Chapter 5 – A Night Like This…

Albert's hands were trembling. He gently lifted Zara and checked her pulse—her heart was still beating, but her condition was severe. They were surrounded by masked men from all sides, and for a moment, Albert had no idea what to do. He took a deep breath, tightened his grip on his sword, and carried Zara in his arms, running towards the nearby bushes.

The dense forest was their only refuge, but every step he took was filled with danger. Arrows from the masked men were still flying towards them, piercing the tree trunks one by one. Albert laid Zara down behind a large tree and stood in front of her, his sword gleaming as if it were challenging the masked men, daring them to step forward.

"Charlotte, you can't leave me," he muttered, looking at Zara's blood-streaked face. He was trying to hold himself together, but seeing Zara's state, his courage began to falter.

The masked men slowly started approaching them. Albert raised his sword, and the same fierce determination returned to his eyes that he had on the battlefield. He began to wield his sword, cutting down one masked man after another. He was exhausted, but the fire of his fight refused to die out.

Just then, one of the masked men struck Albert's sword, sending it flying away. Albert punched the man hard in the chest with his bare hands, knocking him down. But then, another attacker shot an arrow into Albert's shoulder from behind, causing him to fall to his knees. Yet, he refused to give up, staggering back to his feet and launching one last powerful attack.

Meanwhile, Zara's face showed a slight movement. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Albert drenched in blood before her.

Albert looked at her and smiled, "I can do anything to protect my future wife."

Zara steadied herself and, despite her own injuries, stood beside Albert. She had picked up Albert's sword and was now ready to face their enemies together.

Zara seated Albert to the side and began using her martial arts skills combined with the sword to fight off the attackers. Though she was wounded, and her strikes were neither clean nor swift enough to kill them in one blow...

After a while, Zara finally overcame them. Some of the attackers fled, otherwise, the battle would have continued for longer.

Albert and Zara were now in the middle of the forest. Both were injured, and walking to the palace was out of the question.

"Prince Albert, please stay here. I'll go see if we can find someone to help…" Zara said, and ventured deeper into the forest.

A while later, Zara returned, "There's a river not too far from here, and there's a hut near it. Maybe someone lives there… let's head there, and in the meantime, Father will send someone to find us."

With that, Zara helped Albert up, placing his arm over her shoulder, and began to lead him toward the hut.

'If something happens to you, this wedding will be called off on its own. I wouldn't have to go through the drama of dealing with spirits and all… But I can't be so heartless as to watch someone die right before my eyes…' Zara thought as she glanced at Albert.

The evening was setting in. Birds had started chirping, perhaps returning to their nests, but Albert and Zara seemed destined to stay in the forest tonight, as there was no sign of Arthur Halbert's men anywhere.

The sound of Zara and Albert's footsteps on the dry leaves echoed in the quiet forest. Soon, they found themselves standing outside the hut. Zara called out several times, but no one came out of the hut. Eventually, they entered on their own.

There wasn't much inside the hut… just a broken wooden bed. Two or three axes hung on the wall. In one corner, there was a mud stove and a few clay pots scattered around.

Zara sat Albert down on the broken bed and fetched water from the river in one of the pots. She was unsure of what to do next, but she started by lighting a fire and heating the water to clean Albert's wounds.

Zara quickly unbuttoned Albert's shirt, tearing a small piece of her own clothing to clean the wound on his shoulder. As she was unbuttoning the shirt, her mind was blank, but after a while, when she placed her hand on Albert's strong, sculpted shoulder, her hands involuntarily moved to his chest, and without knowing why, she started running her fingers over his chest.

Albert, who had been lying down with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and covered his chest with both hands, saying, "What… what are you doing? I get that we're going to get married, but we aren't married yet… How can you touch me like that?"

Hearing this, Zara snapped out of it. Her cheeks turned red. She quickly got up and left the hut.

"They're bigger than mine… Now I'm getting jealous of him," Zara muttered to herself, casting another glance at Albert sitting inside the hut.

"I used to think I'd live peacefully in a forest someday. But now that I'm here, I don't know what to do. And on top of that, there's that headache sitting inside. Oh God, please take me away…"

"Princess Charlotte, is there anyone outside?" Albert called out from inside.

"Why? Even if there was, what would you do?" Zara snapped, walking back inside. Slowly, she was beginning to drop her polite facade in front of Albert. Speaking kindly to him was becoming difficult.

"The way you act at the palace… it's all a charade, isn't it? Just so you don't have to marry me?" Albert finally voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind.

"If you already know, then why are you asking? And why haven't you refused the marriage yet?" Zara asked, eyeing Albert suspiciously.

Hearing this, Albert's eyes filled with sadness. He knew Zara didn't want to marry him, but hearing it from her lips in clear words was tough for him to bear.

"And that nonsense you spouted back there, that I staged all this to stop the wedding—you're completely wrong. I don't know who those people were or why they came there," Zara said, stomping her foot in anger before storming out once again.

Albert, left alone in the hut, was furious. He didn't know what to do… how to rid himself of the pain in his heart.

When Zara returned to the hut a while later, a heavy silence greeted her. Darkness had spread all around. Albert was nowhere to be seen, but in a shadowy corner of the hut, Zara spotted Albert lying on the ground.

Zara rushed over and placed his head in her lap. Albert's entire body was burning like fire.

"God, I asked you to take me, not him… What will I do if something happens to him? I can't bear the blame for his death. He could've left me, but he risked his life to save me. If he dies because of me, I…" Zara didn't want to think any further.

She quickly gathered some sticks and lit a fire. Then, she began applying cold compresses to Albert's forehead to bring down his fever.

After a while, the fever subsided, but now Albert's body started turning blue, and his breaths were becoming fainter and fainter… Just then, some noises began to emanate from outside the hut.