"Ah..."
Karina felt dizzy as if she had been hit hard on the back of her head. She was thinking that it was fortunate that she was with the Crown Prince in this situation.
'If I don't find a way out of here now, I'm going to die here!'
Her back felt cold as if the shadow of death was standing right behind her.
'It's the same situation again.'
Karina recalled the dangerous moments she had been in after her regression. The moments when she had desperately tried to survive.
'Yeah. I can't give up like this. I've already managed to escape danger before.
Of course, it was possible because Mikhail saved her each time. But this time It was different. Mikhail didn't even know that she had been captured here.
'That's why he gave me a ring with an artifact attached in advance!'
Karina played with the ring she had received from Mikhail.
'It's okay. I can do it.'
Karina clenched her fists, steeling herself.
"All right."
Karina stood up from her seat.
"...?"
David's indifferent behavior made her question the top of her head.
"I will find my own way out. Thank you for informing me of my situation, Your Highness."
Karina greeted politely and walked into the cave.
"..."
It was David who was surprised and embarrassed by Karina's reaction. David was dumbfounded and speechless for a moment. To be honest, he thought Karina would cry and beg for him to take her with him and save her. People become infinitely small and weak in the face of death.
However, Karina became bold and confident. David couldn't take his eyes off her as she spoke leisurely and turned around to walk away.
***
"What?"
Jeremiah asked back with a stiff expression.
"That is..."
The knights lined up in a row and watched Jeremiah.
"The Grand Duchess and His Highness the Crown Prince have been captured by demons."
"Tell me more."
Jeremiah's expression crumpled into a grim expression. The knight in front swallowed hard and reported again.
"When I realized that the Grand Duchess was not at the inn, I went out to look for her and found her with His Highness the Crown Prince in the center of the square. But then, a giant new monster suddenly appeared and snatched away His Highness the Crown Prince and the Grand Duchess, and flew west toward the Forest of Curses..."
Boom!
Jeremiah slammed his fist on the table as if he was going to break it before the knights could even finish their report. The startled knights flinched.
"What on earth were the knights in charge of the escort doing back then!"
Jeremiah shouted in fiery anger.
"Sorry."
The knights closed their eyes tightly and bowed their heads.
"I'm sorry. It was my fault."
Ron, who had been standing next to him, stepped forward and bowed his head.
Jeremiah's clenched fists trembled.
'Kidnapped by a monster!!'
Jeremiah felt his heart sink as he wondered why such dangerous things kept happening to Karina.
'I should have gone and picked up Karina myself...!'
He regretted his choice to send only escorts. Jeremiah gritted his teeth and quickly gave another order.
"Form an investigation team immediately. I will personally lead the knights and go west."
Ron responded to Jeremiah's command.
"Your Highness. If you lead the knights in the capital and move privately, the Emperor may find fault with you. You must be careful about your actions at times like these...!"
Jeremiah stopped Ron's words with just a look, his eyes shining brightly.
"Are you telling me to save my body right now when my wife is in danger?"
A cold anger appeared on Jeremiah's face.
"... My thoughts were short. I'm sorry."
Ron apologized for his slip of the tongue and closed his mouth. Jeremiah got up and picked up his coat. Since she had been dragged by the monster, it was most important to save time in order to rescue Karina. There was no time to delay. The Crown Prince probably had some means of protecting himself. But Karina did not. He was worried whether she would be able to survive until he rescued her, let alone protect herself.
If Karina had really been dragged into the Cursed Forest, it would have been difficult for her to last long in there even if she had not been attacked by the monster.
... It might already be in a dangerous state.
Jeremiah's brow furrowed. He couldn't calm down easily, worried that something might have gone wrong with Karina.
"Your Highness, it is impossible to find out where the Grand Duchess and the Crown Prince were taken based solely on eyewitness accounts that they went west without any information. Let's go after the investigation is completed."
Ron began to speak cautiously, pointing out practical issues.
"No, I will definitely find it even if I have to search the entire West."
Still, Jeremiah was not even tempted. His will was very strong.
"Your Highness!"
At that moment, the sentry standing guard outside delivered the news.
"His Highness the Crown Prince's bodyguard, Sir Levi Dandelica, has just requested your assistance in the search. He has received a signal indicating the coordinates of the location where His Highness the Crown Prince was kidnapped."
"...!"
"They would like you to reply as soon as possible."
"I'm going right now."
Jeremiah answered immediately. He didn't even have time to write a reply.
"Go and tell them to come to the Forest of Curses in the West."
Jeremiah quickly organized a search party and headed west.
***
"Hmm..."
Karina looked closely at the ring she had received from Mikhail. She pressed the firestone embedded in the ring and shook it.
She guesses it doesn't really have any special functions.
A silent sigh escaped from her lips. Karina remembered what David had said earlier when he saw the ring.
'It has protective magic that protects the holder, and since it is originally a firestone, it will have the function of blocking the cold and maintaining body warmth.'
According to that statement, this ring only had the effect of protecting magic and maintaining body temperature. Karina, who had hoped that she might be able to find a way to escape with the ring Mikhail had given her, was a little disappointed.
'That's true. He said he cast a spell on it, but he never said I could use magic with it.'
She swallowed her regret and started searching through the nearby junk to see if there was anything she could use to escape. David came up behind Karina and watched her actions.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for something that might help me escape."
"What would be helpful?"
"Anything. I can't just sit back and do nothing until I die."
Karina, who had been concentrating on examining the items, looked up and looked at David.
"But why doesn't Your Highness escape right away?"
"Because the Grand Duchess is here."
"Yes...?"
Karina looked puzzled. She didn't understand why he didn't escape right away because of her, since they couldn't escape together anyway. David answered, reading Karina's thoughts.
"I want to help the Grand Duchess escape as alive as possible."
Karina realized once again that David was the Crown Prince of the Empire. Even if there was a way to escape safely on his own, she wanted to help him as much as she could as a citizen of the Empire.
"Yes."
Karina nodded as if she understood and did not refuse his kindness.
"Then, may I ask Your Highness for advice on how I can escape from here?"
It was a bit funny that she had said earlier that she would find her own way out of the situation, and then changed her words like this. But Karina's life was at stake. She had no time to worry about her dignity or embarrassment.
"Unfortunately, I don't know anything about magic. Please help me."
Karina bowed her head to David and asked him a favor. She was going to figure out how to do it if he told her how. David stared at Karina's face, then raised the corners of his mouth and smiled wryly.
"Of course."
David held up three fingers, from thumb to middle finger, in front of Karina's eyes and began to explain.
"There are three possible escape methods to try here."
"Three?"
"Yes. The first method is a magic stone. You need to find a magic stone that can use a movement magic stone or a levitation magic stone. At the same time, the magic stone must also have the remaining magical power to activate the magic."
"So, do I just need to find the artifacts inside that correspond to what you mentioned?"
Karina, who didn't know much about magic stones, asked with a hopeful face.
"To be honest, it's hard to find a magic stone that fits those conditions in the short time before the monsters return. Even if you do find one, the chances of it having any magic left are slim."
"Ah..."
Karina couldn't hide her disappointment at hearing that it was almost impossible. David continued, folding his middle finger that was wearing his ring.
"The second way is to use a dagger or a rope. Any sharp object that can replace a dagger will do. With that, you can climb down the outer wall of the cave and escape."
"Ah..."
When Karina heard that they had to climb the outer wall of the cave, she thought back to the near-vertical cliff she had seen earlier.
'You have to climb down that cliff?'
Just imagining it made Karina's face turn pale.
"But this method is something that only very strong men or trained knights can do. With such thin arms as the Grand Duchess, it would be difficult to even stick a dagger into the rock once."
As expected, it wasn't a method that Karina would try.
"And lastly."
David continued, folding his thumb at the end and leaving only his index finger.
"We go deeper into the cave and find a path leading down the rock mountain. I can hear the sound of water dripping from somewhere, which means there is a water path flowing somewhere inside the cave."
"...!"
Karina's eyes lit up. She could clearly hear the sound of water drops falling.
"But no one knows where that water will lead. If you're lucky, it might lead outside, but if you're unlucky, there might not be a path at all. Then you'll be trapped deep inside the cave and starve to death."
Karina, who had been quietly listening to David's lengthy explanation, pursed her lips. David had said there were three ways, but there was only one that could be practically tried.
"Which method would you like to choose?"
David asked with a smile. Karina chose the only method among the three he offered.
"I think it would be a good idea to take a look inside the cave."
Without hesitation, Karina moved her feet to explore the cave. David followed her, calmly watching her.
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