A Journey of Danger and Rescue

"Intriguing? I intrigue you?" I asked, astonished. It felt odd to hear someone I thought despised me say that I intrigued them.

"Yes, little one," he replied, tousling my hair as if I were his younger sister. "Now, get some rest. The journey home is long."

Home… Would I ever again have a place to call by that name? Since arriving in this world, everything had been both terrifying and fascinating. The mechanical elements embedded everywhere, even in the buildings, and the metallic birds had become my escape from the constant fear of death.

The gentle rocking of the carriage lulled my eyes closed, and soon, darkness enveloped me in a delicious sleep.

***

A memory from the past crept into my dreams. I was in a spacious white room, seated on a chair with various parts scattered around me.

"You should stop thinking so much about machines and robots, you know?" Haruka remarked, settling onto the table next to me as I connected wires on a robot prototype meant to help water plants. "It's strange. No boy will come near you this way."

"I don’t want anyone to come near," I replied, focused on my work. "I'm perfectly content with my robots; that's enough."

"I don’t know how Kenji still likes you," she said, laughing.

***

The impact jolted me awake. The horses screamed in terror, and a loud crash echoed around us. A gunshot sounded along the vast trail, and the panicked cries of birds filled the scene. I tried to escape my grim fate, but it had found me. There was no way out now, and a human like me couldn’t win a fight against a robot.

I recalled all the moments I had experienced in that new universe: a cruel father, an indifferent brother, a maid who wanted to poison me. Was life truly worth living, with so many misfortunes that had befallen me?

"Stay here, and don't move for any reason," Rafar said before stepping out of the carriage.

I needed to act. I couldn't just sit here, awaiting a grim fate. If I died, would it be final, or would I return to my old life? Testing it would be the only way to know... but an image came to mind.

Rafar extending his hand to me at the ball, his smile as we spoke. Why had he rescued me from my father’s house? Why had he left the carriage to defend me? I couldn’t risk my life recklessly and leave him in danger because of me.

I tried the door, but it was locked from the outside and wouldn’t open easily. So he’d planned for this! I grabbed a lantern from the carriage and struck the lock hard. A sound gave me hope, and after another blow with all my strength, the handle fell to the floor. Success!

I saw no one immediately outside, but in the distance, I spotted Rafar. His eyes were red, and his robotic arm glowed with a blue aura. In his other arm, he held a sword resembling an old katana. Only then did I notice what lay on the ground... or rather, who. About seven men lay lifeless at his feet, bleeding and unmoving.

One of the bandits stirred, but Rafar pressed down on his head.

"Tell me who sent you," he demanded, his voice vibrating with echoes. "Answer me!"

"I… I can't..." the man muttered weakly before Rafar struck his sword into the ground beside the man’s throat. "Alice Kauler, sir!"

My eyes widened at the name. Why did that villain still pursue me, even after winning the prince's heart? Something was very wrong.

Contrary to my expectations, Rafar left them all alive after the fight. The defeated men lay scattered on the battlefield as Rafar walked toward me.

"What are you doing here? I told you to stay in the carriage."

"I… I wanted to help…" I began, realizing how foolish my words sounded. Rafar was perfectly capable on his own. In that moment, all my previous thoughts seemed silly, but I couldn’t have forgiven myself if I hadn’t gone out to find him.

"Majesty, majesty!" One of the soldiers traveling with us called out, "Sir Henri... he's…"

Rafar’s face turned grim as he walked over to the coachman's seat. On the ground next to the carriage lay an elderly man, his arms and leg made of mechanical parts. He was unconscious, breathing heavily, with a pool of blood around him and a bullet wound in his chest.

"Do we have replacement parts?" Rafar asked, and the soldier nodded.

"But we don’t have a doctor," he replied, his voice resigned to his friend’s fate.

"Then I'll be the doctor," I said, rolling up my sleeve.

"Mai, this isn't a time for jokes," my fiancé said, his tone sharp.

"This is no joke, Your Majesty. I can save this man."