‘Miss Luna is not in her residence.’

Lucilius put down the document and stared at his butler. ‘Where did she go?’ he asked.

‘Her maid claimed that she doesn’t know. Miss Luna left with Elias last night and never came back,’ the butler replied.

Lucilius went silent. Did she run away?

He felt bad when he saw Luna walking out of his room sadly. It was a spur of the moment; he forgot that Luna had no idea how to use her healing power properly. It was like asking a baby to walk and scolding it when the baby couldn’t do so.

The books in his library surely had some archives about Healers. Healers had not emerged since the last five decades so he couldn’t find a mentor that could help her. But perhaps he could invite her to his library and monitor her training.

Lucilius huffed. ‘You may leave.’

The butler bowed deeply and left.

After completing more documents, he walked over to Ophiuchus and into her room, wanting to see for himself. Entering, the room smelled of peppermint. Helena had set the scented candles up every morning for her, even when she wasn’t there.

He walked over to the pile of books and parchment papers on her bedside table, arranged nicely by her maid.

Sirius: the Origin, Alshain: the Origin, A Complete Guide to the Art of Seduction, A Comprehensive Guide to Attracting Men, All About Hunting…

Lucilius frowned. The genres had no correlations to each other. He examined the parchment papers. 

The first one was a messy drawing of some houses, a straight line and on the other side of the line was lousily drawn trees. He kind of recognized the picture. It almost seemed like the Archibald Village and the Lorcan Forest. 

Why would she draw this?

There was a circle at the bottom of the line and then some arrows and small circles that looked like pebbles.

‘Your Majesty?’ 

There was a knock on the door.

‘Archer?’ Lucilius called, and as he expected, it was Archer who entered the room. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘A villager from Archibald Village is held hostage by the Alshain patrol officers,’ said Archer.

Lucilius quickly looked back at the paper. Then at Archer. ‘Why was he taken?’ he asked.

‘They said he trespassed.’

Lucilius hummed. So she went out for this?

‘I think you should go and have a look. They suspected the Crown Prince would come as well,’ Archer added.

‘Send Rena to scout Leonhardt and inform me if he’s making a move,’ said Lucilius.

‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ Archer replied with a bow. Then he raised his head. ‘Are you not going?’

‘I will. But wait until I get the affirmations that I need.’ He placed the paper back in its place and headed for the door. ‘For now, we’ll enjoy some tea at the teahouse. Do join me, Archer.’

***

Leonhardt didn’t let Luna hear the report, as he and the soldier walked a distance away to converse. Luna peeked outside the tent and made sure there was nobody else in the area.

Outside the marquee, there were several ground quivers filled with arrows lined by the side of the entrance. She scanned the surroundings and saw that there were thicker parts of the forest not far from where she was. A perfect location.

Making sure Leonhardt wasn’t around once again, she exited the camp and grabbed an arrow before running towards the trees.

Luna hid behind a big one, sat down and slid the shoulder part of her clothing down, and saw the bandages neatly wrapped. 

It’s so neat that if I meddle with it, he would know. She clicked her tongue. There was no time left to think—Leonhardt could be done anytime now.

***

‘Our patrol officers are still engaging with those from Sirius. It seems pretty serious although there are no casualties. As I reported yesterday, I think you should take a look at the scene.’

Leonhardt was silent. 

Not yet, he thought. A messy obstacle came—I can’t possibly ditch her.

‘I heard they sent a messenger to inform the Palace. If Sirius’ emperor arrives before us, we could be compromised. His magician is rumoured to be powerful.’

‘Inform me if they make a move,’ said Leonhardt. 

‘Yes, Your Highness,’ the soldier said with his head dropped. 

‘How about the stones?’ he asked.

‘Since last night, none of them came in. I have sent my men to investigate,’ the soldier replied.

‘Don’t take too long. If people find out about this it could be dangerous for us,’ said Leonhardt.

‘Yes, Your Highness.’

‘What about the hostage? Is he safe?’

‘Yes, we’re keeping him as healthy as possible and he’s obedient so it’s easy.’

‘Okay, keep me updated.’

‘Yes, Your Highness.’

‘You may leave,’ said Leonhardt. The soldier bowed and left in a hurry. The Crown Prince sighed deeply.

‘Things are getting rather troublesome,’ he muttered. Then his mind wandered to the young girl residing in his camp at the moment. 

It was quite a sketchy meeting to begin with. He had never missed a target, and he knew he did hit the deer he saw in a glimpse. But when he heard the scream, he saw her on the ground with his arrow in her shoulder, in a further distance than his target area. 

Leonhardt knew that he was not someone who was free from mistakes. The girl could’ve walked right in front of the deer mistakenly and got shot. He was genuinely apologetic and decided he should bring her back to his camp.

She had lost a lot of blood and passed out when he brought her back to his camp; didn’t even flinch when he treated her wound. She looked pitiful—and her story of her secret lover leaving her to go home alone from the forest bothered him. Who could be so inconsiderate? 

But then again, she could be a spy. All her stories could be fake, all her injuries could have been intentional; though she hadn’t shown any warning signs. Could she be trying to gain his trust before stealing information?

He realised he shouldn’t have left her alone for a long time so he headed back to the camp. When he entered, the bed was empty and she was nowhere to be found. Clicking his tongue, he ran to the large table and slid the drawer open. His belongings were still there. 

She didn’t touch anything. Then…?

Leonhardt went outside and searched for traces. Easily, the ground had vague imprints leading to a part of the forest. He followed the mark and it wasn’t long before he heard a faint squeal nearby. 

Walking around cautiously, he found her sitting behind a large tree with her bandages on her shoulder unwrapped and her wound bleeding profusely. 

‘My Lady!’ he exclaimed.

She turned to him with a gasp, perhaps not expecting him to be there. 

Leonhardt knelt and inspected her shoulder. ‘Did the wound reopen?’ he asked but through his eyes, the wound looked fresh. 

The girl didn’t reply—she was biting her sleeve to contain the pain. 

He didn’t say anything else and just brought her back to the camp.

***

I can’t believe the lengths I go to just to stay for one more night. I hate this world.

After Leonhardt treated the wound, he had forced her to sleep to recuperate and Luna didn’t argue. When she woke up, she found herself bundled up in a thick blanket, probably because it was night time so he didn’t want her to get cold.

There was no one in the marquee. Luna got off the bed and walked out. Leonhardt was sitting on a log, a stick in his hand as he meddled with the bonfire in front of him. The fire lit up was enough to warm him.

He heard her footsteps and turned to see. ‘Good evening,’ he said.

Luna mirrored his greeting in a mumble and took a seat next to him.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly.

‘Why did you stab yourself?’ he asked. ‘Do you really not want to go back home?’

‘They probably found out I was missing,’ Luna said. ‘And will probably find a family for me to marry into as soon as I go home, to restrain me.’

‘Do you think your parents know about Lucifer?’

‘Of course, they’re not dumb.’

They both went silent. Luna placed her folded arms on her knee and rested her chin on her arm, watching the fire crackling, trying its best to continue burning. 

‘I miss my mother,’ she murmured. ‘And the life I had before this.’

‘What was it like?’ he asked.

‘Not as chaotic as this.’ She turned to Leonhardt, the side of her face on her arm as she stared at him. ‘What about you?’ She asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Must be hard shouldering the nation’s problems,’ said Luna.

‘Ah, so you know who I am,’ he chuckled.

‘Pfft, of course. You’re the Crown Prince. How could I not know you?’

‘You could’ve taken advantage of the Crown Prince.’

‘I’m not that bad of a person,’ she said. ‘But if you have the ability to turn back time, perhaps I would exploit you.’

He let out a short laugh. 

‘You’re more of a mystery, my Lady,’ he said, casting a somewhat threatening glance at her.

Luna tittered. ‘I’m just an ordinary citizen who happened to trouble the Crown Prince. How dare I!’

Leonhardt erupted with laughter. ‘You’re overreacting,’ he said. ‘That’s a mere title.’

‘And richness, all right,’ Luna added. ‘Don’t be humble about these things. If I didn’t have a murderer at my tail, I would’ve gone on an adventure to find good-looking rich nobles!’

The Crown Prince laughed again, amused. ‘A murderer at your tail? You mean your parents?’ he asked.

‘My employer!!’ Luna corrected him and almost raged when she remembered the incident. ‘He just called me a joke the other day.’

‘You have a job?’

‘Ah, kind of. Some sort of a doctor,’ she replied—cursing at herself at her audacity to call herself a doctor. Medical students who studied for years would’ve thrown eggs at her for disrespecting their jobs.

‘Really?’ he said, then remembered something. ‘How well did I treat your wound, doctor?’

‘Full marks!’ Luna grinned. ‘I’ll give you a star-shaped sticker to put on your exercise books!’

The two burst into laughter, barely able to catch their breaths.

‘Anyway.’ Luna regained her composure—face flushed from all the laughing. ‘Thank you for helping me. I must’ve been one disobedient lady ever. It was also nice meeting you. You turned out to be a nicer person than I thought.’

‘What? You thought I would leave you to bleed to death in the forest?’

‘Well, I know someone who might,’ she said. 

‘You mean your secret lover?’

Luna snorted, earning a grin from the blonde.

‘You should head to bed, my Lady. You need more rest,’ said Leonhardt. ‘You should know that better than I do.’

‘Right,’ she said and stood up. Before she left, she didn’t forget to ask something that had been bothering her. ‘Which reminds me, where have you been sleeping while I sleep on your bed?’

Leonhardt thought for a moment then shook his head. ‘You don’t have to worry about it,’ he said.

Luna frowned. That is so suspicious.

***

Elias exhaled sharply. He and Hayes had been transporting the magic stones since two nights ago with minimal sleep. It was very exhausting—he charged his mana with carbohydrates and it was barely enough. After they were done, his next task was to retrieve Luna from Leonhardt. It was already the third night since she set out to distract the Prince.

He didn’t even know where she was, but seeing that the Crown Prince didn’t arrive at the border, she must have succeeded. He did think her ideas were crazy but everything was going well at that point. 

Elias sent Hayes home and went back to the mine for one last inspection before the final step. It was almost empty—Luna reminded him to leave some for Alshain. If anyone were to come in, they would probably think it was an ordinary cave with miraculously some magic stones. It would be enough for Alshain if they try to come in and take it.

After confirming everything, he thought of Luna and teleported to where she was. But his eyes widened when he saw what was right in front of his eyes. 

A bed. On it was Luna between a wall… 

And another man. 

She was sleeping soundly on her side facing the guy’s back, wrapped in a thick blanket up to her neck. The guy was lying on one side as well, facing away from her. 

He almost threw the man off the bed but narrowly stopped himself, knowing it was Leonhardt, the Crown Prince. Elias bit the tip of his tongue, not sure what he should do.

He didn’t have much time to think though—Leonhardt’s eyes suddenly fluttered open.

Elias quickly disappeared out of the marquee, hiding beside the tent, careful not to let anyone see him. 

Leonhardt got out of his shelter and at the same time, a soldier came running to him from a distance.

‘Your Highness, report!’ the soldier panted, as he halted in front of Leonhardt, head bowed.

‘Did they move?’ Leonhardt asked, his hand reaching for an arrow in the ground quiver next to the entrance.

‘They’re on their way!’ the soldier yelled. 

Leonhardt frowned. ‘Shh, not too loud,’ he muttered and glanced at the marquee.

The soldier gasped and bowed. ‘Forgive me, Your Highness.’

‘It’s alright,’ he said. ‘Where’s Ciaran?’

‘He’s already there.’

Leonhardt took one last look at the marquee and left with the soldier. Elias sighed in relief and went back inside.

‘Luna.’ He tapped her shoulder. She frowned and hummed.

‘Luna, His Majesty has been informed. We have to move,’ Elias added.

She opened her eyes, saw Elias and quickly sat up. ‘Is it time?’ she asked.

‘Yes, let’s go.’

They held hands and vanished into thin air.