[IYFILWATIP] Chapter 58

She’s a princess. 

If she gets hurt, not only his life but his brothers' lives would be over too. 

He vowed hundreds of times that if he made it out of the forest alive, he would never take another escort job. He was certain now: hunting monsters alone was what suited him best. 

Dragging around a delicate, rare creature that acted up during the day but slept soundly against him at night was nothing but torture. 

He looked down at the sleeping princess. Just looking at her brought up a thousand questions. She was an enigma simply by existing here. But he shook his head, trying to convince himself. 

He wasn’t curious about anything. He wasn’t curious at all. What did it matter why the princess was here? He just needed to focus on getting her out of the forest. 

Just as Jade was about to turn back to the darkness, Kirona's breathing grew heavy and turned into sobs. Startled, he shook her. But no matter how much he tried to wake her, it was as if she was trapped in a nightmare; she wouldn’t wake up. 

Kirona's face twisted in pain, and tears started streaming from her closed eyes. 

"Why me...?" 

She was talking in her sleep. 

"There are so many people in the world, so why does this have to happen to me...?" 

"......Princess." 

"I don't want to die." 

Someone who doesn't want to die wouldn’t have entered the forest. She acted fine all day but now had nightmares? He tried to wake her again but realised it only made her look more distressed, so he stopped. 

"I don't want to die." 

Come to think of it, if he did wake her up, she’d probably get annoyed about being seen crying. Jade sighed and turned away, trying to ignore the sobbing. It wasn’t his problem. Tears weren’t going to hurt anyone, after all. But the sound of her sniffles kept bothering him. 

‘The emperor has sentenced you to death.’ 

The memory of Kirona breaking down in tears at the lake surfaced again. A needless sense of guilt and a primal urge to stop the crying princess overtook him. He finally gave in and started soothing her as if he were comforting a child. 

"I won’t say you’ll die anymore. I’m sorry." 

If she noticed her eyes were swollen in the morning, she’d just be a pain about whether he saw her crying in her sleep. He sighed and gently wiped the tears from her face. 

"So please stop crying. Just taking care of you is exhausting enough for me." 

"......" 

"If you keep crying, I really will lose my mind..." 

Maybe his voice reminded her of the servants who used to care for her, but Kirona's breathing gradually calmed down, and she stopped crying, drifting into a deeper sleep. But Jade was so bothered by her tears that he couldn't get any sleep all night. 

* * * 

He hadn’t even closed his eyes for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Kirona had been wriggling around, trying to untie the rope from her hand. She was so focused on the task that she didn’t realise Jade was already awake, watching her with his arms crossed. Their eyes met, and Kirona smiled sheepishly. Just seeing that brought on a headache. 

"Why don’t you ever listen when I tell you to stay put? I would’ve untied you if you had just woken me up." 

"I had a sudden idea and couldn’t wait until you woke up." 

As soon as she untied the rope, Kirona scurried down the tree like a squirrel and gestured for him to follow. She was already holding a canteen. 

"This is water from the lake. Since it has the power to break spells, maybe if we give it to those petrified people or pour it on them, it might do something." 

Jade wanted to tell her that even if it worked, it probably wasn’t a good idea, but he kept his mouth shut. Seeing his silence, Kirona asked, "What do you think?" 

"Would you listen if I disagreed?" 

"Of course not. But I should at least hear your opinion, right? That’s what a good ruler does. If you don’t listen to advice, that’s what makes you a tyrant." 

She was already unscrewing the cap on the canteen. 

"So you're planning to grab some enraged snake’s snacks and make a run for it." 

"It’s better to have three than two, and four is better than three." 

"Do you ever think that might just be a faster way to get us all killed?" 

"Life’s a gamble anyway. Even more so in the Navimi Forest." 

She wasn’t wrong. Besides, Jade never expected to be able to talk her out of it. Fine, we’re all practically dead already anyway. Let her do what she wants. Jade helped Kirona drag a branch over so she could pour the 

lake water on Marlon and Zelda, who were petrified in place.