Get Away
I trembled under the giant red mushrooms in the jungle outside the town, terrified of being found.
“It’s already been three days…”
Starving for three days, my lips were cracked and dry, yet I didn’t dare make a sound.
Three days ago, my father’s wheat fields had frozen over, yielding nothing at all.
The Baron of the castle, in a fit of rage, had my father whipped to death.
Meanwhile, my stepmother scooped up what little silver we had, took her own son, and left without a backward glance.
Before she left, she grovelingly offered my sister and me to the Baron’s son:
Sori Ottos.
A useless drunk who did nothing but drink all day.
He weighed over 300 kilograms, with a fat, bloated face, and spent his days bullying the innocent and snatching young girls for himself.
My sister overheard her secret conversation with the Baron, and fled with me through the night into this forest of red mushrooms.
But she never imagined that the Baron’s steward would discover their escape.
The moment they stepped into the woods, countless footsteps thundered behind them.
My sister decided to draw the pursuers away alone.
Before she left, she pressed a small white pill into my hand.
“Anna, take this quickly. It’s an antidote I stole from that fool Ottos earlier.”
Everyone knew the red mushrooms were not only hallucinogenic but also emitted a deadly poisonous scent.
Antidotes were something lowly commoners like us could never possess.
I hid under the mushrooms, and soon enough, footsteps closed in.
My heart leaped into my throat.
Had my sister reached safety?
My eyes stung, my body stiff and cold, yet I dared not move an inch.
The woods were terrifyingly quiet,until a few footsteps drew near.
I held my breath, and heard a rough male voice laugh loudly:
“That bitch’s got quite a fire in her! The Baron said once he and the young master are done with her, we can have our fun too…”
“Yeah, Rouen, we hit the jackpot!” Another man rubbed his hands, leering.
“What a pity! we can’t find the other little bitch.”
“Come on, let’s go. I can’t wait any longer.”
…
Chills ran down my spine as I listened. A cold dread seeped into my bones, and my chest ached sharply.
They’d caught my sister!
What should I do? What could I do?
The more I thought, the more panicked and terrified I became.
All these years, my sister had been my only support.
Just imagining her dying made my heart twist in agony.
My head spun, and my vision blurred.
“Anna… Anna…”
A soft voice called from far away.
“That’s my sister’s voice…?”
“…Is this just the poison from the mushrooms playing tricks on me?”
I pushed myself up with shaking hands and stared ahead.
Not far away, a familiar figure was rushing toward the red mushrooms.
“Anna?”
The voice came again, drawing closer.
“Sister…” I whispered before I could stop myself.
When she saw me, she sprinted over and pulled my trembling body into a tight embrace.
Just like when we were little, she gently patted my back and hummed a lullaby, trying to chase away my fear and unease.
“Dianne, it’s really you…”
“Are you okay…?”
I choked back sobs, pulled away slightly, and asked anxiously.
“Don’t worry, Anna. I’m fine.”
Dianne wiped the tears from my cheeks, her warm thumb brushing my cracked lips, her eyes filled with pain.
I was about to ask how she’d escaped, when I noticed her expression turn anxious.
“Anna, will you come with me and leave this place? To the Colt family.”
“The Colt family?”
“They’re a powerful household in the Endless Empire to the south. They say there are mages there… and werewolves, vampires, elves, all kinds of creatures…”
“The Colts are werewolves, and they hold great power in the Empire.”
“The Wolf King has two sons. The elder is thirty, and controls rare resources like mines across the Endless Empire. The younger is twenty-five.”
“When I was caught by the Baron, I ran into the Wolf King. He said if we agree to marry his two sons, he’ll take us away from here.”
I stared at her, stunned.
My sister had met a great family from the Endless Empire, it was almost a miracle.
But why would nobles like them ever look at two peasant girls?
I fell silent, unsure what to say.
“Anna, we don’t have much time. Decide quickly.”
She looked at me, worried.
I glanced at her face, still pale with fear.
If I refused, she would stay in the Blaze Forest for me. Our only fate would be being caught by Sori… and then…
I couldn’t bear to think further.
No. Absolutely not. I couldn’t get my sister killed just because of me.
Going to the Endless Empire was our only chance — the only way to escape this misery.
From the moment my stepmother betrayed us and stole everything our father had left, I understood: only power could protect me and my sister.
“Sister, I’ll go. Wherever you are, I am too.”
“My sweet Anna.” She pulled me close, tears falling from her eyes.
“If I hadn’t held you back all those years, you would have gone to the Magic Academy long ago…”
By the time my sister led me out from under the mushrooms, the Wolf King was already gone.
A parrot wearing tiny spectacles flapped over toward us.
“Lord Duke Colt has left. If you two young ladies agree, let your blood fall upon the contract scrolls.”
As it spoke, it adjusted its glasses with its right wing, then pulled two brown scrolls from a tiny pouch on its body.
“Yes, honored Lord Parrot.”
My sister held my hand and replied politely.
The parrot froze for a second, then broke into a delighted grin.
“Haha! To think I’d ever be called ‘lord’…”
Seeing our confused looks, it coughed awkwardly. “Alright, alright. Let’s continue.”
The cough made it lose its balance. Its glasses slipped off its beak and crashed to the ground.
Crack.
The parrot squawked in panic. In its shock, the scroll in its left wing also slipped from its grasp.
Watching this happen, my mind suddenly went blank.
I felt my body grow lighter, as if an invisible hand had reached out and caught the two brown scrolls.
The feeling came and went in an instant.
The next second, both contract scrolls clattered onto the grass.
