Caught
The sun had sunk much lower. What had been directly overhead now sat far to the west, stretching a long crimson stain across the plains. And yet nothing had changed. No other villages, not even a single sign of human life. Just endless grassland, endless horizon, repeating forever. The village I’d left behind was now only a speck the size of a fingernail in the distance.
…Fuck. Where the hell is this place even hiding?
My legs had gone completely numb.
“Goddamn… it hurts so much…”
The soles of my feet felt raw. “I’ve got blisters everywhere…” My mouth was a desert, my head spun in dizzy circles. Eight hours of walking without a sip of water would do that. Prince’s body or not, every extra step felt impossible. My knees kept buckling; my toes snagged in the grass and made me stumble.
…Just a second. Let’s rest. Just for a second.
I dropped onto the grass. My ragged breathing refused to settle. I tipped my head back. The burning sunset bled all the way to the edge of the world.
…
It was the first wide-open sky I’d seen in days. The kind of clean, sweeping twilight you never got in that gloomy border village. But the longer I stared at it, the more one thought kept surfacing.
…Era’s probably…
I tried to shove it away, but it kept crawling back.
…Forget it. Don’t think about her.
…I chose to leave. This is how I save her.
…Rest a little, then push on before it gets dark.
I licked my cracked lips, steadied my breath, and rubbed my aching calves. The soles throbbed, but after a short break I was sure I could keep going.
“Haa… hoo…”
That was when I felt it.
A cold, creeping chill sliding up my spine from behind.
“……?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. The nauseating feeling of someone staring holes into me. I was alone on the plains… wasn’t I?
I turned slowly, dread prickling across my skin.
“…?”
“What the… is that…?”
Far across the plains, something was coming straight toward me.
“Wait… that can’t be…”
At first it was only a dot. A black speck pinned against the sunset. But the dot grew quickly—far faster than I expected. Someone on horseback. Long black hair whipping in the wind, racing directly at me.
…Wait. Long black hair whipping in the wind…?
“……Huh?”
It was Era.
Era, on horseback. Expression blank. Riding straight for me.
“……Ha.”
A dry, helpless laugh slipped out.
What the hell? Where did she even get a horse???
There weren’t any horses in that village. A border settlement ringed by cliffs, sea, and mountains—where could she possibly have found one, and how had she caught up so fast?
“Damn it… that face…!”
But none of that mattered right now.
Her expression… The distance was still too great for details, but one thing was unmistakable. This wasn’t the usual giggling, bright-eyed Era. If it had been, she would have waved and called out “Your Highness~!” Instead she rode in silence, mouth pressed into a thin line, eyes locked on me alone.
That by itself was already an emergency.
“……Fuck.”
I shot to my feet. No time to rest. Strength I didn’t know I still had surged through legs that should have been empty after eight hours of walking. If she caught me, I was getting beaten. And that would be the lucky outcome.
“Aaaah!!!”
I clutched my aching legs and forced myself to run again, teeth gritted against the pain. Every step was pure agony.
Clop. Clop. Clop.
The sound of hooves grew louder behind me. Of course it did. A man on two exhausted legs could never outrun a horse. I was dead on my feet; she sat perfectly balanced in the saddle.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
The gap closed fast. No matter how hard I pumped my legs, the hoofbeats only grew clearer. I risked a glance over my shoulder. She was closer now. Expressionless. Black eyes fixed on me without blinking.
“…E-Era!” I shouted while running. “Wait! I have a reason—ha… ha…”
The words wouldn’t come out right. My lungs burned; every breath felt like it would tear me apart.
“I had a reason! It’s not that I hate you—!”
No answer. Only the relentless hoofbeats drawing nearer.
Clop. Clop. Clop.
“Later! I’ll come back later! I swear…!”
I meant it. Once I shook off the Maryeokche and the situation calmed, I fully intended to return. I would make sure she was safe first, then come back and explain everything. Why I left. What I was afraid of. All of it.
But Era didn’t seem to hear a single word. Or more accurately, she refused to listen. As if every excuse, every promise, had already lost all meaning.
The horse was right behind me now. I could feel its hot breath on my back. The grass being torn up by its hooves thundered beside my ear.
“…Ha… ha… Era, please—!”
Then—
A huge shadow swept over me. Era had leapt straight from the saddle.
“Huh? Huh?! Huuuuh?!”
Thud!
The impact sent me sprawling into the grass. Era crashed down on top of me and we tumbled across the dirt in a tangled heap.
“…Ugh!”
My back slammed against the ground. The withered wildflowers I’d been carrying scattered in every direction. Purple petals drifted down slowly through the red sunset light.
I flailed desperately.
“Hey! Wait! Let’s talk, Era! Just give me a second—!”
She was already straddling me.
“Listen to me, you little—!”
“…”
Looking down at me. Black hair disheveled. Sunset burning behind her. Face utterly empty of expression.
“…Era…?”
It was the same face I’d seen for days, yet it belonged to a stranger. The shy giggles, the blushing cheeks, the teary eyes—none of it remained. Only a cold, frozen mask.
“Calm down. Just calm down and talk to me—!”
She opened her mouth slowly.
“…Shut up.”
The words were ice. Nothing like the soft, sweet voice that had called me “Your Highness~” for days. This voice was dry, hollow, stripped of all feeling.
Then she reached for something tied at her waist.
A wooden club.
The exact same heavy club she had threatened me with the day I first woke up in that room. Thick as a man’s wrist.
I had no idea when she’d started carrying it again.
“…E-Era. Wait. Put that down—”
I was definitely fucked.
Without a word she lifted the club. Sunset painted it crimson.
“…Now it’s real,” she whispered. Her voice shook just slightly. “Forever. Together.”
The club came down.
Thwack—!
A dull, heavy shock slammed into my skull. Then again. And again. The blows kept falling until everything went dark.
“Urgh… ah…”
My vision flashed white, then slowly bled to black.
…Era.
…That’s not it.
…I was trying to save you…
I couldn’t speak anymore. My mouth moved but no sound came out.
Consciousness sank fast. Feeling left my fingertips. The world narrowed to a tunnel. Sounds grew distant.
The last thing I saw was Era’s empty face staring down at me.
Then I blacked out.
=========================
At the same moment, in Esh village.
A group wearing black cloaks entered the center of the deserted settlement.
Zork Hamen surveyed the village slowly from atop his horse.
“……”
It was unnaturally quiet. Not a single sign of life. Every door was shut tight; the place felt completely abandoned. Not even laundry had been left out. A village as still as a corpse.
His lieutenant rode up beside him.
“…Chief. The village is empty.”
“……”
“We checked every house. Not one person remains.”
Zork drew the detection orb from inside his coat. The black crystal sphere trembled faintly. But the direction it indicated was not inside the village.
“…Outside.”
He raised the orb, judging the bearing. North. Toward the plains.
“The Black Star Vein has left the village.”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s not here.”
Zork turned his horse.
“The plains. And quite far away by now.”
His eyes, cold and sunken, fixed on the northern plains where the sun was setting. The endless grassland dyed red beneath the twilight.
“The reaction of His Highness the Prince’s holy power is coming from the same direction.”
“…Then—”
The lieutenant swallowed.
“It means the Black Star Vein and His Highness are in the same place.”
Zork tucked the orb away. His expression grew even colder.
“There is a high possibility His Highness is being held by the Black Star Vein.”
“……!”
“We must hurry. Any delay and we cannot guarantee his safety.”
Zork dug in his spurs.
“All units, to the plains.”
“…Yes!”
“Pursue at full speed. Eliminate the Black Star Vein the moment it is found. However, it may be using His Highness as a shield, so secure the Prince’s location first.”
The black-cloaked riders turned their horses as one. Hooves thundered. They burst out of the village and galloped toward the sunset-drenched plains. Dozens of horses kicked up clouds of dust as they tore across the darkening grassland.