The road out of the palace felt heavier than the one she had taken coming in.
Every step Leena took was like walking with stones tied to her ankles.
Maya kept glancing at her, worried.
Behind them, in the distance, the Seventh Prince's guards followed at a discreet pace.
Even if she'd been "cast out," he had made sure she wouldn't be harmed.
Leena's jaw tightened.
"…So this is it? He brings me into the palace, makes me risk my life for him,
and then just… throws me out?"
Her voice shook—not from tears this time, but from anger.
"I've never met someone so—so ungrateful!"
She stomped a little harder on the dirt road.
"I saved his life! More than once! And this is my reward?"
Maya hesitated before speaking softly,
"…But, madame… you don't save lives for gratitude, right?"
Leena froze.
Her lips parted, then closed again.
"…No. I suppose not."
But her heart whispered something else entirely:
I just thought…
Her cheeks flushed pink at the thought.
Maya, walking close, caught the change immediately and opened her mouth to tease her—
But then—
Rustle.
A figure leapt out of the roadside bushes, landing right in front of them.
"AAAH!" Both girls shrieked, jumping back, Leena nearly dropping her small bundle of belongings.
Maya clutched her arm, trembling.
"W-Who… who is that?!"
The shadowed figure straightened slowly, the sunlight catching the edge of a steel dagger—