Aya Ran Away - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 13
Aya knew Yesili could act with such cold precision.
Yesili understood how to weigh gains and losses.
Truth be told, by her measure Nahal was perhaps a three—risen to high station, yet with no guarantee of future security.
Since he might become a source of trouble later, even if he were her benefactor, she would not have stepped forward.
She must have sensed him letting her slip away, yet Nahal showed no sign of displeasure.
If anything, his voice carried an almost buoyant note as he spoke.
“I’ll send a formal request for an audience at the Temple afterward.”
Yesili seemed taken aback by his manner.
“I’ll hear your answer then.”
She offered a suitable bow and withdrew from the Garden.
Nahal watched her depart in silence.
“The Crown Prince awaits you, my lord.”
Even as the palace attendants pressed him, Nahal did not move.
“I’ll offer a brief prayer and follow. Wait for me there.”
Nahal waved a dismissive hand.
The attendants, though clearly displeased, raised no objection to his words and readily withdrew from the space.
No one in the Kingdom was ignorant of Nahal’s piety.
It was a courtesy they owed him.
Phew.
Once the attendants had retreated far enough, Aya released a quiet breath of relief.
Seeing Nahal had been welcome, yet she’d been anxious the attendants might catch her in such a state.
Even as that relief settled over her, the air suddenly felt lighter.
Something heavy that had long pressed down upon her seemed to lift away.
Before she could wonder at it, a shadow fell across her head.
What?
Aya’s head snapped up, and she drew in a startled breath.
……!
Nahal stood before her—she had no idea when he’d arrived.
His gaze moved between her and the Wooden Staff she’d set at her feet.
In truth, he had sensed a presence in the Garden before Yesili appeared.
Though other words had interrupted before he could investigate it.
For some reason, even with the more promising Yesili before him, his attention had kept catching on that presence in the corner of the Garden.
So when Yesili departed and he’d left his answer ambiguous, he’d felt almost relieved not to have received a definitive response.
He wanted to see for himself.
His gaze drifted slowly across the headscarf drawn low and the White Cloth that concealed more than half her face.
He already knew this peculiarly dressed woman.
“……Princess.”
The memory surfacing, Nahal murmured the word as though to himself.
Apart from their prior connection, the countless rumors circulating inside and outside the palace had made her easy enough to recognize.
She was the daughter of Imbabel and princess of Levaar.
Yet within the palace, she bore other names besides “Princess.”
Recalling one of them, Nahal drew a hand across his face.
The Deficient Princess.
That was one of Aya’s many epithets.
So that was it, then.
Nahal released a breath that might have been a wry laugh.
“Your Highness, I offer my respects.”
He bowed deeply.
Mm?
Aya blinked her large eyes as she looked up at him.
He recognizes me?
Whether from shock or surprise, Aya’s heart began to race.
“Forgive me if I startled you.”
At his low voice, the memory became vivid—sharp as fresh paint.
It was here he had once saved her.
Aya gently tapped his arm once, twice, trying to cool the warmth rising to her cheeks.
It was a sign that all was well.
“Is there perhaps something with which I might assist you?”
Nahal straightened and posed the question.
The thought crossed his mind that someone about to be driven to their death tomorrow had no business interfering—but the words had already tumbled from his lips.
Such meddling was not something Nahal was accustomed to.
And on top of that, he’d asked the wrong person.
The princess before him was the king’s daughter, the one he hated so fiercely he wanted her dead.
One of the few royal bloodlines in the Kingdom, and there was no doubt her circumstances were far better than his, dragged as he was toward execution.
He had helped her once before and experienced discourtesy for his trouble.
So why?
This time too, there were no attendants visible around the princess.
For some reason, it irritated him.
Did no one know what might happen, that they hadn’t bothered to follow their charge?
It was the same last time, but he couldn’t understand why the palace hierarchy worked this way.
Or was the problem this princess herself?
Nahal lowered his gaze and met her eyes.
Her round eyes felt almost uncomfortably innocent, like those of a young beast.
Aya was simply blinking, turning over what he had said.
‘Help?’
“Do you require assistance?”
The solicitous words slipped out naturally again.
Nahal frowned, looking down at the small woman.
The delicate creature sat in an unsteady posture, like a newborn lamb that couldn’t quite manage its legs and had collapsed.
‘Why does this feel so precarious?’
Why was she crouching in a thicket, hiding?
Just like last time—nothing about it seemed ordinary.
A thought suddenly occurred to him: could there be someone in the palace with ill intent?
“Is it difficult to stand?”
Aya, who had been sitting there blinking, slowly shook her head at his question.
So his question about whether she needed help had apparently been meant to offer her aid.
Since he’d recognized who she was, he would remember the discourtesy she’d suffered from her attendant that day too.
He’d left without even greeting her, so she might think his circumstances were no different from an attendant’s.
Yet he had offered to help anyway.
‘Why?’
“Your Highness?”
Aya, who had been staring vacantly up at him, turned her head with a beat of delay at the sound of his call.
And with a gesture, she indicated that she was quite all right.
As if trying to understand what she meant, Nahal gazed silently into her eyes.
After a long moment of silent contact, he turned his eyes away and exhaled.
‘What am I even doing right now?’
His reflection in the princess’s crystalline eyes felt pitiable.
“If you say you’re all right….”
Nahal responded, glancing quickly around her.
For the moment, there seemed to be nothing that would threaten this small woman.
“I’ll have word sent to the palace attendants. It would be best for you to return with them when you leave.”
Having finished speaking, Nahal gave a slight bow.
“Then go safely.”
It was just as he was turning to leave.
‘…!’
Aya grabbed his sleeve in a panic.
Nahal turned back to look down at her.
Even as Aya felt her ears warm under his gaze, she tightened her grip on the fabric she held.
At the same time, with her other hand she felt along the ground, searching for the Ring.
‘If not now, I won’t get another chance to see him.’
But her hand found nothing.
‘What?’
She must have been so focused on Yesili and Nahal’s conversation that it had rolled somewhere else.
She frantically rummaged through the overgrown weeds.
‘What do I do!’
Nahal stood watching her trembling hand that refused to release his clothes, and her head moving busily as she searched for something.
He didn’t know what it was, but it seemed the princess wanted to give him something.
Nahal glanced back toward where the attendants were waiting.
‘It won’t hurt to be a little late.’
The meeting with the Crown Prince would be followed by various minor matters, but a slight delay wouldn’t create any real problem.
Rather than leave coldly, he had more than enough reason to linger a while longer with this woman whose hands trembled.
Having gathered his thoughts, Nahal suddenly settled himself down before Aya.
Startled by the movement, Aya flinched visibly, her eyes widening as she stared at him.
Propping his chin on his hand, Nahal gave a light shrug of his shoulders.
‘…What is he doing?’
As Aya watched him with an anxious expression, Nahal offered a knowing glance.
“What are you searching for?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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