Karaf’s face turned pale and then twisted into a ferocious expression.

He flashed his red eyes and roared.

“It’s the minority! Chase the horse carrying Vanessa…!”

“…That won’t be so easy.”

Geb, who was hidden among the crowd, smirked and muttered.

They had taken positions at the monastery in advance for today, preparing to rescue Asha.

Since failure meant at least decapitation, a grave mission where a single mistake was not permitted, they had memorized the geography around the monastery so well that they could walk it with their eyes closed.

And Jackal had also received a map disguised as a dating place from them and had familiarized himself with the geography of the monastery while staying in the palace.

With Geb and Sosa at the center, they ignited smoke bombs simultaneously from all sides, and continuously sent signals with explosions and the screech of hawks so Asha and Jackal could safely escape.

Jackal ran, relying only on his hearing as he couldn’t see properly and his nose was numb.

Originally, the plan was to charge at Asha’s scent when the Ricaons set off the smoke bombs during the ceremony, forcibly put her on his back, and run away.

But thanks to Karaf’s unexpected goodwill, the situation resolved relatively easily.

The Cactus Knights aimed their arrows at him, but the crowd was dense and the view was obscured by smoke, so they couldn’t shoot hastily.

It was a situation where an ordinary person might get hit by an arrow by mistake.

Moreover, the Ricaons were all disguised in traditional imperial clothes, hiding among the civilians, making it difficult to distinguish the enemy.

The short Nazhi and Yuris disguised themselves as mother and son to obstruct the knights’ path.

Nazhi cried loudly as if scared, saying “boohoo,” and Yuris ran around the street like a madwoman, subtly blocking the knights’ paths.

Their reactions also caused the surrounding people to become more agitated, scattering in all directions.

It was enough to distract the knights.

Duran narrowed his eyes, watching Asha’s path with a hawk’s eye.

Asha leaned forward on the madly galloping horse, squinting through the smoke, her hair undone by the wind and flying wildly.

It was indeed an intense chase where they could hardly see an inch ahead.

But it was when they were about to escape the monastery.

As the crowd thinned a bit and the smoke cleared slightly, an arrow came flying from afar with a whoosh.

And at the same time, Shephy let out a scream like a dying horse.

“Shephy…!”

Asha was shocked to look down and see the arrow embedded just above the hip, blood pouring out.

But Shephy didn’t stop running, even as she gasped for breath.
Geb’s hawk let out a high and long cry, piercing the smoke and soaring into the sky.

Following the hawk, Shepi headed straight for the desolate mountain road, weaving through the dense trees and into the deeper mountains so that the knights could not easily follow.

After running for a long time to completely shake off the pursuit, Shepi finally stopped when he arrived at a deep cave.

Breathing heavily, as if about to die at any moment, and with his vision dimming, having run at full speed with an injured body.

“Shepi…!”

Asha quickly dismounted, took off Shepi’s bridle and saddle, and forcibly dragged him into the cave, laying him down on the floor.

Shepi’s body, soaked with cold sweat and exhaustion, trembled violently. From his nostrils came an incessant ‘whoosh, whoosh’ sound of labored breathing.

Asha, with tears in her eyes and trembling hands, could not bear to touch Shepi’s painful body and mumbled,

“Why did you do that, Shepi…? Why…? Huh? Did you want to take me out of the palace? Were you worried that I would be unhappy there…?”

At her words, Shepi exhaled his ragged breath, faintly opened his eyes, and looked at her.

Her face, looking at me, seemed so incredibly sad, as if the world had collapsed…

Asha buried her face in Shepi’s neck and choked back tears.

“You can’t die… If Shepi dies, I will die too.”

At her words, Jackal closed his eyes again. Tears welled in his eyes as well.

Asha, without hesitation, tore her precious new dress into pieces.

In carefully examining Shepi’s body to cover his wounds, she found a sharp arrowhead still embedded in his flank.

She couldn’t believe that he had run so fast carrying her on his back with such a body.

Asha’s eyes quivered, but she soon gathered herself and said,

“Shepi, it will hurt a lot. But you have to endure it, okay? I’ll make it stop hurting soon.”

Asha grabbed the arrow with both hands, took a deep breath, and pulled it out of the body.

Shepi’s body jolted violently, and a high scream echoed through the cave.

Asha quickly covered the wound with torn pieces of the dress, and tightly hugged Shepi’s body writhing in pain so the wound would not widen.

The many layers of the torn dress soaked with blood quickly, spreading even to Asha’s dress.

Shepi, who had been breathing roughly in her arms, soon couldn’t overcome the pain and closed his dull eyes.

“Shepi…? Shepi…!”

Asha, in shock, clasped the horse’s face with both hands, but Shepi had already lost consciousness.

She, not knowing what to do, darted outside.

In her panic, it seemed as if everything around her was spinning.