4 Blue Dove

Mira looked up, "What?"

The prince slightly chuckled, putting his hands on his hips, "I said, strip. Let's be sure that you aren't hiding the letter in your clothes."

Her raw throat swallowed its saliva. Was he a sadist?

"I am but an unmarried girl—"

"Do you want a knight to do it for you?"

Her eyes quivered, but she silently shook her head. Mira reluctantly stood up as the three men looked on with stoic faces, as if she wasn't even worth the attention if not for the letter. Mira gripped the oversized, brown pants she was wearing, but after a moment, she reached up to her shirt.

Her white blouse was stricken with dirt and mud, its short sleeves tattered at its seams. Mira quietly grabbed onto the top buttons, her hands trembling as she slowly pulled open the loose fabric. At her third button, Mira eyed the prince as if to beg him once last time, and her shaky lips tugged upwards into a… smirk?

Shing!

A piece of ceramic sharply lunged at the prince's face.

"F*ck!" The prince spun his body away to the ground, clutching onto his bleeding cheek. The two knights drew their swords in a hurry, and Mira sliced the cloth behind her with a large ceramic shard.

Quickly, Mira jumped onto the coachman's seat and propelled herself onto a mule. The knights were close behind as they climbed onto the wagon, and she hurriedly removed the attached harness.

Fearing she was getting away, the Knight Commander flung his steel sword at the girl. It successfully pierced her lower back, causing her to lose control of the mule.

"Augh!" Mira screamed from the sudden pain.

Seizing his chance, the knight lunged at Mira, only a few steps away. Mira gritted her teeth and threw the rest of the ceramic shards at the knight. One of them sliced into his eye, and he knocked over backward on the other knight.

Mira ignored the pain, and she gripped the leather reins and rode the saddle forward. The mule, understanding her command, galloped at full speed into the green forest.

"Don't let her get away!" The prince yelled. The knights hastily got on their horses and raced towards Mira.

They were 80 yards away, and they were catching up quickly since Mira was on a mule. Mira yelled in pain, pulling the sword out of her back, as she continued to gallop past the redwood trees.

Her mind spun at the possible solutions to escape. If she was caught now, the prince would surely kill her.

Beyond the trees, Mira could see an open path that was paved for transportation. There was an eye-catching carriage passing on the road, and Mira recognized the strange symbol on its hood ornament: Wenland Kingdom.

Only high-ranking families could use the kingdoms' symbols on their carriages. Mira reckoned that if the letter was important to a Kimora prince, it would be important to whoever is in there. Perhaps she could even leverage for her guaranteed safety.

The dull pain from the sword wound caused Mira's sight to become disorientated. Mira pressured the mule by squeezing her calves to get it to run faster. She had to reach the carriage before the knights reached her.

"What are you numskulls doing? Pull out the arrows!" Knight Commander yelled.

The knights pulled out their bows and arrows, slinging them against their wooden bowstrings. They skillfully pointed their sharp tips at Mira, keen on its target.

Hearing the heavy call for arrows behind her, Mira gritted her teeth and galloped faster to the carriage. Splinters of muted pixels overwhelmed her eyes as a quiet darkness loomed at the edges.

The acute arrows were settled at their anchor points, and Mira grew desperate at the sudden tranquility behind her.

"Ready! Set! Fire!"

She threw herself off the galloping mule, scraping her whole body in the dirt and mud. Looking up, she saw dozens of arrows fly over the mule and strike redwood trees.

The prince was laughing from behind, his horse catching up to the other knights. Hearing his mocking voice, Mira grunted as she pulled herself together to run. The darkness was clouding her eyes more and more, but she kept running towards the midnight blue carriage.

30 feet more, and she would reach freedom.

Mira shrieked in pain. An arrow punctured through her body, and the pain shot up her chest like a blind agony.

Like a rock, her body nose-dived to the hard ground. She spilled out chunks of blood, lips red as a putrid apple, and a permanent ringing noise penetrated her ears.

The horses' hooves slowly trotted to Mira, who was spasming in pain. The prince had a white bandage over his face, covering the wound Mira gave him earlier. He plastered on a smirk, and his grin could not be more wider.

He got off his mount, speaking the moment his boots touched grass, "A common girl dared to hurt a royal's face? I see your parents hadn't knocked sense into you as a child."

Mira muffled a distressed sound, panting breaths as her chest heaved up and down.

"What would your sick mother think of your disloyalty to the Crown?" He lectured. "I was even thinking of giving you a few gold coins, but you gave yourself a hard time."

The prince spoke more didactic words, but they became delirious nonsense to Mira. Death was looming over her eyes, indicating the end of her world.

Mira's mouth twitched in an effort to laugh out loud. Why did she think that this life would be any different from the last?

At least she tried. Mira hoped that if the motivation was supposed to be Young-joon, he would be well in health without her. His chronic pain and panic attacks made him dependent on Mira in the last life, but now, he was never experimented on, so Young-joon would be fine, right?

Without any more strength, Mira's face dropped left to where she could see the paved road. The Wenland carriage of unrequited freedom was still there, but it sat idly instead of moving. The fancy blue door opened to reveal a charming, young man with honey-like lips.

Black, curly hair. Sea-green eyes. Tanned skin. His clothes boasted of a wealthy noble, and

he looked familiar.

"Is that you, 2nd Prince?" He shouted.

Her vision went black.