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The location stated on the ransom note was not too far from the shore of Noelige Lake.

“Past the grassland, in a small abandoned… Not a big surprise. That sounds like a good place for something like this…”

The plan was probably to get her far away from Saint-Noel so that no one could stop what was going on.

“Based on the map, it looks like there’s a long way to go… I’ll need a horse for sure.”

The fact that Mia knew how to ride must have been taken into account by the kidnappers because of how the horsemanship tournament went in the fall. If their main goal was to take her without anyone noticing, the easiest way to do that would be to get her to go out to meet them. Mia could ride a horse on her own, while most princesses would need a carriage, which might draw attention. So, they could tell her to go to places that were much further away.

Mia thought as she walked into the stable, “They must have also set up for a horse to be sent to me, but I don’t see why I should follow their plan so closely.”

She went straight to Kuolan’s stall and took a look inside.

“Anybody home?”

Kuolan was indeed home. He turned his head and smiled at her with the usual twitch of his nose. She got ready for the hail of mucus, but it never came.

“Wow, that’s unusual. I was sure you were going to sneeze on me…”

She walked up to him and started putting his harness on quietly. The movements were smooth and familiar. She made it a point to practise this in case she ever had to run away by herself in an emergency.

She didn’t think much of it because she saw it as a simple survival skill, but she didn’t know that Malong thought it was a very important skill that she could outfit a horse on her own. He holds her in high regard.

Kuolan was looking at her in a way that seemed to say, “What, heading somewhere far?”

She looked at him for a second, then tilted her head.

“I’m sorry, Kuolan, but I need you to lend me some of your power. And, depending on how things go, maybe even your life…”

She didn’t know if Kuolan would be able to come back to life after she died. It wasn’t hard to imagine a horse running away to save itself if its rider fell off, but she had a feeling Kuolan was made of true stuff. She had a feeling that this horse wouldn’t leave her.

So, she gently stroked his neck and spoke as seriously as she could, hoping that her tone, if not her words, would get her message across.

“Listen, Kuolan. I have no one else to talk to right now. You are the only one I can trust. So I have to ask you a favor… Will you come with me?”

When Kuolan heard this, he took two deep breaths through his nose. Then he gave one of his trademark smiles, as if he understood her and was saying, “You bet, boss. No matter what they throw at you, I’ll get you through it.”

“My… That sounds good! Then I’ll leave it up to you to take care of me.”

She gave a soft laugh and then turned to another horse.

“And Kayou, please forgive me as well. I’m going to borrow Kuolan for a while.”

The mare didn’t seem to say anything. She just stood there and looked at her, eyes shining with intelligence.

Mia went to the harbour with Kuolan by her side. No one paid her any attention as she went. Since the festival was going on, the streets were full of people, and there were many merchants on their horses carrying goods.

Even though she was naturally camouflaged, she couldn’t help but worry that someone would find her and stop her, so she ended up sneaking the whole way there. Honestly, her sneaking around only made people pay more attention to her, but she made it to the harbour without any problems.

Once she got there, it didn’t take her long to find the boat she had been given. It wasn’t very big, but it was more than big enough for her and Kuolan.

She asked the man standing in front of the boat, “Are you the merchant who is supposed to take me off the island?”

He was in his middle years and had the perfect smile of a merchant.

“Yes, miss, that’s me. But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to know what’s up with the horse.”

He gave Kuolan a curious look.

“Of course, for riding. He’s my favourite horse, and we’re going on a long ride.”

That made the merchant feel bad.

“Hold on a sec, miss. With you being a princess and all, taking you off the island is already a risk… I was also told that they already have a horse for you on the other side.”

“Whoever said that must have thought I’d ride any old horse, but that’s not simply the case.” She looked up at Kuolan and said, “I’ll only ride him, my own trusted mount.” At that moment, Kuolan did the unthinkable and worked with her, standing still and proud like a horse meant only for a royalty.

“But, even so, moving a horse is…”

“No problem, I’m sure. Especially if it will make your coin purse heavier. You can go to the people who helped you make this deal and ask for a surcharge for this service. A full bag of gold sounds like a fair way to make up for what happened.”

Mia never missed a chance to pester her enemies, so she took their money right away for her negotiations. She found it very satisfying to get her enemies to give her a lot of money that wasn’t hers. She did add the threat of a stick to her carrot, though, just to be sure.

“Or…would you rather defy me? If that’s the case, I hope you know what will happen if you do that. I just want you to know that I know Miss Rafina very well.”

She threatened the man like a Tearmoon princess should. And didn’t feel the least bit bad about it. After all, this was someone who had agreed to take part in a bad plan. She didn’t care about people like that.

“Well? Which will it be? Give up the money and tell Miss Rafina about your part in this, or take me and my horse across the lake?”

So, Mia and Kuolan left Saint-Noel Island, but Mia didn’t know that her suspicious behavior was being watched…