Chapter 69
And then came to mind those eyes, as if emptied, flickering out.
Mr. Lawrence, who could not overcome his illness.
Sir Arthur, shot and killed.
The nameless knight, his neck snapped.
Even Happy, who died for no reason at all.
Those hollow gazes flashed past her one after another, like a revolving lantern.
But that was not the only strange thing.
Rain was falling from a clear sky. This was a sign that Hunter was near.
“Name.”
Yes, Hunter had certainly asked her name that day.
“If you tell me, I’ll give this to you.”
The first time they met, when he held Lucky out toward her, he had asked for only one thing.
Her name.
“…Prina.”
The moment she told him her name.
“My name is Prina.”
She had become his prey instead of Lucky. She had traded the life of the poor rabbit for her own name.
The instant she realized this, every hair on her body bristled upright.
“It’s alright. Get up, Prina.”
Then once again Lucky’s voice came to her.
She had exchanged her life for that rabbit.
A strange light gleamed in Prina’s eyes.
Lucky had not run away. He only stood there, watching her, his eyes glowing.
Prina, gasping for breath, strained to listen to Lucky’s words.
“I know the way. This is my burrow, and my home, isn’t it?”
Lucky. Could you really help her?
“Of course. You saved me, so I have to save you too. I may not be your happiness, but I am the last bit of luck you have left.”
Trust me, just follow me.
I will save you, Lucky declared firmly.
“I’ll guide you to paradise. To the place you’ve always dreamed of, Prina.”
The boundary between reality and illusion crumbled.
It was a bizarre, impossible, surreal situation, and yet it did not feel strange.
Lucky’s voice felt like the only rope that could save her life.
Perhaps it was not Lucky at all… but the voice of God. Prina felt instinctively that believing in that voice was the right thing to do.
It was a blind faith.
“Let’s get out of this hellish forest together.”
Lucky spoke clearly.
“Let’s go to our home together.”
Let’s go. Our home.
She did not know where that was, but one thing was certain. It was not this forest.
With her palms raw and bloody, Prina pushed herself up and began running once again in the direction Lucky led. Her legs trembled, her vision flickered as if it would go dark at any moment.
She had long since lost her sense of direction. The path through the forest had broken off, leaving only slopes. No, perhaps there had never been a real path at all.
She forced her way through the thick undergrowth, walking, running, running again. The black forest felt like the belly of a monster that had already swallowed her whole. Even so, she followed Lucky.
Her soles were numb. Every breath hurt, as though her chest had been beaten with a hammer. Still, she ran along the path led by the small rabbit she had saved with her own life. To find a home. To return to the place where they had first met.
How long had she run? Slowly, the heavy fog thinned, and the sky began to open.
When she saw a stream of light in the distance, Prina gathered the last of her strength and ran toward it.
* * *
At long last, Prina escaped the secret forest and reached the royal knights encamped nearby.
The knights recoiled in shock at the sudden appearance of a black-haired woman from the dark woods. But when they recognized her as Prina, they gently supported her.
Finally, she would be able to meet her father.
And she had escaped that place of living death.
But what washed over Prina was not relief alone. For some reason she could not name, a surge of emotion welled up inside her, so strong she could barely contain it. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed.
For one day, she stayed in the knights’ temporary outpost. A report was sent to the king, but they told her she could not return to the palace at once. The dead knight had said the same thing, and now she heard it again. It was because of the queen consort’s schemes against her had not yet been fully settled, so she had to remain hidden somewhere no one would know until things quieted down.
She heard the same words from another knight, so perhaps it was true. Prina decided not to think too deeply. There was nothing here she could judge for herself anyway.
In a way, she was relieved.
If she hid in a place no one could find, then even if Hunter realized she was gone, he would not be able to come for her easily. With both time and distance placed between them, little by little, he would fade away.
That was all she prayed for.
She only hoped he would not search the forest for her, but live safely in the mansion instead.
The last time she saw Hunter, he had been standing alone in the garden, by the vegetable patch. Remembering that sight filled her with a strange, distant feeling.
“Let us go, Princess.”
It was time to return to their places.
Her time with him ended, like a midsummer night’s dream, in such a fleeting and hollow way.
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