Two-Faced Princess

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Uriel forcefully pounded the ground with both legs and leaped forward. However, his body didn’t move as intended. “This way, quickly!”

Someone suddenly emerged from behind and grabbed his leg, pulling him back.

Thud!

A large tooth grazed his shirt, and before he could assess the situation, his body was dragged down somewhere below.

Thump-

Uriel slipped through a dark, narrow hole in the rocks and fell onto the dirt floor.

“What is this———-”

“Move aside.” A familiar voice sounded from below his back. Thanks to the moonlight seeping through the gap, he could identify the owner.

“You’re alive.” “Did you think I was dead? Don’t just sit there. Move aside.” The voice spoke curtly.

Uriel slowly complied with his words. As the man who was lying down stood up, his face became clearer. With black tousled hair, distinctive golden eyes, broad shoulders that seemed to fill the cave, and tall stature, it was Caelion Ephinhardt.

“You were hiding here?”

“Yeah. This cave made by some mountain beast is quite useful. It’s spacious, well-hidden, and the rock blocking the entrance is sturdy. No matter what the queen tries, it won’t break. Well…” He paused for a moment and continued. “This might be a good place to die.” His clothes were torn in various places, and there were bloodstains on them. However, the more concerning issue was his leg. It was obvious at a glance that the leg, wrapped with a piece of someone’s clothing, had a serious injury.

“Is it broken?”

“Yeah. Since I ran out of arrows, do you have any suggestions? Sister would have already healed it, but it will take me a few more days. As long as I don’t starve to death, I’ll be fortunate.” He said it casually, but his face was grim. There didn’t seem to be much hope in sight. “You brought the guards?”

“They’re over there.” Caelion pointed with his chin, and two knights were leaning against the cave wall, their eyes closed. There were bloodstains on their bodies as well. “They’re alive, even though they look like that. They’ll recover if we provide treatment, but I don’t know what to do.”

Uriel nodded his head. Caelion turned his head back towards Uriel. “You heard it from Evangeline?”

“Yeah. But the situation seems different from what the princess expected. Judging by the size alone, it was more than double what the princess mentioned.”

“Ah, I see. I underestimated it too. Still, I thought if we focused our attack on one eye, it would die. We should consider making something like an eyepatch as fortunate.” Caelion chuckled bitterly. “Same here. I stabbed the left eye with a sword, but it only blinded it, and it kept moving.”

“You stabbed it directly with a sword? Without any guards, are you insane?” He exclaimed with a voice mixed with admiration and reproach.

“Well, I knew it was dangerous, but I didn’t expect it to be that tough.” Caelion let out a sigh. He seemed to regret not following Evangeline’s instructions to depart the more they discovered anything about the beast.

“Do you think the problem was inaccurate information?”

“That’s unlikely. You’re asking as if you don’t know either.” Caelion cut off Uriel’s question and continued. “This trap set by Duke Lipper took much longer to prepare than I expected. I realized it the moment I saw the queen.” He said quietly. “He must have fed it a potion that enlarges the monsters. Unless it’s a poisonous mixture, it would have been spread in the meat, and the queen would eat it first. Naturally, it turned into a state where she wouldn’t die from just a regular amount of poison. The fact that those creatures ended up here after all the prey disappeared——-”

“Someone lured them using bait.” Caelion nodded his head. No matter how notorious Croadins were, the monster they encountered went beyond common sense. Its size, abilities, and state were beyond what nature could produce. “For them to maintain that size and inhabit this mountain for months…”

“Somebody must have left some meat even after all the prey was gone.” Uriel finished Caelion’s sentence again, and Caelion sighed with disappointment, touching his forehead. “Even if we realized it, what can we do? Look at my leg. You, who are still in good shape, should try to find a way to escape. After all, you’re just bait with a life that’s already destined to die.” A brief silence followed. Uriel raised an eyebrow and looked at Caelion. “Why are you surprised? Did you think we would charge together to die? I don’t expect you to save me along with yourself since you won’t even be able to get out alive.” Uriel didn’t say anything. Once again, memories of the past five years that he and Caelion had experienced together came to his mind. Countless crises they had faced, the two of them had been on the verge of life and death multiple times. It had always been his role to stand in front and take the first blow of the sword, but Caelion was proposing something opposite, which was so natural for him. The sound of Uriel’s laughter seeped out into the dark and silent cave. “You’ve grown a lot, Caelion Ephenhardt.” Looking at his displeased and crumpled face, Uriel spoke sincerely.