I was about to sleep when heavy knocking came at the door.
I opened it. Miko — out of breath, tears running down her face.
I took her by both shoulders, lifted her chin with concern.
"Miko. What's wrong?"
"Tai… please. Run. They're going to execute you at dawn."
"And you? Are you coming with me?"
"No… I can't. I'll stay and slow them down so you can escape."
My grip tightened on her shoulders.
"No. You're coming with me. I'm not leaving you here alone."
She took my hands gently, pleading, eyes asking for something she already knew I wouldn't give.
"Tai… I love you. Go. Run. You have to live."
My eyes went wide.
Nino's words. Saka's words. I've always hated hearing those words — because they always come right before someone disappears.
She took my face in her hands and kissed me on the cheek. Then she left.
The kiss wasn't warm. It was cold — the kind of goodbye the dead leave behind.
I could still feel where her lips had been, like a brand, reminding me of every person I'd loved who had walked away.
Why do they always leave love behind like a punishment?
I grabbed for her hand. I begged her without words to come with me. She refused.
I tried to hold on.
She pulled back.
The way everyone I've ever loved pulls back.
I was alone in the house. Silence filled every room.
I thought about how to save her. Nothing came.
I tried to sleep. All I could think was: Miko. How do I save her.
I got up from the bed and sat on the floor. Lit a cigarette. Went to the kitchen.
I searched the drawers. Found a small knife and a piece of charcoal.
I took the charcoal and started drawing on the wooden floor.
The house. The path. The square. The soldiers I'd seen earlier.
If I go in through the front… they'll surround me and I'll die. If I climb the wall… the archers will see me. If I wait for night… she'll already be executed.
I wiped the drawings with my hand in frustration. Drew them again. Wiped them again.
I pressed my palms over my face.
Damn it.
Every approach led to the same ending.
I packed what I had and left the house at the first edge of dawn.
I walked away from the house. From the place. I walked and walked and walked.
Until the only sound I could hear was my own footsteps.
Even the birds had gone.
The branches weren't moving. The air drifted between the trees slowly, as if it was watching me.
Every step forward made me feel the entire forest was looking at me.
I ignored it.
I just want to get away.
I can never win. Everyone I love — Saka, Nino, and now Miko.
What kind of fate is this?
Am I supposed to live alone? Always alone?
I closed my eyes for a moment.
I saw Nino smiling, hitting me lightly on the head.
I saw Saka laughing: "Stand up. Training isn't over."
Then I saw Miko.
She was waving at me.
I reached my hand toward her.
She moved back.
And disappeared.
I opened my eyes. Nothing in front of me but the path.
A strange feeling came over me — like I was inside a circle, going nowhere. Then I realized: I don't even know the way out. Why did I run?
The wind picked up suddenly. And a voice came — strange, from somewhere outside of me:
Go back. Save the girl.
I screamed with everything I had:
"Enough —! Leave me alone."
I pressed my hands over my ears.
"Every time I try to protect someone… I lose them. Let me run. Just once. Let me run."
But the voice didn't stop.
I shouted, tense: "Who's there? Show yourself."
The voice came again and again — then went silent. And then it moved. Inside my head.
Damn it. My head was splitting. How do I get rid of it?
I went to the nearest tree and hit my head against it. The voice didn't leave. It got louder.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The pain built with each hit. But the voice didn't leave.
I started hitting without stopping. Leaves fell around me. Birds scattered in panic. The trunk began to crack.
And I kept hearing the voice.
"Come out — ! Show yourself."
One final strike. The trunk split. The tree fell.
The voice was clearer than it had ever been.
I raised my head. Blood running from my forehead, covering my right eye.
Between the trees in the distance — the same child.
Standing there. Laughing.
My breath tightened. Every time I see him, I feel death stepping closer.
I walked toward him.
He smiled.
I walked again.
He stepped back.
I ran.
But the distance between us stayed the same — as if the path was stretching the closer I got.
He laughed. Quietly.
Then raised one finger toward me.
And disappeared.
I searched around me. Only trees.
Then the child whispered in my ear: "You're persistent. Stay away from me…" And he was gone.
The ringing in my ears came back. Sweat started coming off me.
I drew the sword from the scabbard and turned the blade toward my face.
The voice said: "Wait. I'm sorry — but this is urgent."
I stopped.
"Who are you? Where are you?"
"It's not I… it's we."
"We? What do you mean, we?"
"Raise your head and tell me what you see."
I raised my head slowly.
The trees stretched without end.
And between their branches — hundreds of glowing points drifted. Moving gently. Like stars that had come down to earth.
The air turned cold.
But the forest… didn't feel frightening anymore.
"I see trees. And glowing bees."
"Every tree, every spirit — they were all telling you to go back to the girl you left behind."
"Wait. The voice I kept hearing — it was coming from the trees? From the spirits?"
"Yes. The glowing bees you see are wandering souls that found rest here."
"Why are you helping me? I'm just a human."
Silence for a moment.
Then: "Because we watched you. And you never stopped getting up. Every time you fell… you stood again."
"Those are words people say to heroes. Like I'm inside some kind of story. Were all of you speaking just to make me go back and save Miko?"
"Yes. They're going to execute Miko in your place."
My breathing stopped.
My fist tightened until I heard my own knuckles.
The rock under my foot cracked.
Mana came out of my body without me telling it to.
"They're going to kill her… because of me?"
The shocks keep coming, one after another. First finding out what the voice was. Now this.
"They're executing Miko? She's the princess."
"Remember — for every rank, there is one higher. She is a princess. Not a queen."
"So the queen is going to execute her own daughter? Why?"
"Yes. On the charge of treason — for telling you and allowing you to escape."
The anger came up through me like something breaking loose.
"Show me where the execution is. I'll end this."
The ground began to shake.
Roots pushed up from underneath. The trees shifted slowly. The branches parted.
A straight path opened ahead of me.
The glowing souls rose above it — floating, leading the way.
"This is the shortest route. Run. Time is no longer on her side."
Then: "Go. Save the girl."
"I'll leave my things here with you. I'll come back for them. Keep them safe."
"Understood."
I set down everything I was carrying. Tied the scabbard tight. Rolled up my sleeves. Rolled up my pants.
Took off my shoes.
And ran.
The city was getting closer.
Every step made the sounds sharper.
People whispering.
Children shouting.
The fall of soldiers' boots.
Then — the execution tower appeared in the distance.
I ran faster.
Until I was running with everything I had.
And at the moment I reached the edge of the city, a woman's voice rang out across every corner of it:
"Hear me well.
I am the queen. And this traitor will be executed before all — so that every traitor who comes after her will know what awaits them."
End of Chapter 47