Patricia hoped that the scissors would not stab the emperor’s neck or shoulder.

The emperor, who had climbed onto the bed, bent his right arm and raised his upper body diagonally, looking at her face in the darkness. He took the end of her curly hair, brought it to his nose, and smelled the scent.

“Patricia… Good night, my princess.”

The emperor lowered the pillow placed at the head of the bed and lay straight beside her.

Thump, thump, thump.

‘What are you doing now? Are you in your right mind? Why are you lying here, saying you’ll sleep next to me?’

Her heart was pounding. And the emperor naturally called her name. My princess, he said. Patricia couldn’t get up, pretending to be asleep.

If she stimulated him and caused an unexpected event, it would disrupt the plan. She slightly turned her head as if she were half asleep.

The emperor lay straight, exhaling steady breaths. His breath smelled of almonds and the scent of a cigar, like burning dry wood.

After a little more time passed, a subtle scent of bergamot spread.

It was a scent reminiscent of an early morning forest.

She touched her ear, recalling what he had just said.

Patricia, good night, my princess.

The low baritone voice surged into her chest like waves. Did he come to her bedside while she was asleep and greet her with courtesy?

I’m not your princess, but I’ll forgive your rudeness so far, Emperor Karsik.

The darkness settled in the cozy room signaled the middle of the night. Patricia gauged the time.

She put her hand under the pillow, gripping the scissors, and observed the emperor’s movements. Listening to his steady breathing, she moved nimbly in the darkness.

She took the scissors out from under the pillow. Lying down, she curled up her body and used the scissors to cut the leather near her ankle.

She took out the pants hidden in the bed sheet and put them on. She wrapped the leather string around her arms using her hands and elbows, then moved close to the bed post and cut it.

After completing all the final preparations, she smoothed the bed sheet with her hand to remove any wrinkles. She looked at the emperor’s face lying straight in the darkness, then quickly turned her head away.

His handsome appearance with distinct features stood out and shone even in the darkness.

‘Let’s not meet again, Harchen. Adios.’

Patricia tightly tied the leather string to the scissors and went to the window. She stood between the window and the curtain.

She carefully and slowly opened the window to let the wind in gradually. After gauging the void in the darkness, she stuck the scissors between the window’s iron and cement.

She nimbly climbed onto the window frame.

Grabbing the leather string, she jumped out in an instant.

For her, jumping from this height with just a rope was nothing.

On days when she went to meet Patrick, she would climb down a rope from the west tower to avoid the knights monitoring the detached palace.

In the words of her nanny Eva, the moment her heart sank, her feet touched the ground.

Landing.

Patricia had already looked during the day and went under the pipe tree where she had marked an arrow in the picture sent through the eagle. She leaned against the wooden pillar and felt around with her feet.

Thud, she found a canvas bag caught on her foot and unfolded it. She applied sulfur, which water snakes dislike, to her hair, shoulders, waist, and legs.

She focused on the area near the north watchtower, 120 degrees in four directions centered around the main building of the castle. Before long, she spotted a white eagle perched on the castle wall.

‘Bree.’

The white eagle flew up from the wall and circled widely in the sky.

One circle, two circles, three circles.

Thump, thump, thump.

Someone knocked on the castle gate. The soldier at the north watchtower walked towards the gate.

Patricia quickly ran down towards the moat. She jumped into the black water.

She was confident in diving and swimming. Even though it was early summer, the temperature of the moat connected to the valley where glaciers melted was so cold that her body felt frozen.

Her teeth chattered involuntarily, making a clacking sound.

“Who is it?”

“I am from the Heun tribe and came after hearing the news that you are looking for servants.”

“Why did you come so late at night?”

“As I was walking, night fell without me realizing and I got lost.”

Splash, splash.

Patricia crossed the moat and entered the shrub forest.

She looked at the spot where the white eagle had perched under the yew tree. A rope was hanging down the castle wall.

Patricia pulled the rope. After confirming it was secure, she quickly grabbed the rope and climbed up the castle wall.

At the top of the wall, she tied the rope around the iron bars, then pressed her feet against the wall and slid down. At the end, she let go of the rope and jumped off.

For a moment, silence.

It was a still night without a breath of wind. Perfect.

“My lord, are you hurt anywhere?”

“Let’s go, Eden.”

Patricia took the reins that Eden was holding and mounted the black horse. As she started to ride, the white eagle that had been flying in the sky came down and perched on Patricia’s shoulder.

“Well done, Bree.”

Patricia turned her head and gave a bird kiss to the yellow beak of the white eagle.

Eden, who was riding close to Patricia, leaned towards her and said,

“My lord, what about me? I did well too, don’t I get anything?”

“You seem to be in a good mood, Sir Eden. And why am I your lord? Your lord is Patrick.”

“Hahaha, congratulations on making it out alive.”

“Hurry.”

The two black war horses swiftly and fiercely rode through the night air. The moonlight flowed down, brightly illuminating the way.

.

.

.

The early summer dawn breeze came in.

Cheerful birdsong, as if mistaking it for a forest military camp, confused Harchen’s ears. Thinking that the birdsong sounded too excessive, Harchen opened his eyes.

Light passing through the curtains entered his forehead, temples, and eyes.

The ancient castle, imbued with centuries of tradition, used rough raw stones for both the outer and inner walls.

Small pebbles were used to fill the gaps between the raw stones, blocking light and sound, and allowing cold air to flow even in midsummer. All the windows in the castle had double curtains.

But this light and birdsong passing through without filtration…

Harchen sat up on the bed.

He was thirsty. He reached out to the nightstand, picked up the glass of water, and gulped it down. After putting down the glass, he turned his body and stretched out his arm, then widened his eyes.

“Princess?”

At the same time, he sat up. He pulled back the blanket with a snap.

It was empty.

The curtains fluttered in the wind coming through the open window.

Only the shackles hung from the cut end of the leather strap under the bed post. He pulled the rope.

“Your Majesty, did you sleep well…”

The butler, who entered the bedroom to greet him, did not finish his sentence and went to the window. Scissors tied with a leather string were stuck between the iron and cement of the window.

“Your Majesty! Could it be… the princess?”

“Call Calip.”

Harchen went and stood by the window. The morning sunlight illuminated the clean castle walls.

Two soldiers deployed at each watchtower secured their sight in different directions. The drawbridge was raised and the water level in the moat was also at its maximum, just right. Venomous water snakes were released into the moat.

Even for a robust knight, the width was too wide to swim while avoiding the venomous snakes.

Climbing up that high wall.

Harchen could not imagine the princess climbing the high castle wall.

Patricia.

He gritted his teeth as he raised his sharp eyes. The attendant brought a black gown and dressed the emperor.

“Prepare Khan.”

“Call Lean and Bern.”

“Also bring the two maids who were watching the princess yesterday.”

Crunch.

Harchen, who was grinding his teeth and narrowing his eyes with a frown, took off the gown, threw it away, and quickly put on his clothes.

He immediately instructed Lean, who came running and knelt down, to investigate the guard soldiers and inside and outside the castle gate.

“Bern, check the moat, the surrounding grass, and the castle walls to find the escape route.”

“Yes, sir.”

The two maids from the Heun tribe greeted him politely, enunciating each word.

“The princess cut this rope and escaped through the window. Recall every single action of the princess yesterday.”

The two maids lay on the floor and recalled their memories sporadically.

“The princess sat at Your Majesty’s desk, read books, and drew pictures.”

“What kind of pictures?”

“The scenery you see over there. She drew things like the high castle walls, moat, and trees.”

“And?”

“She gave chicken dishes to a terrifyingly large eagle with a yellow beak.”

“…Sigh, an eagle, you say?”

“Yes, she told us to call the eagle, but no matter how much we blew, we couldn’t make the proper sound. Thinking about it now, the eagle seems to have responded to the princess’s second whistle and came down to the window.”

Crunch. Harchen’s steep and narrow jaw twisted as he gritted his teeth.

“Also, that. She told us to bring something to do and do it, so…”

One quick-witted maid confirmed that the scissors with the leather strap the emperor was holding were hers, and she was so shocked that she couldn’t finish her words and trembled pale.

The other maid, with her head on the ground, didn’t see the scissors and spoke without reading the situation.

“She begged us to make her pants, so we made them for her, and the princess wore the pants and danced beautifully.”

That maid recalled the princess’s cute appearance and even chuckled, shaking.

There was an accomplice. Must be a boy. The boy who knows the princess’s secret, didn’t they say he was the deputy commander? Giving orders for the operation through the eagle.

When he thought of the deputy commander without a face or form, the veins in his neck thickened with a different kind of jealousy and anger.

He had never experienced such intense anger in his life. His blood vessels swelled tightly.

Harchen glared at the scissors wrapped tightly in leather and roughly threw them on the floor.

Ha, she planned the escape route and danced excitedly. So my kiss was half-hearted… like a passing breeze!

“This is infuriating.”

The emperor wore combat gear and armor pauldrons over his black uniform.

He went down to the first floor.

When he climbed these stairs yesterday, his heart felt so full that it seemed like it would fly away.

He thought his heart would burst at the thought of meeting the princess soon and clearing up the misunderstanding, recalling the kiss on the academy terrace.

It wasn’t that he had surprised her with a kiss, but that the princess, who had fainted and was suffocating, initiated the kiss to breathe.

In the midst of that, he also thought that he should wash his body drenched in sweat.

He was swept away by an inexplicable sensation. She was the leader of the enemy forces who broke the peace treaty and invaded, a prisoner who should be locked up in the underground prison.

But why did he feel this way? Strangely, he wanted to tie the prisoner next to him. He wanted to grab her as he pleased.

The butler, who was standing at attention at the bottom of the stairs, knew that the emperor was in a bad mood, but he bowed politely and said,

“Your Majesty, it would be best if you had a meal, even if it’s simple…”

Harchen glared at the butler coldly without answering and went outside.

Calip, who was saddling the warhorse, saw the emperor walking towards him, gritting his teeth. The emperor’s face, sharpened by the morning light, was chillingly cold with rage, but he was startled. Even as a man, he couldn’t take his eyes off him.

Calip knew this wasn’t the time, but he thought his lord looked captivating and suited the cruel expression he had when angry.

As the emperor mounted the warhorse Khan, he said to Calip,

“We’re going to the Red Forest, the Tane military camp.”

“In the Red Forest…”

They must have withdrawn. Calip couldn’t bring himself to say the rest.

“Let’s go catch her.”