The horse seemed rather aggressive, and when I stood in its path, it became even more enraged. Its hooves were about to come down on me.

"Damn it, am I going to die again?"

The boy, noticing my presence under his horse's hooves, reacted and stopped the horse. I looked up, but the sunlight directly on the boy's face made it unclear to see his expression. I quickly got up from the ground and moved out of the crown prince's way. My hands were trembling slightly as I whispered in a broken voice,

"I apologize, Your Highness."

I lifted my head, hoping to see his face clearly, but what is this? Why is he staring at me like that? The boy's eyes were relatively wide, and he seemed worried about something. He paused and then opened his mouth after a while.

"Be careful."

With these words, spoken in a very dry tone, he passed by me. But to me, his tone seemed warmer than in the past.

-----

*Restless*

A day has passed, and I haven't been able to find anything to eat. I'm so hungry, but I can't find any non-poisonous plants. What should I do? I placed my hand on my stomach and sighed.

"God, what kind of injustice is this?"

At that moment, while searching for edible plants in the relatively wet dirt, the sound of horse hooves caught my attention. I quickly hid behind a large rock. I could clearly hear the voices of two unknown men laughing loudly.

"Still haven't found that kid?"

"No, not yet."

"He can't have gone far."

"I think his eyes must be dim by now."

*Loud laughter*

The two men slowly moved away from that place. I leaned against the rock and hugged my knees.

"That kid must be scared by now."

Anyway, it's none of my business. I shouldn't get involved in this game. I shrugged my shoulders and tried not to care. I got up from the ground and continued my work. Time passed, and it was nearing evening, and the weather was getting colder. With an empty stomach, I lay on the ground and stared at the sky.

"At this rate, I'll die."

I picked up a relatively wet stone from the ground and leaned against a tree. I threw the stone in an unspecified direction.

*Thud*

The stone was thrown at an unknown speed in the opposite direction.

*Rustle*

Someone was hiding behind the tree, but how did I not notice their presence? I slowly moved forward and pushed aside the leaves of the bushes. At that moment, a shiny object glinted in the last rays of the sun and came towards me.

*Gasp*

A sword? What... what is this?

I looked at the person holding the sword towards me and saw a boy with dirty clothes. His disheveled hair covered his eyes.

"Who are you?"

*Step*

Before I could answer, the sound of footsteps reached my ears.

"This is bad, this is really bad. If they see me with the crown prince, they'll kill me too. Ahhh!"

I grabbed the boy's wrist, who was holding the sword, and quickly forced him to run. The boy followed me without hesitation.

---