Laila arrived at the garden.
Just like that, when she came to her senses, she was in the garden.
Instead of sitting in a chair, Laila continued to stroll through the garden.
How deep into the garden had she gone…
“Oh, Miss Laila.”
She ran into Tree, the head gardener. Tree was trimming the branches of a large tree with garden shears.
Laila stared at Tree as he pruned, and then spoke up.
“I want to learn how to trim trees.”
She spoke without any expectations. He would probably say no anyway.
“Understood.”
“Hmm?”
“Instead, drop the honorifics when you speak to me. Then I’ll teach you.”
Laila’s eyes widened, and then she broke into a bright smile.
“Okay!”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The next day, Sion left the castle early in the morning.
“I’ll be back. Stay safe.”
Laila nodded silently as she saw Sion off. Somehow, she felt like a child.
‘No, I’m not a child. I’m a gardener now.’
To be precise, she was going to become a gardener.
Laila, the aspiring gardener, smiled slightly. Sion gazed at the suddenly smiling Laila for a moment before mounting his horse.
“Sion! Have a good trip! Duke, have a safe journey!”
Taylor waved a handkerchief—why?—and greeted Sion as his disciple and a knight of the duchy. Sion didn’t respond and turned the horse’s head away.
The sound of the horse’s hooves grew faint as it moved away. Taylor folded the handkerchief and put it back into his pocket, making a face.
“What a cold-hearted fellow.”
“What’s with the handkerchief?”
“Oh, this?”
Taylor tapped the pocket where he had put the handkerchief.
“I got it while training yesterday. From a maid named Benny.”
“You’re quite popular.”
“It’s not like that. She said she made a mistake with the embroidery, so she was going to throw it away but decided to give it to me instead.”
“Embroidery mistake? Let me see.”
Taylor obediently took the handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Laila.
Laila unfolded the handkerchief, checked the embroidery at the corner, then shook her head as she handed it back to Taylor.
“It looks fine to me.”
“It may look fine to you, but it seems Benny thought otherwise.”
“Are you insulting me right now? Anyway, tsk tsk.”
“Why are you clicking your tongue?”
“Not understanding a woman’s feelings is a mistake, Sir Taylor. Do you know that?”
“Seriously. And does Miss Laila understand a man’s feelings well?”
“Me? I…”
Laila hesitated, having never been in a romantic relationship, then puffed out her chest.
“I can tell a person’s feelings just by looking at their eyes.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“…”
“Why does your expression look like that?”
“Nothing…”
Taylor turned his head to gaze at the path Sion had taken. Then he looked back at Laila.
“Hmm…”
“What?”
“Hmmm…”
“What is it?”
“But why hasn’t there been any progress in ten years?”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking about which one of you might be the problem.”
“What?”
Laila narrowed her eyes. It was then that—
“Miss Laila, there you are.”
Tree appeared, sporting a bird’s nest hairstyle.
“I’m busy this afternoon, so I wanted to give you a lesson now… Is that alright?”
“It’s fine!”
“A lesson? What kind of lesson?”
“There is such a thing.”
“What is it? Please tell me.”
“I’ll tell you later.”
After becoming a proper gardener.
“Let’s go, Master.”
“Yes.”
Laila left alongside Tree. Taylor, left behind, tilted his head in confusion.
“Master…?”
He muttered to himself while watching Tree walk away, his figure quite tall from behind.
“…Hmm?”
Soon, Taylor pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile.
“Hurry back, Sion. This is going to be a big problem if you’re late.”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Kidon ran desperately through the trees. His breath was coming in gasps.
“Here! I found him!”
“You bastard…!”
Cursing, Kidon swung the sword he was gripping tightly, so hard that his knuckles felt numb. The knight who had rushed at him staggered back, clutching his shoulder.
Taking advantage of the opening, Kidon dashed up the mountain path again.
‘The palace knights will come to capture you at dawn.’
‘…What do you mean, Father?’
‘It means I have no choice but to hand you over.’
‘What are you talking about all of a sudden…? Father, have you lost your mind?’
‘You’re the one who’s lost your mind! Kidon Reisic! No, Kidon!’
‘What…’
‘I held on until the end. But I simply couldn’t persuade the king. Do you know what the king said?’
Count Reisic, only in his forties, had developed a noticeable amount of white hair in just a few days. The count continued brushing his thinning, graying hair.
‘He asked if I would rather have the kingdom disappear in exchange for protecting my son.’
‘What on earth…’
‘Is it true that you killed the hero five years ago?’
Kidon couldn’t say a word.
He had hoped it wasn’t true.
Even after hearing about the hero’s appearance in the rumors, he still couldn’t believe it.
‘Flee before the day ends.’
After saying this, Count Reisic took a decorative sword from the wall and used it to inflict a wound on his own arm. Fresh blood dripped onto the carpet.
‘I didn’t let you go; I merely missed you.’
‘…Father.’
‘Go! Now!’
Kidon clenched his teeth and headed for the bedroom. After gathering his sword and valuables, he pulled up his hood to conceal his appearance and slipped out of the count’s residence.
That day, after escaping the count’s territory, Kidon traveled by carriage, moving from inn to inn. But ultimately, after five days, he was captured.
From the dawn of the day after he fled the count’s residence, Kidon had been a wanted man.
Soldiers, alerted by the innkeeper who recognized Kidon, stormed the inn where he was staying.
Before dawn, Kidon swiftly took down five soldiers and even stabbed the innkeeper before fleeing.
The pursuit intensified. The palace knights did not miss Kidon, who had left traces behind.
Kidon could no longer use carriages or stay in inns.
He climbed mountains and slept outdoors.
And so a week passed.
Kidon felt he was reaching his limit. But regardless of how exhausted he became, the palace knights did not stop pursuing him.
“Kidon—!”
“Damn it!”
Kidon barely dodged the suddenly lunging knight’s sword. In a crouched position, he swung his sword, deeply cutting into the knight’s knee.
“Ugh!”
How many are left?
Kidon forced his stiff head to turn.
In just a few days, he had cut down at least twenty palace knights chasing him.
Though he couldn’t take their lives in such a serious situation, he had left them all in no condition to pursue him.
‘That arrogant king wouldn’t have mobilized more than one knight order just to catch me.’
Thirty palace knights make up a knight order.
‘Less than ten left.’
Kidon took a moment to catch his breath after stopping. A knight who had caught up with him lunged at him.
Kidon quickly rolled on the ground. Luckily, he was in a gently sloping area, so he managed to avoid tumbling down the hill in an awkward manner.
The knight’s sword got stuck in the tree that Kidon had been leaning against.
When the knight was exerting force to retrieve his sword from the tree, Kidon, who had suddenly gotten up, hurriedly thrust his sword into the knight’s thigh.
“Ahh!”
As Kidon fled from the knight, a thought crossed his mind.
Eight… or maybe seven or fewer.
‘It would be great if it were less than five.’
In any case, he just needed to cut down a few more. Then he could escape this relentless pursuit.
With hope in his heart, Kidon ran. Then he discovered a cave that seemed to have no signs of human activity.
Kidon’s eyes gleamed for a moment. Without hesitation, he dashed into the cave.
Inside the winding cave was a spring. Kidon sighed. It was a sigh of joy.
He approached the spring, quenched his thirst with the clear water, and leaned against the cave wall.
Sssss.
He heard the sound of scales brushing against the stone floor. Without even looking properly in the direction of the sound, Kidon swung his sword.
Kidon finally turned his attention to the snake, whose head had been cut off. He reached out and, without a wrinkle of disgust, put the snake’s body in his mouth and chewed.
