Ipea’s face was a mess of blue bruises. Soon after, she spoke with indignation.

“Those stupid slaves mock Kitium, calling it a worthless island nation. So I smashed those bastards’ faces with my fists.”

“Yet you’re the one who looks beaten up.”

“I hit them more, so don’t pity me.”

“Have you never thought it might be wiser to avoid creating fights?”

“What, you want me to just stand there while those idiots run their mouths? I’m not a coward like that.”

“Running away is also a strategy.”

Hari spoke quietly. Escape was the best victory strategy, and she was about to execute that plan.

“I wonder what you gained from beating them up. Pride in protecting Kitium’s honor from foul mouths? National pride for a country that’s already fallen?”

“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.”

Hari left the grumbling Ipea and went to the holy water station. Her face reflected in the water looked gaunt from losing weight, having suffered restless dreams these past few days. The sound of flutes carried on the humid wind felt distant, like something from another world. Hari closed her eyes briefly before opening them again. The time was approaching.

“Why did you call me anyway? Just tell me what you want, I need to go. I’m already marked by that damn supervisor for picking fights everywhere, and they’ll whip me for the slightest mistake.”

“Where’s the escape route? I’m leaving this place tonight.”

Ipea blinked blankly.

“Are you crazy?”

“You can do it, but I can’t?”

Outside, fireworks were now being set off. The southern sky was beautiful with colorful flowers and sparkling sacred stone powder bursting everywhere. Beautiful enough to lose oneself in – if she were a subject of Hitais.

Befitting the first day of the ritual, the festival atmosphere was half-tinged with madness, and the excitement was building as the prince’s bonding ceremony approached. The thunderous noise made her head throb. Hari urged Ipea while pulling out a pouch hidden beneath the holy water station.

“Tell me the escape route. This is the only chance. I need to get out of the inner castle before it’s too late.”

“Did you eat something wrong?”

“Can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

“How do you plan to escape?! And why are you telling me this?!”

“Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? If you don’t want to get involved, you can back out.”

Ipea stared blankly at Hari’s outstretched hand, then soon grasped the situation and her expression hardened.

“What if I report you? Is that why you’re trying to escape together?”

“I know you won’t.”

A dense silence enveloped the two as they stared at each other. Hari checked the time and spoke.

“Tonight there will be a proper fireworks show. The festival will be interrupted, and we need to use the moment when everyone’s attention is drawn there.”

Ipea looked unconvinced.

“If you don’t trust me, you can stay here and keep getting into fistfights.”

At first, Ipea narrowed her eyes fiercely as if finding it absurd, then cursed saying ‘you’re crazy.’

You’re out of your mind. I should report you right now and get the reward. How can you escape safely without any weapons? You’ll die doing this. I won’t tell you any escape routes. So don’t do anything reckless….

“Just how do you plan to escape?”

After fidgeting like a dog facing a wild beast, Ipea finally shouted. Hari gauged the time while looking at the night sky where the fireworks had significantly diminished. Watching her nervously, Ipea finally rushed off and returned with a pouch containing her emergency funds and valuables.

“If this goes wrong, you’ll pay for it.”

The prophecy she had hinted to Achilleon was half truth and half lie. The fire would occur on the first day of the festival, not the last, and Hari had planted ignition stones from the temple to the sacred relic storage accordingly. The brilliant fireworks decorating the sky would grow larger and engulf the entire temple.

“It’ll be the fire show of a lifetime.”

“You…”

Ipea seemed to have much to say but soon gave up. As they turned onto the walking path behind the temple, they received glances from the priests but no signs of suspicion. They probably thought they were just doing menial tasks needed for the ritual.

“The Hitais palace has double walls. After you pass the inner wall surrounding the palace and temple, there’s a forest, and after going through that for a while, you reach the outer wall. I’ve marked branches along the way, so getting out won’t be difficult. But how did you know there would be a fire?”

Hari responded with silence.

“…Well, if we escape successfully, I suppose that doesn’t matter. I won’t have anything to do with you after this anyway.”

“Hey, you two there.”

A sharp voice stopped them in their tracks.

“This isn’t the supply storage. Where are you going?”

It was Doris, the young priest who was the only one who spoke up in the orchard.

His blue eyes flashed sharply behind transparent glasses.

“You again?”

Doris pulled off Hari’s robe to check her face, then gritted his teeth as if he’d expected this.

“Going to meet with the Third Prince for another tryst, I see? The nation is truly doomed. How can His Highness the Prince lead the way in pursuing pleasure at a time when he should be setting an example, right before the ritual?”

One person should be manageable, right? Hari grabbed a thick branch behind her back while exchanging quick glances with Ipea. Their silent eye contact agreed to deal with him quickly and go, and just as Ipea was about to swing the branch—

BOOM-!

A terrifying sound that seemed to tear apart the night sky engulfed the temple. A brilliant flash of light shook the ground like an explosion, and for a moment everything brightened.

“What suddenly…”

Doris stared in disbelief at the temple being consumed by huge flames. The fire that started in the central shrine quickly built up its force all the way to the sacred relic storage. Doris, who had been staring dumbfounded at the sight of the red rim of fire connecting like a giant fuse, let out a horrified cry.

“No, the sacred relics!”

“Run.”

Ipea barely came to her senses at Hari’s urging and started moving. They evaded the soldiers and pushed through the thickly tangled bushes like hair caught in a drain. When they kicked the misaligned bricks, the wall crumbled with dust.

“Don’t underestimate three months of effort spent just looking for an escape hole.”

When they broke through the gap in the inner wall, a dense forest spread before them. Once past this forest would be the outer palace. The cool smell of trees brushed against their frozen faces. When they reached the center of the forest, a large light rose above their heads like a meteor. The dark forest was bathed in bright light, and when it darkened again, a sharp scream shook the forest.

“Aagh!”

The torch that suddenly emerged from the bushes illuminated Ipea struggling in the grip of a soldier. Her heart sank. Hari immediately turned to run away, but before she could, a large hand grabbed her hair.

“Caught you.”

“…!”

“Was the game of tag fun? But what a shame, Hari. The game was too easy.”

Under the flickering shadows, a man’s reddened, distorted face was staring at her.

“If you had the guts to escape, you should have broken the shackles too.”

Achilleon sneered while gesturing at the shackles on Hari’s ankles. The blue jewel embedded in the center of the shackles was glowing.

“Take that woman away.”

“Ipea is innocent! I threatened her to guide me. I dragged her into this, so please let her go!”

Achilleon ignored Hari who was screaming and thrashing about. Her excuses didn’t work. As a sharp blade grazed Ipea’s waist, her tied pouch fell and silver coins spilled everywhere. When jewelry that appeared to be stolen from the royal family was also discovered, Achilleon, who had been watching expressionlessly, gave a cold smile.

“Take everything they’re carrying and throw them in the underground prison.”

“Wait…!”

“Shut up.”

A firm grip strongly seized Hari’s nape. At that moment, a blurry vision flowed like a panorama before Hari’s eyes.

The chaotic forest, black birds taking flight, Achilleon falling from his horse, and grassland stained with wet blood.

“I wonder when you started planning these lies. From the fire to the escape, was it all planned?”

The man’s eerie laughter circled above the bloody vision.

“You played me quite well.”

Hari was thrown onto a saddle by rough hands. Her hair flew wildly on the rapidly galloping horse.

“You deceived me. You cleverly mixed truth and lies while watching for an opening.”

Her stomach hurt from being held so tightly, and the wind striking her cheeks was fierce. It was hard to breathe, as if relentless whips were raining down on her body that had been loaded like baggage.

“Do you think you can live if you run away? Why tell lies when you know you’ll be caught before getting far?”

“You won’t trust me anymore anyway, so there’s no reason to keep me around, right? Let me go. I said let me go!”

“There’s no need to keep a useless dog. But if that’s what you desperately want, that’s a different story.”