Winter, ten years ago.
A fierce cold wave swept down from the northern regions of the Empire.
Julion gasped for breath, his breath visible in the freezing air, as he ran tirelessly.
Pain surged through his lungs, and his organs felt shattered, yet the agony couldn’t halt his relentless sprint.
‘Shit, shit!’
How did this happen?
Julion vigorously worked his uncooperative brain to regain consciousness.
Three days ago, the imperial hunting tournament took place.
Julion participated in the event as a contestant.
His young age had the Empress worried, but he had persistently expressed his intention to participate and managed to obtain permission.
The competition took place in the Daeproa Mountains, connected to Mount Hale and conveniently close to the imperial palace. It was the only reason the Empress reluctantly granted permission.
The first day went well.
Julion was lucky enough to kill a bear, and the day passed uneventfully.
It wasn’t until the next afternoon that he realized something was wrong.
Throughout the hunt, he felt an unknown gaze following him persistently.
Despite tightening his guard upon realizing something was wrong, it proved futile.
With participants scattered across the mountain for three days of hunting, the only people he could trust here were the few personal guards he had brought with him.
He never expected one of them to betray him.
On the third day,
As he drew his bowstring to take down an elk for some light exercise, he was ambushed.
‘I should have stopped yesterday and gone back.’
If he had stopped hunting and gone back to the barracks when he felt something was wrong, then he wouldn’t have ended up in such a battered state being pursued like this now.
Suppressing regret, Julion swallowed dryly.
Due to panting heavily and inhaling the freezing winter wind continuously, his esophagus felt like it could freeze.
“Somewhere around here…”
To prepare for unforeseen circumstances, Julion had memorized the entire map of the mountain in his head.
According to the map, there was a side road somewhere leading to a village.
If he could somehow make it to the village, his chances of survival would increase.
In any case, he could receive medical treatment from the village doctor.
Besides, the attackers wouldn’t be making any hasty moves for fear of witnesses.
Dragging his weary legs, Julion continued to move forward.
Several wild animals, smelling blood, lunged at him, so he swung his sword to drive them away.
But just chasing them away was draining his energy.
‘Night is falling.’
The once red sky was gradually darkening.
If he continued like this, he wouldn’t just face difficulty reaching the village; he might end up stranded.
The only fortunate thing was that he managed to shake off the attackers to some extent.
Julion pounded his numb legs with his fists and ventured deeper into the thickening forest.
How much farther did he go?
White snow began to block his vision.
It was a blizzard.
“Ah…….”
The sight of the dark night sky being blanketed in white was truly magnificent, but Julion stared blankly at the sky.
Having nearly depleted his stamina, he had no confidence in protecting himself against the blizzard.
In the relentless force of the blizzard, Julion kept moving to prevent his body from stiffening.
He wasn’t sure if he was moving forward, where he was going, or if it was all in his head.
The blizzard ceased as the morning sun rose.
There was nothing left in the place where Julion had been.
Only countless struggles seemed to have settled down in white silence.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Julion opened his eyes.
The fact that he had opened his eyes surprised him.
“I’m… alive?”
As he reflexively moved his body, he felt aching all over, as if he had been beaten to a pulp.
His back, in particular, was in unspeakable pain, perhaps due to the wounds from the ambush.
‘What the hell happened?’
He thought he was going to be swept away in the blizzard and die.
However, feeling the pain so vividly indicated that he was indeed alive.
“Hmm…”
Julion breathed in and out slowly, scanning his surroundings.
It was dim, as if he were inside a cave.
There was a small bonfire burning, and beside it lay a collection of medicines that were presumably used to treat him.
‘Treatment? Who saved me?’
Julion struggled to his feet, his body refusing to move.
Then he spotted a small figure leaning against the cave wall.
“A girl……?”
Even at a glance, she was smaller than him, with hair like the color of water cascading down to her waist and calmly curled sky-blue eyelashes.
It was the first time he’d seen her, but Julion knew at once that she had saved his life.
Her fingertips were stained with blood as she lay helplessly on the ground.
Probably from treating him.
While waiting for him to wake up, she must have fallen asleep. The girl’s eyes were tightly closed, emitting only a faint breathing sound.
‘She looks about my age; how did she manage to treat me?’
To solve the mystery, the girl needed to wake up.
Julion, finding it challenging to sit without support, moved next to the girl and leaned against the wall.
At that moment, he felt a light weight on his shoulder. The child’s head tilted toward him as he leaned against the wall.
“…….”
Julion tensed up again, taken aback by the situation.
Something warm and fuzzy seemed to spread from inside his body.
How much time passed like that?
He sensed activity outside the cave.
Julion, forgetting his pain, swiftly got up, adopting a defensive stance.
‘I thought the blizzard wiped out all traces.’
He had been relieved, thinking that the attackers wouldn’t find him, but could it be that they tracked him all the way here?
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince!”
However, relief flooded Julion as a familiar face appeared.
Sent by the Emperor, someone completely on his side – the Wolfgang family eldest son.
Seeing Julion in such a state, the young man’s eyes widened.
“What on earth happened, Your Highness?”
“Be quiet. Did you catch the culprit?”
Julion gestured to the sleeping child next to him, and Wolfgang, still puzzled, responded faithfully.
“Not yet. Their tracks vanished as if they never existed.”
“……I see. We should get back.”
“Yes. But what about this…”
Wolfgang looked at the child sleeping soundly at Julion’s side.
Julion picked up his tattered robe from the floor and offered a brief explanation.
“My benefactor.”
He didn’t know her name, age, status, or anything else, but he knew that she had tended to him.
There might have been a proper doctor who had properly attended to his wounds, but the only one Julion could see at the moment was the child with hair like the color of water, so it was appropriate to call her his benefactor.
But Wolfgang’s eyes widened, and he spoke urgently.
“Then, shouldn’t we at least express our gratitude? Leaving her here in the deep mountains like this…”
But Wolfgang didn’t finish his sentence.
Another presence was felt outside the cave.
Since it wasn’t yet close, Wolfgang cautiously peeked outside to assess the situation.
A person was coming up from below, carrying a sack of luggage.
Judging by her attire, she was a lowly servant.
But just in case, Wolfgang immediately picked up the girl.
Then he and Julion disappeared into the bushes at the same time.
As the servant arrived at the cave entrance, he was startled to find no one there.
“This can’t be…! Miss!”
Hearing the voice engulfed in shock, Wolfgang carefully set the girl down at the cave entrance.
The child’s eyes seemed to open slowly at the sudden change.
Julion took one last look at the child’s face from a distance, then flew off into the mountains with Wolfgang.
‘I will definitely find her later and express my gratitude.’
At the moment, even revealing their identities is dangerous.
For himself and for the girl.
However, upon returning to the palace, Julion couldn’t immediately find his benefactor.
A massive purge had taken place, and turmoil had swept through the palace once, making it impossible to search for her right away.
Though he often thought of the girl in the mountains, the circumstances weren’t conducive to an immediate search.
By the time the situation in the palace stabilized, he traveled to Mount Hale again to search for her but it was too late.
Thanks for the chapter !❤️🔥