.

“Achilleon?”

“Why are you calling someone who should be in the afterlife?”

However, the man she thought had a similar build to Achilleon was Antor. The smell of blood vibrated from the armor he hadn’t had time to change.

At the terrible smell that seemed to turn something over from inside, Hari covered her nose and mouth even tighter.

“You’re finally awake.”

“Ugh.”

Antor chuckled and his eyes gleamed menacingly. He looked at Hari, who had just regained consciousness, with a complex gaze, then suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

“Why didn’t you tell me? You must have known that bastard Achilleon could handle divine power. So why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why are you here?”

Why was Antor, who should have won the war, hiding here? And in such a wretched state, having barely escaped with his life.

“You also cleared out the Isthmia army, so your side should be much more advantageous. Why are you in such a state?”

Antor’s face turned red.

“Who’s fault is all this? If you had told me that bastard Achilleon’s secret, my soldiers’ morale wouldn’t have been broken!”

Antor, who had completely forgotten that he had provoked and stirred up Achilleon’s anger, had fire blazing in his eyes.

When the battle at the main castle was losing, he fought bringing even the troops outside the castle, but victory wasn’t easily decided. But then Achilleon’s momentum faltered. The expression of the subordinate delivering news to him wasn’t good either.

He didn’t know what happened, but there seemed to be a problem. Antor was able to use that brief time to hastily escape from the main palace. It was a shabby flight, but continuing to hold out would be foolish.

Antor trembled with both fists. Not just one or two soldiers witnessed Achilleon using a holy sword.

“You can’t even handle that much, so now you’re kidnapping me to vent your anger? You’re truly incompetent.”

Incompetent. At those words, Antor’s eyes rolled back and he violently pushed Hari. When Hari hit the wall and trembled in pain, only then did his reason return. Antor hesitated and muttered.

“…Right, so I’ll have to keep holding you. I need to extract prophecies to my heart’s content to make it worthwhile.”

Since it had come to this, there was no choice. He had no option but to use this woman to trap Achilleon.

“Lock her up.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Antor ordered one of the soldiers guarding the mansion. The mansion surrounded by forest was a secret mansion Antor had built to enjoy entertainment with nobles. Since very few knew about it, he could buy time.

“Your Highness, about what you asked me to investigate earlier. Part of Prince Achilleon’s forces are stationed in the Lagonia desert, and it seems there’s been a problem there.”

One soldier reported to Antor.

“A problem?”

“Yes, the Lagonians have attacked, so the Third Prince’s forces are currently tied up there.”

Ah, so that’s why he could buy time earlier.

“I don’t know why that bastard dispatched troops to Lagonia, but it’s heaven’s luck.”

“Should I investigate that too?”

“Yes, first……”

Then, a sound like a small animal moaning came from behind. Hari, who had been listening to the conversation beside them, had turned pale and was curled up.

“Ugh……”

“…? What’s wrong with you now?”

Remembering that he had pushed Hari earlier, he urgently grabbed Hari’s shoulder, but she was breaking out in cold sweat and clutching her stomach tightly.

“Is it because I pushed you earlier? I got heated and…… Anyway, I’m sorry, but I didn’t hit you that hard.”

At first he thought she was trying to attract attention, but when he approached closer, the woman’s condition was more serious than expected. All the color had drained from her lips, and both hands gripping her clothes were trembling.

What on earth was wrong with her? Hari’s body, which had been burying her head in the blanket and groaning, soon went limp. Like she might die right then and there.

Antor, who had been staring blankly at that sight, also turned pale.

“What the…… Hey, why are you suddenly like this?”

Antor looked around frantically and then slammed shut the lid of the lamp that was still emitting sleeping incense. He had lit it hoping Hari would stay unconscious longer, expecting she might have another useful prophecy in the meantime.

But even after the smoke disappeared, Hari couldn’t pull herself together.

“Hari, try to come to your senses!”

‘No. I need to use this woman as bait to get rid of Achilleon!’

Even such calculations couldn’t continue anymore. Antor held Hari and shouted.

“Doctor! Bring a doctor here!”

* * *

Good news and bad news came one after another. The war had ended in Achilleon’s victory on the surface, but an ambiguous atmosphere drifted through the castle where they couldn’t simply rejoice.

“Comfort the soldiers who suffered damage in Lagonia and take good care of them.”

“I will do as you command, Your Highness.”

The soldiers sent to protect the Lagonians were instead attacked by them. At first, they said the Lagonians were suspicious but still believed in Achilleon’s good intentions.

However, they witnessed the soldiers soon talking with the Isthmia forces that had invaded Lagonia and fell into terror, launching a preemptive attack.

“Aren’t they foolish people? They don’t even know the grace of trying to help them and dare to.”

The man who had become commander-in-chief in place of the dead Hoperon spat out roughly.

“Is there any need to consider the circumstances of such gypsy bastards? We just lost troops for nothing, Your Highness.”

The man, who didn’t know about the promise with Hari, bristled like he couldn’t understand. However, Achilleon understood the Lagonians. It was a measure taken to warn Isthmia, but in the eyes of those unfamiliar with the situation, it would have looked different.

“What can we do about something that’s already happened?”

They lost a considerable number of soldiers, but fortunately they were barely able to suppress Antor’s army. The person whose head should actually be cut off had escaped.