Chapter 67
If he left like this, it would be over.
“I came out looking for my cat and got lost. Please help me… so I can return home.”
The man, who had been silent for a while, looked at Floria’s tightly clenched fists before finally speaking.
“Where’s home?”
“Home is… the royal palace.”
“The royal palace?”
The man’s voice, which had been low and steady until now, rose slightly.
“When you say royal palace… which country’s royal palace do you mean?”
Which country?
Floria blinked, not understanding his question at first.
Was he asking which country—did that mean she had already crossed the border?
To the north of Altomole’s northern forest was the Principality of Sieff, and to the west, it bordered Kaluït.
She had run into the forest so frantically to find Fabian that she hadn’t even realized she might be near the border.
“I mean the royal palace of Altomole.”
Then the man in front of her must be a knight from another country.
Come to think of it, his outfit was quite different from the royal guards she usually saw at the palace.
He wore sturdier, more solid silver armor and a helmet. He might be a knight from Sieff or Kaluït.
If so, this was serious. A knight from a hostile nation wouldn’t simply let Floria go.
But then again…
Would a knight from Altomole be any different?
“The royal palace, huh. Judging by your appearance, you don’t look like a lady-in-waiting.”
The man raised a hand, seemingly to get a better look at her face.
Floria opened her mouth and answered his unspoken question.
“I am Floria, the third princess of Altomole.”
In her words, the man’s hand—halfway to removing his helmet—stopped, and he tilted his head.
“…What’s a princess doing in a forest like this?”
He seemed at a loss for words for a moment.
“A princess coming all the way into the depths of the forest to look for a cat—how troublesome.”
“…”
“That’s the kind of thing you send a servant to do.”
He sounded genuinely baffled, and his grumbling tone pricked at Floria’s conscience.
But she had to come herself. No one else cared about her cat. No—no one would care what happened to her at all.
How could she possibly say such things out loud? Floria bit her lip and lowered her head.
To him, it would just sound like meaningless chatter.
She felt like she might burst into tears before she could even explain properly.
Perhaps it was the man’s sudden appearance, but the resolve she had managed to hold on to until now was starting to crumble.
As Floria hung her head in silence, the man eventually stepped closer.
“Can you ride a horse?”
She nodded. At that moment, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
She took a deep breath to stop them from falling, and then he spoke.
“Don’t cry. I don’t know how to comfort a crying woman.”
Floria only nodded.
“I’ll take you wherever you want to go. You’ll be fine now. You won’t die.”
His rough comfort nearly made her burst into tears again.
“You’ll be fine now.”
Half-awake from sleep, Floria unconsciously repeated the words he had said in her dream.
“You’ll be fine now…”
A cool breeze blew through the cave, chilling the air.
Floria curled up tightly with baby deer Bella and the horse, Reus, pressing close to them.
Still not fully awake, she felt someone gently stroke her head.
It was a large, warm hand.
“You still get worked up so easily.”
At the man’s voice, Floria—still groggy—lifted her head.
When she forced open her heavy eyes, she saw the shadow of a man through her blurry vision.
She knew who it was without seeing his face.
That touch and that voice.
At some point, the rain had stopped, and sunlight had seeped into the cave, scattering the darkness.
“Aidan!”
Floria called his name and threw herself into his arms.
She couldn’t believe he was right in front of her.
But the solid presence of the man—so big she couldn’t even wrap her arms around him—was no dream.
His scent, brushing past her nose, warmed her body that had until moments ago been cold.
Aidan’s arms tightened firmly around her.
Unlike when he usually went out, he wasn’t wearing his military gear.
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