Diana desperately clutched the doorknob and shook it, but she couldn’t do it forcefully.

As she was sweating and worrying, suddenly a leaf slid down her shoulder and nimbly spread its body near her hand.

‘What are you doing?’

As if mocking her suspicion, the leaf easily pushed its body into the gap of the door.

Tada! Frustrated by its proud posture, she patted her chest urging it to open quickly. The leaf curled up in surprise and then, click, turned the doorknob.

“Phew, well done. Now… the key…! Try to find the key too.”

Diana opened the drawer of her father’s office.

‘In the original story, Raoul definitely said he found it in the drawer, didn’t he?’

Even after searching through all three drawers, there was no sign of the key.

As she was racking her brain trying to recall the details, this time the leaf hopped to the side edge of the desk.

Tap.

‘Why is it stuck there?’

When she pulled out where the leaf was stuck, she felt a long gap at the corner of the desk.

‘Could it be…?’

Swish.

Like the container that holds utensils in a restaurant, the entire bottom of the desk was a drawer.

When she pulled out the paper documents, a small box was visible inside.

Diana found a shiny key inside and let out an internal scream.

‘Kyaaaa! I did it…!’

The joy of discovery was short-lived as she checked the position of the moon. The full moon was already setting over the western mountains…!

‘This can’t be.’

It was the moment she turned her back without delay to climb the tree outside the terrace again.

‘Oh right…!’

The branch had broken, and there was no way to cross over to the opposite tree anymore.

She had no choice but to aim for the corridor window, but at the end of the corridor, a guard with a torch was approaching the office.

‘This is bad…!’

She quickly hid her body inside the office and racked her brain.

‘How can I get out?’

Raoul was a lycan who could easily jump from two stories high, but Diana was in the body of a young human where such a fall would be fatal.

It was at that moment when Diana was desperately trying to come up with a solution.

Suddenly, such a thought occurred to her.

‘Come to think of it, how has Father been moving to the annex all this time?’

Even looking back at the original story, there was never any mention of the Duke heading to the annex to access the underground prison.

Diana looked around.

A bookshelf packed with books.

‘I’ve seen this somewhere before.’

She started pulling books at random, relying on her instincts.

‘Usually, when you pull a book, a door opens…!’

That’s when a familiar name caught her eye.

For M.

‘M… Could it be Princess Mirabel…?’

As Diana pulled out the book as if in a trance, with a clanking sound, the bookshelf began to move.

‘It, it opened…!’

Without time to hesitate, she hurriedly jumped down.

Now, all she could do was hope that this path would lead to the underground prison of the annex.

After descending the winding stairs that were wider and longer than expected for quite some time, she finally found the iron door leading to the prison.

‘At this depth, no one would be able to hear even if someone screamed from below.’

Thinking about how much the young child who had been confined there for nearly two weeks must have suffered, even the hatred and resentment she had felt in her previous life now felt so regretful.

‘Yes, this time I’ll save you…’

Diana urgently opened the door with a feeling of atonement.

Creeeeak.

The iron door, much heavier than expected, opened little by little, making an unpleasant metallic sound.

As Diana entered, pushing the door with her whole body, she saw the figure of a small girl in the distance, flinching inside the iron bars.

Even from afar, she shone white like a pearl in the darkness.

Diana approached her slowly, as if enchanted by her beauty.

“Oh my…”

This exclamation was truly the only reaction that came out, excluding any other response.

Ayla, seen up close, looked like an angel imprisoned by a demon.

Her golden eyes, filled with tears, shone like jewels, and her curly red hair that fell to her waist looked as soft as silk.

She looked as white and lovely as a porcelain doll, a beauty so exquisite that one would want to always keep her close for fear someone might kidnap her.

As Diana took a step closer to explain the situation to her, Ayla retreated like a frightened deer.

‘I’m here to help…!’

Diana greeted her in the gentlest voice possible to calm her down.

“…Hello…? Are you Ayla?”

The frightened eyes sparkled transparently.

“You know me…?”

“Yes. I’m here to help you. Don’t be afraid.”

Ayla hesitated for a moment, then approached the iron bars.

As Diana stared at her blankly, momentarily at a loss for words, Ayla fluttered her eyelashes and hid her body back in the darkness.

“…Is the Duke conducting some strange experiment to punish me?”

“No, that’s not possible…!”

Ayla seemed unable to trust Diana, who had come down from the office.

As she was wondering how to explain, the leaf suddenly bounced onto her shoulder.

“You! You’re the one I sent?”

“That’s right! Can you recognize it? I followed this leaf!”

Ayla finally approached the bars, her face brightening.

“Oh my. It wasn’t a useless effort after all. But why did you come only now? It’s been so long since I sent that…”

“I’m sorry. I got lost for a while trying to find the entrance.”

“It’s okay… Instead, I made a good friend.”

She must be talking about Raoul. Diana nodded casually, pretending to be nonchalant, and raised the key.

“Let’s go… I’ll get you out.”

“No…! How did you get the key?”

“That’s difficult to explain right now. We don’t have time, we need to escape first.”

“Wait! I can’t leave right away. If I just disappear, my friend will think something terrible has happened to me.”

“…Is your friend’s name Raoul by any chance?”

“Raoul…?”

“A boy with gray hair and blue eyes…”

“That’s right. You know him too…?”

“Yes! I’m Raoul’s friend…!”

“…Then where is he now? Why did you come instead of Raoul…?”

‘If I say I don’t know where he is, she definitely won’t leave.’

Diana had no choice but to make up a story.

“Right now, Raoul is distracting the guards. We need to get out while we have the chance!”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll go help him too…”

“I want to go too! If Raoul is in danger, he’s surely waiting for me!”

“That’s not possible! You need to escape during this time…! I’ll pass on your regards. Surely there will come a day when you’ll meet again.”

“No… no. Raoul…”

Ayla’s eyes became moist with tears. Diana felt like she was committing a great sin, but now was not the time to dwell on such things.

“Let’s go now!”

She unlocked the padlock and pulled Ayla out of the iron cage.

Next was the turn to set fire to the annex with a torch.

Diana, who had escaped from the annex, sent the leaf through the rattling window. The bedroom door opened, and she threw fire inside the building.

Perhaps because it was an old wooden building, the fire caught very quickly.

The two waited for a moment, and when they heard people murmuring, they finally started to move.

They could only hope that it would draw attention long enough for them to move into the forest.

Their destination was the castle wall near the slave camp.

‘In the original story, there was definitely a small hole underneath for slaves to escape… Ayla is a rare elf with immunity to curses, so she should be able to escape without any problem.’

It was then, as Diana was holding her hand and passing through the grass near the camp.

“Th-there…!”

“Shh!”

Soldiers who should have rushed to the annex were seen slacking off near the camp.

‘Has the fire in the annex not spread widely yet?’

Diana bit her lip like someone who had encountered a great mishap.

“Ayla, I’ll draw their attention, so you run straight ahead…! Understand?”

Diana ran into the forest without waiting for an answer.

Sure enough, the soldiers were startled and began to chase after Diana.

Without even a chance to properly see what happened to Ayla, Diana ran far, far away.

It was the first time she had come this deep into the forest.

Judging by the small swamp nearby, it was likely a habitat for small magical beasts.

As she caught her breath hiding behind a tree, she heard a scout who hadn’t given up muttering curses softly.

“Damn… Just my luck. Judging by the footprints, it seems like a child. Who on earth is it?”

“All the slaves have been transported, and was there such a young one among the servants?”

It was at that moment when one of them discovered the hem of Diana’s skirt sticking out near the tree where she was hiding and was about to speak.

Grooooaaaaar!

The man fell to the ground with a terrible scream. The sound continued twice.

‘What in the world…’

She peeked out at the dreadful cry and froze on the spot.

A monster that seemed at least 2 meters tall was standing with its claws raised, its maw covered in blood.

‘…No way…’

It was a high-level magical beast, a Lizardman.

‘Why…! Why… in a place like this…?’

As she trembled and held her breath trying not to be discovered, she heard a voice calling for Diana from afar.

“I can’t leave without you! Come out quickly!”

Who, ah, Ayla?! Ayla, who should have already escaped, had come into the forest looking for Diana.

‘Why on earth?!’

The Lizardman’s eyes gleamed brightly. It was targeting Ayla…!