Yuan left his room in the middle of the night with a few valuables stuffed in a pillowcase.

A shiny golden brooch, a pair of jeweled cuff links, and a silver necklace he found in his closet. 

It wasn’t a lot, but he felt better than having nothing.

He opened the window in his room and carefully climbed down the wall.

‘I only have a few minutes until the night guard comes for his shift.’

Yuan’s eyes calculated the distance from the window to the ground.

It looked further away than it did in the morning.

‘I can do it…’

Yuan swallowed hard and stepped out the window.

He carefully held onto the rope he had made by tying the bedsheets together.

He made his way down. 

One foot after the other.

Carefully fitting his tiny feet into the cracks in the stone.

His palms were sweating and his arms started shaking. 

He was halfway down the wall when he realized he wouldn’t make it all the way down.

After taking a few deep breaths, he let the rope go.

Fwump.

The impact was strangely quiet. 

He landed on a bush directly beneath his window.

Or rather, what looked like a bush.

Hidden beneath the leaves was an empty pit he had dug himself.

‘Whew… It was worth spending the past few days creating this.’

Yuan stood up and brushed the leaves off his body. 

His palms and wrists were throbbing with pain, but he had no time to waste.

He made his way into the dark, toward the back of the palace where the dog pit lay.

Footsteps sounded behind him.

The night guard.

He had arrived right on time.

Yuan cleared the leaves he had used to hide the dog pit and started to crawl. The feeling of dirt against his skin and the smell of dog urine didn’t bother him. 

When he came out on the other side, everything was dark.

He could only rely on the smell of moss, pine, the faint sweetness of wildflowers, and the distant chirping of insects to tell him he was in a forest.

He closed his eyes and started to count.

‘In my past life… I was always more familiar with the dark.’

When he opened his eyes again, he could see the outline of tall towering trees.

He couldn’t see anything else, but that was enough to make his way through the forest.

After nearly half an hour of walking, he smelled the saltiness of ocean water.

Soon, he heard the sound of soft waves.

Beyond the forest, the trees suddenly gave way to sand and sea.

As he stepped onto the sand, the clouds moved and revealed the moon. 

Sight returned to his eyes and the ocean water sparkled. 

The salty wind brushed against his face.

He had escaped.

Getting into the city from the shore was easier than escaping the palace.

Yuan went around the palace toward the south, following the distant lights and voices.

By the time he stepped onto the busy night streets, he realized how exhausted he was.

His palms were red, his legs trembled from exhaustion, and his eyes still ached from staring into the dark.

He wanted to collapse.

‘I need to find a place to sleep for the night…’

He also needed money.

Sleeping in an alley with jewels stuffed in a pillowcase sounded like a terrible idea.

Yuan studied the bustling market to find a pawn shop. 

But what caught his eye instead were men in shining armor.

‘Knights! I can’t get caught here.’ 

Yuan approached the closest stall and swiftly grabbed a hat while the owner haggled with a customer.

He shoved all his hair inside the hat.

Combined with the dirt and leaves clinging to his clothes, he looked like any other child on the street.

The knights passed by him without a second thought.

Once they were out of sight, Yuan relaxed his tense muscles. 

For the first time, he began to notice his surroundings in detail.

Lanterns hung from wooden poles, painting the road in warm orange light. Merchants called out to passing customers while the smell of grilled meat and fresh bread drifted through the air.

The people here wore simple clothes. Faded browns, grays, and dark greens. Their sleeves were patched, and their boots were worn. Nothing like the bright silks and jeweled robes of the nobles.

Yet…

They were smiling.

A little girl sat on her father’s shoulders, laughing as she pointed at a toy stall. A young couple argued over which skewers to buy. An old man dozed beside his cart without even bothering to keep one eye open.

No one looked over their shoulder.

No one hurried home before dark.

No one carried the look of someone waiting for disaster.

In the world he remembered as Mud, nights were different.

Streets emptied long before sunset. Doors were barred. People clutched their belongings as if someone might steal them at any moment.

And they often did.

Monsters roamed the north.

Bandits grew bold.

Hunger turned neighbors into strangers.

Even children learned not to laugh too loudly.

But here…

Here, people still believed tomorrow would come.

They believed they would wake up in the same homes, see the same faces, and return to this market again.

They felt safe.

‘So this is what life was like… before the calamity.’

Yuan felt jealous of the peace. 

He wondered if this peace had been stolen because of him.

If the horrors of his life as Mud had begun with the choices he made as Yuan.

As he wallowed in his thoughts, a group of running children turned the corner and one of them slammed into him.

Yuan staggered and fell down. 

Normally he wouldn’t have, but he had no strength left in his body. He didn’t even have the energy to get angry.

But he started running when he saw the red-faced man charging straight at him while screaming, “Catch those little thieves!”

Yuan looked down at himself.

His disguise was too good—it made him look like one of the children in the group.

Yuan turned around and the man’s eyes landed on him.

‘Why is this happening to me?!’

The children in front noticed him running after them.

One of the boys yelled,

“Stop following us!”

Another one of them laughed.

The only girl in the group grabbed Yuan’s sleeve before he took a wrong turn.

“This way, idiot.”

Eventually they ducked into an alley and hid behind a stack of crates.

The man’s angry voice faded.

For a few moments, everyone simply caught their breath.

Then a boy pointed at Yuan.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”

“You don’t remember? You bumped into him. I couldn’t just leave him behind,” the girl said.

She looked at Yuan.

"You're quick."

Yuan shrugged, looking pleased with himself.

The girl chuckled.

"You're not from around here."

She looked closely at his face and her eyes stopped on his.

“You have pretty eyes.”

Yuan pulled his hat down lower.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

For a moment, he hesitated.

Then another name surfaced.

“…Mud.”

The girl blinked.

“Mud?”

He nodded.

“My name is Mud.”

The girl smiled.

“I’m Cherry.”

“…Cherry?”

“I named myself after my favorite fruit.”

Yuan stared at her.

Then, despite himself, he almost smiled.