Ignoring Lara’s panicked voice, I walked away at the slowest pace permissible for a lady of high standing.
Once back in my room, I locked the door, stripped off my gown, and opened the chest at the foot of my bed.
From it, I pulled out the gear I used for visiting disaster-stricken areas.
Alice may have been hopeless at love, but she was a genius in both intellect and physical prowess.
Whether it was driving out ghouls that infested a famine-stricken village or exploring dungeons that had turned into labyrinths producing rare minerals, her skills far surpassed those of the Crown Prince, who never left the palace or stopped indulging in his frivolous romantic escapades.
In the past, Alice had established an “Adventurer’s Guild” to support those who risked their lives to fight monsters in place of the useless royal knights.
She had also negotiated with neighboring countries to create a mutual aid system against monster threats.
And leading dungeon expeditions herself? That was something she had done more than once.
If Alice were serious, escaping the royal palace would be child’s play.
Especially now, with the "Collar of Subjugation" that had bound her to the Crown Prince destroyed, she felt not a shred of attachment—to the prince or this kingdom.
“Wait!”
Carried on the wind, Lara’s desperate, almost screaming voice reached her.
“Don’t go! If you leave, I—I…”
Sooner or later, the Crown Prince would bring another consort candidate into the palace. He would shower the new girl with affection, casting Lara down to the rank of “the forgotten favorite.”
That’s just the kind of man he was.
But for Lara, who could do little beyond dressing up elegantly and had no knowledge of public service or even basic physical skills, escaping the palace as Alice planned was an impossibility.
“What about your parents? What will happen to them if you run away?”
Lara’s accusatory tone made Alice pause momentarily.
Her parents, connected to her by blood, had never once shown her love. And yet, the moment she became a consort candidate, their disdain flipped to sycophantic flattery as they sought to cozy up to her.
—Nope, I have no lingering attachment to them.
Taking her beloved horse, Alice made her way to the back gate, where a familiar guard greeted her with a respectful bow.
“Heading out, my lady?”
“Yes,” she replied, leaning down from the saddle to whisper in his ear.
“I won’t be coming back.”
The guard raised the visor of his helmet with a soft click, a faint smile appearing on his rugged face.
“Stay safe, my lady.”
“You too.”
Alice knew who this man was—he had once been the captain of the royal knights. He had been demoted to this obscure post after speaking out against the Crown Prince’s cruel treatment of her.
In the distance, the sounds of commotion echoed from the palace. It seemed the pursuit party had been dispatched.
The guard drew his sword smoothly. “Go. I’ll hold them off.”
“But—”
Before she could hesitate further, he took her hand and kissed her fingertips with swift precision.
“Don’t worry. I’ll catch up once this is over.”
Alice gasped, the breath caught in her throat. Before she could process it, her horse had already begun galloping away—spurred by the guard’s firm slap on its flank.
Could this mean… I can dare to hope?
Those eyes that had always seen her off before her arduous expeditions. That hand extended to her when she returned, weary and worn. Could those gestures have carried feelings beyond mere compassion?
Her heart raced as she rode onward, gripping the reins tightly. Would he find her?
Would he discover the adventurer she’d become, exiled to a neighboring country under a new name, registered with the Adventurer’s Guild?
Would he join her in exploring abandoned villages haunted by man-eating ghouls or dungeons-turned-mines brimming with peril?
Even after leaping from the stage of a romance game-like royal palace into a world straight out of an RPG, would his eyes, his smile, remain the same when turned toward her?
The story of how Alice, who changed her role from the "supporting character" of a romance game to an adventurer in an RPG, would reunite with the former knight-captain—later to become king—was a tale for another time.
[The End]
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