The forest surrounding the road to Raumliveria was dense and ancient. Sunbeams pierced the thick canopy of leaves, painting intricate patterns on the ground. Yujin slightly opened the carriage window, letting in fresh air filled with the scent of pine and moss. His fingers nervously fidgeted with the hem of his dark green traveling shirt.

"What will he be like... my prospective groom?" he mouthed silently.

He had pondered this many times, already scolding himself for constantly revolving these thoughts in his head, but he couldn't help it. He imagined a young dandy, crude and cold, who had only agreed to this marriage for political reasons. And then... then those eyes surfaced in his imagination again—violet, like the petals of a royal violet, and those hands that had held him so firmly by the river.

"If only it were him..." Yujin fell silent, giving a sad smile.

His heart raced at the thought of him, and Yujin turned to the window, trying to distract himself. Spotting a songbird with bright blue feathers in the branches, he couldn't help but smile.

"See? That's an azure-breasted wood-whistler!" he exclaimed, momentarily forgetting his predicament. The guards riding alongside his carriage exchanged glances. One of them, a gray-haired man with a scar across his eyebrow, nodded approvingly:

"Our prince and princess are tough nuts. No complaints, no whims."

His partner grunted in response, casting a glance ahead where Philimona was prancing on a black stallion.

Philimona felt unexpectedly... alive. The wind tousled her short-cropped hair, and the men's servant outfit she had changed into allowed her to move freely, without suffocating corsets and multi-layered skirts.

Philimona was having an inner dialogue with herself. *This spineless brother of mine. How will he manage? He'll blush, stumble over his words, and that'll be it—negotiations over! He has no charm whatsoever! The first prince of Raumliveria will simply be horrified and rescind the offer!* Philimona tightened the reins, imagining the groom—undoubtedly arrogant and spoiled—rejecting her plain, foolish brother at first sight.

"But, if he were to look at me..." Philimona's full lips curled into a coquettish smile on their own. A picture formed in her mind's eye: the Prince of Raumliveria, enchanted by her courage and beauty, writing her letters, gifting her lands and jewels, and she...

"And I will graciously allow him to sigh for me. For the good of the kingdom, of course."

And she let out a theatrical sigh, catching the admiring glances of the guards.

They had been traveling for several days and were all thoroughly weary. Though neither Yujin nor Philimona had uttered a word of complaint. And now—forest again. Dense, seemingly impassable.

The sun was already setting, painting the tree trunks in blood-red hues, when a sharp whistle came from the thicket.

"Bandits!" shouted one of the guards, and at that same moment, a dozen armed men with faces twisted by malice poured out from behind the trees.

A skirmish ensued. Swords clanged, arrows whistled through the air, and Yujin, pressed against the carriage wall, watched the unfolding scene in horror through the window. On one of the bandits, a bright blue scarf flashed, and splashes of blood flew.

"There are too few of us!" someone cried.

And then a second wave of attackers emerged from the forest—even more of them, even angrier.

Yujin's heart sank. He laughed. *Well, that's it. I'll die here, without even reaching... So it really was a trap by the calculating Prince of Raumliveria?* Yujin should have been upset, angry, but he could only think of that beautiful, strong young man with violet eyes whom he would never see again in this life.

And suddenly—a sound. Loud, clear, the blast of a war horn.

From around the bend rode horsemen in purple cloaks—warriors of Raumliveria! Their blades cut through the air with lethal precision. The bandits wavered, then fled, leaving the wounded and dead behind.

It was all over in an instant. The Raumliverian delegation had met them.

When the storm had passed and their hearts had stopped pounding wildly, one of the Fitasentian advisors, his gray eyebrows furrowed, spoke gloomily:

"And what if this was a trap?"

"Exactly! What if they staged it!" chimed in the second, wiping sweat from his brow. "They wanted to kill us!"

One of the Raumliverian warriors, a tall brunette with mocking eyes, snorted:

"If we wanted you dead, we simply wouldn't have come. Why save those you intend to kill?"

The delegation froze in awkward silence. Philimona, still trembling from adrenaline, turned sharply to her brother:

"At least smile, you idiot! Say something! You represent our country!"

But Yujin wasn't listening to her.

They set off again. The carriage, now surrounded by Raumliverian guards, rolled slowly along the road leading to the palace's main gates. Yujin looked at the city that unfolded before them.

And the city glittered.

The castle's white towers pierced the sky like spears. The streets were paved with smooth stone, and people walked them—strong, stately, with proud bearing. Warriors in purple cloaks, ladies in patterned corsets, merchants with exotic goods—everything breathed power and wealth.

"Gods..." Yujin whispered in awe.

He saw new plants in pots by the roadside—scarlet, thorny flowers that didn't exist in Fitasentia. He heard the cries of unfamiliar birds from rooftops. He smelled spices he had never tasted. He was enchanted.

Philimona clenched her fists.

"You... you don't even understand where we are?!" she hissed. "These are our enemies! And you're gaping around like a simpleton!"

But Yujin didn't want to listen to her. He was already enveloped by this new world, one he wanted to plunge into headfirst.