"It's actually this much?!" I muttered, glancing at Lilia walking closely beside me. "Didn't those bastards just say they were poor and starving under Hendrix's rule?"
"Those ten gold coins you found were entirely from the personal pouch of their captain," Lilia explained gently, keeping her eyes on the path. "The rest of the common soldiers only carried a few loose silver and copper coins."
"Damn. That gold must have been the direct bounty payment for your life, and that greedy captain took it all for himself," I let out a mocking laugh.
"Serves him right then. Let's move faster, we're wasting time staying any longer."
Lilia gave a solemn nod. "Please, God, let us out safely," she murmured, her gaze lowered in a delicate mix of respect and profound fear.
She followed closely behind my brisk stride, her entire body tense with anticipation.
Once we reached the main roads, Lilia kept perfect pace with me, her sharp blue eyes constantly scanning the shadows for any signs of an ambush.
The outer city streets were eerily quiet. The common citizens of Regalia were undoubtedly cowering inside their homes, terrified of the brutal patrol troops Hendrix had established.
"I understand your desire for revenge," she whispered, keeping her voice incredibly low to avoid drawing the attention of any nearby scouts.
"And I will support your blade in any way I can." She hesitated, biting her lip before adding, "But please, consider the lives of those who remain completely innocent in all of this. Not everyone in Regalia supports Hendrix's reign of terror."
I heard her words perfectly, but I chose to remain completely silent.
This girl... What on earth is wrong with this girl's head? Your own situation is pretty grim, you know.
I kept walking with a purpose until the massive stone walls of the capital's outer gate finally loomed ahead of us.
Now came the absolute hardest part of the escape.
We needed to pass through the heavily fortified checkpoint without any of the gatekeepers noticing that the plain girl beside me was the missing princess of the nation.
"Hey. Come here," I ordered, stopping in the shadow of a nearby brick building.
I reached into my side pouch and pulled out a heavy leather slave collar—the one I had taken earlier—and snapped it securely around her delicate neck.
Lilia's eyes widened in utter shock and humiliation the moment the cold metal buckle clicked tightly against her throat, but under my icy glare, she didn't have the courage to utter a single complaint.
"From this point on, just shut your mouth and keep your head completely down," I commanded sharply.
"Do not let those guards see your face clearly until we get out of this place," I said firmly, emphasizing the gravity of the situation we were facing.
With her head bowed low and her hair obscuring her facial features, she followed me toward the bright torches of the gate.
Her heart pounded frantically against her chest as we drew nearer, but she kept her steps measured and submissive.
As we approached the iron-reinforced gate, a pair of heavily armed border guards stepped forward, their halberds crossing to block our path.
One of them, a grizzled veteran with a nasty scar running down his cheek, eyed Lilia with immediate suspicion.
"Hey, you there. Girl," he grunted roughly, his gaze lingering intently on her bowed head.
"Look up. Let me see your face." Lilia's body tensed instantly, but remembering my instructions, she did as she was told.
She raised her head just enough to reveal her basic features slightly, so her face still wasn't clearly visible to the guard.
Her striking blue eyes met the guard's gaze for a fraction of a second before she quickly lowered her face once more.
The veteran studied her face intensely for a moment, a tiny bit of suspicion lingering in his eyes because her facial structure seemed strangely familiar—like someone he had seen in passing in the upper districts.
But the moment his eyes drifted downward and locked onto the thick, buckled slave collar around her neck, his suspicion completely vanished.
He assumed his mind was just playing tricks on him.
After all, a royal princess would never wear the mark of a slave.
"Man, you're one lucky bastard, aren't ya?" The grizzled guard suddenly chuckled, a disgusting, dirty grin spreading across his face as he turned his attention to me.
"A slave girl with a top-tier body like this, and her face isn't bad either. Jeez," he muttered, his eyes shamelessly scanning up and down Lilia's slender figure.
He leaned in closer, lowering his voice with a slimy smirk. "Say, pal... if you let me take her in for a while and get a little taste, I can waive your travel taxes for a whole year. How about it?"
Hearing the guard's vulgar, violating words, every single drop of color drained from Lilia's face.
She turned utterly ghostly pale, her entire frame trembling with a deep, paralyzing terror as she awaited my response.
The guard's lewd suggestion hung heavily in the cool night air, his eyes roaming over Lilia's trembling form with a vile, predatory gaze.
She clutched instinctively at the thick leather collar fastened tightly around her neck, her wide blue eyes swimming with pure terror as she looked up at me for protection.
To a fallen princess who had spent her entire life sheltered behind marble walls, the thought of being dragged into a filthy imperial guardhouse was a fate worse than execution.
"Please," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the roaring of her own heartbeat. "Landra... don't let him..."