Act 5. Escape from the Stage.

They ran tirelessly through the alley that seemed narrow to humans but was wider and more endless than anywhere else for dolls.

Though it must have been his first time on this path despite studying maps for days, his steps were confident, as though he was heading home.

The scenery changed rapidly with each of his steps.

Fortunately, the streets decorated with lanterns were quiet, with no drunks wandering around on the night before the festival. Thanks to the cold weather, even dogs and cats were holed up inside, making their journey free of dangers.

As they climbed the hill, a cutting wind far different from the breeze at the toy store’s door blew, but Larien’s cheeks remained warm behind his broad back.

“Are you okay?”

Larien almost laughed, even in this situation, when he worried about her while running without even losing his breath while carrying her.

“Of course I’m fine. You’re the one carrying me, I’m not doing anything.”

“I think we’re almost there. If the map is correct, it’s right there.”

Looking where he pointed with his chin, a massive white stone building was shining brightly even in the darkness. Several strong men holding torches stood guard in front, making the temple seem more magnificent and intimidating.

Her face turned as white as the outer walls.

“W-will we be okay?”

“Of course. We still have five hours left. We’ll definitely succeed in that time, so don’t worry.”

He assessed the remaining time looking up at the clock tower carved at the temple’s peak.

Though he showed confidence, Larien pretended not to notice how his free hand kept returning to his sword hilt.

“It’s almost time for the guards to change. I heard they change every hour on the hour. We’ll slip in during that gap.”

Just as Jayden said, the men standing at attention began to look somewhat busy.

“Jayden, how do you know all this?”

“I wouldn’t set out on a dangerous journey just by trusting my friend and without any preparation. I did thorough research in case anything happened. To protect my princess, I need to be fully prepared.”

Larien, whose heart had been pounding from tension, felt relieved hearing Jayden’s words.

Thinking she didn’t care whether she became human or animal as long as she was with Jayden, Larien hugged his neck tightly.

Luckily, during the change, a cart loaded with freshly laundered clothes was trying to pass through the side gate. Without hesitation, Jayden jumped and grabbed the laundry hanging down to the ground and climbed onto the cart. He made sure to press Larien’s body as close as possible to a hollow corner in case someone might look inside.

“There’s a lot of laundry today.”

“Tell me about it. Everyone’s bringing clothes they want to wear for tomorrow’s festival too, so the amount doubled and I’ve been doing laundry all day. Things were so bad I had to send some out and only just got them back.”

An exhausted voice responded to the guard’s words.

“You didn’t bring anything strange from outside?”

“How could I? Do you know where this is?”

“Still, I need to check.”

They heard the guard’s footsteps approaching the laundry. He must have been quite large, as his heavy steps seemed to make the ground shake.

“Last year they say some rat-like thieves snuck into the temple and stole precious holy water. Can’t say it won’t happen again.”

As hands rummaged through the clothes, Larien held her breath and burrowed into Jayden’s arms. She felt like the rough hands with patchy hair might grab her at any moment.

“Why would anyone steal something so precious and risk the goddess’s curse? Tsk.”

At the genuinely puzzled response, the hand that was about to reach Jayden pulled back. Jayden stopped his motion to draw his sword.

“True. Well, maybe they had someone dying at home. Doesn’t look like you brought anything though. Go ahead.”

“Yes. Take care, soldier.”

The cart rattled as it crossed the threshold of the temple. Larien held Jayden’s hand and let out a big sigh of relief.

With only their eyes peeking out from between the clothes, they prepared to jump off at a deserted spot. Before that, they threw out a couple of priests’ robes that might come in handy.

They could wear them over their clothes after becoming human to make escaping easier.

Since the cart was still moving, albeit slowly, Jayden decided it would be more dangerous to jump while carrying Larien, so he held her hand as they leaped to the ground.

When Larien almost fell trying to brace herself, Jayden quickly pulled her into his arms, avoiding the disaster of scraping her knees.

“Are you okay?”

Though her knees were shaking, Larien immediately nodded, not wanting to be a burden to him anymore.

“Where do we go now?”

“Leo said underground, so we need to go down. We should head to the deepest part. And since he mentioned hot springs, the holy water should be where clean water flows. Larien?”

“Yes?”

“From now on, we need to be extra careful. Just taking the stairs is too risky of being discovered. I think following the water pipes would be safer. Since there’s warm water, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Though even with the candles we brought, it might be dark and the floor might be dirty.”

Jayden looked somewhat troubled, as if this might be too much for Larien, who had been treated preciously since her birth in the workshop.

Water pipes. Though she had never seen such a place, she could immediately imagine a dark and damp space as he described. But still, she was with Jayden.

“Let’s hurry. What’s there to be afraid of when you’re here?”

Larien deliberately pulled her lips up into a bright smile as she tugged on his arm. She didn’t forget to kiss him before heading into the dangerous place.

“I love you, Jayden.”

“I love you too.”

Jayden briefly kissed her forehead before hurrying their steps.

Finding the waterway was easier than expected.

Though small in stature, Jayden’s hearing was much more developed than humans’, making it easy for his particularly sharp ears to catch the sound of water.

The quickest path to the waterway was blocked by iron bars. Fortunately, since they are dolls, they could easily pass through the gaps. Noting they would need to find another way back after becoming human, they memorized the path they could see.

The moment they entered the dark waterway, he lit the candle he had brought in his bag. As he said, it wasn’t very bright but just enough to find their way.

Even Larien could easily distinguish between waste water and clean water.

Since waste water gave off a foul smell from far away, Larien, being more sensitive to scents than Jayden, could distinguish it from an almost supernatural distance.

“I can be useful here too.”

He let out a small laugh seeing Larien lift her head confidently.

They both became certain they were getting closer to the hot springs as they felt increasing warmth, and their tension gradually eased. The water gave off such a pleasant scent that even their stiff bodies began to relax.

Just as they were walking with relief that things were going more smoothly than worried, they came upon a wall blocking everything except where water was flowing out. Looking around, with no other entrance in sight, it seemed the only way was to swim through the underwater passage.

What should we do?

Larien, who had never swum in her life, turned pale watching the gushing water.

While she could do things like running or whatever else, swimming wasn’t something she could just decide to do. But with everything blocked off, they had to go through there.

Her chest tightened thinking she might prevent Jayden from going too.

‘Stupid Larien. You should have learned to swim in summer.’

She deeply regretted refusing when Anne had asked her to play in the water together.

Meanwhile, Jayden was taking off his shoes and coat, doing light stretches.

“Larien, you should leave everything here too except your pants and shirt. We’ll have to swim through there.”

“Jayden, I’m sorry. I can’t swim.”

Larien hung her head with an extremely apologetic face.

“I know.”

He replied simply, as if he had obviously known this much.

“What?”

“Just put your arms around my neck like now and don’t let go. I’ll tie us together with rope just in case. Even if you get separated from me, just hold your breath for a bit. I’ll definitely pull you back.”

While she was stunned, he removed her coat and wrapped rope around her waist, connecting it to his arm. After checking several times that the rope was secure, he carried Larien on his back again.

He carefully tucked her jeweled shoes inside his shirt, saying that while it didn’t matter if he went barefoot after crossing, she shouldn’t have to.

They decided to come back for the rest of their belongings after becoming human.

“Keep your eyes tightly shut. Hold your breath as long as you can. If you feel like you’re suffocating, pull the rope. Understood?”

“Y-yes…”

“I won’t lose you in the water. Don’t be afraid.”

“Okay!”

Though she felt terribly sorry that all she could do was answer while leaving everything to him, there was no time for such thoughts as she needed to stay completely alert.

Larien gritted her teeth and clung to him.

Splash.

With a sound that seemed like a waterfall to the two dolls but would only sound like a fist-sized stone dropping in water to human ears, Jayden, with Larien on his back, cut through the water and passed through the waterway.

Since it was winter, the outer water was frozen, making the current relatively slow.

Not wanting to be a hindrance to him who was swimming underwater, Larien remained completely still against him while holding her breath.

Though water entered her nose a couple of times, she endured the pain by thinking of a ballet’s climax when breathing becomes extremely difficult. She thought this was just a matter of not being able to breathe freely, compared to maintaining balance on tiptoes while doing multiple turns.