I didn’t answer and just nodded at her. Ah, Beth wasn’t a weak princess at all. She was a queen who reigned over this region. A queen who wishes to protect everyone under her from her spot. Maybe this is why I have a liking for her.

“You must come back safe!”

Daisy and I got up on the horse she got us, then immediately headed for the place where the Tear of Undine falls.

***

“Milady, where did that man tell you to come that made us go up the mountain for such a long time?”

We were going up the mountain road like pawns charging toward the enemy base. Daisy asked me in frustration after a while, so I explained to her my guess.

“You know that Undine is the spirit of water from a legend. Right? It’s obvious what he meant by her tears when she herself is water. He’s talking about the biggest fall in this region, Lunarlon Fall, which comes from the Pond of Cecillia.”

Understanding, Daisy then turned to the map and commented, “I see. It’s quite close to the Grand Duke’s estate. We’re halfway there, so we should get there before the sun sets.”

“Yeah, it’s not too far from here now. Hang in there.”

“Yes, milady!”

***

Luckily, we didn’t have a hard time getting to the destination as the road to the fall was quite well-maintained. But there was no one around the fall.

“Have we gone to the wrong place?” Daisy asked with a worried look, but it didn’t concern me. Assassins preferred to stay hidden. With that thought, I approached the fall.

“Milady! You shouldn’t get too close to the fall!”

Even with Daisy’s warning, I still walked closer and closer. When I was quite close to the wall of the cliff where the water was thundering down, I smiled victoriously. As expected, there was a small opening behind the fall, a very small opening that a person could barely fit in to get past it.

“Look. There’s an open space there.”

Daisy nodded as her eyes grew large from shock. “Right. Assassins are used to hiding in the shadows.”

“Right. Let’s get in.”

“Yes, Milady.”

I pushed myself in after Daisy, and soon we saw a cave that we couldn’t see before because it was covered by the fall. As we walked toward it, the Master of Assassins made a smile on his face with open arms while sitting on a giant chest.

“My pretty! You’re finally here.” But when I stopped leaving some distance from him, he wiped the smile off his face and looked at me. “Gosh. I’m sometimes confused if you’re smart or dumb. If it were me, I would’ve begged the Crown Prince to come with me.”

At that, I wore a smirk as I glared at him. “Cut the nonsense. Where did you hide my cousin?”

In response to my voice, his finger pointed down at the chest that he was sitting on, and my voice turned cold from rage.

“Do you lack the basic sense to keep the hostage safe? It’s a simple rule that even petty thieves understand. How could the leader of a guild be so ignorant?”

“Are you angry, pretty? Don’t worry. I didn’t harm him. I just put him there because he resisted so much.”

I ignored him and called Rey, “Hey! Rey! Are you alive?”

The chest was silent even at my call, which worried me. But the Master opened the chest and pulled out the unconscious Rey from it, which made my heart sink.