Princess Abigail's Reason

"Your Highness, please forgive my inability. However, since I cannot use face-changing magic to avoid the enemy's pursuit, we may have to sleep in the open for a while."

After Uri and Princess Abigail had not stopped galloping, Uri finally directed their horse to rest among the tall trees far from the road. The servant smoothly helped Princess Abigail to get off their horse. After that, he quickly prepared a patch of area for Princess Abigail to sit comfortably.

"I am fine with that, Uri. You don't have to worry about me."

Once Uri had finished preparing everything, the man observed Princess Abigail a little better. Uri was surprised when he saw that Princess Abigail's legs looked injured in several places. Because he focused on finding a way to escape earlier, he was unaware that his movements had burdened Princess Abigail, who was still wearing her royal clothes.

Princess Abigail followed Uri's gaze and finally realized that the man was looking at the wounds on her legs. She awkwardly tried to hide her leg after that. At a time like this, Princess Abigail didn't want Uri to think that she was being too troublesome.

"Your Highness, that… I apologize for not paying attention to your condition."

"I'm fine, Uri. It's not a big wound. Look, I don't feel any pain when I move it."

When Princess Abigail saw Uri's troubled expression because of his wound, the woman frantically tried to show that she was fine. Princess Abigail ended up moving her leg carelessly. And because of that, she unconsciously frowned slightly as the pain in her leg spread throughout her body.

"You don't have to hide it from me, Your Highness. This is probably your first time going so far away from the royal palace. I should be the one who is more sensitive to your condition."

After saying that, Uri looked around them. The man got up to leave after that. Princess Abigail wanted to stand up and follow where the man was going. But once her legs started throbbing again, Princess Abigail finally decided to remain in her sitting position.

Not long after, Uri returned with some plants that Princess Abigail did not recognize. Only when Princess Abigail looked at Uri again did the woman finally smile a little. She watched as Uri carefully crushed the plants he had brought, then turned to look at her again after that.

"Your Highness, may I see the wound on your leg?"

Princess Abigail's cheeks involuntarily turned red when she heard a man who was not her husband trying to touch her skin. Even in the palace, Princess Abigail was only allowed to socialize with female servants. Her almost zero experience when faced with men outside of her family made Princess Abigail a little awkward as she showed her legs to the serious-looking Uri.

"That... you can do it."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Princess Abigail's heart beat faster as Uri's rough hands gently touched her ankles. While Uri was treating her legs, Princess Abigail couldn't stop blushing the entire time. Sometimes, Uri would touch the part of her foot that felt so sore. But for the sake of her pride, Princess Abigail would try to hold back her groans as much as possible.

"Your Highness, once we find a place that is not guarded by the royal knights, I promise to find you other shoes and clothes immediately. Until then... please endure for a little while longer."

Because Princess Abigail did not immediately answer, Uri, who had been talking while looking down, finally looked back at Princess Abigail's face with a confused expression. Princess Abigail also came to her senses when Uri finally looked at her again. Her face flushed slightly. She could not believe she would be caught staring at Uri's face without blinking even once.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't mean to stare at you like that, Uri. I just feel... it seems like you've become a completely different person when you're not with Kenneth."

Uri smiled when he heard Princess Abigail's words. The servant sat down next to Princess Abigail and then replied to Princess Abigail's words in a calm voice.

"Is that so? Do... you find my change in attitude suspicious, Your Highness?"

Uri had always appeared as an ordinary, free servant, even when he was in front of Kenneth. In front of everyone, Uri always pretended he was weaker and stupider than the other palace servants.

Uri's change in attitude must have been enough to make Princess Abigail suspicious. Uri was not angry at Princess Abigail. He was relieved that Princess Abigail could be sensitive to things like that.

Princess Abigail looked at Uri kindly before she finally shook her head.

"I don't think you have any bad intentions towards Kenneth or me. I apologize, Uri. I didn't mean to make you sad because of what I said."

Sad?

Uri touched his face, then finally realized that he did have a sad expression on his face. The man pondered and then thought back to what could have made him sad.

Just like the other servants, life in the palace also changes Uri's way of thinking about many things. The young man who came with high spirits slowly changed into a different person when he saw the cruelty in the palace. The triggers were mostly assassins who always secretly came to the Ruby Palace. Kenneth might not know about that. But in fact, Uri had always cleaned up the mess in the Ruby Palace for his master for dozens of years.

At first, Uri was not good at hiding his true emotions or defeating enemies. It was experience that allowed Uri to live this far. After going through countless dangers, Uri was finally no longer afraid to finish off one or two people with his own hands.

It would just be troublesome if his strength was known to the palace people. So, all this time, Uri had always appeared as an ordinary servant, even in front of Kenneth.

Perhaps, hiding everything from the people he cared about had made Uri sad all this time. It wasn't Uri's intention to hide anything from Kenneth. It was just that Uri also didn't want to make Kenneth worry about the state of the Ruby Palace, which was never as good as it seemed.

Uri smiled slightly. For the first time, Uri finally realized that he might have been tormented because he decided to hide himself from Kenneth.

"You might be right, Your Highness. I might be sad because I can't show my real self to my master."

Princess Abigail removed her gaze from Uri and then lowered her head.

"Hiding everything from the people we care about is suffocating, isn't it?"

Princess Abigail said that because she knew how it felt to have to pretend in front of others for their sake. Princess Abigail, who was always locked in her golden cage, also never felt happy with her condition. But for the sake of her father and Kenneth, Princess Abigail always appeared as a happy princess.

"Uri, I haven't had the chance to tell you the reason why I ran away from my palace, right? Well, I'll tell you now."

Princess Abigail bent her legs to hug her knees before she finally said her reason in a low voice.

In short, Princess Abigail, who did not believe that her father died by suicide, began to try to find the truth by herself. She sneaked to go to her father's room, then found that Leroy was already there with Weiss, and talked about how they finally got rid of King Ducan and planned to help get rid of other troublemakers in the future. Princess Abigail also heard that they intended to kill her after her father died. Because with her identity, Leroy would not be able to hurt or use Princess Abigail for his benefit.

In the end, Princess Abigail felt that the palace was no longer safe for her. Princess Abigail did plan to escape from the palace on the day of her father's funeral. But what Princess Abigail did not expect she would meet Uri, who was also about to escape from the palace.

From Uri, Princess Abigail finally found out that Kenneth was still alive out there. Thanks to Uri, Princess Abigail finally had a new goal after escaping from the palace. That might be the first time Princess Abigail embarked on an uncomfortable long journey. However, when she was with Uri, Princess Abigail felt she didn't need to be afraid of anything anymore.

"You must find my reason very lame, right?"

After speaking, Princess Abigail asked because she felt that her reason was not strong enough to make Uri's difficulty in escaping increase many times over. However, Uri shook his head to answer her question. The man looked at Princess Abigail, then spoke in a serious tone.

"Your reason is more than enough for me to take you away from the royal palace, Your Highness. For me, there is nothing wrong with leaving to do something you want to do."

Princess Abigail was quite surprised when Uri answered her like that. However, not long after, the woman finally smiled a little. Princess Abigail buried her face between her knees to hide the blush that appeared on her face. For some reason, Princess Abigail felt that Uri's words were priceless.

"Thank you, Uri. For trying to understand my reason," said Princess Abigail sincerely.