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Now, I just had to keep my face hidden while scanning the surroundings, and if an emergency arose, I could simply climb back into the bag. The fact that the lock had been released while already loaded onto the carriage wasn't a major issue. The bigger problem was where exactly I should reveal myself...
"Do you love Valentin that much, Lara? To the point of sneaking into a bag to follow a path of reform that will keep him from returning home for at least three years?"
I froze in the exact position I had been in while trying to crawl out of the bag.
Beyond my dazed, blinking vision, I saw a forest that held half the colors of a dry winter and half the freshness of a budding spring. A black horse with a majestic build that could easily be mistaken for a warhorse stood still behind the baggage wagon, glaring at me. Or more accurately, the cold-faced Vasily sitting atop that black horse was glaring at me.
"If that is not the case, you had best explain yourself right now."
Only then did I fully realize the situation I was in.
'This plan... was found out from the very beginning!'
If not, there was no way I would be seeing the familiar birch forest located behind the Imperial Palace instead of the bustling paved roads of Makhachkala, nor would Vasily be staring at me with such stern eyes against the backdrop of that forest.
Where did I get caught? The moment I asked the maid to bring the bag? Or the moment I asked the attendant to keep it a secret?
"Answer me, Lara."
"...I wasn't planning on going all the way. Absolutely not. I was going to get out halfway, threaten Valentin, and then come back."
"Threaten? What kind of threat?"
"Just, nothing big... I was going to tell him to keep... writing letters."
Vasily's stiff expression slowly melted. He shook his head with a look as if he had just heard some utter nonsense, then brushed back his hair.
"Sigh. Lara."
"I know it sounds ridiculous."
But to me, it was a goal more desperate than anything.
Desperate enough to cast aside my dignity as a Princess and hide in Valentin's luggage.
"But if I let Valentin go like this... I won't be able to see him for another three years..."
I am afraid of my own death.
And far more than that fear, I dreaded the miserable future my siblings would have to endure. Not just one, but three—no, four of us in total, including myself—were destined for a tragic end. The problem was that no matter how much I racked my brain, there was no way I could withstand and stop it on my own.
A future seventeen years away. During those seventeen years—long if you think about it, short if you don't—I desperately needed someone who could prove whether I was guiding Vasily toward the right path and whether he was moving safely away from my death.
"Vasily, you know too, don't you? The kind of fate our siblings are facing?"
"Have you forgotten his words? The future can change, Lara. You don't have to be afraid. I will stay by your side for the rest of my life."
"How can you guarantee that? It's not that I'm being sensitive, it's that Valentin is indifferent! I thought that at least, at the very least, he would reply one more time. I thought he would tell me that I'm doing well, and that I just need to keep doing what I'm doing! I kept waiting, so how can he act like a stranger as if nothing happened? Is that how it is when you become an adult? All smooth talk, but treating it like someone else's problem..."
"Princess."
Only after hearing that low call did I realize that my voice had become far more agitated than usual. Swallowing a sigh, I moistened my parched lips with my tongue.
Following the sound of footsteps as calm as the voice, someone wearing a light transitional coat stood beside Vasily, stroking the long bridge of the black horse's nose. It was Valentin. The very Valentin who had mentioned the deaths of me and my siblings, yet hadn't shown his face for days!
"When did you check the received mail today?"
I snorted, glaring at him as if he were my sworn enemy.
"Why? No, don't answer. What are you trying to coax me with this time? I'm not falling for your tricks anymore."
"Regardless of when you checked, it must have been earlier than the time I entered the palace to have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor. Am I correct?"
"I don't know."
"Usually, if I am scheduled to enter the Imperial Palace on a certain day, it is better for me to deliver a letter personally rather than through an attendant. That way, it is certain."
"..."
"Go back and check now. I actually had quite a lot to say before leaving. I believe this is the first time I have written such a long letter to a woman who is not my mother."
Valentin extended his hand to me.
Still slumped inside the bag, I looked at him, unable to say a word, and asked quietly.
"You sent me a letter?"
"Yes."
"Why did you send it only today?"
"Because I am leaving today."
He flicked his hand as if telling me to hurry up and take it. Braving the wave of embarrassment, I pushed myself up with trembling legs and took his hand.
Looking back, the interior of the baggage wagon was a bit strange. Now that I noticed, the only luggage loaded in the carriage was the bag I had hidden in and one leather bag of similar size.
With strong force, Valentin pulled my arm and gripped my waist. Then, he easily seated me in front of the saddle where Vasily had been sitting.
"I shall see you in three years. I will be expecting you to be a bit less of a troublemaker by then."
For some reason, I rubbed my tingling nostrils and spoke in a strained voice.
"...Having a secret known only to the two of us. Knowing each other's childhoods well. And finally, since we've started exchanging regular contact, we're real friends now, right?"
"If that is what Your Highness wishes."
With a light shrug, Valentin took my right hand and pressed a brief kiss to the back of it.
"Stay healthy. More so than Prince Vasily."
The carriage Valentin boarded turned around and left the birch forest the way it had come.
Vasily rode his horse, slowly following the two carriages, and turned toward the Imperial Palace just as the rear of the carriages vanished from sight. Come to think of it, I didn't get to ask why he kept our childhood a secret. I must ask him about that in a letter.
"You know... I think it's really sad to be apart from a friend for a long time. Don't you think?"
"I'm sorry to interrupt your sentimentality, but Mother knows about today's events. You had best prepare your excuses."
"Sigh."
I guess I really don't have a talent for spying.
I arrived at the Imperial Palace feeling as if I were walking into hell. As soon as I passed the stables and entered the building, an attendant hurried toward me. Bowing deeply, he presented a white letter resting neatly on a golden tray.
"Princess Larisa. Here, the letter Your Highness has been waiting for arrived today."
A letter.
I hurriedly took the letter and checked the sender.
"Lara."
"...Yes."
It was a letter from Valentin.
"Check the letter and go straight to Mother. Understood?"
"Yes!"
Leaving a kiss on Vasily's cheek, I rushed back to my bedroom.
As I tore open the envelope, three sheets of stationery spilled onto the table. Three sheets! There were actually three sheets? And they were completely filled with writing! I picked up the first page.
<A letter addressed to Princess Larisa.>
My true spring began there.
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