In the corpse-piles of a battlefield, I found the Crown Prince, his memory gone. I fought off wild dogs with him for scraps of food. Later, when he returned to the royal court, the King asked me what reward I desired. A line of text appeared before my eyes, visible only to me: 【Don’t tell me the side character is actually going to ask the Prince to marry her.】 【A common huntress from the countryside, daring to dream of marrying into the royal family? No wonder she ends up being forced to drink poison.】 So, marrying the Prince was that dangerous. I shivered, hiding the small sachet he had given me, and bowed my head to the stone floor. “Your Majesty, all that Edith asks… is to be sent back to my home in the Northern March.” 1 The King was silent for a long moment. “Is that all you wish for?” I thought about it, then answered honestly. “If it’s not too much trouble, a little money and a large house would be nice, too.” I peeked at the King’s expression and quickly corrected myself. “A small house would also be fine.” It was just that a small house wouldn’t have room for chickens and ducks, or a trellis for my climbing flowers. Silence fell over the throne room. Everyone had assumed I would demand the Prince marry me. After all, the Northern March was a harsh and unforgiving land. If I hadn’t found Prince Drake, gravely wounded and without memory, in that mass grave, he would have frozen to death that winter. A debt for a life saved is a heavy one. Even the King hadn’t expected my wish to be so… simple. The text before my eyes erupted into a chaotic argument: 【I didn’t expect the side character to be so decent. My heart aches for her.】 【It’s just a tactic, feigning retreat to advance later. All the scheming second female leads are like this.】 【If the side character is gone, the main female lead and the Prince can finally be together.】 【But the Prince is the devoted second male lead! If he gets the girl, what happens to the main male lead?】 The King told me to wait one month. “The Border Legion is preparing to depart. You may travel with them back to the Northern March.” “Edith,” he said, his expression unreadable, “you have been wronged.” But I didn’t feel wronged at all. “I have fine clothes to wear and good food to eat. Edith is already very content.” As for the Prince… I touched the sachet, a pang of sorrow in my chest. I’d just have to eat a few extra bowls of stew. The sadness would pass. 2 As I was leaving, the Lord Chamberlain, the head of the palace staff, pressed a food box into my hands with a benevolent smile. “His Majesty said you are too thin, my lady. Eat more to build up your strength. On the day you depart, he has a special gift for you.” I accepted the King’s decree and happily headed out of the inner palace. A cat suddenly darted out in front of me, and I stumbled, spilling soup and broth all over myself. A woman’s light laugh drifted from nearby. “A peasant from the countryside. Even dressed in fine silks, you still manage to ruin them.” I looked up. A group of noble ladies were watching me from a distance, but none came forward. The magical text flared with excitement: 【Ah, the female lead is here! I love a pampered, arrogant noblewoman.】 【I’m voting for the Prince. This kind of forbidden ‘sibling’ romance is the best.】 【How can someone so cruel be the female lead? She should eat something better for her soul.】 The one who had spoken was Lady Jasna. According to the text, her parents had sacrificed their lives to save the King during an assassination attempt years ago. Taking pity on the orphaned child, the King had brought her to court and raised her as his own daughter. She was the one who had been closest to Drake during his youth. Jasna’s gaze was contemptuous, like she was assessing livestock. “She has some beauty, I suppose. No wonder she managed to seduce my dear ‘brother’ Drake.” My thin summer gown was soaked, clinging uncomfortably to my body. I stood there in embarrassment, not knowing what to do. A handmaiden rushed forward with a cloak, but Jasna stopped her, taking it herself to place around my shoulders. “Edith, do you truly believe Prince Drake will marry you?” she whispered in my ear, her fingers digging into an old wound on my shoulder. “The whole capital is talking about how you fought with dogs over scraps of food with the Prince. The rumors are everywhere. If I were you, I would have left long ago, instead of shaming His Highness in the capital.” She thought I had come to the King to demand a royal marriage. The pain was so sharp that tears welled in my eyes. I couldn't help but push her away. “He wouldn’t!” I snapped. Drake would never think I was a disgrace. I hadn’t pushed her hard, but Jasna stumbled back dramatically, falling to the ground. A sharp stone on the path cut a long, bloody gash in her arm. “Lady Jasna!” The courtiers panicked. Drake arrived just in time to witness the scene. He rushed to help Jasna up, his eyes blazing with fury. “Edith! You presume upon the debt I owe you to act with such arrogance? Now you dare to harm the Lady Jasna herself!” “It wasn’t me…” I tried to explain, my voice small. “Brother, don’t blame Edith,” Jasna said, clutching her bleeding arm as if defending me. “She grew up without guidance. It’s only natural for her to be a bit… savage.” Drake wrapped an arm around her, his gaze on me turning to ice. “Do you think this is still the wilds of the North? You have no manners, no breeding. What’s the difference between you and a beast?” “Apologize to Jasna. Or get out of my sight.” His words struck me like a slap. My eyes stung, and a dull ache spread through my chest. So that’s how he saw me. He was ashamed of me too. I lowered my head and apologized to Jasna. Jasna turned away, tugging on Drake’s sleeve. “Brother, please, don’t force her.” Drake’s brow furrowed in anger. “Is that how you apologize?” Before we came to the capital, Drake had personally taught me court etiquette. “The capital is full of rules, Edith. You must be careful. You can’t be so carefree.” At the time, I had been practicing a clumsy curtsy. I grew nervous, wringing my hands. “What if I don’t learn it right? What if I really offend a noble?” Drake had smiled and gently smoothed my messy bangs. “Then you offend them. You are my savior, Edith. Who would dare to say a word against you?” Thank goodness I remembered all the rules in the end. I knelt properly on both knees, my forehead touching the sharp gravel of the path. “My Lady Jasna, this peasant deserves death for her crime. I beg for your mercy.” The stones were sharp. Soon, my forehead was a bloody mess. Drake’s expression flickered. “Edith, you don’t have to—” But Jasna tugged on his arm, crying, “Brother, it hurts.” And so, he said no more. The palace path was silent. I tried to be optimistic. The King had told me to keep my departure a secret, especially from Drake. A few bows were a small price to pay. I couldn’t let Drake throw me out. If he did, there would be no one to take me home. Before I fainted, I saw Drake say something to me. But I was in too much pain to hear. 3 In my dream, I was back in the Northern March. The winters there were brutal. When I first found Drake, my own pot was empty. The villagers urged me to leave him. “Edith, you’re about to starve yourself. What are you doing with him?” I was stubborn as an ox. “This is how my father found me. It’s a life. I can’t just leave it.” In the end, Old Matty, my neighbor, couldn’t bear to watch and gave me a bowl of thin rice porridge. I drank half and poured the rest down the throat of the blue-lipped Drake. He survived. But when he woke, he knew nothing but his name. The snows had blocked the mountain passes, and we couldn’t hunt. We were freezing and starving in my little cabin. Drake snuck out and returned in the middle of the night with a pouch of shriveled grain. I asked him where he got it. He grinned proudly. “I climbed two mountains and raided a field mouse’s burrow. Impressive, right?” His fingers were red and raw. The next day, they were covered in chilblains, itching terribly by the fire. I worried he would scratch them open, so I wrapped them carefully in strips of cloth. We survived the winter. I took him hunting in the mountains. Drake was a natural, learning everything instantly. The mountains were full of wild beasts. One day, we were carrying a rabbit back when we were cornered by a pack of feral dogs, their eyes red with hunger. I told Drake to drop the rabbit, but he stubbornly protected it. “No. This rabbit will feed us for two days.” We ran for miles before we finally shook off the pack. We stood there, covered in blood, clutching our hunting knives, and shared a weary smile. I cooked the rabbit that night, the tender meat mixed with hot peppers. The spice made Drake’s eyes water, but he didn’t leave a single drop of the broth. On the day of the Midwinter Festival, he shyly handed me a small sachet made of rough cloth, the stitching clumsy. “Edith, will you marry me?” I pretended to be calm and nodded. “Alright.” But I couldn’t suppress the smile that spread across my face. Soon, even Old Yeller, the dog at the village entrance, knew that Edith the foundling was getting married. Edith was going to have a family again. It was a tradition in the North that before a wedding, the couple would present a pair of carved wooden dolls to the spirits to bless their union with peace and happiness. I secretly learned how to carve from the villagers, getting several blisters on my hands, wanting to surprise Drake. But before the wedding, Drake disappeared. I thought a tiger had gotten him. I searched the entire mountain, weeping, and in my distress, I fell into a boar trap. An old hunter rescued me, but I was left with a deep scar on my shoulder. The next time I saw him, he was being escorted back to the capital by the Border Legion. The Crown Prince had returned. “Drake, will you come back to see me?” I clutched the cloth sachet, a sudden sadness gripping my heart. Drake sat on his horse, his silk robes finer than anything I had ever seen. They clashed terribly with the shabby sachet. The wooden doll hidden in my sleeve suddenly felt too crude to give him. He reached out a hand to me, his eyes gentle. “Edith, come with me.” “The capital is vast. There is so much good food and so many fun things to do. I can give you anything you want.” As if possessed, I took a step back and shook my head firmly. “No, Drake. This time, I won’t go with you.” 4 When I woke up, my cheeks were cold with dried tears. The handmaidens were gossiping by the window. “I heard the Lady Jasna’s arm will scar. She cried all night. In the end, His Highness gave her the Jade Scar Ointment left by the late Queen. That finally placated her.” “And it’s all because of the one in this room. Even when she’s in the wrong, the Prince is willing to clean up her messes. She’s just a huntress, but she’s so lucky.” Everyone said Edith was ungrateful. The Prince’s favor wasn’t enough for her; she dreamed of soaring into the sky like a golden phoenix. But all Edith wanted was to go back to the mountains of the North and be a free little bird. A thick bandage was wrapped around my forehead. I touched it. The knot was tied the way I had taught Drake. “You’re awake?” Drake was leaning wearily against the bed, dark circles under his eyes. He must have been up all night. “Drake, you should go back.” I urged him softly. I knew the Prince was very busy. He shouldn’t waste his time here. But Drake seemed to misunderstand. “Edith, are you still angry with me about Jasna?” “Jasna has agreed to forgive your disrespect, on one condition. You must personally hunt a white fox for her.” “And once Father issues the decree for our marriage, you will live with me in the Crown Prince’s palace. No one will be able to wrong you then.” The text scrolled rapidly: 【The Prince still has feelings for the side character. He’s even willing to humble himself and plead with the female lead for her.】 【He’d be dead without her. Now he says a few words for her and he’s patting himself on the back?】 【This is hilarious. All her suffering is caused by the Prince. I support her running away.】 I picked at the embroidery on the duvet and mumbled my agreement. “Fine.” I was leaving anyway. It could be my farewell gift to him. But my heart felt like I had bitten into an unripe plum, sour and bitter. Drake sighed in relief, explaining with rare patience, “Jasna is different from you. Her parents are dead, and she grew up in the palace. Her temper is understandably short. But she is a Lady of the court, the last of the High Duchess’s bloodline.” “The honor of the royal family cannot be tarnished. This was a light punishment. Edith, do not fail my efforts.” I knew. A huntress, drifting through life like a weed, was different from a golden-leaved noblewoman. Just as Edith and Drake were different. After Drake left, I took out the crude wooden doll and carefully carved its features with my knife. A tear fell unexpectedly, and I quickly chided myself. It’s alright. It doesn’t hurt that much. Time could sweeten a sour plum. Time could also help you let go of someone and stop hurting for them. But I never expected that the fox Jasna wanted was pregnant. 5 As I hesitated, an arrow flew from the opposite direction. Without thinking, I aimed my own arrow at the ornate one. With a sharp twang, both arrows shattered mid-air. The white vixen, sensing danger, leaped into the undergrowth and disappeared. Drake frowned and signaled for his guards to surround the area and capture the fox. I stood in his way. Drake’s face darkened. “Edith, are you going to fight me over an animal?” I shook my head. “All living things have a spirit. A hunter does not kill a pregnant mother.” It was a code of reverence among the mountain folk. I had taught it to Drake once. He seemed to have forgotten. “Edith, do you despise me so much? Not only did you push me down, but now you deliberately let my favorite fox escape.” Jasna’s eyes filled with tears, and as her sleeve slipped, it revealed a thick bandage. Drake comforted her in a low voice, then rode closer, gesturing for me to give him my bow. “Edith, be good.” “I did nothing wrong.” I refused to yield. Jasna’s tears fell like rain. “I remember my mother used to make me a new fox-fur cloak every year. But now, I don’t have a mother anymore.” “If my mother were still alive, she would be heartbroken to see me injured.” Drake’s gaze on me grew even more disappointed. “Edith is disobedient and unruly. For offending the Lady Jasna, she is to be confined for seven days to reflect.” My bow was taken from me, and I was locked away in a villa like a captured animal. That night, Drake was dispatched to the southern provinces. He spoke to me through the barred window. “Edith, the capital is not the North.” “Even I cannot do as I please, cannot protect you at every moment. For my sake, can you please just curb your temper?” I looked up at him and said, word by word, “Drake, I never wanted to stay in the capital.” I only forced myself because I liked you then. I touched my heart. But it seemed I didn’t like him so much anymore. “Edith, don’t say things you don’t mean. When I return, we will be married, alright?” The royal decree had not yet been issued, and a sense of unease gnawed at him. But the North was a thousand miles away, the roads plagued by bandits. Where else could a lone girl like Edith go? The day after Drake left, my food supply was cut off. The villa was on the outskirts of the capital. No one dared to disobey Lady Jasna’s orders. The gates were chained shut. When she came to visit, I hadn’t had food or water for two days. A stinking fox pelt was thrown in my face, the blood matting my eyelashes. Jasna leaned against the door, a mocking smile on her face. “A beast’s life is a tough one. The little cubs cried for three full hours after I cut them out before they finally died.” She wiped her hands in disgust. “Just like you. Why won’t you just die?”
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