ATPL 25

“Ah, this was when I was fourteen,” Abelard began awkwardly.

In the end, he decided to share the story since he didn’t like how that woman had strangely condensed his tale. However, now that he was about to speak, he felt embarrassed and couldn’t help wondering what he was doing.

“There’s a city called Reims that I visited when I was younger. It’s a gateway to the north and a major transportation hub, but outside the outer walls, it’s quite deserted. Do you know it?”

“Rei—”

“Oh my, Anais knows that place! Anais’s mother loves it there!”

Just as Elliot was about to speak, Anais cut in.

“There are geysers in the nearby mountains! I went there as a child, but since I was cooped up in the villa the whole time, it’s definitely somewhere I’d love to visit again.”

“…Your family must be quite well-off, then? Having a villa in Reims and all.”

Abelard looked at Anais with surprise.

Oh no, my identity. Anais quickly clamped her mouth shut.

“Anyway, my father was ill at the time. Things were unstable both inside and outside the empire.”

The empire’s situation had been grim at the time. Ten years ago, the emperor had fallen gravely ill.

Though he was healthy now, back then, the emperor had been sick for two years, and people feared he wouldn’t survive.

Though Abelard was only fourteen, as the crown prince, he was sent to the northern duchy in place of the emperor.

Magical beasts in the north had begun acting out, and the duchy had repeatedly requested assistance.

Like Belfast, the duchy was a vassal state of the empire, and the empire had an obligation to support it.

The emperor, still bedridden, commanded Abelard to go in person.

The emperor believed it would demonstrate his strength better than keeping his heir close by.

The emperor’s advisors thought nothing major would happen, as they would be using the gate to travel. But that was a miscalculation. The sole crown prince became the target of assassins.

Of course, there were protective measures in place. The emperor, knowing the many enemies the empire had, assigned what some considered excessive security.

The problem was the impetuousness of a fourteen-year-old boy.

‘Isn’t His Imperial Majesty trying to show his strength through my travels? Then I too must live up to His Majesty’s expectations.’

Perhaps it was simply the strange bravado of a boy who had grown up too quickly.

In any case, as they neared northern Reims, the boy insisted on riding his horse.

Truth be told, it was because he was tired of riding in the carriage for over ten days, but young Abelard used his father’s orders as an excuse.

The knights were at a loss. The head of security at the time tried to dissuade him, but he was determined.

Finally, mounting the gentlest horse available, Abelard rode with his chin held high, showing off.

“I was such a fool.”

Abelard reminisced. Anais agreed.

“Indeed, you were.”

The Empress glared. Elliot wished he could pretend not to know Anais.

Abelard continued with his story.

“An incident occurred while passing through the forest near Reims.”

The forest near Reims was known as the Wizard’s Forest. It was dark, and those who ventured in invariably got lost.

People would believe they were walking in a straight line, only to find themselves lost, hence the name Wizard’s Forest.

Naturally, no one passing through Reims wanted to go through that forest.

The head of security decided to avoid the Wizard’s Forest for security reasons, as even assassins would find it difficult to hide there.

But an arrow suddenly came flying from somewhere. It struck the horse’s hindquarters, and the startled horse bolted into the Wizard’s Forest with Abelard still on it.

And it was in that forest that Abelard met his first love.

Abelard knew that one shouldn’t enter the Wizard’s Forest recklessly. As the horse continued running deeper into the forest, Abelard realized it would be problematic to go any further and let go of the reins.

But the young boy knew one thing and was ignorant of another.

The obvious fact that jumping off a bolting horse would likely result in an injury.

As he fell from the horse, Abelard broke his right leg. Clutching his leg, which was bent at an odd angle, Abelard groaned before losing consciousness.

When he woke up, a full day had passed.

‘Are you conscious?’

Was it because he woke up in a room filled with sunlight? The girl’s long blonde hair filled Abelard’s vision as she leaned down to ask him.

It was bright blonde. The girl with lovely emerald eyes pressed Abelard back down when he tried to get up in surprise.

‘You’ve injured your leg. If you try to get up suddenly, it might heal crooked.’

‘Who are you? You seem suspicious!’

Of course, Abelard was an arrogant crown prince without a shred of manners at the time, so he shouted like that at the girl who had clearly saved his life.

“Well, you could say I had a keen sense of danger.”

Abelard added sheepishly. Anais almost snorted but pretended to scratch her nose.

‘Well… you were the one unconscious in the forest, weren’t you more suspicious?’

The girl replied. Abelard tried to get up quickly, but with a broken leg, walking was impossible.

The Crown Prince tumbled and flailed about on the floor. The girl crouched beside him, looking down with an unimpressed expression.

‘If you’re done, would you like help getting up?‘

‘…Damn it! What’s your name?!’

‘Hmm, you don’t need to know that.’

The girl smiled sweetly.

‘I’m not curious about your name.’

‘Why aren’t you curious?!’

Abelard asked, feeling provoked as he continued struggling on the floor. The girl blinked calmly before answering.

‘You’re wearing fine clothes, aren’t you? Someone like that stranded in the forest is probably involved in something bad. And if I get involved with you, I’ll be caught up in bad things too.’

It was a remarkably clever yet completely tactless response.

‘So there’s no need to answer.’

Whether Abelard glared or not, the girl helped him up. Her arms were surprisingly strong.

The girl took care of Abelard for several days. Unbelievably, she seemed to live alone in a large log cabin deep in the forest.

The house had a hearth, a cellar, and three beds.

But the owners of the other two beds never appeared until Abelard left.

Abelard lay in one of the spare beds, waiting for his leg to heal. He remembered the girl as quiet and self-sufficient.

Though his memories had faded with time, a few details remained clear: the wild berries the girl picked from the forest, and the occasional sound of wood being chopped.

“Chopping wood? But she was a girl?”

Anais asked, her eyes wide with surprise. Abelard cleared his throat.

“At first, I thought she was the daughter of a forest keeper.”

Later, he began to suspect that she might be a child hidden away by parents of questionable character.

Until Abelard left the house, he never saw any of the girl’s family members or relatives, not even once.

The girl never pried into Abelard’s circumstances, which only strengthened his suspicions.

Once, wondering if she might be the daughter of criminals, he asked.

‘Don’t your parents come?’

‘They’ve gone far away.’

The girl answered casually as if talking about a squirrel she’d seen the day before.

‘They didn’t take you with them?’

‘I prefer being alone.’

‘But this is the Wizard’s Forest. They just left a young girl here alone?’

‘I’m probably stronger than you.’

The girl shrugged as she answered, and Abelard bristled.

‘I’m much stronger than you, I’m just injured!’

‘Well, I can’t believe that while you’re injured. So hurry up and get better.’

Though she clearly looked younger than Abelard, she responded with a maturity far beyond her years.

Abelard became absorbed in trying to figure out the girl’s identity. There wasn’t much else to do while injured.

The girl woke at dawn and went to sleep late at night. Her clothes were of good quality but were simple and covered in dirt daily.

They could have belonged to the daughter of a well-off family, a criminal’s daughter, or simply a forest keeper’s daughter.

Abelard’s parting from the girl came suddenly. Three days after he was well enough to walk, he was attacked by assassins again.

An arrow whizzed past his face and struck a tree. Abelard froze in terror. It was the same kind of arrow that had struck his horse earlier.

Despite his limp, Abelard ran into the forest. Going back to the cabin where he had stayed was out of the question. The girl would be in danger too.

Ironically, it was the Wizard’s Forest that saved Abelard again.

In a forest where one got more lost the further they went, Abelard somehow managed to find his way and escape.

A knight searching for him for nearly two weeks finally found Abelard at the edge of the forest.

Covered in dirt and with his injured leg, Abelard was immediately transported to Reims, and after two days of recovery, returned straight to the imperial capital through a gate.

He ordered the knights to search for the girl who matched the description of his savior, but the returning knights all reported, “We couldn’t find such a girl.”

In the end, Abelard gave up searching for the girl after half a year.