Ahil looked up at the sky, holding back his desire to look back. The sun was already setting completely over the mountain, and it was almost evening.
Soldiers and knights lit lamps around the wagon. The light was bright around Leonâs carriage, but only the mountain path shone brightly and the inside of the bushes was still dark.
âLady! Not yet?â
Ahil became nervous and eventually urged Dana.
cack-
However, it was so quiet that only the shrill sound of a bird rang once, and it gave him chills. He turned around even though he knew he shouldnât.
âLady?â
While speaking in a low voice, he grabbed a lantern hanging by the wagon. Suddenly, a knight and soldiers next to him stared at him.
âSir Ahil?â
âHang on. Somethingâs weird.â
Ahil deliberately made loud footsteps and went into the bushes where Dana had disappeared.
âLady! Where are you?â
He shouted while holding the fire, but he couldnât hear any answer. He had an ominous feeling.
âEveryone spread out and look for the lady! Hurry up!â
With the carriage empty without owners standing in the middle of the mountain path, they began to dig around. They thought Dana might have just collapsed suddenly and could not answer, so they became anxious.
However, it was not easy to expand the search range by relying on lamps in the dark mountains.
âSir Ahil, this number of people is too much. Itâs too late at night. Moreover, the humid weather is likely to rain soon.â
âNo, you have to find her! If you donât find herâŠâ
âBut we still need to reinforce our numbers!â
âOh, myâŠâ
Ahil issued an order again as if he had decided to swear in a frustrating situation.
âGo to the capital and report this to His Grace, and tell him to go to Tertius Castle as soon as possible and hurry to send as many soldiers and knights as possible. Show him this.â
âYes, I see.â
âIâm leaving right now.â
Ahil sent a knight to Leon and handed over a horse and his ID card to the quickest soldier.
âThe rest of us will continue to search!â
* * *
Droplets of water trickled down her round white forehead and rolled over her scratched cheek.
As soon as Dana became conscious, the first thing she noticed was the smell of wet soil. And about half of her body was submerged in water.
Perhaps because of the wetness, she felt extremely tired, so she couldnât open her eyes yet.
âThis is⊠Where is this?â
Dana, who was trying to gauge with her eyes closed, heard a rumble from above.
âDid you plan something today? Do you know because it rained last night? Is there a bear that slipped?â
âWhat do you think will be caught by that? It would be a relief if there was at least one rabbit.â
âWait a minute, hey. Whatâs there?â
âWhat?â
piles of dirt poured over her head several times. Dana finally opened her eyes.
Light came into the dark pit, and the two men looked carefully inside in surprise.
âA⊠A personâŠ!â
âWhat? Why is there a person here? Are you alive?â
âHey! Can you hear me?â
Dana tried to move her body, but it hurt so much that she couldnât lift a finger because she bumped everywhere.
âSave meâŠâ
However, she barely made a sound, squeezing strength from her will to live. The two men began to panic when they heard the sound.
âOh, hey⊠I meanâŠâ
âWake up and pull the rope over there!â
âOh, okay!â
âWait there! Iâll get you out soon.â
The pit was dug to catch mountain animals. They seemed to have never dreamed that a person would get caught in a trap that they set up poorly by amateur hunters.
The two men whined and pulled the rope over the trees on both sides. Then the net laid in the pit slowly began to rise.
When the person inside was revealed, the two screamed a little more surprised.
âItâs a girl.â
âHey! Are you okay? Wake up!â
Dana was put on the ground, and the men untied the nets that surrounded her. However, while being raised, Dana had already fainted and was unconscious.
The men were even more embarrassed. It was because the clothes were wet and heavy, and the inside was visible.
âWhat should I do? Sheâs a woman, so we canât just mess with her.â
âLetâs take her to the dormitory first, Lisa is the only woman, so sheâll do something about it.â
âOh, okay.â
They took off their clothes and roughly covered her, and then headed for a small cabin just below the mountain with Dana.
When Dana opened her eyes, she could see a familiar face there.
âSarah, are you awake? I thought Iâd never run into you again. Whatâs going on this time?â
That person was Lisa. She had shorter red hair and a skinnier figure than before, but she was not unrecognizable.
âLisaâŠâ
As soon as she woke up, Dana opened her mouth with an earnest look, and Lisa focused on her mouth.
Dana clapped her lips and suddenly raised herself and grabbed Lisaâs arm.
âLisa, I⊠Ouch.â
âSarah, donât overdo it. You hurt your body everywhere⊠Calm down and lie still because youâre not going anywhere.â
âLisa, Haa, my name is Dana. Itâs Dana Deniz.â
Lisa opened her eyes wide in shock at the sudden news as she laid Dana down again.
âDana⊠Youâre Dana Deniz? You? Suddenly?â
âLisa, thatâs why I contacted you⊠As expected, you didnât get it.â