Her mouth and eyes were sealed, and her wrists and ankles were bound as she was transported somewhere. The hard floor, damp smell, and the sound of movement suggested it was a carriage.

Ariana was tightly wrapped in a thick blanket, making it difficult to breathe. Packages hidden for disguise rolled around, hitting Ariana as they passed.

“They plan to escape the city gates disguised as merchants. Seo Jee-hoo is indeed meticulous.”

Rachel wouldn’t have sent the assassins; it was too risky an act that could lead to international problems. Only Seo Jee-hoo was audacious enough to commit such an act.

“The assassins Seo Jee-hoo sent seem to work in groups.”

“First, they’d make a commotion outside to separate me from the escort knights and deal with him. Capturing me alone would then be easy.”

Ariana sighed deeply.

“I haven’t even proven myself yet, and this happens…”

One of the family’s escort knights was killed, and Isabelle almost lost her life. Even if they expelled her for being a nuisance, she couldn’t argue.

Her heart felt heavy. Though she had been cautious, it seemed futile. However, she braced herself.

“I expected this.”

Cyrus, who usually appeared to help her out in situations like this, was likely in the Northern Territory by now. But she had a few tricks she’d learned from him.

“Since your life doesn’t seem to be smooth sailing, I’ll teach you an easy way to escape if you ever get kidnapped.”

His lazy tone came to mind, and despite the situation, she found herself smiling. As his arrogant gaze came to mind, it felt as if her drained strength was returning.

“If you faint before being tied up, it’s useless. If you can’t avoid being captured, at least keep your wits about you. It makes escaping easier.”

Ariana felt the ropes around her palm.

When they were tying her up, she had curled the end of the rope into a loop and clenched it, as taught by Cyrus. Fortunately, they were in a hurry and didn’t notice her tampering with the ropes.

“Hurry, we have to leave before the city gates close.”

Hearing the noise from outside the carriage, Ariana loosened her grip on the rope. Twisting her wrists, the once-tight rope loosened.

Though the rough rope scraped her wrists, causing wounds, she gritted her teeth and freed her wrists.
‘I have to escape before leaving the castle gates.’

With her freed hands, she removed the blindfold and untied the gag in her mouth.

Next, she tried to untie the ropes binding her ankles, but they were tied too tightly, making it harder in the dark, jostling space.

Even as she struggled to untie the rope knots, the carriage continued to move.

‘At this rate, I’ll leave the castle gates.’

Once she left the castle gates, even if she escaped from the carriage, she could not hope for a helping hand. She couldn’t even remove the cover of the carriage and scream for help.

‘If I scream here, they’ll kill me and run away before anyone comes to help.’

So she had to leave the carriage in a state where she could escape on her own.

Suddenly, she remembered they hadn’t frisked her. The situation must have been urgent; they put Ariana into the carriage without searching her body.

‘Ah, yes. I have that.’

On her way to Dongryeong, she had bought a few small daggers to hide on her body, preparing for situations like today.

The assassins probably let their guard down, thinking Ariana had only one dagger.

The small dagger hidden in the voluminous pocket of her skirt was palm-sized but sharp enough to cut the rope. Ariana pushed aside the blanket wrapping her body and crawled to the seam of the carriage cover.

Peering through a small gap, she saw they were still within the city. The area seemed to have fewer buildings, beyond the bustling streets.

‘Did Isabel seek help?’

Isabel, being a vassal of Earl White, would have knights at her disposal.

‘There must be at least five assassins.’

The one who caused the explosion, three who entered the shop, and one who prepared the carriage. At the very least, five.

‘Even though it was a sudden attack, they easily overpowered the White family’s escort knights. They must be highly skilled. They’ll quickly notice if I jump out of the carriage.’

So she had to escape where people capable of handling these assassins were. There would be guards at each gatehouse.

‘Aberster said to report to the gatehouse if I needed help. That means not just regular soldiers but knights are also stationed there.’

Thus, the moment to escape would be as she neared the gate.

Ariana cut the rope tied to the seam of the carriage cover with her dagger, preparing to escape at any moment while keeping watch outside.

After what felt like an eternity to Ariana, she heard the voice of the assassin driving the carriage.

“Why are there knights… Has word reached them already?”

“No way. Even if the runaway girl was fast, the knights would only just be starting to move.”

“Stay calm. Dongryeong is not a city under tight scrutiny by merchants. If we don’t act suspiciously, we’ll easily slip away.”

“Right, we’ll look more suspicious if we beat around the bush here.”

The carriage was moving slower than before but continued to move.

After counting to three in her mind, Ariana pushed aside the carriage cover and jumped out.