-

Dino laughed dryly, subconsciously reached out and tugged at the tunic she had wrapped around her body, and then finally reacted and took it off—this was what he had secretly taken as he passed by the washroom, in case he was seen as he was too conspicuous in his overly refined aristocratic service.

But the truth is that he deftly dodged the various guards and servants and never got hit head-on.

Apparently, Mansey's army did not have the margin to send more patrols in the area where the ladies lived.

In short, he was standing before a princess, and in her bedchamber.

It's a little bit ......

That's a bit offensive.

It was also at this time that Dino suddenly thought: What about Mr. Moshi? He was left alone in the room, still dragging a bloody hand...... Wait, wait.

Could it be that I was so nervous that I forgot about it from beginning to end?

And Mr. Moser didn't raise any objections?

"I guess...... Lord Dino, did you come to ask me for the key?" said Gerotta as she looked at the other party's complicated expression.

"Hmm. Dino came back to his senses. At the same time, I was surprised that Her Royal Highness the princess guessed correctly.

And his surprise was fully understood by Terlotta.

She laughed mischievously, "I knew that. You want to go out and find Manka, don't you?"

"You, you...... Would you like to help me?"

The young princess pretended to think, and tapped her chin with her knuckles—Dino hadn't noticed, but she looked very similar to her brother's. With a little malice out of pleasure.

"But," she said in distress, "why should I help you? Of course, I'd love to do what you want, but it's a passage that shouldn't be known, if I ...... it."

"I!" I don't know why, when he saw that the other party was troubled, Dino felt like he couldn't speak, "I, I don't know how to repay - I don't have anything at the moment, but when the incident passes, I will give you whatever you want, Your Royal Highness the Princess! Whether it's the fur of the silver fox or the antlers of the aurora deer, anything ......"

The girl burst out laughing.

"I don't need that stuff. ”

"Yes, you're a princess......"

"Hmm. So I want something more rare. "Even though I really wanted the horns of the Aurora Deer, she held up a finger in all seriousness.

"What is it?"

"Ask for your commitment. The girl said. And when she said this, she unconsciously moved away from her pure and carefree childhood. She has become a woman who longs for the ethereal and expects love.

"Promises, of course, I will promise you anything, Your Highness. Dino said it almost without thinking.

Jieluota nodded, and said solemnly: "I hope you promise me that you will always pick up a handkerchief for me in the future." ”

With that, she blushed.

Before Dino could react, she crawled under the bed, and after a moment of rusting around her skirt, she found a large rusty key. Then he walked back to Dino and stuffed the key into Dino's hand: "Anyway, since you have taken it, you have promised me! ”

"Her Royal Highness the Princess......"

"From now on, call me Zelota. After all," a smile appeared on her flushed cheeks, "after all, you are my future husband." ”

-

Evening is a time of relative activity, when the kitchen brings dinner to the rooms, and the onset of night means the preparation of hot water, the supply of candles, etc., and even if the palace is in a state of disorder, the dwelling of the ladies does not degrade the standard of living.

Dino spent the day hiding under the princess's bed. When the sun went down, he slipped out from under the bed and put on the clothes that Gelota had found for him.

She said it was the clothes left behind by her former maid (who had been her best playmate, but unfortunately died of lung disease): "With this, if a man is seen walking around the garden, you will be killed on the spot!"

"But ......"

"I'm not going to laugh at you. I swear by the empty wheel!"

That's why he walks through the garden in a long skirt with a wooden basin full of dirty laundry in his hand.

The setting sun pierces through the dark clouds, taking on a dim orange hue.

The key was placed under the wooden basin.

He walked with his head down, and made it to the northwest corner of the courtyard that Gelotta had told him, and saw the low metal door behind a row of low pines.

The pine grew clinging to the iron door, and Dino reached into the dense pine canopy and fumbled for a while before he found the dusty and rusty lock.

He propped open the tough stick with his elbow and tried to insert the key into the keyhole.

It's not easy, aligning the keyhole is a problem, and after finally finding the right position, the key is stuck after only half of it. The key collided with the iron door, making a metallic click, sharp and piercing.

Dino became impatient, and a fine sweat broke out on his forehead. Moments later, he heard the sound of the guards' iron boots on the road from the road.

Dino wanted to hide, but he stood up and looked left and right, but he couldn't find a suitable tree wall nearby.

When the patrol passed by, they saw clothes spilled on the grass. A maid lies on the grass to clean up. Apparently a clumsy guy accidentally knocked the tub to the ground.

The maid noticed the guards passing by and bowed her head timidly.

The captain of the guard stopped, wanting to step forward and ask a few questions.

It just so happened that a whistle came from a distance. So he returned to the line and instructed them to trot forward.

Dino breathed a sigh of relief as he knelt on the grass, but then he realized that the whistle might mean that someone had discovered his disappearance.

He pounced on the bushes again, this time not too much, drew the short knife in his arms and cut the branches, then grabbed the lock with both hands and turned the key vigorously. The jerky rusty iron stuck him.

He had to try to apply a not-so-subtle enhancement spell to his hands again, and he was able to resist the soreness caused by the load.

He twisted the key—

Then, the rusty lock was shattering.

Well, by mistake.

He pushed open the heavy, creaking iron door and stooped into the dark passageway.

The passage is short, and at the other end is a dense forest.

It was getting dark, but Dino had no fear.

He inhaled deeply into the air outside the castle, which was filled with the smell of pine resin, and there was a faint smell of livestock in the wind.

But then his heart pounded. A sharp whistle sounded, and it was not inside the castle, but more like outside. Now he knew that they had apparently known about his escape, and had organized an army to search for him on the periphery of the castle.

Dino ran out of the forest.

He didn't wear shoes, but it made him run faster and quieter.

The trees were thinning, and he could see the civilian houses on the low slopes in the distance, as small as gravel. There was a meadow between him and them, and he vaguely knew that he could see it clearly from the highest lookout of the castle. Should he take a gamble? or wait until nightfall, but if he waited here, if the guards entered the woods later, he would have nowhere to escape......

Dino slowly took off her long skirt, revealing her shirt underneath, and bent down to lower her rolled up trouser legs.

He tucked the only weapon he carried, the dagger, into the sheath at his waist and took a deep breath.